[Location] The Woven Gate (All Non Syms Enter Here)

Me · by **Colombina** on May 26th, 2010, 12:48 am

The Woven Gate

While various points of entry to Kalinor exist, all require either a set of wings or a Symenestra willing to carry you. Only at the woven gates does a pulley system exist, allowing known traders and vetted visitors entrance.

Guards are alerted to a visitor's petition for entry through an eternally burning firepit. A massive trough of glittering dust sits beside the softly burning pit. When a visitor throws this dust on the fire, the flames turn a fiendish green and gold. This garners the elevated guards' attention.

A Symenestra guard will sometimes descend a dangling rope that ends thirty feet above the cavern floor and evaluate the petitioners.
If the guard is satisfied, a large basket descends from the ceiling to the ground below, operated by Symenestra guards. Goods and men pile in to be lifted into the floating city.

Once the visitor is raised to the level of Kalinor, the simple pulley and rope give way to the lacework of colorful wound silk that makes the highways and avenues of the city.

The main road is a red cord, thick enough to bear the weight of baskets and pulleys. Most visitors travel this course in their baskets, intently watched by more Symenestra guards.

Those fortunate to have an ally in a Symenestra can take the narrower paths. Humanoids on these roads are either carried or gripping their guide for dear life.

by **Haeli** on January 17th, 2011, 8:00 pm

Timestamp: Early Winter, 509 AV (Flashback)
Reason: Visiting Valarian

The clothes the trader wore were all but rotting off him. In fact, if one looked close enough, they'd probably ascertain they'd been dug up from a grave, cleaned as best they could be, and used. He had nothing else with him, just a small pack, but again he seemed to know what he was doing. He used the dust, alerted the guards, and spoke briefly to them repeatedly saying he was a Trader here at the request of Velarian Zantedeschia to do business with him.

And after some moments of discussion, the man was indeed escorted to the Inn he'd requested to be taken too where the Symenestra could meet him. All in all it was a rather unremarkable entrance of a rather unnoticeable gentleman who looked far worse for the wear on his road. When asked his name, the man said his name was Derek Haeli Salvi. His message, hopefully, would be taken to the proper web.

It read only a few brief words. "Valarian. I have come as you requested with the trade goods you've wanted. - Haeli".

Derek Salvi :

by **Ssafirarhysati** on September 1st, 2011, 10:23 am

Timestamp: 1st of Fall, 511 AV (Early evening)

She stumbled into the cavern to avoid the rapidly cooling air outside. She had hoped to find warmth and shelter for the night within the opening at the rock face, but she did not expect the interior to be so...vast. Her sensitive ears picked up barely discernible sounds echoing off in the distance - proof of just how large the inside of the cavern actually was. Detecting light, and with just a little bit of exploring on her part, she found the firepit.

At first she thought the place to be already taken by others, but the large bonfire was certainly no camp. In fact, no other implement could be found there - no bedrolls, no tents, no anything - save for a large trough filled with glittering...

"Dust?" she whispered loudly as she fingered the powdery stuff. Anyone observant enough would note the slight lisp in her voice as she spoke her esses, but her practiced speech would suffice to mask it from most. She clapped her hands clear of the clingy substance and, to her surprise, the motes that touched the flames burst into a fiery green and gold color. "What in Siku's...?"

Thinking quickly, she grabbed a fistful of the dust again and threw it into the fire. Perhaps it was some sort of signaling device to inform the cavern's inhabitants of any visitors wandering into their domain. And perhaps they would be welcoming saps who would accept guests like her without question. Surely anyone would take pity on a naked and cold girl like her? Hopefully they would be meaty too.

No immediate reaction resulted from her first signal flare so she threw another handful into the flames. She actually liked that brief flaring light it gave off. Perhaps she should throw another. She was about to do so too when she detected movement above her.

A pale apparition of a man appeared to be floating in midair, though from his posture she could tell that he was holding on to something. A rope, most likely. Hands on hips, she cocked her head up at him, hardly embarrassed of her nudity.

"Hey, Pasty Face! This your place? I'm looking for a place to spend the night, if you're accepting guests that is."

She hardly glanced at her own skin as she spoke, the light of the fire illuminating her to be a similarly pale individual. Of course, in the darkness of the cavern's interior, she did not see that a whole floating city was above her as well.

by **Poison** on September 5th, 2011, 9:22 am

It was quiet in the cavern that marked the entrance to Kalinor. There were no other people there besides the Dhani, and the only thing that she could hear was her own breathing, her own heartbeat. But then, as she threw the dust into the flames, a sound suddenly cut throw the silence as one of the guards climbed down the rope that dangled from the gate. The Dhani could see a hint of the exoskeleton armor that so many Symenestra wore, a dark silk cloak, and seconds later an ashen face, framed by long white hair appeared in front of her.

The young man that she had so aptly named „pasty face“ stared at her as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. He couldn’t help but notice her lack of clothes, and his crimson gaze lingered on her breasts a moment longer than was appropriate. It was only after a few moments that he fully realized that there was a seemingly human woman standing in front of him. It took him a few moments to realize what that meant. There was no iron ring around her neck. She wasn’t in chains. There was nobody guarding her, making sure that she couldn’t escape.

