Open A warmer welcome [open to Sanctuarians]

[Leo Varniak]

Timestamp: 7th day of Fall, 512 AV Sleeping with a solid roof over your head was highly underrated. It was strange to be staring at a ceiling after all that time in Kalea, and stranger still for that ceiling to be in the Sanctuary, a fortress pretending to be a horse breeding paradise. Leo could swear the place was an actual maze. There were offices and kitchens and halls and rooms for talking and rooms for business and who knew what else he hadn't gotten around to exploring yet. A veterinarian's abode, organized much like a military academy or barracks. Everything had purpose. Everything was laid out to minimize walking distances between any two locations of interest. It had a clear line of view all around. 'It could use a moat and boiling oil, though.' It was almost intimidating, really. Leo felt distinctly out of place, so he felt right at home - which, in his own logic, made perfect sense. Having spent the first few days simply recuperating from his journey, he was now in a mood to explore his temporary shelter and perhaps meet its residents. Leo Zaital was no master socializer, and in fact had no problem simply staring at you for half a bell straight if he felt no words were needed, but he wanted to be as gracious a guest as Kavala was a host. He felt much safer here than at any boarding house within Riverfall proper. He felt he was needed here, as well, though he did not know what for just yet and it troubled him. Maybe he just needed to be given some work to do. When fire had nothing left to burn, it burned itself out. After a quick tour around the public sections of the Sanctuary, the only ones where he dared enter for the time being, he still found himself inexplicably attracted to the iridescent horses born the night of the Djed storm. He stood near the veranda, arms folded across his chest, lost in the sight. There was something to be learned from this, he felt, but what? He breathed in the cool morning air, and wondered. To an external observer, he looked like someone who'd hit on hard times and was starting to get better. His hardships had thinned him and made him look older than his young age. He was wearing new clothes, bought only yesterday from the bazaar: a shirt, pants, boots and gloves, all in various shades of non-color and none of them extravagant in any way. While unremarkable in most physical ways, something about Leo Zaital stood out. He had an aura about him that went beyond simple human confidence - it was the twisted touch of the goddess of fear, the same mark that granted him an uncanny insight into the secret terrors of those he faced. He stepped out in the sun and enjoyed the cool breeze for a change. Life could almost feel good at times like these, with the illusion of peace both within and without. It never lasted. It was never real, but knowing it was no more than a ripple in the water, a memory of things that could never be... it didn't make it any less enjoyable. It was a good day. Hopefully it would stay good.

[Vanator]

The morning dawned on Vanator's new world, day seven of his reintroduction to the life of a free man. He still awoke in a cave, that was true, he had done so for most of the past four seasons. But this was not a dingy hole in a dark Zith colony, it was a roomy chamber with walls adorned with precious stone and metal. The large, comfortable feather mattress beneath him was not the pile of matted fur and straw he had bedded on countless long nights. The fact was, the Drykas could not sleep on the bed for several days, finding more comfort on the familiar hardness of the floor. Not even in Endrykas did he sleep on such a thing. But Kavala convinced him that it was comfortable and not unDrykas to sleep on furniture.

For Vanator, there were far more sobering things to wrestle. Kavala had revealed everything to him. Everything. Things Vanator was still wrapping his earthbound mind around. Past lives, Cytali, addictions, abuses, loves, magicks....and the revelation that their entire family was presumed dead after the Storm. Kavala claimed the gods were at work, saving him from the storm by his very captivity, leading her to find him. Then, only two days ago, she found Vanator's estranged children in the hands of the same slavers. Vanator was still skeptical of such divine intervention in his mortal life. But he was still the son of an Ankal, and he tried to face these truths with his head up and his back straight.

The Denusk had grabbed a pear from the bowl in the kitchen, fresh fruit the new love of his life. He wore borrowed clothes, which fit suitably, and a pair of boots. His sister had asked him to create an armory for the facility. She knew her brother needed purpose, and little did either of them know how much Sanctuary needed armed. Tomorrow he would go into Riverfall and make some purchases, and buy some clothes for himself.

