Open [The Sanctuary] Beautiful Creatures.

[Orabelle Deepseeker]

27th of Winter, 513 Thanks to Laviku, Svefrans and the animals of the sea have always been connected. Actually, they depend on each other. A starving pod would call upon the large predators to catch a school of fish. A svefra would free their tavans from their own death too. Orabelle missed the company of the water creatures. As a child she would plunge into the sea when she were upset just to have a chat with a near by dolphin or tiger shark. Orabelle even learned out to swim like one. After much practice, she learned how to think like one too. Orabelle questioned herself as she approached the gates of the sanctuary. It was exquisite for a place that held just animals. Orabelle just wished she could own a house this perfect. Orabelle knew why she was,here. She needed a companion. She needed the company. She also wanted to know how land animals lived. Believe it or not, Orabelle never witnessed any land animal in it's natural habitat. She never seen a tiger, which has been described as a large feline with orange and black stripes, and big predator eyes. She's never ridden a horse. Orabelle isn't a common folk. What is normal living to them is new for her. Like anywhere she goes, Orabelle waited for people to approach her. But when she realized no one was out, she began exploring the place. She approached the stable and was a little hesitate before she opened the stable doors. Walking down the isle, she was amazed by the different varieties of horses. They weren't very colorful like sea horses but they were still beautiful."I would love to braid each and every horses hair in here." Orabelle softly whispered.

[Kavala]

A huge black Imperial Watcher stuck its head out of an open stall further down the barn isle from where Orabella was. It was a giant of a thing, for all that it was on all fours, because if it stood upright like a man, the dog would easily be as tall as the woman was. It padded down the aisleway and up to the woman to give her a good sniff. A small boy wandered after it, his blue skin and shock of white hair made him look not quite like an Akalak and not quite like... a Konti. The boy grinned, patted the dog, and addressed the woman.

"Hello there lady. Can I help you?" He asked, carefully looking the woman up and down. He didn't seem afraid of her, but he didn't seem particularly like he wanted to be there either.

The dog didn't seem alarmed. It only sniffed the woman and seemed to find her neither a food source or threatening, so it flopped down in a patch of sun streaming in through the stall windows. Most of the stalls were empty, the horses having been let out into the day to play in the paddocks that stretched from the barn to the massive wall that enclosed the Sanctuary. A few were still in though, finishing morning hay and quietly munching as they did so. Velvet noses nudged her if she got too close, but none of the horses seemed threatening or mean.

Further down the aisle where the dog and boy appeared, a woman stepped out with pale white hair and a shimmer of scales across her skin. She offered a smile and put a gentle hand against a bundle tucked into her chest. The woman might recognize the baby sling as being occupied, allowing the Konti carrying the infant both her hands to deal with whatever she was dealing with in the distant stall. Her hands were slightly bloody, the Konti's were, and she held them upright and away from her as if to keep them clean. A horse in the stall she appeare dfrom whickered unhappily, and the Konti glanced back into the stall.

"Hi there. I'm Kavala Denusk. Don't mind my son or the dog... both are harmless. What can I do for you?" Kavala said, smiling.

[Orabelle Deepseeker]

"Ach!"Orabelle jumped back, startled by the large dog who was,probably a,lot stronger than she was. She froze for a moment as,the dog sniffed her but after a while she began to pet it. She giggled,"You almost gave me a heart attack!" The dog paid no attention to her long strokes of his fur. It sniffed her and ran back to a boy. He was a young akalak boy( at least she thought he was) who didn't seem to care for her much. "Hello there lady. Can I help you?"  He asked, looking her up and down. Orabelle ran her finger through her tight curls that she did before leaving the boarding house."Yes, I would really love to speak to whom ever owns the sanctuary?" She pulled her cloak closer to her body and smiled like she usually would. The boy didn't have to answer as a woman with white hair like his own appeared farther down. She smile gently, which indicated that she worked her. She had a baby sling with an actual child, but Orabelle couldn't see the baby's face. Orabelle couldn't help but awe. After staring at the child in amazement, she noticed the konti's bloody hands that needed cleaning. "Hi there. I'm Kavala Denusk. Don't mind my son or the dog... both are harmless. What can I do for you?" Kavala look like she was having a hard time right now. She was caring for a baby and doing something else."I came looking for an animal to call my own," She hesitated for a second,"Do you need help?"

