Into the New World ( Open! )

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

(Though it starts off as a small log, this thread is open for play, so feel free to join in! Something to note is that it takes place at night. It's sister post can be found here )

Bare feet met the wood floor of the room with slightly more grace then what had seemed to be lacking in her movement for the majority of the day. Good... she was healing if not slowly. Her obsidian features were barely highlighted by the moon's glow as she stepped to peer out the window. Bewildered for a moment, the clear sense of the night's sky intrigued her... it had been centuries since she had last seen a sky so clear on the surface. "Good job Mal... your getting careless..." she growled to herself as she stepped to where her clothes were kept. The black stitches leather of her pants fit well, and suited her boots that cupped over the leg of the pants well. Her harness was lighter then it should have been, much to her irritation... her whip was missing and she would make a point of punishing whoever took her most sacred of objects. She cared little for the fact that her bandage was clearly visible, still the casting of the illusion to hide the white of her bindings was barely any effort her for. Stepping through the door of the room, it was an amusing shock to find the doorknob turned to allow her to leave the confines of the small room.

As the Ilhar was no prisoner the door was not locked and there was no one outside of it standing guard. This, however, did not mean that it was not known when the door opened, for at least one person knew and it was the person who happened to put Wards along the doors of the unoccupied rooms at the Inn. It was the same type of Ward that had been tripped when the Drow had broken into the room in the first place. De'Ryanna had been moving about the ground floor of the Inn, keeping her distance away from people and settling the accounts so that they could be taken care of in the morning. It was late in the evening and it was more of a quiet time here at Tel’Ranaemyn, not too many were about and that is why she chose this time to work.

When she felt the Ward tripped as the door opened she picked her head up from the books and looked towards the steps. She knew exactly where the Ward was and it crossed her mind that she should get up and investigate. but she waited. From where she was, if anyone were to look down the steps - after taking a step or two - they would be able to see her lower half which was covered in a long brown heavy skirt that covered her feet.

Mallia made her way slowly down the hallway of the elven building, her slow step was meticulously controlled to keep as little sound in each soft click of her booted heels. Such an act was typically easy for the Drowess to accomplish but as her depleted strength was something she had always struggled to keep composure through, the simplest acts were worth her attention now. The lowlight that kept the hallway from plunging into the comfortable pitch dark she would prefer, was at very least not completely uncomfortable much like the bright florescent lighting most humans seemed to prefer. It was a note of comic relief for many of her kin to reflect on the fact that so many of the humans were afraid of the dark for such pathetic things as the "boogie man"... if only they knew what lived within the pitch of the Underdark... then they would have reason to fear.

Finally... a staircase. The lower level from what should could see, seemed better lit then the floor she was on. Sighing heavily in her expression of her annoyance she slowly took each step at a time, the pain from pull at her disguised wound was still proving to be hard maintain her calm composure.

Someone was defiantly coming down the stairs. It wasn't uncommon for people to move about the Inn at various hours of the day and night . The steps were not one that she recognized. With her heightened sense of hearing the steps of Mallia would not have been heard for her if not for the silence of the ground floor and the only one she knew to move like that was her mother. But this person was not her for she felt no connection. To see, once down the steps, would be the Front Desk, as it was positioned nearly directly in line of the steps. To the right was the area of the bar area, fireplace and general lobby.. the Meeting hall was to the left side and it was closed off behind a door. In the space behind the steps was the Lounge and a hall that lead to two other rooms and a door to the stables outside. Something else to note was the fact that there was a hole in the ground behind the steps, a rather large one, that went down for a ways. There was a fence around it to keep people from 'accidentally ' falling in. De'Ryanna was down there and she was standing on side of the Meeting hall, by it's door, but her dark brown eyes were focused on the steps.

Physical injury was never something the Drowess handled well and it was one of the few weaknesses of her's since childhood. One of the many reasons letting someone so close as to touch her was considered such a privilege among her House. The lobby area, as that was what it surely had to be, seemed of the typical layout and she quickly made note of those things important to her... windows and doors to either escape out of or expect trouble to come in from, places to stay out of sight and places to get something to eat in privacy. The one soul who ventured in her immediate sight caught her eye, which she gave a rather suggestive crooked smile too. At least this surfacer was blessed with the complexion of a darker beauty... still she held no candle to her own obsidian perfection in the Drowess's mind. Looking back to the front desk she slowly paces around it completely before looking for this supposed 'book' that her "Nursemaid" had commented on earlier.