Taking generous bites out of the juicy fruit, Van made his way to the Top, breaking out of the stoney tunnel to the brightly lit courtyard. His observant gaze swung across the interior of the Sanctuary's walls, now a collection of partially built buildings and stacks of construction material. The air was crisp, carrying the sounds of barking dogs, lowing cattle and the snort of horses across the compund. Vanator's eyes fell on the young man who, too, seemed to be taking in the breadth of the facility. Though the Drykas believed Kavala had introduced him to everyone at the Sanctuary, this one was unfamiliar.

He strode across the hard ground towards the gloved-man. The air was not chilled, and the raven-haired stranger was not dressed to labor at the construction, leaving the purpose of the gloves a point of intrigue. "Good morning." Vanator offered with sincerity but not over enthusiasm. He still felt a measure of discomfort in his new home, and a distinct disconnection with everyone in it, aside from his sister. "I am Vanator." The Denusk assumed that, if the man was a resident, he would have heard about Kavala's brother. Then again, the Drykas had kept to himself since arriving. "Do you live here, or just visiting?" Only after his introduction and question did Vanator consider the possibility that the man may have preferred to enjoy the morning in solitude.

[Leo Varniak]

A voice recalled Leo to reality, and he realized the horses had done this to him once again. On a deep, primal level he could not help but think of them as his creation. Born of the Storm that he had unleashed on the world, they may well be one of the only examples of anything good coming out of it. As they grew older, if they grew older, it might be possible - thanks to them - to understand what the Storm really had been. They embodied the essence of mutation. He had seen those very iridescent colors in Kalea, pools of wild Djed that had almost claimed his life. To see the same principle incarnated in beings of hoof and wind was endlessly captivating. He turned to face the newcomer. He was Drykas, most likely, even though Leo's experience with the horsemen was minimal at best. The traces of overpowering fear were still all over him, and the Azenth was left with the strong impression of someone who had seen better times in his life. 'But this is why she calls it Sanctuary, I suppose. It is no place for those drowning in contentment, whole of body and mind. Or I wouldn't be here, either.' He nodded as the other man approached. "Good morning to you, as well." Leo was nothing if not polite, but he too kept his distance by default. "I am Leo Zaital, formerly of Syliras, now a wanderer. Well met, Vanator." He briefly considered adding a Mr. in front of that name, but it sounded incredibly out of place with a Drykas; so much so it might have been construed as an insult, he thought. The name did ring a bell, and Leo remembered he was the brother Kavala had mentioned briefly during their first encounter. Half brother, quite obviously. There was no resemblance whatsoever between the two, but he had heard this was the way things were with the Konti. Their pairings were often viewed as unlucky even in Syliras, given that the father's identity could never be established for certain and no man who married one would leave this world with the certainty of leaving his legacy behind. He scrutinized Vanator briefly, but attentively. Leo's body language was quite closed and constrained. There was no aggressiveness to it, but he was still wary. He hadn't stopped being a stranger in a strange land just yet. "Isn't that an interesting question?" he mused, honestly not knowing what to answer. "I would say I am somewhere between those extremes. I am visiting still, but my stay here may stretch well beyond my original plans. When I arrived three days ago, Ms. Kavala most graciously offered me a place to recuperate for a while. I believed she mentioned you as well. The Sanctuary is a remarkable place, isn't it? Even in its current state, I have seldom seen such efficiency and organization." He tilted his head slightly. "Also... there's no need to dance around things with me. Your sister told me about the true nature of the Sanctuary, as well, for all that I am not a prospective member of the Cytali. An impressive act of trust. I am thankful. This place has been very kind to me so far." He allowed himself to smile in a perfunctory way. He hoped he could be kind to this place in turn, despite his less than kind tendencies throughout life. "Has the Sanctuary existed for very long?" The unchanging nature of the Konti made it quite hard to peg Kavala's age, and she could be decades older or younger than Vanator, depending on their father's circumstances in life. He wondered how many years it had taken them to get their fortress to where it was now.