[Kavala]

"I'm Tasival!" The boy said suddenly, interrupting. "And this is Ink." The black Imperial Watcher wagged its tail, seemingly friendly despite the breeds fierce reputation as defenders and watchdogs. If raised right, they were fiercely loyal but amazing companions to children and good around horses and other animals. So long as his owner showed no unfriendliness to the visitor, the dog would accept the visitor as having a right to be there.

Tasi grinned, circled the woman once, and decided she was one of the most exotic people he'd seen. There was something about her skin tone and her slanted eyes that bespoke of far off lands and spices. Even at his tender age, just barely able to roam about, Tasi was all Akalak in his appreciation of women.

Kavala had to laugh lightly, seeing her young son stare. "No, thanks I just finished. Wanna see what mischief a horse can get into when it decides to rip through a fence?" She asked, beckoning the woman forward with a hand. Already she was stepping away from the stall for the woman to see.

Inside was an enormous warhorse, standing relaxed with his eyes half lidded, and his shoulder bloodied. There was no visible signs of a wound, but rather there was a jagged scar that ran from his neck across his shoulder and down his front foreleg. "He has bad luck, this one. We gelded him for that very reason. I need to find someone who has exceedingly good luck to balance him out. He's one of the finest horses we have, and already huge at three, but his luck... I had hoped he'd outgrow it. We even named him Lucky to help get him past it. It didn't work." Kavala said, her hands still held aloft while her forearms gently seemed to grip the infant she held in a sling. The baby had a shock of white hair and scales and pale pale skin. Both mother and child were exceedingly Konti.

"Thank you though. Twenty chimes earlier and I would have been begging for help." She said with a grin, glad the job was done afterall. "So what brings you here? Are you looking for a job? A horse perhaps? One with better luck of course... or maybe something else? Do you have someone injured with you? We are healers here as well as breeders." Kavala said, offering her a smile in lieu of a handshake. "Let me and Ia'del go wash up and we'll be right back.. or you can follow us. Tasi? Can you go fetch Aweston to clean up in here?" She asked. The boy grinned and wandered off, looking far too young to be sent on an errand. The enormous dog followed, looking patient.

"He's only four going on five. But they grow up so fast." She said, smiling slightly.

[Orabelle Deepseeker]

"Hello Tasival!" Organelle knelt just a bit to look him in the eye."That's such an incredible name for a handsome young boy." She laughed softly and patted his head and stroked the dog again. Kids took Orabelle's mind off a lot of things. Sometimes even made her forget. And speaking to Tasival this very moment almost made her forget about Kavala, his mother.


She snapped her attention back to the beautiful konti. She tried not to pay attention to Tasival as he circled her."I hope I look okay." She joked, but her attention was still on Kavala.


"Sure?" Orabelle followed her gesture to a stall she was currently in front of. Inside was a very large horse. He was absolutely gorgeous and she wanted to pet it. His bloody shoulder stopped her from taking another step."He's so beautiful. I wish I had the money and experience to balance him out. But... I really know nothing about any animals on land and don't want to start with anything bigger than me." Orabelle gazed back at Kavala and her new child. She could finally get a better look. The baby was obviously a konti and looked like her mother.


"I would've been happy to help too. I just love babies and wish to one day have one of my own." She told her while admiring the child."I want companionship on land. Something I can bond with. Like a dog." Orabelle looked back at Ink."But something that would suite someone like me. There's a dog I heard... It's very skinny? Long floppy ears. I don't know what it's called but I heard your sanctuary has it." She nodded when Kavala mentioned she had to wash up."I'll wait here, unless you need any assistance?"


Her gaze soften when she looked back at Tasival. Orabelle wanted a child of her own so bad."You're lucky. He may be growing fast but he's healthy. That's always a blessing."

[Kavala]

Kavala smiled as her son got some added attention before he scurried off to get Aweston to help with the cleanup after the repair work to the stallion’s shoulder and neck. She’d normally handle it all herself, but Kavala was still recovering from a difficult birth and was taking things one step at a time. If she hadn’t her staff would have frowned, taken her off duty altogether, and put her back on forced rest.

