[The Sanctuary] This Hallow Ground

[Kavala]

Timestamp: 11th of Fall, 511
Location: The Sanctuary
Purpose: Reimancy Induction and Setting Origins
Status: Closed - Sama'el Please

It was a silent morning with no touch of cold wind and no sign of foul weather. Riverfall was experiencing a rather warm fall so even the leaves of the fringe forest along the Suvan Sea were sluggish in turning to gold. The atmosphere suited Kavala just fine. They’d had a leasurely morning and were lingering over tea and fresh baked muffins that Raiha had made on the Veranda. Horses were fed, turned out, kennels cleaned, two patients seen too and now there was time to eat, relax and be refreshed. Sama’el was their guest this morning for all that he was staying in town, so it was important to Kavala to entertain him properly since he’d shown up in the late morning. There were niceties to exchange and they spent a good half candlemark nibbling food, drinking juice, and exchanging news. Kavala was always hungry for what was happening on the grasslands and Sam was the sort that seemed to know a bit about everyone, regardless of Pavilion or Clan. He was also hungry for knowledge. She could see it in his gaze.

So she was talking about her plans to develop her own breed. “It’s more difficult than I thought it would be. When you think of an ideal horse, you really look at all the breeds we have available and look at the best of them. Certain traits won’t work, Sama’el, like the Strider’s speed or the Gildling’s glow. There’s an impracticality in a winter resiliency of a sleigh horse… so throwing all that out, I had to decide what it was I actually wanted.” Kavala said thoughtfully.

“What is my version of perfection? That’s how I came up with the name Rynsa. It means perfection in the old tongue. So what do I want from a Rynsa? I want size and courage first of all without having the slowness of say a Seme. I want warm blood without being too hot. Hot horses act first and think second. I want the intelligence of a Nightwalker and the wisdom of a Sungold. Sungolds won’t breed true when mixed so I have to recreate that wisdom by throwing wise horses into the initial generations. I want the fierceness of a bloodbane. They are incredibly loyal and bond like Sungolds and Striders, so that’s a plus. I want something I can ride to war, hunt Glassbeaks on, and yet not worry about tack with and something that trusts its rider absolutely.” Kavala said, looking thoughtful. “Rather than mixing blood in horses, I sought out mixed bloods that purposely had these traits. I’ve gathered them far and wide, mainly from Endrykas’ overflow, and I think this year I’ll have my foundation babies being born.” Kavala said proudly.

“I’ll have to wait until they mature to see if they have the traits I want though. I’ve already decided what I’m looking for. I need them to have an expressive, elastic gait with a great deal of suspension. The quality of the walk, trot, or canter needs to be robust and powerful without being heavy. All three gaits need to be straight when viewed from the front or back, and rhythmical at all times. The walk has to be diligent and open, the trot is active and elastic, and the canter is uphill and adjustable. I want these horses to move like striders so when you are riding, you are covering ground with minimal effort.” Kavala added.

“Then, if that’s not asking too much, even though I expect them to be 16 hands min and about 17 hands max, I demand a fluidity where they can handle fences without much difficulty. I realize they won’t be light enough to just pop over obstacles, but I still demand fluidity.” Kavala added. She knew Sama’el was there to help her with reimancy, but it never hurt to talk horses first. “So far I have a very baroque looking horse with broad convex faces of medium length. Heavy muscling, and extremely willing natured creatures as my initial blood infusions.” Kavala added. “Now if I can keep all those traits and still have my fluid elevated movement, we’ll be getting somewhere.” Kavala smiled, looking thoughtful and wistful all at the same time. “Its good starting with so much stock though. I have room to cull off by selling and see what combined with what produces what. The Bloodbanes, for example, all came pregnant, and I am selling off the colts. But the fillies will definitely be bred back to the best of the stallions - the calmest – and we’ll see what we get.” Kavala said. “The bloodbanes are a bit hot for my taste, with long narrow backs. I want thicker necks and arched well defined withers. Their withers as is gives them weakness in their front end. A shorter stronger back would greatly enhance what they had. That will give them rounded sloped croups instead of high narrow tail sets. I want them to be really powerful in the hind quarters for the ability to make quick turns and pour on the speed.” Kavala said, nibbling the last of her muffin and studying Sama’el.