[Kavala]

Kavala wandered out of her suite, yawning. The Konti was still half asleep. But they needed to get breakfast underway if anyone was going to get work done. And so far it looked like she was going to have to be the one doing it. The Within appeared abandoned and no one had even put on a kettle of water to boil for tea. Kavala sighed, not really mad, just wishing someone – anyone – had started a kettle.

The Konti used the hand pump and grabbed the water pot off the hearth and filled it with ice cold well water. She then hung it on the hook above the hearth and piled in some wood. She’d have to get the oven portion of the hearth up to temperature anyhow if she was going to do any bread baking or make anything for breakfast. Kavala didn’t feel like frying up pork or scrambling eggs, or even making some of the cakes that people sometimes liked drizzled with maple syrup. She felt like something plain and simple.

And so she struck her flint to the tinder, blew the fire into being, added a few scraps of small twigs and then added to that some scrap bloody bandages they used to start fire. She got the fire built up enough to add sticks of wood and then stepped back and stretched.

The Konti yawned.

She slipped into the pantry and came out with a large bowl of pecans from their stash. Kavala inverted them on her cutting board, pulled out her tamo daggers and checked the blades for sharpness. Mmmmm. Sharp. The Konti then dual wielded the daggers, stretched, worked through one Kata exercise called The Morning Sun as she stretched up and stabbed forward, paying mind to her footwork. Kavala then laughed and used the daggers for a swift frontal assault on the pecans, neatly cutting them in halves with rapid chopping motions meant to mimic an enemies body.

Dead, the pecans laid there, bleeding not at all. The Konti inverted the tamos, sheathed them into themselves, and re-sheathed the club-like weapon onto her forearm. Still laughing, she took a second trip to the pantry to gather more ingredients.

Cinnamon sugared Pecans were a great breakfast food and would go good alongside the muffins she planned on making. That took a half a cup of sugar, three heaping teaspoons of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of salt and one egg white. Kavala carried a bowl with her, measured out the sugar and cinnamon directly in the pantry, and then sprinkled the mixture with salt. She then took the egg and the bowl back into the kitchen proper where the halved pecans were.

Pulling a new bowl from the cupboard, Kavala broke the egg on its rim, neatly separated out the yoke and then poured the white into the mixture, and then reusing the small bowl to hold the yolk until she needed it. Taking a small spoon she mixed up the egg white into the spices and then dumped the pecans into that. She tossed the pecans, coating them with the mixture, and then dumped them all out onto a baking tray and checked her oven.

It was definitely hot enough to roast nuts.

She slid the tray into the oven, closed its door firmly, and then went about mixing muffins. Muffins weren’t hard and the ones she was thinking of had an apple surprise in the middle. Kavala pulled apples from the pantry, carefully peeled them with a knife, then sliced them into bite sized pieces. She placed them the dirty bowl she’d used for the pecans, and took it into the pantry and added cinnamon and sugar to the bite sized morsels. Tossing the apples and adding a tiny bit of lemon to keep them from browning, Kavala set it aside. The lemon she’d use up on the tea, slicing its good half to add into cups once she got the tea going.

She dug through her kitchen stash of parchments, looking for a recipe, and finally pulled one out for the cinnamon muffins. The recipe was delicious and she was confident it would come out, even though she’d only made them once or twice.

MAIN RECIPE

• 1-3/4 cups flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup lard
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• filling of some sort – apples, jam etc
•

TOPPING

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

The directions were easy enough to follow. Though Kavala tripled the recipe because there were a lot of people to feed in The Sanctuary. In a large bowl she was supposed to combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Then set it aside. Kavala did so, mixing them carefully and then leaving them alone. The recipe also said in a small bowl, combine sugar, lard, egg and milk. She did so utilizing the leftover egg yolk by sneaking it in as an extra egg. She then took the dry ingredients and stirred them gently into the wet ones until the whole mixture looked like batter.

Then Kavala took her muffin pans, greased them with more rendered fat, and then spooned the cups half full. She then put a heaping spoonful of the apple mixture on top in the center, and then filled the cups the rest of the way up with batter. Even before they were cooked, they smelled delicious. Kavala was hungry.