"Can I help you?" Her voice was strong and clear and held only a hint of politeness when it should have had more. She had thought this woman to be presumptuous by the way she had come down the steps and then headed to the desk looking for something. De'Ryanna left from where she was and headed to the backside of the Desk, where the opening was for someone to stand behind it. When she walked her long skirt flowed easily but without the bounce that skirt normally did on others. Her bodice was tied securely over a tan shirt with sleeves down to her wrist. Her hair was slightly drawn back and she had a business type manner about her.

The Ledger, it wasn't hard to see - it sat on the first ledge and back in shadow, but it was able to be seen. The Ledger, - a large and brown leather bound book of some age - was also beside a medium sized tin box. As she was closer she tried not to make a show out of taking this woman in with her eyes, but she was, indeed, studying her. She had never seen her type before.

[Mallia]

The Drowess moved around the counter of the front desk till the least amount of distance between her and what could only be this ledger was between it, and her. Looking briefly to the approaching human woman, she noted the odd movement of the feminine form but lacking movement in the gown. “She carries herself well at least... for a human.” she mused to herself before actually speaking. “That is something only you can determine, human. “can” you help me? I would think no.” she spoke in an overly polite voice, one she kept for a play thing or when she was in a mischievous mood. Either way she kept her verbal demeanor to help mask the slowed movement of her natural physical grace. Is injury was well beyond a simple annoyance by now. A light flick of her wrist and exertion of her will was the typical for her to cast her spell, an entrapping force to lift the old tome from its resting place to the counter before her was her intention, the curiosity to flip through the ledger's pages more of a concern to her then the patience she would likely have to have to get to it like anyone else. Why should she have to wait? She was Drow... if anything they should wait for her.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

De'Ryanna could let this strange woman deal with the Ledger herself and the consequences thereof. Certainly there were those. With the use of magic upon the book this Dark Elf - for she had the ears of an Elf but not their light skin, so this is was the logical assumption as to what this female was - would feel 'something'. As to what that something was depending on the type of magic the other could feel. Nevertheless, what was infused in that Ledger was strong and binding, even if the book would function as normal. As the others magic was directed at the book, it hit against the Wards Ryanna had set up and it caused her to give an interesting tilt of her head.

The begining sections of the Ledger had drawings on the side of the pages, random names of the tenants would be circled with a line drawn to a caricature drawn of them with words written in a bubble. There was even a page with scripted out scenes of characters. There was a reason and story behind why the first half of the book looked like it belonged to a child but it was not something Ryanna liked to reflect upon nor talk about.

Even as the other was flipping through the book Ryanna was close enough to finish off the distance and she reached for the book with her own hand while having her eyes trained upon the other. "How very familiar you seem to be with something that is none of your business." Keeping the business demeanor intact. Her intent was to cover one of the pages with her hand and curl her fingers around the edge, but none of it was rushed as it was never wise to snatch something from someone - especially if you did not know what the other was fully capable in.

"Unless you want to take on the task of manning the desk, I advise you move aside." There was a polite smile on her face - polite but not friendly - and it was a mask to hide her unease. She didn't like unknown people assuming to take control over her things.

[Mallia]

