[Sanctuary] A Gathering of Sapphires and Emeralds

[Kavala]

Kavala smiled softly, relaxing in Ronan and Leto's company. Truthfully she loved playing hostess and missed the constant in and out flow of the Drykas camps she grew up in. It was nice to have visitors She made sure both had full wineglasses and laughed harder when Ronan called her a web mage. "Ronan, please don't let me give you the wrong idea. I'm a healer of animals, like my mother, and if you want to assign anything to me when it comes to webbing, it would be web babe." She said with a smile.

Kavala followed his gaze and to some extent Ronan's change in mood. He went from grateful to seemingly deeper, as if acknowledging something inside himself that was wanting to surface. "Ronan. We are Drykas, for all that my skin is white and scaled. I was born of Lachann Denusk - brothers Vanator and Bolden, of a Konti mother, but that makes me no less Drykas and no less family. I miss the Sea of Grass and its effervescent nature. Here the sea sings to me and it is comforting to be within the stone at times, but the grassland is in my blood too. I dwell on a boarder here trying to be both and part of all." Kavala glanced at Leto, smiled, and then looked back towards Ronan.

She heard Ronan's soft words, and suddenly wanted to know him as she felt she knew Sama'el now for this was a piece of him, a puzzle slowly coming together. Kavala felt as if she looked at another piece of Sama'el's family whether Ronan and Leto understood that or not.

"Recovery? Would you tell me?" She asked quietly, her gaze a blend of curiosity and concern.

[Ronan]

"Web babe, eh?" he retorted with the hint of a blush. "I don't doubt that Kavala, there is a Drykas vibe about you... I think you can tell when someone has walked the grasslands, can't you?" He paused as she described her family, heart wilting a little. "Vanator and I... we don't see eye to eye. I hope that there's no bad blood between us because of that."

He noticed Kavala watching him - no doubt his emotions were obvious to all and sundry. But he had already told Leto some of what he was about to recount, and that made it a little easier.

"Sama'el and I aren't so different. We both lost our families." He looked down at the table, thumb sliding over the glass. "But that isn't entirely true. For I discovered a cousin I never knew existed recently. Akilah. And she is the most wonderful thing to have happened to me for so long..."

His childhood reared up, but it was not an ugly face as it had once been held in his mind.

"My brother... my parents... they were taken by the Grasses. I was despondent for such a long time, Kavala. But now I see there is a road worth travelling."

[Kavala]

The Konti nodded thoughtfully. "I have no hard feelings for my brother, but who he sees eye to eye with or not is none of my business. The situation with Bolden was unusual and there's rifts within the Denusk's now. When last I needed them I visited, to get Tasival, my son, tied into the web. But I will likely visit no longer. I have a series dislike for Vanator's wives." She grinned then, a rather feral grin that showed her softness hid a Drykas fierceness after all. "Bolden will always be my brother though. Both him and Vanator are welcome here any time, though I do not agree with what happened between them. Vanator should have told Bolden he was his father the whole time instead of letting our father assume that responsibility." She said, looking thoughtful. "I'm sure he had good reasons, but it all seems pointless to me. But they are so close to the situation. Family is family. And buried among them they don't understand how precious blood is. Those of you who have lost this understand. So too do those who dwell outside of true family. I am here alone, my family adopted. I see their foolishness." She said softly, nodding.

Then she met Ronan's gaze and smiled knowingly. "You look like a man who's just got equated with his future and sees the tall grasses and warm sun ahead. I'm not a Seer, but it looks like Sama'el and yourself are converging with others." Her eyes turned to Leto. "The pavilions of the past in a lot of ways have weakened. The future of the Grass is that which will come after the wildfires and storms and deep dark winter cull the inferior. It sounds harsh but its how we've always lived there. I think you both will form, with others, newer stronger links. Its the way the Drykas survive and thrive. Pavilions come and go, new ones form. But Ankals are not truly born, they are formed. Sama'el will need help to become what the world wants of him. I think you know that. Leto too." Kavala said, glancing at the silent member of their little trio.

"And he's lucky he has such help. He is the type of man people will follow, across the whole of Mizahar if they must. I wonder if he knows what he's wrought and what will come of it?" She asked slowly, not trying to be cryptic but not knowing what else she could say to convey what she was feeling.

"I'll be glad to know all of you when the dust settles and the seeds you sow sprout. And I hope you can call me a friend, if not family, when you need such things. I'll always ride the Sea of Grass and graze my horses there. Sama'el will need herds too. We'll all help each other when the time comes." She decided then and there. Sama'el would not only get his bloodbane stallion come spring, but she'd pass some prime striders on to him as well. He'd need the help and his people would need remounts. Ronan needed a new family, a strong one, and she'd help as she could.

[Ronan]

"His wives...? I only knew of Khiara. She is a kind soul - I am sure of it, though I have not seen nor heard from her in a long time. As for Bolden," he smiled, remembering the night of the storm, "I would count him a friend. We went through hell and back, all in one night."