She then added the muffins to the oven and let them begin to cook, taking out the roasted nuts and placing them on the cutting board to cool. She watched the muffins closely as they baked, waiting for the characteristic puff that indicated they were done. While she waited, she melted butter on the hearth and then added it to the cinnamon and sugar that remained. When the muffins were done, she pulled them out of the oven, placed them on the cutting board alongside the nuts, and then brushed them with the cinnamon and sugar melted mixture.

It took her a total of two batches. She got thirty muffins out of the recipe and managed to use all her apple mixture. Then she went ahead and checked the water.. it was boiling, and she poured it into the tea kettle and placed it on a large serving tray. She added half a dozen cups, and then laid out a plate which she stacked the fresh baked muffins on. Finally, she added a small bowl of the cinnamon and sugar pecans to the mix, checking the presentation and adding napkins and some sliced apples to match. Lemon, spoons, and a small bowl of sugar were added.

Kavala then concentrated, tapped the web lightly, and sought out Vanator and everyone else in the Sanctuary. She pushed her essence along the webs making up the Sanctuary and sought out life forces tied to it. Not everyone was woven into the web, but the web touched everywhere in The Sanctuary… so she could tell life forces crossing it. No one was moving, but her brother’s strong tie to the web glowed out up by the clinic porch. Most everyone else was still sleeping. She came slowly out of the web, blinked, and knew here to go.

Satisfied, Kavala hefted the tray, which was hellishly heavy, and carried it up through the kitchen, out the commons and into the tunnel. She traveled upwards, opening the door at the top with a hip, and carrying the tray out into the sunlight of the bright early morning. Vanator and Leo were already sitting on the newly formed Veranda that was overlooking the arena. Kavala moved the tray to a nearby table and sat it down.

“Eat. I just made fresh apple cinnamon muffins and tea. The tea is just good old fashioned black… to wake us up. There’s also some cinnamon sugar pecans here. I don’t know about you guys but I have a long day ahead. " The Konti said cheerfully pouring herself a cup of tea and grabbing a muffin and a few slices of apples.

“Leo. Glad to see your up too. Help yourself.” She added, grinning at Vanator because she knew out on the Grass he never got breakfast like this. The Drykas simply lived to portable for that kind of life.

[Vanator]

OOCSorry! I missed that it was my turn.

Vanator studied the man as he spoke. There was something about Leo that gave him an uneasiness, though the sensation was so subtle it escaped definition. Turning to look out over the compound, the Drykas nodded in agreement with the stranger's praise of his sister's work. But the uneasiness Vanator felt initially flared to concern when Varniak revealed that Kavala had confessed to him her true goals for Sanctuary. His head turned to look hard again at the young northerner. She had met him only three days ago, and he was not even a candidate for this 'Cytali', of whom Vanator himself had only just learned. Either Kavala had made a grave error in judgement, an unlikely occurrence, or this Leo Varniak was indeed more than just a simple wanderer. Regardless, the circumstance compelled the Drykas to proceed with caution.

The newly freed man looked out again over the courtyard, "Yes, Kavala does not give her trust easily, and I am sure there is a reason why she has given it to you." Vanator chose to address no further the matter of the Cytali. " My sister is an amazing woman. She embodies the finest quality of both our father and her mother's people. What she has done with Sanctuary is beyond what I could have imagined when I first saw it. It was two years ago when I was last here. It could not have been established much before that. At that time, it was not much more than a manor set up to tend to the medical needs of animalkind and kelvics."

Any further comments were cut short by the arrival of the Konti Denusk. "Good morning Kav." Vanator gave her a small smile of greeting, standing as she set the table. He helped himself to a muffin and a cup of tea, sipping at the hot liquid and moving to lean against the veranda railing. The Drykas met his sister's eyes in a quick glance, his features a flash of sober concern over the stranger she so readily accepted into her confidence. Then his focus returned to the muffin, inhaling the spiced aroma. In the last seven days, Vanator had become accustomed again to food created for something more than sustenance. Though the ZIth made sure he had enough food to stay strong, it was rarely palatable and often barely fit for human consumption. The ex-slave now found pleasure again in eating, and he used every sense to consume the delicious fare his sister provided.