___Hmm, something was odd about this book. It was old if only by the feeling that ran up the Drowess's spine. Though her own spell was harmless it was a means to get the Ledger within reach, the responding tingle along her spine could only be some sort of enchantment or ward. Silently she cursed herself for being impatient to not check for such things first. Then again when she looked around the lobby area, her reasoning became resoundingly clear for her haste. Elven in design in so many ways, with a few minor influences of the human's culture dotted the area. Not a single spider, rune, or anything that resembled something of her own Drow culture. Usually it wasn't so bad being a fox in the hen house so to speak, but then again this flock of chickens were more dangerous for the isolated Matron.
___Matron.... what a crock. She had become the Matron of her own house centuries ago after the disappearance of her own mother, and then the leader of the Drow in the known area of the Underdark with the emergence of the human's rather surprising growth in power. Lolth would have been pleased with the chaos that reeked havoc during those years, except for the fact that it lead to the extermination of her Drow children instead of the human's own subjugation. The empire of the Drow that ruled so deep underground had been devastated to the point that the old grudges between the followers of the various Drow deities were set aside. Instead those that followed the Lolthian path had merely taken the role of the leadership, where the others simply took an appropriate station within the culture. Even the foolish followers of the dead Masked Lady fell in line under the Lolthian's rule if for no other reason then mutual survival.
___“It is my business if I am going to find out what I need of this place and how in all the Abyss I am going to get out of here...” she snapped back to the apparent human, her own thoughts having come back out of long past memories with a bat of her eye lashes. Looking up from the book to the pleasingly less pale surfacer as she moved to take the book from the Drowess's immediate possession, her sapphire eyes made no hint to the warning she communicated within them. Lolth knew she typically would have loved the chance for a good fight, and by how this one carried herself she knew it would have been a fun one. Lacking her pistol, her visibly appearing mundane whip, and distant connection to the chaos of her Goddess that gave her spell work wasn't really a good way to start a fight though. She still had the touch of the Arcane power in her blood that she was born with. You have to appreciate the little things... pfft, fuck that. This plain out sucks. “Sedai, mentioned something about a ledger, and unless this is naut it I need to find out what I came here for. Help me... don't help me... I care little either way, rivvil*.” her tone was even though lacking the friendly tone most might expect... but then again she was Drow and didn't threaten the young woman. That in itself was nearly friendly.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

It would be very easy for her to simply say now that she didn't like this woman because she was lacking in manners, but she knew that wasn't completely the case. The more she stayed in her presence the more this dark elf was starting to remind her of her own mother. It was the mannerisms, the way they both had about them that others need stand aside or do what they tell them to do; and that others were trifles needing to be dealt with. Thought those same personality traits may be in De'Ryanna she didn't often acknowledge them as a fault as she was doing with this lady now.

Her hold on the book did not relinquish and she even drew in a breath and held herself straighter to try and gain some sort of ground in this face-off. "Anything you are needing to know about this place can be gained from talking to me," a cool edge was creeping into her voice. Though she was a bit wary of the other, Ryanna's pride was creeping in for she felt as though she were being discarded over a book. Why would anyone want to search through a book when they had someone who could talk back at them and answer more easily?

Then that question was answered with what the dark elf said next. Sedai had told her about the Ledger. When Ryanna heard that name there was a small flinch in the corner of her eyes and while it was quick someone with good eyes and who was paying attention could have easily seen it. As far as she knew her mother was the only Sedai in the Inn and even if she wasn't she doubted that another would simply use that as a name. This only made her wonder how the two of them knew each other.

It took only a moment for her to school her face from the wonderment that started to creep upon it and to transform it, once again, to the calm state of business. "It is the Ledger," she said, her voice having instantly dropped its coolness, "though I am not sure how much sense you will make out of it. Let me handle it. Are you in need of a room or perhaps you want to know the quickest way out of town . . ." De'Ryanna was attempting to be civil, now that she knew this one knew her mother. What she said was true, a lot of the headers over the sections for name, room, and other such things were not clearly written out and there were a few other things that may not have been easy to understand right away.

With her other hand she reached under the desk and pulled out the paper that had the rules - or guidelines - of the Inn, and the kitchen schedule, this she placed on the desk and pushed it towards the dark elf.

[Mallia]