Leto sat silently, but listening intently, and Ronan found himself captivated by Kavala's rhetoric. She seemed more attuned to the Drykas' future than Ronan ever would be. He finished his wine as he heard her out.

"I think you're right. Our people are changing. EVer changing. But that's the Drykas - we move, we adapt. Sama'el seeks to form his own family, and thus our aims converge. I will do all I can to help him. He is a good man, through and through. It's funny isn't it...? I think he draws people towards him."

He paused, a lump forming in his throat. He was still getting used to the kindness of others.

"That... that means a lot Kavala. I hope you can count me as a friend too. We're all in this together, aren't we? The Web... Sama'el... everything. We're all linked so intrinsically in this thing we call life." He laughed, lifting his empty glass towards the sky. The wine was going to his head a little. "To the Drykas, and the Sea of Grass. Long may it survive and prosper."

[Leto Sunsinger]

As they all had sat down, Leto ate as much as was filling, and little more. He listened intently to the two talk, and when Ronan was finished speaking, he finally spoke up. "You'll have to forgive my silence, It was just intriguing watching how Ronan socializes... as i'm a bit socially inept... I'm probably not the best friend to Sama'el, but I certainly try to be. I'm more of a teacher to him than a friend, in the art of glyphing..." he said, but didn't mention anything about his skill at summoning. Not everyone outside of Endrykas would take to kindly to one of the more unstable mysteries that there happened to be among the world. Turning his obsidian gaze towards Kavala, he let a gentle smile seep through and then said, "I too must thank you for your hospitality, it has been overwhelmingly generous of you..."

As Ronan raised his glass of wine to toast the Drykas, Leto did as well, nodding to Ronan and agreeing with him. The wine itself was getting to Leto quite a bit, as he didn't usually drink very much, and upon drinking it, definitely felt its affects. "I completely agree with you, my friends..." he said softly, and upon allowing the glass to sit down upon the table once more, he smiled, and then looked towards Kavala and Ronan, glad to be able to call them friends, and people that he could trust, being Drykas and all...

OOCSorry for the lateness in this post! Just trying to get back into the swing of things!

[Kavala]

The Konti was pretty happy as well, being surrounded by Drykas was a familiar comforting thing to her rather than being inundated with the Akalak, which she didn't mind. But Ronan and Leto were comforting, rather than formal, and the company wasn't minded at all.

"I'm glad you both are here. I wish more visiting Drykas would stop by and stay a while. I miss my family sometimes. I invited Vanator to come, minus his wives." Kavala chuckled. "Khiara I have never met, but Bolden doesn't care for her and that's enough for me to know something isn't right. She had a white stallion that broke a leg. I do not know if she still has him. Rather than summon a healer to him, she had him walk miles and miles in agony, not even ponying him between two horses that were holding up his weight. By the time he arrived, he was in very bad shape. I wanted to give Vanator a piece of my mind because one doesn't treat horses like that when a known healer is around and available. I would have come. Any of us would have. But I know she's not Drykas and thus doesn't probably understand like we do. His other wife is a small minded woman interested only in the fact that Vanator will be Ankal. I was best friends with his first wife, Tamar. There was no finer woman. Zith took her. I mourned for ... no I still mourn her loss. He chose the next for lust, and the second for her seemingly sweetness. You men need to marry for love, strong women, that will give you grief every day of your life. And if you don't care for women, support men like Sama'el and stand at their right hands. You want intelligence and cunning in your partnerships. That's how a Pavilion thrives. As it is now, when my father dies, and Vanator takes over, the Denusk Pavilion won't have the strength it did in times past. I hate putting things like that, but it is how it is. The Denusks are cursed. They always have been." She hadn't meant to talk about her family. She respected them, most of them at least, but there was still lingering anger. Kavala had never been human enough and her father though he'd spent time with her, had always put more importance on Vanator and his needs than any of the other children.

"Leto.. glyphing? I recently just learned. I'll take you through Sanctuary and show you some of the glyphs I've put into the clinic for medical needs." Kavala said, changing the subject. "And when you hit the road, I'll load up some glyphs with healing for all sorts of situations both of you can think of, if you'd like. Maybe we can team up to make them together, Leto." Kavala offered, wanting her new Drykas friends to travel as safe as possible. "That way if you have a mount break a leg on the road, you won't need to find a healer as urgently if its something a stored healing gnosis can take care of." She added.

Then, growing quiet and letting the talk swell around her, she raised her own glass in time with Ronan's toast. "Tall grass and fair winds to all of us." She added, smiling.

[Ronan]

Yes.

The wine had definitely gone straight to head. It had addled his mind, so much so that he became very defensive when Kavala spoke ill of Khiara.

"She's a good soul, Kavala, I'm telling you. I... I liked her a lot. You don't know her..." And then, almost to himself, "in a different life perhaps." He paused, gathering some modicum of composure. She did not know about him and Khiara, and he would like to keep it that way. He wondered if she knew... then there truly would be bad blood. "Well I never met Kashik, but I heard of her through others. They didn't think a lot of her either. Your family. They're a confusing lot, aren't they? I would like to get to know Bolden better in future. I feel the same way as you - Vanator should not have kept the truth from him."