This way, she got her feet wet again working without overdoing it.

Kavala wasn’t gone long. She washed up quickly, Ia’del still in her sling, and was back in a moment, still a bit bloody but with clean hands. “You want children? Come with me.” Kavala said, grinning. She led the woman out of the barn, and down a side walkway that bypassed a large riding arena and more stables. They walked through a gate, into a small courtyard and were in what looked like a healing clinic. “Cadra?” Kavala called, and suddenly a redheaded youth appeared holding yet another baby.

“What’s up Aunt Kav?” The youth said. She, surprisingly, had a second baby with her, this one much larger that the Konti in the sling around Kavala’s shoulder. The girl looked nothing like Kavala, being human but… also something else. There was an almost feline quality to her movements that might have marked her Kelvic.

“We need to borrow Ralac a few minutes.” Cadra smiled, bent down to nuzzle the boy she held, and then tried to figure out how to hand him – still in the sling – to Kavala.

The Konti laughed and shook her head. “No no… this is Orabelle. She wants a little one just like him. I thought we’d take him to the kennels and see which dogs don’t mind a hair pulling bratty precocial little boy mauling them as she picks one out.” Kavala grinned, and gestured at Orabelle, a smile and laughter on her lips.

Cadra carefully passed the baby boy to Orabelle. He wasn’t fully Akalak, that much was evident by his shock of white hair and his deep black skin lightly scaled. He was something like Tasival, only a shade or two skin wise darker where Tasi was a bright cobalt blue. The baby was so dark in fact, it was as if he was utterly black and hadn’t picked a skin color yet.

“Here. He’s exactly ten days old. It’s good practice.” Kavala said, smiling slightly. The baby would stare up at Orabelle fascinated if she did indeed let the teen drape the sling over her head and across her shoulder.

“I had Tasival as a Nakivak. He was my first contract. These two were born this season. It was the most difficult pregnancy of my life. I didn’t know it but they were a Superfetation. It means the formation of a fetus while another fetus is already present in the uterus. So I was pregnant with Ralac there and then got pregnant again on a fluke with Ia’del here. Although common in animals, it happens in Konti and humans only rarely. It always results in a twin or multiple pregnancies where the fetuses display a marked difference in gestational development.” Kavala said, launching into her explanation.

“Tasival was easy even though he was contracted. His father died.. These two… Ia’del was premature and wouldn’t breathe without constant monitoring. Ralac was overdue and almost killed me with his size. If you do get pregnant here in Riverfall with an Akalak on the off chance, let me look at you along with the healers up in the city. I might be an animal healer, but I’m really good at pregnancy and birth. We handle a lot of Kelvics around here. The Akalaks tend to sire a lot of sons on them.” Kavala said, having no idea if Orabelle was going to stay in the city or not, but definitely wanting to warn her about the fact that the Akalak tended to make sure the single females started reproducing the moment they set foot in their city, regardless if the females liked it or not.

Leading the way onward with the babies in tow, they rounded the clinic, past the cattery and gardens, then onto the kennels. There was a huge yard filled with dogs that Kavala didn’t seem to mind were going a bit crazy. She didn’t hesitate a moment to open the gate. Surprisingly none of the dogs dashed out, but instead the two women waded in.

"We have four major kinds of dogs here. We have deerstalkers which honestly don’t make good in town pets. We have the Imperial Watchers which are rather large and also take up a lot of room. They do however make great in town pets. We have ghost dogs. And finally I think you are talking about the Silkenas. They are fantastic pets but need to be walked and let run every day. They are great companion animals as well. I’m trying to cut down my inventory and specialize in only breeding the Silkenas and Imperials, so I’m interested in thinning the dogs down, especially the puppies. I’m not keeping any of them for future breeders like I usually do." The Konti said.

“Go ahead.. wade in, let them sniff you, play with them… and let them see Ralac. Most of them know him, but not all of them like babies.” Kavala said.