___Mallia, or “Ilhar” as she had introduced herself to Sedai earlier was rather intrigued. This Sedai woman, as pointedly annoying as she was, seemed to be proving herself more then just a typical surfacer in many ways. At least in this way when speaking to the apparent desk clerk she didn't have to deal with the dis-respectful red head at the moment. Mallia's sapphire eyes narrowed purposefully when she noticed the visible reaction when she intentionally let Sedai's name slip from her lips, she couldn't help but smile at the sudden change in the young woman's tone.
___The amusement on her face quickly faded though, the knotted feeling in her stomach had grown to one she couldn't ignore. Reaching automatically to her back pocket to retrieve the small package, she was relieved her cigarettes hadn't been taken. Placing a single cigarette between her dark toned lips, followed by a snap of her fingers to produce the tiny flame that seemed to settle barely above her crossed thumb and pointer fingers, she used the candle like flame to light the cigarette. The spell itself was simple even by a child's standards to do, but then again the most simple of spells were typically the most useful. Taking a slow draw on the cigarette, she was pleased the specially made vice did not have the pungent smell of tobacco the foolish humans seemed to enjoy. Idiots... at least choose something that had some sort of benefit to it for an addiction. This particular smell that her exhauled breath produced was unique to the concoction she had made so her delicate senses could put up with the pollution that had overtaken the surface's air years before. It wasn't something she particularly enjoyed doing, but smoking had a strange allure to it when she had to deal with some of the other younger races of the surface. Whatever floats their boat...
___“I need to find out quite a few things, and I am naut particularly pleased with my lack of answers. Sedai at least gave me one... and since your offering I'll take the rest from you.” her choice of words were particular, a statement that left little choice as it wasn't a request. She was careful though, she was in a place she knew exactly nothing about and she lacked the majority of her gifts of Lolth. Her tone of voice matched the even, almost respectful manner of the young woman who refused to relent her hold on the book, though the slightest haughty edge was always present. “Where am I? The last thing I remember recognizing was the rooftop of a human structure, close to a fire escape. This...” she waved her hand lightly to indicate their mutual surrounding, “... is unfamiliar to me. Tell me of this place and how in the Abyss I got here.”

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Looking at the Dark Elf before her, De'Ryanna used the guise of tapping her finger on the papers she presented as a way of letting out the nervous sensation she felt. It was something she didn't particularly like, especially when this new female started talking down to her. This is how she interpreted the tone of voice and how the questions were formed and already she could feel her chin lifting in protest. Still, she remembered whom this person knew and therefore tried to keep an even tone.

"I wager you came here much the same as anyone else," giving her reply and giving a slight crinkle of her nose at the smoke the Dark Elf puffed out. It wasn't what she was expecting, but it wasn't anything common either. Due to her blood De'Ryanna had a pretty good nose for smells and, without thinking they tried to make some sort of order in her mind so she would know what they were. "You stumbled in through the Nexus." And that was about the extent of her knowledge on how the other could have arrived.

"Perhaps a room with a window, so you can have ventilation....." trailing off her subtle statement regarding the smoking, it could have been a question. She wasn't a stranger to having others smoke around her, problems came when the smell infused in her clothing. "If you plan to have any type of lodgings here, in the Inn, you have to sign your name in the Ledger. These papers tell you about our guidelines."

[Mallia]

___eaning a bit casually on the counter top of the desk, the Drowess's stance relaxed slightly. It could have been the effects of the cigarette between her pointer and middle finger, or the natural state in which she interpreted her level of comfort in this moment of superiority she felt over this woman that spoke to her. Her lips curled just slightly of a hint of amusement to the situation at hand, the narrowed glance she occasionally gave between drags on the cigarette was only bait. Bait to see how this woman would react under her scrutinizing gaze. Sometimes it was such good fun to see how a person reacted under self perceived pressure.

___The smell that came from the cigarette was far from the normal tobacco, tar and nicotine you may expect. Even the clinging characteristic of normal cigarettes wasn't an issue, the Drowess's clothing didn't have this slightly sweet smell to it at least. The medicinal properties of the cigarette was what gave the smoke that trailed from her dark lips, the oddly black color to every time she exhaled. Nearing the end of her cigarette, the Drowess reached to the burning tip extinguishing it with two pinched fingers. Even the sudden heat to her sensitive skin was quickly aleviated by the touch of her silent spell. Still, it was irritating how much extra effort she had to put into healing burn marks to her fingers. This was getting old.

___“Nau, I would naut prefer a window... perhaps something in the basement if you have it? Something dark, well kept, and suitably warm would suit me.” she began, her haughty expression only accentuated by the slightest raising of her right everybrow as she looked over these “guidelines” the woman had pointed out to her. “What can you tell me of this Nexus? I assume its a portal of some kind...” the Drowess fell silent after her question so she could read and listen all at once. She needed answers... so far this one seemed to have many of them, and she was in a giving mood.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Another person who wanted to take up residence in the basement, lovely. After the Vampires had left she had gone back to using the space for storage but, at least if she put her down there the chance of seeing this dark elf was minimal. She knew that she was being watched but she wouldn't humor her by trying to match it, instead she turned her attention to the ledger to flip through the pages, the excuse of looking for a basement room would be her reason.