“Have I lost you yet or at least bored you?” She added questioningly.

Then she laughed. “It’s also a vanity that I want thick manes and tails which are low set. If you are going to design your own breed, I suspect you should design for what you really want rather than what you think WILL work.” Kavala added, smiling slightly at herself.

“That’s why I like my stallions so far. Ghost and Silk are near perfect. I keep Windsong in the mix to add speed and Sivak in the book to add strength. Ghost and Silk are mixed bloods and Windsong is my bonded strider. Sivak is a Seme stallion. He’s patient. All the rest of them are great too. When treated with respect they are quick to learn, responsive and cooperative. That’s what we need in good stallions.” Kavala said, pushing her breakfast plate aside and nodding.

“I appreciate what you came here to do. I shouldn’t go on and on and on about horses. I really want to talk about Reimancy. And I know you have some other things you want to discuss. I’ve got a room in the basement of Sanctuary, below the clinic, that’s completely empty except for some candle holders on the earthen walls and some pillows on the floor. We are going to remodel it into a chapel soon. But it might be a good place for the initiation.” Kavala said, looking thoughtful and questioning. “Would you like to see it?” She asked.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sama'el grazed much like a horse. There were certainly days where he gorged and could not be satisfied, eating like an adolescent storing up energy for a massive growth spurt, but he was so active, worked so hard, that whatever he ate was soon spent in the furnace of his organs. Even muscle came slowly, grew leanly, and he was tall, but looked thin in his fall clothes. It was only when his sleeves hiked up that corded muscle was visible, playing under his skin. But there was no need to shove food down his throat when such a spread was laid before him. Kavala's knowledge of horsebreeding surpassed his. Of course, he had many years of exile to make up for, spent with less skilled, more foolish fellows. Horse had been a stroke of luck, a beast too well-bred for the rich man who rode him in Sunberth, an accident of breeding, perhaps. Serena Windmount had been a better teacher, but there was nothing quite like a Drykas breeder. When his attention wavered it was only because his mind followed tangents down lines of thought, making plans for his own eventual herd. As of the present, he had Dohaina, his Strider mare; Horse, his Windrunner stallion; two juvenile Semes; and of course many friends who didn't feel the need to charge him stud fees. Dohaina would never have to pay for sex, and Arias had already seeded her womb, which had quickened. Kavala and Riki both had assured him that all was well; he hadn't trusted his own judgment. He was too young to lose a second Strider. "No, no." He laughed. "You just have me excited about the future again... I was wondering if perhaps I might try breeding some Bloodbane ferocity into Striders with the right body types to... Well, you see, the Syliran Knights, they have their Tiaden Warhorses, right? But if they were smart, they would cultivate a breed better suited for light and medium cavalry. If they have members of their Order who are more suited to that sort of battle... Well, perhaps I could come up with something. "And I was wondering how pure a Strider's blood need be to touch the Web. So perhaps I will choose a Bloodbane and a Strider when I return." There was no question; he would return. "But I will have to think on it while I'm freezing my arse off..." But he laughed again, quickly forestalling any words to the effect of him putting things off until Spring. He had lost his entire pavilion, and he did not want poor Ragnor's soul cursed with the same gravity. "Why don't we go down and see this place?" he asked. "Will Tasi be all right without you for a while? You might be sick for a while. The initiation changes some things within you, and it takes some time for your body to adapt. The worst of it doesn't last long." He didn't like to talk about it too much. Reimancy was not a Drykas discipline, but at least within his old pavilion, magic taught by Drykas to Drykas was a sacred Mystery. Sama'el did not consider himself a reimancer, but a Drykas who called Fire.

[Kavala]

Kavala nodded. “So true. We need more breeds out there in the world. The Syliran Knights need their Tiaden Warhorses to fight on the road, true, but there’s a lot of other things they do they don’t need huge horses for. And I think you could do it… for sure. You just need a large amount of stock to start from to breed what you want. I’ll have at least one colt from the bloodbane mares that came in this year already in foal. He’ll be yours if you’d like him.” Kavala said nodding. The colts from any of the broodmares she’d imported were not something she could use. But she’d prefer any that resulted went to a good home and not one that wouldn’t understand the horses’ unique needs – mainly raw meat.

