There Comes a Time....
15th of Summer, 514 A.V.
It was the 5th bell and all were asleep in the halls of Zinrah. The guards at their posts snoozed lazily, the guards in the nest lay curled around their snakeling charges, everyone at the distillery was passed out at their tables. Whatever the strange lull that had fallen over Zinrah, it affected everyone, especially in the wee hours of the night. If a Constrictor slept for ten bells a day, that number was soon 16. Even when the body seemed as if it could sleep no longer the strange stagnant energy of the halls weighed upon the residents, making their movement sluggish and difficult. Thus many simply didn't move, only getting the energy to find food. This effect lingered, even when going outside to hunt, though it dissipated slightly, and since all of Zinrah seemed to be affected by it, their minds slowed, senses dulled, no one seemed to care, or decided to chalk it up to a particularly humid Summer, which...well it was.
But one viper, a female who had clawed her way a lavish corner of Zinrah was awake at this hour. It was difficult, her eyes lidded and heavy, every instinct telling her to just fall asleep and let the world fade away into the oblivion of laziness and comfort, but she hadn't gotten here by being lazy, or complacent, so she sat awake on her silk sheets, trying to muddle through thick thoughts and find a way to escape this strange lazy torment that had taken a hold of the whole city.
So focused was she on the task that she didn't notice at first that someone had entered her room. He was clearly a guard, though there wasn't anything to clearly identify him as such save his rippling muscles. If she thought hard about it Aka realized she had never seen this serpent before, something nearly impossible within Zinrah's small community. His scales were like burnished mahogany, cream colored patterning reaching down from his head to the very tip of his tail, eyes the color of bright green leaves.
"I apologize for the late hour Misstresss, but Queen Snhamtanabisss hasss requessted an audience with you."
There was a tick, then another for the words to register in Aka's mind, and that in itself was enough to momentarily break her out of her sluggishness. Not Aspia, not Senka, not a Queen, but the Queen herself. The male, bristling with muscle, was the image of poise and patience, bowing low when Aka rose and turning to let her gather herself for her audience before leading her down the tunnels in an easygoing matter. Whatever was occurring in the tunnels seemed not to affect the great brute of a constrictor who led her serenely down paths she wasn't familiar with, taking her the fastest way toward's the Queen's Lair.
15th of Summer, 514 A.V.
It was the 5th bell and all were asleep in the halls of Zinrah. The guards at their posts snoozed lazily, the guards in the nest lay curled around their snakeling charges, everyone at the distillery was passed out at their tables. Whatever the strange lull that had fallen over Zinrah, it affected everyone, especially in the wee hours of the night. If a Constrictor slept for ten bells a day, that number was soon 16. Even when the body seemed as if it could sleep no longer the strange stagnant energy of the halls weighed upon the residents, making their movement sluggish and difficult. Thus many simply didn't move, only getting the energy to find food. This effect lingered, even when going outside to hunt, though it dissipated slightly, and since all of Zinrah seemed to be affected by it, their minds slowed, senses dulled, no one seemed to care, or decided to chalk it up to a particularly humid Summer, which...well it was.
But one viper, a female who had clawed her way a lavish corner of Zinrah was awake at this hour. It was difficult, her eyes lidded and heavy, every instinct telling her to just fall asleep and let the world fade away into the oblivion of laziness and comfort, but she hadn't gotten here by being lazy, or complacent, so she sat awake on her silk sheets, trying to muddle through thick thoughts and find a way to escape this strange lazy torment that had taken a hold of the whole city.
So focused was she on the task that she didn't notice at first that someone had entered her room. He was clearly a guard, though there wasn't anything to clearly identify him as such save his rippling muscles. If she thought hard about it Aka realized she had never seen this serpent before, something nearly impossible within Zinrah's small community. His scales were like burnished mahogany, cream colored patterning reaching down from his head to the very tip of his tail, eyes the color of bright green leaves.
"I apologize for the late hour Misstresss, but Queen Snhamtanabisss hasss requessted an audience with you."
There was a tick, then another for the words to register in Aka's mind, and that in itself was enough to momentarily break her out of her sluggishness. Not Aspia, not Senka, not a Queen, but the Queen herself. The male, bristling with muscle, was the image of poise and patience, bowing low when Aka rose and turning to let her gather herself for her audience before leading her down the tunnels in an easygoing matter. Whatever was occurring in the tunnels seemed not to affect the great brute of a constrictor who led her serenely down paths she wasn't familiar with, taking her the fastest way toward's the Queen's Lair.