OOCThere are like five generations of dogs so there should be a number of individuals from puppy sized to five year olds.. various colors. You can pick one off the list to the link I gave you in the body of the post or make up one all your own with your own color choice etc. I’m flexible!

[Orabelle Deepseeker]

It had,only taken Kavala a few minutes to clean up and come back out."I would love a whole army of children." Orabelle snickered a bit before she followed Kavala. She was able to see more of the sanctuary which felt fantastic to her. There were a lot more stalls with different breeds of horses occupying them. Orabelle wouldn't be able to name any of them because she did not know of many horse breeds besides except sea horse."Animals and children... it's paradise here." A young woman with red hair appeared and she was holding yet another infant."Oh my goodness." Orabelle said pleasantly.


The young woman referred to Kavala as her aunt so they were related. The baby she held was a lot bigger than the small konti in Kavala's baby sling. The baby also looked like Tasival."The gods blessed you with two?" She asked in amazement.


Her question slipped out just before Cadra carefully placed the baby in her arms. This wasn't her first time holding a baby, or even handling one. On her pod's ship, there was almost a new child each season. Everytime a new child was born, Orabelle would always make sure she could be the first to hold it.


She made sure one arm was secured under his head and side while the other wrapped around his legs and held his backside. She was aware of the sling that was draped over her shoulder but Organelle didn't care. She wanted her arms wrapped around the baby."Kavala, all your children are so beautiful." He sat there just staring at her and at the same time reached for one of her charms on her necklace. Once his hand was able to grab one, he cracked a toothless grin.


"I haven't heard much on the nakivak thing." Orabelle paused so that she could look at Kavala." As for the superfetation, I've never heard of such a crazy thing. I could only imagine what that's like." Orabelle wondered if she were still a nakivak."Who's there father?" Her index finger quickly pointed to La'del and Ralac.

"I'm sorry to hear that..." Orabelle's voice had a hint of sadness."If I do become pregnant, you will be the first I come too. I hardly know you but I already trust you. You seem to know what you're talking about and would probably tell me a bit more than the city's healer." She began to sway side to side with the baby. Orabelle hasn't decided anything but if she were to become a nakivak and carry an Akalak's offspring than she would want someone to tell her the truth instead of sugar coding it. Kavala was also a nakivak and carried three children already, it would be nice to get advice from her one day.


Orabelle was once again following Kavala, carefully stepping behind her while holding Ralac. They reached what looked like another stable but it wasn't. There was loud barking and howling and scratching at a gate. Kavala did not hesitate to open the door and when she did, the dogs were a bit calm allowing them to step in and view the pack.


"Silkena! Yes, I believe that's what those beautiful dogs are called." She nodded when she mentioned the dog's breed. They were easy to make out too. The other breeds were rather large and intimidating. But the silkena's were medium or large and a lot thinner than the others.

"Okay..." Orabelle nodded a little nervous. She walked further in, and when she did the dogs patted up to her. She could tell they were just wondering why she was there. The much older dogs paid close attention to her but the younger dogs and puppies were only worrying about catching each other. It wasn't until she crouched a bit that they noticed her and began walking over to her. The puppies climbed her knee so she raised Ralac a bit higher so that their muzzles could only reach him and catch his scent. Once all the dogs sniffed out Orabelle and the baby, some went off minding their own business. But others stayed, sitting patiently by Orabelle's side.

"I can't-" She noticed a beautiful silkena, a greyish color sitting with her paws neatly together. Her fur was long and very silky looking and she looked like she was almost a full year old.
OOCOkay!

[Kavala]

Kavala smiled watching Orabelle. Part of handing Ralac to her and then subjecting her to the pack was that she wanted to see how the woman handled both a mob of dogs and the baby together. Ralac was tough, so too was his darker brother, and Kavala was there if the child needed to be handed over. But so far Orabelle did fine. She knelt down, was kind, didn't get too excited, and it was clear to Kavala that not only would she be a good dog owner, but that she'd be a good mother.

"I don't sell dogs to just anyone." Kavala said, reaching out and retrieving her son from Orabelle so she could wade deeper into the dogs and pick one or two. With Ia'del sleeping so soundly, holding both wasn't too hard. It was something in fact the Konti had gotten used to in the days since their birth. If anything came back to her body shape first, it was most likely the tone of muscles in her arms.