“I know the answer to your question. It has to be absolutely pure. Haven’t you heard the stories? There’s a ton of them about how the striders came to be. Every Pavilion has a different version. I know the Denusk’s version and several of the other Sapphire Clan’s thoughts on it. And being raised in the Sea… I can tell you absolutely if a Strider isn’t pure it can’t touch the web. I’ll tell you the stories I do know sometime. They are quite fascinating especially comparing them with the different versions clan to clan.” Kavala said. She laughed at his next comment.

“Indeed. There’s nothing better for thinking than hours and hours and hours on the back of a horse.” She smiled. Kavala was happy Sam was free to roam where he chose. In a way she wanted to go with him to Avanthal, but Sanctuary and its responsibilities kept her here.

Kavala nodded at his suggestion that they go see the place. She rose in one fluid motion and excused herself for a moment. She dropped Tasival by Aweston’s place, knowing the Drykas groom would watch her son since he was also on another sort of watch – puppy watch – all night. If he had to be up anyhow, keeping an eye on Tasi while he slept would be no burden. She was back in a moment, and then guided Sam into Sanctuary’s inner warrens.

They passed through the clinic and into a side room that opened up into a spacious philtering lab. In the back of the lab was a doorway that lead to a stairway that lead down. The stairway was wide, accommodating, so they could pass two at a time up and down its length. It lead to a large lengthy chamber that held cages on either side of a single walkway. The cages were more like kennels that housed recovering patients and those that were in the middle of being treated. Most were nestled down for the night, being kept warm by a large pot-bellied stove at the far end of the hallway. That hallway ended in a doorway, though that’s not where Kavala lead them. Instead, behind the rise of the stair they’d just descended was a second blank wall. Kavala grasped the release for the door, a raised section of stone, pushed, and the wall swung open revealing a doorway. She picked up a lantern that was already lit hanging from a peg beneath the stairway and held it aloft, welcoming Sama’el into the stone chamber.

She left him standing in its middle as she moved around the spacious room lighting wall sconces and revealing just what was hiding beneath Sanctuary. The room was obviously some sort of storage at one point. But recently it had been cleaned. There were markings on the floor as if someone planned to put patterned tiles in place. There were notes on the walls in chalk, planned alters for various gods – Rak’keli, Eyris, and Nysel as far as he could see. In one corner, a crate of paint and brushes sat ready for wall murals to decorate the otherwise dark chamber. Beside the crate a pallet obviously carefully carried down held tiles of all sorts, presumably for the floors.

“Well, will it do?” Kavala said, glancing around. She didn’t know what was needed for any sort of initiation so she simply waited, ready to follow Sama’el’s direction.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sama'el was glad of her confidence, hoping he might one day be successful at breeding new sorts of horses himself. And a quality bloodbane colt would certainly lend intelligence and a penchant for violence to this proposed breed, but the carnivorous part would have to be bred out of the bloodlines. They would not accept that sort of thing in Syliras, assuming themselves to be so different from the people of Ravok. People were people, he thought, though the people with power in Ravok were certainly terrible. As for the Strider lore, he felt a flicker of remembrance, but tried to hide his unease. Apparently some things out of the past were blurred by the violence and tribulation. But if she would relate the songs to him, he would learn them and know them, keeping more of the oral tradition to pass on to his children when the time came. When she led him down into the dark room, he got a good feeling. There was Fire in the stove, which would make calling his own element all the easier. They were down in the Earth, which is what she wanted. There were Air and Water, of course. It was all but impossible to make a space that didn't have some mixture of the four. Still, the room was not damp and there were no breezes, so this remained a place of Earth and, as she lit more sconces, it became more and more a place of Fire as well. He smiled and nodded to her. "This will do well," he said. "Do you have chalk or something to write upon the floor? I spoke to a friend who knows about runes and markers, and he suggested a few things that should help awaken the Earth in you before the others." That said, he looked around, wondering where the best place to sink an Origin would be.

[Kavala]

Kavala nodded.