"So, where did you come from Leo?" Big brother's inquisition began.

[Leo Varniak]

The tidbit of information about the Sanctuary being only two or years old caused Leo to show a little surprise. It seemed such a short time for what she had accomplished so far, and suddenly the words she had spoken when he had first met her began making a lot more sense. Living in the wrong timeline, indeed. She must have pushed herself to the brink of exhaustion, perhaps to the brink of insanity. All this Reimancy in such a short time, too... it couldn't be healthy. He might have to breach the matter with her. He had no wish to intrude on his hostess' life, but as a token of gratitude, perhaps... "Amazing, yes... maybe even too amazing," he commented, only half-responding to Vanator, "she must have paid a price for all this." And he did not mean money, for all that money must have been involved in the matter. It was at that very moment that Kavala showed up, with breakfast. The need to please was strong in the Konti, whether with words or food or actions. He watched the sibling dynamics with interest, never having had a chance to experience it first hand. All the things left unsaid, the meaningful looks, the implicit understanding; even if Leo were ever to meet someone who shared his blood, he doubted things could be like that between them. "Good morning, Kavala." His eyes went to the cookies and this time there was no hesitation or really any need for encouragement on her part. He grabbed one and bit on it, careful not to get too many crumbs on the veranda floor. He recognized the cinnamon right away, and was reminded of a past long gone. "Just like my mother's," he said, unable to suppress a smile at the thought, "I haven't had these in over ten years. I can't bake worth a copper. I always tend to overcook things, you see." He quickly finished his muffin and helped himself to a second one, perhaps in a minor breach of etiquette. He looked at the two of them carefully over the diminishing form of his muffin and tried to interpret the feelings emanating from them. Remnants of some great fear clung still to Vanator, and he did not seem completely comfortable either. Leo suspected they had been reunited after an absence. As far as he knew, Drykas were wanderers. It surprised him that one would even sleep under a hard roof for three nights in a row. He tilted his head a little at the questioning, the breakfast having put him in a sufficiently good mood to answer the interrogation in a light-hearted way, by his standards at least. "The guests' bedroom," he deadpanned, "but if you mean before that, I was recently in Wind Reach. Before that, Syliras. And before that, a womb. I suspect Kavala could go even farther back in time. My ship docked just a few days ago. I was foolish enough to journey through Kalea in the aftermath of the Djed storm, and it very nearly killed me. I am recuperating now, in no small part thanks to my most generous hostess and her breakfasts." He shot a look at Kavala, as if asking her if he could tell him more without being regarded as a lunatic. Some people were easily overwhelmed with information, and he had no wish to alienate Vanator. Kavala herself had suggested that her brother may exhibit traits not unlike those of fire, and she had showed remarkable insight in every other regard. "By the way, if you have any work for me to do, do not hesitate to ask. I always get restless with nothing to spend my time with, and I am used to doing odd jobs anyway. Let it never be said that Leo Zaital freeloaded his stay at the Sanctuary." And with that, he withdrew another muffin with a fluid motion that wouldn't have looked out of place in some sleight of hand trick. One could easily get addicted to these, all things considered.

[Kavala]

Kavala took a muffin for herself and sat down in a vacant seat. She was a good hostess, but not being Vanator's slave she let him pour his own tea and fetch like the big boy he was. Kavala nibbled the muffin she took with her and drew her leg up into the seat of the chair to rest her chin on it. She listened to Leo talk, Vanator watch him talk, and chuckled slightly. She never ever, however, turned down the offer of help. And having caught a glimpse of Leo's mind, she suddenly smiled when he made his offer. It was an almost predatory grin, coming from an unexpected Konti visage.

"If its work you need, we have plenty of it. Physical labor is lost on you though, I suspect. What I need is a plan and the loan of your analytical mind." She tapped her skull with a the hand holding the remains of her muffin, and then chuckled when she ended up picking crumbs out of her hair with the other hand.