"Pick out two you like and lets go walk with them away from the mob and see how they do. I'm not trying to sell you more than you want, but dogs do better in pairs... especially these who are used to a whole mixed pack to run with. If you want one, that's just fine, but with two... they will stay out of trouble if you leave them alone at home, and you will not have any issues with them having any pack separation anxiety. Every dog here has spent time one on one with a person on staff and lived outside the kennels. We rotate them through and let them roam around the inside of the facility too. But we always do so in pairs. It builds their confidence. These guys haven't, for example, been to town yet. They haven't lived in a city, though truth be told here isn't much different with all the comings and goings." She offered, shifting her son so she had him on her shoulder. The baby looked far older than Kavala had claimed he was, but then again he was an Akalak. They were bigger.

As Orabelle petted noses, greeted dogs, and picked through the mob, Kavala began to speak.

"Thank you for the compliments on my children. These two have a father named Riaris. I picked him. It was a nice change after being a Nakivak for so long. My first son, Tasi, was via contract. His father died but I did not have a choice in who he was. I didn't choose to be a Nakivak. I was rescued from slavers who captured me out of the sea of grass. The slavers ruined me for Drykas civility, so it was perhaps better that I ended up in Riverfall. My first Talvis was a warm generous man that taught me it was okay to enjoy my body. But he died, suddenly, as a lot of Akalak do. They take defense of the city very seriously. My second Talvis was... an arrogant ass. His light brother was amazing, but his dark brother needed his face tattooed. He hurt me badly one day.. nearly killed me. He would have if I didn't live in a Healing facility full of healers. They released me from my debt after that. I lost my second child because of his abuse. It wasn't an easy thing. But Ralac and Ia'del's father is a good man. He's made me very happy." Kavala said, looking thoughtful.

"If you ever have any questions about the Nakivak program, I can offer you some insight. There are good and bad things to it, stuff they dont' tell you when you sign up. And because your human, at least in part, it becomes dangerous to you to carry their offspring. But I can negate that danger I think." Kavala said, confident in her assertion. She was a Master Healer, something she didn't advertise much, but after her two experiences... no three experiences with pregnancy, she knew a lot more than she did before.

"Have you picked two? Let's go walking more. The object is to see if they will listen to you, like you, and what their personalities are like." Kavala said, holding the gate open and waiting for Orabelle to point out which two dogs she liked and wanted to go one on one with.

[Orabelle Deepseeker]

The minute Kavala retrieved her child, Orabelle felt a bit of pain. She had never realized how much affect a child had until now. As she made her way through Riverfall, children were almost everywhere. Young akalak boys would tease and play with each other, little girls that were human or konti would be underneath their mothers as they went shopping. The sight to Orabelle was fantastic and she wanted it. She was very good at hiding her emotions."So precious." Orabelle told her. She was worried for minute, Kavala was already holding la'del. But she managed to carry them both.

"Two?" Orabelle felt a little unease. She didn't feel like she could control one, but two? She wasn't really confident in herself. Orabelle called over the dog she thought was best looking and began to look around again. She thought it was time for her to step up. The medium size dog stuck by her as she looked around. There was a large imperial watcher that was white with black spots. She looked like she had been bred a couple times, which made Orabelle believe she was a breeding dog." I'll take her too." Orabelle whistled a few times before the dog decided to come over.


She rubbed the back of both dogs heads as she quietly listened. She was sorry to hear about Tasival's dad, she apologized a few times, for her and Tasival who probably didn't even know him. But when she mentioned the akalak who nearly killed her and killed the child because of his abuse, she became very angry." What a punk. Only men afraid of fights attack women and children." She relaxed again once Kavala mentioned Ralac and la'del's father. She even smiled.

"What I really want to know how far they'd go to support you?" She asked.


She nodded leading both dogs out. The silkena she desired had a very hard time listening, stopping to pay attention to small things on the ground like rocks or bugs. She had to call her a few times. But the imperial was on Orabelle's heel the entire time."Hmm... I'm guessing this dog," She pointed to the imperial watcher,"Is a lot better when it comes to commands?"