“Yes, I have such things. I’ll need to go back upstairs for them. Is there anything else you might need before I go?” She waited for his answer then turned to dart back up the stairs. Suddenly, Kavala felt young again, excited… more like the age she actually was rather than the age she often felt. Retrieving the chalk, she also brought him string and a yardstick in case he was making formal runes. Dropping the stuff off to him in a small basket, Kavala then carefully closed the door and stared at it. “I’m going to shield it against noise so we won’t disturb the animals in the recovery kennels nor will anyone walking about will make sound that will disturb us or that they will hear our sounds.” The Konti said.

“Most importantly…I want to make sure no one will bother us…” Kavala said simply, then turned back to the door.

She stood back and made sure the door was firmly closed. Then, carefully, she began extruding djed, slowly covering the doorway with an adequate layer that she bound to the frame and the floor with her will. As she extruded the djed, she slowly whispered to it, taking away its ability to transfer sound past its energetic form. “No sound shall intrude… no sound shall intrude….” She kept whispering as she awkwardly concentrated, giving Sama’el time to chalk on his lines while she carefully took away their ability to be disturbed by noise. When she’d finally covered the whole doorway, she stepped back, having the oddest sensation of leaving part of herself at the door guarding it.

Switching her vision, Kavala concentrated carefully, and slowly ever so slowly her sight drifted into a dull almost non-awareness that caused the shield to blaze to life in her auristic gaze. She noted the imperfections and stepping forward once again, added djed to where the shield was thin or the thickness was otherwise inconsistent. It would be quiet for them, for sure….

When she was done, Kavala turned and examined what Sama’el was doing. She stayed out of his way but was attentive in her curiosity.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"A jug of drinking water, some blankets." He nodded and smiled encouragingly. The warning of pain had already been given, and he had felt well and truly ill for a time as well, but she would have him there to take care of her and assure her that everything would be all right in the end. When she returned, he used the yardstick and string to measure out a circle that was close enough to perfect for their purposes. Once that skeleton was laid out, he could not help but peer at her as if that would help him suss out how she was doing that to the door. He had heard of the Sight, but he did not have it. Still, attuned to the Web as he was and having learned to call Fire, he was more aware of the djed around him than he had been before. Pulling himself back to his work, he marked the cardinal points with clusters of related runes. Kneeling there, he recalled the runes Leto had taught him, but their forms blurred in his memory and he did as the summoner bade him, thinking on the concept and letting his hand chalk in the appropriate rune intuitively. There was a part of the runes that was personal to each calligrapher, and so it didn't matter that Sama'el could not read the simplest of Common, let alone the alphabet of Nader-canoch or older languages. To the South: Fire, Ivak, Syna, Sivah. To the West: Water, Laviku, Makutsi, Bala. To the North: Earth, Semele, Morwen. To the East: Air, Zulrav, Tivaku. The cluster to the North was surrounded by a ring of repeated runes that would, according to Leto, key this entire working to that element. If the gods were involved in this, they would choose as they wished, but modest Kavala and humble Sama'el could at least let their wishes be known. Perhaps if Eldon had known this trick, Sama'el too would be able to call Water in the heat of Summer, but he was content with what the gods had chosen for him, even if he sank his thanks to Syna for her fire rather than to the angry one imprisoned wherever gods were imprisoned. Once done, he set his implements aside and glanced at the door. There was something there, of that he was sure. As Kavala had no reason to lie to him, he assumed that it was whatever sound shield she had mentioned. It was a strange thing for a Drykas to know, he thought; they lived without privacy. If a Drykas craved privacy, they road out into the Sea for the anonymity of the grasses and dealt with the dangers there. Smiling, he piled the things he would need outside the circle as well and beckoned her over, again with the encouraging smile. "Are you ready?"

[Kavala]

The Konti healer was no stranger to faith. When her shield was cast, examined, found lacking, and repaired… she stepped back and assessed the situation. Sama’el was busy on his knees, chalk in hand, sketching runes on the stone of the floor. She’d missed him chalking in the circle, but was impressed at the formality of it all regardless. Kavala hadn’t anticipated this elaborate of a ceremony but with the runes beginning to take shape and the flickering torches burning high, an atmosphere of something almost holy fell upon the room destined to be their chapel.