He turned away, blinking heavily.

"Well, I have not wed yet. I have not found the right woman. I will know what I want when I find her, I am sure of it. As for Sam... I will stand at his side for as long as I live. I am sure of that too. He saved me from myself."

[Leto Sunsinger]

"I would like that Kavala," said Leto in response to her query about working on the glyphs together. "Having some healing magic stored would be more than useful on our trek..." As he spoke, he looked up to Ronan for some form of agreement to that. Though he wouldn't interrupt their discussion about Kavala's family, as he was polite enough to realize he didn't understand the situation enough to be able to speak about it. Turning his eyes downwards towards the ground as Ronan spoke of Sama'el saving them, he looked back up towards the two of them.

"Sama'el has a way of saving people, myself included. He seems to take the social outcasts, no offence Ronan, and give them a new outlook on life... I... I will stand by him as well, in whatever he needs of me," said the summoner, as he smiled towards the two of them, a gentle smile, one of someone who had known pain, but had it healed by Sama'el, whom was friend to what it seemed to be everyone. Grinning as he felt the wine having an adverse affect on him, one he hadn't experienced in some time, his eyes roved from Kavala to Ronan, and he nodded to both of them. "I am glad to have met Sama'el, as well as everyone i've known on this path out of Endrykas and to the north. Ronan and you too Kavala..." he said, not quite sure of what else to say at the moment...

[Kavala]

Kavala smiled, looked thoughtful and nodded. "Sama'el will need family for his pavilion. The Drykas needs more strong pavilions. The grass has been hit hard in these last few years. Glassbeaks are everywhere, there was a velispar hatch, and we've got a hellish winter coming on if the shag on the horses in my herds are any indication. Even if you guys are gemstones of a wide variety, its worth coming under one mantle and being strong. When he forms his pavilion and assumes his role as Ankal, are you guys going to stay with him? He'll need wives to make it legitimate, but he'll also need strong men around him. A pavilion means nothing if you have no herds and no families to support with those herds. You'll need wives too." She said, thinking things through.

"I want to help him as much as I can. I'm going to give him a horse or two, but I think that will end up being more than a few. I have striders I don't need for my breeding program here that are of excellent quality. And I know for a fact I can make sure he's got other livestock. In the spring when Riverfall and Endrykas are close, we can see what we can do. But I'm going to wait until he at least gets this urge to travel out of his system and comes back to the grass and starts a family. I'm hoping I can buy my way in with the livestock. He's got no sisters that I know of and every man needs a few." Kavala smiled, looking mischievous. "And adopting sisters that will outlive you will make sure your kids and their kids stay on the right path and never forget you. I'll torture his grandchildren and their kids with stories of you all so none of you are forgotten." She added, not throwing in the fact that besides Bolden, she was more than willing to give up her claims to the Denusks because of who and what they were these days.

"You'll have to be my eyes and ears and find out just how many Zibri will by me a sisterhood into Sama'els new pavilion. I can't believe how much better they do on the grass than the milk cows I have. And if that doesn't work, I know a cloth merchant in Endrykas that owes me a favor or two when she had babes that were ailing. Enough cloth gifted to him to sew his pavilion from might do the trick." She added, looking thoughtful. She might have been treading on ground that constituted 'none of her business' but she was curious of these men were going to be in Sama'els pavilion or not when he finally got around to establishing one.

They could tell her to mind her own business and she'd respect that, but she hoped she'd built a relationship up well enough with both of them to find out if they were planning on remaining with Sama'el or not.

[Ronan]

Ronan listened to Kavala, sobering a little at her words.

"I will always be a Windsong... but the part of the Pavilion, the part I lived in, well that's long gone. When you tear a corner from a tapestry, it will always be missing that piece. And it will never be complete again. You can try patching it up, but you'll see the stitches. And they'll break... oh yes, they'll break. I think. I think that I will join Sama'el. At least, I will do everything in my power to support him."

He smiled, letting out a small, throaty laugh as she conveyed her plan. It was a clever one. And it made sense. If he had been a Denusk, he didn't think he'd want to stick around either. Fractures... one telluric current, and the whole thing would fall apart.

"When Sama'el comes back, I'll ask him. Discretely. I'll find out his price for you."

He looked to Leto, smiling widely. There was a flutter in his heart, and a warmth spreading through his chest.

"I would like nothing more than for Sam, and Leto here to be my brothers. And for you, Kavala, to be my sister."

Was it the drink talking? Despite the glass of wine, he felt sure that he meant those words. He barely knew the Konti, but Sama'el trusted her. He trusted her deeply. Ronan didn't need to know anything more. His short time spent here with her only confirmed what he had learnt from his friend.

The sun was setting on the Grasses, and when it rose again, he was sure a new Pavilion would be dawning.