"Vanator's skull is too thick for much more than the lightest thought to penetrate, but he'd be good help if you could come up with some sort of design for us." She added, once more using the remains of the muffin to gesture at Vanator. "He can't help it though. He's pavilion born and it ruins them all for any sort of defensive design. But I've been thinking...." She added, highjacking the entire conversation and using the opportunity to take a light dig at her brother, even though there was an apologetic smile to go with it. Kavala took another bite of the muffin and continued.

"We need some sort of system. I'm thinking a channel of some sorts and maybe barrels of oil on the corners of the wall. We could render fat to fill the barrels with good oil.. either fish or something else equally flammable." Kavala paused, looking thoughtful and when she did so the hollows beneath her eyes looked more prominent, giving her an almost the look of a nuit for a moment. It passed quickly as the Konti seemed to seize some internal reserves that spoke volumes about how interested she was in the project she was about to propose.

She shook her head. "Let me start from the beginning. I'd like to design some sort of system here where you can penetrate or open a barrel of oil in an emergency and that oil will flow - possibly downhill? - and fill channels that can be lit to provide emergency lighting. I was thinking of lining the top of the walls with them and then perhaps doing a system for the courtyards or maybe the length of the arena... some place defensible. It will probably take a season or so to manufacture with Reimancy, but if we can have a system to light the darkness and perhaps part of the sky in the event we need too - say Zith or Snarlwing attacks - then that would be very good. I was hoping since you used to work with fire in kilns and ceramics that maybe you'd have some ideas? Maybe its something you and Vanator can work on?" She added.

Then, almost spontaneously she also threw in... "And barring that.. if I supplied the materials, would you perhaps be interested in painting a mural on one of our buildings or walls? I had an Akvatari named Trista paint one once, and it was fantastic. It was an undersea coral reef in my sleeping chambers. It was destroyed during the djed storm, but I've always loved it. You can pick your theme and we'll supply paints and materials. We'll even pay you for the finished work a fair artists commission." She added.

[Vanator]

Vanator had only met Leo, and did not have sufficient understanding of the man to determine whether his snarky comments were good-humored tongue-in-cheek or brazen mockery. The dark haired stranger was well traveled, and slick with the compliments to his sister. Whatever had transpired between Kavala and Varniak prior to that day, it gave the young visitor the confidence to make himself quite at home. There was more in the glance Leo gave Kavala too, as if gauging her reaction to his response to Vanator, as if there was something more between them. Assuming whatever it was, if it pertained to him, Kavala would reveal it in due time. Vanator nodded at Leo's answer, deciding his jests were an indication of a dry sense of humor, and not intended to challenge him.

Kavala, however, had chosen direct insult in front of a guest as the course of interaction with her brother. Van coughed at the blatant offense, muffin crumbs spewing from is mouth, which could have only added to the dumb animal image of him she teasingly painted. Ire rising, Vanator scowled at his sister and, gesturing to her in grassland sign, suggested she choke on her dry muffins.

In spite of Kavala's unkind assessment of Vanator's ability to conceive a meaningful thought, she was right about one thing. Her brother knew nothing of defending walls. The Drykas had no walls, and any form of combat strategy was centered on the formation and movement of fighters, usually horsed. Forms of cover were few and far between in the open grass, so the concept of defending a static location was unfamiliar to him. On the other hand, Leo certainly had seen walled cities, and how their defenses were designed. Also, Kav had confidence in the man's intelligence, and Vanator already discerned that Varniak was an intelligent man.

Kavala's vision for the wall top fires impressed Vanator and his eyes twinkled when she suggested he and Leo work on the defenses together. "That is a great idea Kav." Vanator admitted to her. Having let go of his chagrin, the Drykas raising his cup of tea towards Leo, giving him a wry grin."Of course...you do the thinking and I will carry the big things.". Then his lopsided smile fell onto his sister. "And as for you... I'll ignore the disrespect you show your elders. But if you determine that I am capable of counting, I will take some money into town tomorrow and buy some arms and armor to stock an armory. I may then find it in my heart to teach your bandage-wrappers how to use them."