Kavala advanced forward, dipping her hands into the basket and retrieving little things she placed at each quarter as Sama’el invoked the Gods, remembering their names and the elements associated with them. At Ivak’s quarter, just outside the runed circle, Kavala placed a thick candle swirled with reds, oranges and yellows. It was lit with a small bundle of sage she lit from the torches on the wall. The west received a silver chalice of water etched with green blooming things. The north received a crystal as white as Morwen’s snow but honoring Semele as well. And to the east, Kavala laid the still burning smudge of sage letting the smoke rise in slow lazy coils upwards.

The Konti waited quietly until Sama’el was done, paying careful attention to what he’d chalked on the ground. The runes made no sense to her as if they were written in no language at all save for one from the heart. She supposed, though, they were a magical language, one she’d have to learn as well, perhaps hidden in a book in the library in town. She’d watched the curve of his back, the intense gaze on his face, the way his hands held the chalk awkwardly as if he was not used to hold ing chalk at all. Kavala could hardly believe this was going on… that in the bowels of Sanctuary they were going to conduct a sacred ceremony designed to bridge the gap between reimancers and the rest of the world.

As she waited, she grew a bit more nervous, trusting Sama’el but truthfully not knowing him well at all. They were both Sapphires, but Kavala knew most Drykas would not consider her Drykas at all, no matter how many windmarks she wore. Sama’el had never blinked at the notion though, and she wondered suddenly what his whole story was. She knew he was building herds and starting his own pavilion, but politeness had quieted her desire to ask where his family’s pavilion was. Some people lost on the grass. Wildfires took whole pavilions, sometimes down to every man woman and child. Kavala didn’t want to bring up old pain asking him questions just to satisfy her curiosity. But she did decide that if they were ever up late, talking deep into the night, she’d definitely ask him.

Kavala watched Sama’el glance at the door once more, furrow his brow a little, and then glance at her beckoning her over. It was funny that she thought him so guarded when they first met. By watching him quietly, Kavala could tell he wore every thought lightly and close to the surface. In any other culture worldwide that would be a bad thing, but in a Drykas it could often save their lives.

Interpreting his gesture and letting his smile calm her slightly, Kavala moved to join him. “I hope the offerings are acceptable. I’ve learned when the gods are involved, to always give generously.” Kavala said, knowing the things she laid down were fine things indeed, though not something she could ill afford.


“I feel like I should have taken a ceremonial bath or somehow cleaned this room spotless. I would have had I known what we would be doing.” She said carefully, studying his eyes and looking him over boldly. Kavala had no idea what the reinmancy ceremony entailed of, but if Sama’el said it would hurt, then she assumed it was some sort of bloodletting or djed letting that was involved.

“Yes… I’m ready.” She responded, moving to stand just outside the circle nearest him.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Her words didn't banish his smile, but he felt that it was important to be forthcoming and truthful; soon his djed would inhabit her body, keyed to the resonance of elemental res, and there was an intimacy to that. He thought back to his own initiation back in the Spring, and thought that he was coming along fairly well. "When my cousin initiated me, we were out in the Sea and I think he must have prayed to Rak'keli, but not aloud. I feel like my fire comes from Syna more than Ivak, and I could be wrong, but she has come to me in a summer fever..." He spread his hands. "I have faith, and it seems like a good idea to ask for blessings upon an endeavor like this. There is magic everywhere, but what is shared between Drykas, those are our Mysteries. Not just the Web, but... if we are doing the same thing, we do it with a different understanding. I will work with the Fire I was given and hopefully someday I will have the mastery to snuff out a wildfire, or at least enough to allow some of our people to pass through to safety. So here we will pray that the Earth answers your call, to help you send down your roots even deeper than this. "If you want to bathe, we both ought to. I'd take off my boots to be more connected to the ground, but I'd offend Semele with my travel stink." He grinned again and shrugged, letting her decide. This was her ritual as much as his, making them joint celebrants. He would wait, bathe, or proceed according to her wishes. It should feel right to her. It was her life they would change.