[Kavala]

Kavala offered Orabelle a smile of reassurance. “It wasn’t as bad as all that. I just.. made some mistakes, you know? I thought I was a fantastic healer and could track my own prenatal care. Turns out, when you are the healer trying to heal yourself, you miss things… things that are really obvious. You’ll be fine if you get someone who’s not walking around in your shoes to manage your care during pregnancy. And I won’t lie. Humans have it rough, but its mainly because the Akalak infants are so large. A normal human might weight somewhere between six and eight pounds… ten pounds max. But an Akalak infant starts at ten or twelve pounds on the small side and just gets bigger from there. You have a hard time when they get overly big… sometimes a fifteen or eighteen pound infant won’t fit out of you. But we have all kinds of tools to help if we can get to you early. I can give you herbs to induce labor early while the baby is still smaller. It makes care difficult after birth, and tricky.. but it saves your life. And in dogs and cats, even horses and cows, if babies are too big or turned wrong, we can physically remove them from the body without the baby being born and then just repair the mother from the inside out. It sounds scary, but its relatively simple. The only drawback is once you’ve had a child forcefully removed, often you need that done every time. You are not a tiny woman, but you are no means suited to birth an Akalak child easily. Your blood, whatever it is, has given you some advantages, but its still dangerous. But then again, walking out here with these dogs is equally dangerous.” Kavala said with a smile. Then she gently lifted Ralac up, bounced him with Ia’del hanging safely in the sling, and tucked him back into her arm. He waved his hands and grasped blindly in front of him, laughing.

“It’s so worth the risk though. So worth it.” Kavala said, turning to Orabelle and giving her a radiant smile.” Then she looked serious for a moment.

“They are good men. Just because I ran into a bad one, doesn’t mean you should be afraid. One will find you who is amazing. And they try so very hard not to love us, the breeders because we have a tendency to die on them or not live as long as they do, but they can’t help themselves and do anyhow. I promise your Talvis will love you… they can’t help themselves.” She said with a certainty.

“None of my Talvis’ supported me. None of them were affluent and had any funding to do so. I took out debt with the Oathmaster, paid it back when I built up my business, and whored for them two or three times a day when they signed my contract. No one gave me any support or free money. It was all expected to be paid back.” Kavala said frankly. “It was better that way, I suppose, because there was no way I was going to settle for moving into a one-room cottage with one of them and just be stuck there until they decided to come home because they wanted some sex. I know that sounds crude, but that’s really what it is. When you wear the bracelet, you get your choices limited. And maybe it will be different for someone who volunteers, but I was a raid survivor. I came into the Nakivak program owing a debt – my life.” Kavala said thoughtfully.

The dogs were now frolicking beside the pair, enjoying a good sniff, and exploring. The Silkena wasn’t listening as much to Orabella as the Imperial Watcher was but then again she was younger and had more energy.

“I don’t mean to change the subject, but on the dogs… the Silkena will totally bond with you over time and you’ll get her full attention. It’s just that right now she doesn’t know you and they are high energy dogs. You’ll have to take her out and let her run daily. The Imperial Watchers are low energy dogs.. they like to laze about and only swing into action when they feel like its time to defend. Then they are wickedly fierce. They like kids though, a lot, and are super protective of them. These two couldn’t be any different personality wise.” Kavala said with a laugh as one of the dogs, the Silkena, sniffed out a butterfly, and started chasing it.

Kavala shrugged to Orabelle’s question. “Each breed has a tendency and known traits. But each individual dog is different. You’ll just have to wait and see when they are fully mature. I just believe you get out of them what you put into their training. They come trained to heel. Watch.” Kavala whistled sharply suddenly, and pointed a finger down at her feet straight in front of her. The Silkena and the Imperial Watcher both peeled off what they were doing and ran to her, sitting down at her feet. “From there, the rest is up to you.” Kavala said, petting each one, giving their noses kisses, and then smiling and waving her hand, releasing them to go play.

“You can try if you’d like. But act like you mean business.” Kavala suggested, grinning at the other woman then wincing as Ralac got a fist full of her hair and pulled. The Konti took a moment, distracted, to free herself from his death grip on her locks.Yea