Van then popped the remains of his muffin into his mouth, washed it down with a swig of tea, and grabbed another. Kavala's cooking had spoiled him.

[Leo Varniak]

A quarrel between siblings was the last thing Leo Zaital wanted to be dragged into, especially one where he didn't know exactly how seriously the participants were about it. He watched the entire scene unfold with the strange, wide-eyed fascination he always reserved for those things he had never experienced growing up. He had had no peers throughout his childhood, only adults and the occasional kids from the neighborhood who called him weird and tried to steal his pocket mizas. So, while he could discern the telltale signs of an argument, he couldn't know if feathers were being ruffled and for how long. A woman making fun of a man in front of strangers could not have sat well with a Drykas. And, just like that, the conversation turned to boiling oil. Just the thing to talk over tea and muffins, Leo considered. Then again, had he known the Zith were going to attack the Sanctuary but a few days later, he would have started working on the project right away. Kavala's mind was always spinning, it seemed - always relapsing into human time frames - whereas Vanator seemed the more instinct-driven of the two. Leo cleared his throat to defuse the strange tension, only half a step away from intervening with his gnosis. "Well, the two of you probably give me far too much credit," he began, "but you clearly think of the Sanctuary as a fortress, and it follows logically that it should look more like one. The walls are important, yes, and defending them with boiling oil is something I could help with, given time and access to a good library... however, if you ask me, there are even more vital points to consider." He leaned back on his chair and seized his fourth muffin, withholding it in his hand as he spoke. "Syliras is a castle that turned into a city over time. The Sanctuary, I think, is headed the opposite way, which poses different challenges. But if you ask me what I think Syliras' best defensive asset is, I'd say it is its multiple tiers. Every self-respecting fortress knows that its defenses, no matter how formidable, can be breached through overwhelming power, trickery, or simply the whim of fate. So you have holds within fortresses and bastions within holds, and defenders can easily withdraw to the next line of defense if the enemy breaks through... all the while making them pay dearly for every inch they capture." Leo took a careful look around the visible parts of the Sanctuary and tried to make an estimate. "At the very least, we should designate an area to be the bastion where the defenders would make their stand... their last stand, maybe, though magic opens up avenues in the form of secret passages leading safely outside. The bastion should have access to water and hold plenty of food. I would focus on its defenses first, also as a proof of concept for the larger design that we would then apply to the outer walls. This is going to be enormous work, though. Much more than you probably envision. The staff would need to receive training, as well; they must know exactly what to do in the event of an attack, how to reach their positions safely, and so on. Definitely not something we can do overnight." When had he started saying 'we'? "I am sure Vanator will be of great help in this. He may not have a defender's mindset, but he certainly possesses an attacker's one, which is just as useful if not more. He can likely spot the weaknesses in a layout you and I would believe impregnable. We have two eyes for a reason, after all." The left eye of a Dek, the right eye of an Endal. The great lesson he'd learned in Wind Reach. Hopefully this would also help Vanator feel more than just free labor. That, Leo felt, would be a terrible waste of potential. He did, however, caution the Konti before partaking of the muffin. "It will still take time, and more than anything else, you may want to go a little easier on the Reimancy, Kavala," he said, having heard the whispers in her fears. She may have many lives to go through, but only one was Kavala Denusk.

[Rosela]

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Congratulations! You've Been Awarded:

Kavala :

XP:
Weapon: Dagger +1
Dual Wield +1
Cooking +3
Webbing +1
Hostessing +1
Planning +1

Lores:

Additional: As the guys are retired, I didn’t award any personal lores related to them. If you’d like them anyway though, just let me know and I can add them in here.

Notes :

Leo and Vanator, if either of you ever return to Mizahar, just let me know and I’ll add your grades here.

There was such an interesting dynamic between you three, I’m really bummed the gang's split up... Still, lovely thread

If you have any questions or concerns about what was awarded, don't hesitate to PM me. When you're finished, please edit or delete your grade request from the grading queue.
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