[Kavala]

Kavala listened to what he said, nodding quietly, the firelight flickering off her pale skin and dancing across the planes of her face. She looked haunted in that moment, as if she didn't exit in the same way real people existed. The Konti's eyes flickered with something then fleetingly. She studied him stoically, as if she were no more than a statue in the room.

When she spoke, it was softly, her words and tone colored by the mood already set in the sacred chamber. "The Gods are in all of us and everything we touch, Sama'el. We just don't often have a way to see it with our blind mortal eyes. Yes, we should bathe. With how you've explained this, something of yours will with after this night, always... as your teacher's gifts are now with you. I want to do this right, with reverence, because its something that will only be done once. I will prepare the bathing chamber. It's off to the left of the veranda overlooking the stable yard. There's robes and sandals there that are already clean. When you are ready, meet me there? We can do so together. It'd be an honor for me to bathe a brother and get him ready for ritual as you do for me." Kavala said, turning then to quietly leave the room.

She paused at the shielded door to unlock it. "There's a shield across the door. You can pass through, but it will most likely raise the hairs on your neck and arms. Its designed only to block sound, nothing more, not Drykas kin." The Konti said, smiling slightly and turning to move back upstairs leaving him there.

Kavala moved with purpose, letting Sama'el follow as he would when he was ready. When she reached the chamber, she turned on the taps to the roof cistern and began filling the oversized basin with water. There were oil heaters beneath, and she lit them carefully as well to lick up and warm the stone from beneath to help augment the already warm water pouring in. She scented the bath with oils to honor her patron Gods and Goddesses: Rak'keli, Nysel, and Eyris. Lavender, Camomile, and Mint went into the bath. Kavala didn't know who Sama'el honored other than Semele, so she added a few drops of Earthwarm into the bath as well in Semele's name. Once the bath was ready and the basin filled, she set a basket beside its rim, ready for her to pull things from its depths. There were soaps, shampoos, a comb, sponges and various cloths. She hung up two robes beside the bath on pegs for that purpose and set sandals beneath them on the floor.

When she was finished, she disrobed herself and slipped into the water, waiting for Sama'el.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sama'el nodded at her decision, thinking it a wise one. There was no need of words from him, so he followed her through the magical barrier feeling it brush through him in a strange way, attuned to the djed as he had become with initiation into the Web and Fire-calling. There was already a deep and abiding respect for Kavala in his heart, but it only grew as he learned that not only was she a most knowledgeable, skilled, and visionary horse breeder, but a survivor, and a bearer of further Mysteries. He decided he would not ask about her work with spirits just yet, nor her barriers. Perhaps someday she would find him worthy, or he would know himself to be ready and so ask. But for now, there was this ritual, and the need to drop an Origin stone where it would be protected. If one was going to live in a house that could not follow Zulrav's paths, then this was the sort of place he thought he could learn to like. As she prepared the bath, he wished he could help, but knew that there was a virtue to her preparing it alone, an act of service being part of an energetic exchange: purification for him, power for her. It would bode well for the origin stone and for his possibly ill-advised trip to the heart of Winter. Instead he murmured prayers to Syna, who was the patron of his dead pavilion, to Zulrav, who had watched over him since his return to the Sea of Grass, to Viratas, that he might not be the last of his bloodline and who blessed his travel along the web of connections between his people. He prayed too to Semele, asking that she transmute his gift into her own, the one that Kavala desired. There were others, and he honored most of them in their times, but for this he wanted to be clear and simple. When he was done, Kavala was already waiting in the bath. He smiled faintly, and began to undress. The Drykas were not shy about their bodies, though he did have to shunt off curious questions about Konti gills, and hope that his mind, focused on the work ahead, and spirit, seeking cleanness, would not be eclipsed by the nearness of her beautiful body. She had scars, to be sure, but so did he, and so did most true Drykas. They lived a difficult life. He unraveled the tight, but messy plaits of his hair, releasing feathers, tiny gems, and other decorations that had been given to him or found. One had to be well and truly naked. Finally, tousled-headed, he dropped trow and climbed into the water. The heat immediately began to ease into his body, loosening knots of muscle of which he had hardly been aware. He only hoped he didn't stain the basin with all the grit of travel. Sama'el released quite a bit on a voiced sigh.