The Reclamation of Zahvroma (Inactive)

Game Master Signore di Fortuna

As focused as she is Sādhanā finds herself chuckling mentally.

@Cyna So when you said you are alerting anyone nearby, what exactly does that mean? Are you shouting, banging on doors? I was just wondering if we would hear it over our lovemaking/sleeping whichever we were still doing.

As the combatants stand tensed, Niccolo runs to the beach. "Let them go!"

Laenid shifts her gaze from the invisible Sādhanā to the bookish dhampir. "Niccolo, I presume?"

"Yes," the dhampir says, panting for breath. "Take me, but leave my sisters and brother."

"Why should I do that? I clearly have the advantage."

"Because I have something you want."

Laenid laughs coldly. "And what would that be?"

"A way to break the control your eidolon has over you," he avers, the nervousness the group witnessed in him before now gone.

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying. There are rituals, like the one that bound you to that thing," Niccolo says, looking directly at Laenid.

"You stinking liar, I'll gut you," the eidolon growls, taking a step toward Niccolo.

"What have you to lose? If it fails, you can kill me," Niccolo says, closing the gap.

Laenid struggles for a moment. "Fine, we shall spare your kin. If your ritual fails, I'll turn you over to your mother and come back for the rest of your family."

"It won't be an instantaneous thing, mind you."

"I have time. Very well, we shall withdraw for now," Laenid says, taking Niccolo by the arm and nodding at Sādhanā. "I hope we won't meet again."

The soldiers head down the beach the way they came, Laenid in the rear.

Divitia runs to the beach, moments too late to stop her brother. "Niccolo!"

She falls to her knees in the sand and begins weeping uncontrollably as her brother is taken away.

Sienna runs to the beach, Esmerelda by her side. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! You are the stupidest people I've ever met..."

"I'd appreciate it if you gave us a bit more credit. We only lost one, instead of four tonight," the dhampir says, watching the retreating soldiers.

While Drago's bluff seemed to work, it also seemed to unintended consequences. Then everything happened so fast it made his head spin. Once Niccolo was taken, Drago moved over to his kneeling sister. "He'll be alright Divitia. We'll get him back." Looking at which direction they went, he asked, "Do you really think he knows a ritual or did he just say that to buy some time?"

"It's possible, but it was most likely a bluff," Divitia says, through her sobs. "He has no way of knowing what Chalandra did. If you can get him back, then do so."

Sādhanā flickers into sight, as the exchange is made but holds, a stunned expression on her face.

She grips her blade white knuckled as Niccolo goes with Laenid, anger and a budding feeling of failure roiling within.

Clara moves to her wife and embraces her. "I'm sorry, but it's better than losing you."

She brushes the hair away from Sādhanā's face. "You'll get him back. I love you."

Sādhanā looks into her wife's eyes, feeling the love and understanding wash over her. At a loss for words, her own eyes moist with emotion, she clings to Clara tightly lowering her forehead to touch Clara's as she takes comfort in the presence of her beloved.

"I love you too." she whispers.

Clara simply holds Sādhanā. "We'll tell the others in the morning. Let's go to bed."

Godrick touches Divitia on the shoulder. "All I can offer are my prayers. Trust these heroes, they will save your brother."

"Drago," Esmerelda says, her voice cold as stone. "If you are serious about learning to control your thirst and becoming a better warrior, I will train you as quickly as I can. Meet me at the Common House an hour before dawn."

I want to try an accelerated feat retraining idea. It's not like the group actually gets tons of downtime. Downtime just moves slower.

Caught up in their fiery passions, Arista and Alethiro hear nothing of the commotion, or Cyna as they lay together wrapped up in each others embrace. After a few hours of tender love making the two fall asleep in each others arms and for once, Alethiro sleeps soundly next to his love and has none of the horrid dreams that had once haunted him.

"I fully intend to, with the other's help. With any luck, he can keep that thing bamboozled long enough for us to get there." He put his arms around Divitia to let her weep into his shoulder. As Godrick put his hand on her shoulder, a pang of hunger coursed through him. Turning to Esmerelda, "Alright."

Keep in mind I need to retrain two feats. That would normally take ten days.

Sādhanā simply nods,letting Clara lead her back to their room, her wife's compassion and understanding quelling the anger, soothing the sting of being unable to change the outcome.

She clings to Clara, needing her contact, her peace amid chaos,her love being the one constant that made her feel that in the end it would all turn out for the better.

"I'll take Divitia home," Esmerelda says, scooping the younger dhampir into her arms. "Don't be late, Drago."

"I won't be." He replied with a cold fire in his eyes. That b&@+# has gone too far this time.

I'll let Cyna say something and I'll finish up this night.