This here was apparently an ignorant fool that had stumbled into Kalinor, not knowing what Symenestra did with her kind. Was there any way he could lure her into his home? Could he make her his surrogate? She seemed healthy and rather appealing, even if there was something about her that he hadn’t seen in any of the other surrogates, something slightly unnatural.

If he managed to convince her to come with him, he wouldn’t have to travel the surface for months. He wouldn’t have to risk his life. His future wife wouldn’t have to die to give birth to their child. This woman was a gift from the gods!

„Yes, of course, this is my place“, he answered. He smiled at her. He tried to appear friendly and non-threatening, but he couldn’t hide the fact that he was nervous entirely. „This is Kalinor. There’s an inn somewhere around here, but I’d love to have you in my house. There is a guest room where you can sleep, and my family will give you something to eat and drink. You should put some clothes on though. I don’t think my mother would appreciate it if I brought a naked human into our house!“

He laughed somewhat nervously, and then he took his cloak off and handed it to her so that she could wrap it around her shoulders.

by **Aran'Skia** on November 28th, 2011, 8:45 pm

Fall 89th, 511 AV

Dusk had settled nicely beyond the entrance to Kalinor, alluding to Winter by the frosty greens and blues that latticed through the sky, mingling with the golds and reds of normal sunsets. Aran’Skia felt that she would not see the sight of a sunset again, and so she had forsaken traveling directly into Kalinor from where she and her companions had parted in order to observe as Syna dipped low in the sky and then faced away. Leth would be the last to see Aran’Skia, and she looked up at his pale face in farewell.

She continued into the dark grotto, carefully stepping towards a brightly roaring fire and a trough next to it filled with some sort of dust. Her eyes scrutinized the dust, the fire, and she tilted her head, taking a pinch of the glittering substance and allowing it to flow out between her fingers onto the ground below. Magical stuff, this dust, and she felt strongly curious as to what would happen if she dumped some into the fire. Maybe it would make a loud noise and awake the sentries she so desired to meet in order to enter the ghostly city she’d only heard of.

She reached down and lifted a handful of sparkling powder, her mismatched eyes shining in the eery flames, and then she threw the dust into the blaze, which immediately erupted in a colourful burst of fire that caused her to squawk with terror and hop back for fear it would suck her in and burn her. Even when the blaze dimmed back to its normal colour, it left an imprinted image of it in her mind’s eye, effectively blinding her for a chime or two as she blinked it away.

By the time she was done, she was aware of the sounds of an approach, and she looked around for the source. She saw nothing, and found that unexpectedly confusing. Her head tilted back then, and she found herself staring at a familiar form dangling high above her. He could have been her father, for all she cared, for his slight frame was similar and the shade of his hair was nearly a match to the Absinthe’s grey-silver. His eyes, though, were eerie. Where Aran’Skia’s father had had gold eyes, this man had a lurid ruby that reminded the Konti strongly of blood.

For a few moments, they stared at eachother. Aran’Skia was perfectly at ease to wait until he addressed her and her reason for coming to Kalinor, or somehow arranged for her to be captured and bagged as her companions speculated that she would be. A smile tilted her lips, hopefully dissuading the man from plotting any trap.

by **Poison** on December 1st, 2011, 10:20 am

As Aran’Skia looked up, at the Symenestra that had come to greet her, the Symenestra looked down. His crimson eyes were wide with surprise. He just hung there, several metres above her, for a while, staring at her as if he couldn’t believe his eyes, and then he quickly climbed down. When he was just a metre or two above her, he simply let go of the rope and jumped, landing elegantly. Now that he was standing directly in front of her she could see that he was tall, much taller than her, although he was slender, to the point of looking thin, as if it needed nothing more than a pair of strong hands to break him in half.

He was dressed in most peculiar clothes, some kind of black armor that encased his body almost like a second skeleton and flowing silk. „Konti“, he stated. He adressed her in Common. As far as he knew it was unlikely that somebody like her spoke Symenos. He had a noticeable accent, but he spoke the language of the surface world well enough. „That’s what you are, aren’t you? There are very few of your kind in our city. In fact I only know of one, although I haven’t seen Hellebore’s Konti in quite some time.“

He walked around her, circling her almost like a predator circled the prey, trying to make sure that he had indeed guessed correctly. Unfortunately she looked exactly like Osakis, the Konti that worked for the head medic. Such a pity. He had hoped that she would be another Delilah, another innocent, unsuspecting woman, another future surrogate that would give his Web strong children. But nobody could be that lucky twice. While Aran’Skia looked pleasant enough, he had absolutely no interest in a Konti daughter.