Drago went back to his room, a look of pure determination set on his face. Looking at Elena lying on the bed, he said, "That shadow woman has taken Niccolo."

"Only him?"

"He offered to help her if she just took him. The only thing is, I'm not sure he can. I believe he bluffed to give us time."

It's a good thing I went to bed when I di. That whole thing would have kept me up all night for sure.

Cyna finds a place to keep hidden with her bow drawn during the confrontation. When the woman and her army leave she steps out and makes her way to the others. "What the hell was that?" she asks.

"These stupid dhampirs think they're all so smart," Sienna says irately. "Drago's brother gave himself up to keep the rest of them safe."

Elena sits up and touches Drago's face. "You will make it right. I believe you can."

Drago's facial features softened at her touch. Putting his hand over hers and closing his eyes, the Dhampir allowed himself to get lost in the moment.

In the morning, slightly modifying my previous post:

Nearly ready to enter the common house, Harakhty saw Drago and one of his numerous troubled associates performing some sort of maneuvers outside the structure. While it didn't look hostile, it did look suspicious. With Hasina inside, Hararkhty left nothing to chance.

"The sun warm you this day, Drago." He offered the woman a nod. "What is this you are doing?"

Sienna wraps an arm around Cyna. "I guess there's nothing left to do. Let's go to bed."

Everyone disperses for the night, feelings of anxiety, fear, tension and anger filling the people of Valwick as the news travels quickly. The light of dawn comes, but it brings no relief to the worried townsfolk.

End Chapter 6.

Esmerelda looks at Harakhty with a glance as she holds Drago's arms straight. "Drago wanted to learn how to use a sword."

Sādhanā awakens a bit before sunrise. Though still troubled from the events of the night, Clara’s loving attention had helped her to stave off the nightmares of failure that tended to occur when she couldn’t save someone. Gently slipping out of her wife’s embrace, she sits up, quietly watching her beloved sleep for a moment.

She smiles as the sight of her, red hair tossed about the pillows, body tangled in the covers, her heart skips a beat with the idea of being able to wake next to Clara for the rest of her life. The thought made it only too real that within the next dayor two they’d be parting again, each doing her part to protect Valwick and save and heal Zavroma.

Sighing quietly she steps out onto the cold floor, making a note to herself that they needed a rug of some sort, as she pads across the room to where she keeps her spell book. Taking up the new spellbook she’d gotten as a gift from Cyna and Sienna, she smiles happily. Gathering both her new and old spellbooks she sits cross-legged at the foot of the bed and begins the process of copying spells to her new book, her hands tracing elegant arcane script across the pages as her mind processes the concepts of bending reality to her will.

Sienna wraps an arm around Cyna. "I guess there's nothing left to do. Let's go to bed."

"We knew someone was coming and yet an entire platoon, still managed to get the drop on us." Cyna says grimly.

"We don't know our opponents," Sienna says with a reassuring squeeze. "We'll have to get better."

Arista wakes slowly in the early morning light, but lays still in the bed. Feeling Alethiro's arms around her, she feels comfortable and safe. Not wanting to disturb his sleep she stays in the bed next to him and sighs quietly as she thinks about their lovemaking from the night before. I've never felt so loved or so content in all my life. I wish we could stay like this forever...but, there is so much that has to be done yet.

She closes her eyes and just lets him hold her.

Alethiro didn't have any nightmares at all during the night. In fact, his dreams were nothing but pleasent memories of his childhood.

The sounds of the early morning slowly brought him to the waking world. His new bride was curled up next to him, her silver hair framing her peaceful face as she slept. The Elf lightly touched his fingers upon her bare back and slowly rubbed up and down. So this is what true peace is, and to think I found it in the most unlikely place.

She smiles softly at his touch, "Hhmmmm....that feels nice. Good morning love, did you sleep well?" She slowly opens her eyes and looks at him, pure love radiating from her.

"Very well. Probably the best I've slept in sometime. And you, my Anar Lòtë?"

She puts a hand lightly on his cheek and caresses it softly, "I slept...like a baby, mo cheann mhíle." She stretches slowly in the bed, and snuggles into him. Sighing she looks into his eyes, "I wish we didn't have to get up today....I know there are things that need to be done, but maybe we can just lay here a little longer?"

"I suppose we take a little longer." Alethiro said before pulling her up and kissing her....passionately.

Wrapping her arms around him again she seems to melt into him as he kisses her. Her body, glistening in the early morning light seems to heat up at his touch. The tingling she had felt on the beach, was nothing compared to what she had felt last night, or what he awakened in her now. Her muscles seem to shudder slightly as she moans softly, her body reacting to his every touch.