„What’s your purpose in Kalinor?“ he wanted to know. „Have you come to offer us your skills as well?“

by **Aran'Skia** on December 1st, 2011, 4:24 pm

Her eyebrows rose as the slender Symenestra addressed her. Even his voice brought a faint nostalgia to her, awakening memories of her father from her childhood. He circled her, and she was hard pressed not to watch him with her eyes. Her distrust would have been stupid here, when she had come with the purpose of getting to know these people intimately. It surprised her mildly to learn that another sister was here, and she was warmly excited by the revelation that she wouldn’t be alone. However, who Hellbore was somewhat mystified Aran’Skia. She’d need to remedy her lack of knowledge if she wanted to be of any help.

He addressed her in a language vaguely familiar to Aran’Skia, although she didn’t know it enough to even attempt to speak it. Amusing that he thought her like someone else, a normal Konti, if one existed.

“I am Aran’Skia,” she said in her own Symenos after he had spoken. It was a language wrongly accented by her Konti roots, but she had learned well enough from her father how to address people and speak in it. She had to make sure her honorifics were correct, or she would possibly insult her most gracious host.

Aran’Skia smiled as he stood again in front of her and inclined her head. Such a tall Symenestra, far larger than her but amazingly more slender, graceful in ways humans and Konti couldn’t be. She was excited to see how these people danced if they walked with such loveliness. “I am here to serve my Call and...” she hesitated. She was fully willing to say “help your race return to their former glory”, but that would hardly have been nice, and if there was one thing a Konti should be, that was nice. “provide myself to you so your population may flourish and breed true, as it once did, safely.” There. That sounded much better.

by **Poison** on December 2nd, 2011, 2:54 pm

„Aran’Skia“, the Symenestra repeated. He struggled with the foreign name. His pronounciation was a bit off. „Welcome to Kalinor.“ It was only after he had said those words that he realized that she had adressed him in Symenos. He did a double take. How was it possible that a Konti spoke Symenos? Was she a halfbreed? No, she didn’t look like one. Besides, from everything he had heard a Konti always gave birth to another pureblood Konti. And he definitely couldn’t remember seeing her in the city before which would have been another explanation as to why she spoke his language.

„I’m not sure if my people will ever be able to breed safely again“, he replied as she revealed what she had come for. His voice was filled with bitterness. He had accepted the Harvest and had no issues with abducting a woman from the surface – an inferior being - raping her and forcing her to bear his child, but like many of his race he couldn’t help but think of the way things had been every once in a while. Before the Valterrian their race had been thriving. „But you are of course free to try and help us. The skills of the women of Mura are known, even in our underground city.“

He looked up, towards the gate that was high above them and gave one of his colleagues that stood there a sign, and soon a basket was being lowered. „Tell me“, he said as he positioned himself in front of the basket. He would likely allow her entrance into the city, but before that another question needed to be answered. „Did you ever meet one of our kind? It’s unusual for a Konti to come here. Kalinor isn’t the kind of place where Konti feel comfortable. It’s even more unusual for a Konti to speak our language.“

He hesitated for a moment, and then he decided to introduce himself. „I’m Demyan, of the Anice Web by the way.“

by **Aran'Skia** on December 2nd, 2011, 4:18 pm

"My father was one of your kind," she said softly, watching him as he watched her from the safety of the basket "Unlike most people, even my kind, I find it diffiult to be around something so wonderful it can only be misunderstood."

She smiled as he introduced himself and inclined her head, inherently polite as she had been raised to be. "It is nice to meet you, Demyan," she said gently. Her mismatched eyes half closed as she gave him a pleasant smile. She waited to see if he would invite her to ascend Kalinor in the basket, or if he would deny her entrance, using that nagging gift of hers to sense what his actions would equate to being.

oocSmall post, I know. x-x

by **Poison** on December 4th, 2011, 4:11 pm

„Your father was a Symenestra?“ Demyan wasn’t sure if he should believe her. „Symenestra don’t normally sleep with Konti as they can’t give them Symenestra children. Why did your father choose your mother?“ He took an even closer look at her than before, a fact that would likely make her a little umcomfortable. He tried to find traces of her father in her. But she looked entirely like a Konti. „And where is he now?“ Did her father live in Kalinor? No, she hadn’t mentioned him at all when he had asked her about her reason for coming to Kalinor. Still, he found himself trying to think of men that had spent a longer amount of time on the surface.

„Anyway, come here“, he decided and gestured for her to step into the basket. Even though her story seemed a little strange to him, there wouldn’t be any harm in letting her into the city.

The ride in the basket wasn’t particularly pleasant – the thing moved left and right, and sometimes it stopped – but fortunately it didn’t take long. Soon they had reached the other side of the gate, and Aran’Skia could see Kalinor for the first time.

It was breathtaking. The houses, shaped like gigantic coccoons, hung from the ceiling, connected by nothing more than ropes. Symenestra moved along those ropes elegantly, like dancers. They moved confidently as if they weren’t worried about falling down at all. Some of them stopped to stare at Aran’Skia for a moment before they moved on.

„I suppose you’ll want to go to the Purging?“ Demyan asked as he helped her out of the basket. „That’s the equivalent of what your people call a hospital. Hellebore is the head medic. You will want to talk to him.“

oocI think we should continue in a new thread.