"If you want a room down there you will have to wait until one is prepared," keeping her chin down, De'Ryanna looked at the guest from under her lashes. "Would not take too long, about an hour or so." She would have to make sure that the basement was livable for extended periods of time. Now she was looking at the paper to see if this female was going to sign the papers or not, all while trying to not scrunch her nose at the smells coming from the cigar.

As for the Nexus...she tipped her head to the side and looked to dark elf. "I don't have any information on the Nexus, it's something that simply 'is' and a portal like you said. Where they are located, how they are accessed and anything else I've heard varies. The one you go through today may be gone the moment you look away." De'Ryanna ended it with a small shrug of her shoulders. "There are even those who have their own portals.

"If you're looking to find a way home, I suggest you find someone who can help you. And that person isn't me." She tapped a finger on the desk. "Do you wish the room?"

[Mallia]

___'Lolth help me, have I grown that soft?' came the thought to the Drowess, barely mirrored in her eyes behind the soft sizzling of her cigarette's smoke. Centuries before the slightest cynical remark, or disrespectful tone would have earned a swift blow of her snake headed whip or torturous touch of whatever spell came to her twisted mind. Now... she just didn't care as much. They had their remarks and their cynicism but for the most part she knew most respected her enough to not stand in her way. For that she was silently thankful. It made keeping the balance of the House's of her kin easier, instead of the constant warring among each other for social position. Since the sudden strengthening of the humans capabilities... their “science”, the world of Drow she once knew had forever changed. Instead of the dominance of any particular spiritual belief over the other along with the dominance of her race, it had all come down to survival. Eilistraeen, and Lolthian Drow walked side by side in her House now, with a begrudging glare shared between the two. Survival against being systematically exterminated was more pressing of mind. Oh well... at least the Eilistraeen's made good scouts whenever she had a mission on the surface.

___Still, this apparent human's demeanor wasn't her favorite by any means... but she was human, what did she expect? “Do what you need to do... I'll be outside getting some air that isn't perfumed.” she replied in her own barely masked cynical tone. Tapping the tip of one nail of her right pointer finger to her thumb she waited for the tip to barely begin smoking. The uniqueness of her signature with the tip of her nail had it's own magic... one to make things at least difficult to scrying on her if they tried to use the signature, to even the more experienced Seers. Fluid and looping were the Drow runes that formed her nickname that the Drow under her called her... 'Ilhar', or 'Mother' to those that could read it.

___Once completed she turned without a word from the front counter... this human's usefulness had been used up for now. An hour outside in the night air would be calming... no scented perfume, flowers, or incense that seemed a common place thing for surface elven places... just air. Moving to step through the front door to the Inn, she intended to find some place she could be less likely to be disturbed... perched on the edge of the roof to stare at the stars perhaps “...good plan Alice, maybe you can find some constellations you wouldn't recognize...” she murmured to herself with a slightly amused expression.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

She waited until the dark elf left. Waited and pulled that Ledger over to her and around so that she could better examine the signature and as De'Ryanna did not know Drow she could not understand what was written. That didn't matter. All that mattered was that the book was signed and the girl smiled as she closed it and slipped it back to it's place and, as she left from behind the front desk, a question came to mind: Did the Dark Elf know how to get to the basement?

She never asked so naturally Ryanna never told, but the guest seemed smart enough, surely she would figure it out on her own.

The door to the basement was in the kitchen, near the back door. Due to the location she didn't doubt that the newest guest would have a run-in or two with the Elf that worked the Kitchen. As she descended the steps De'Ryannna took a hold of the Source, there was some work that needed to be done and, since she was going to go at it alone, using her ability would make it that much easier.

Normally when a person reached the bottom of the steps they would be in the storage area with crates for non-perishable food items and wine racks. Fortunately the whole basement wasn't packed with food - she believed in fresh produce - so there was ample space for a small room.

There had been one before, so why not now? With a sigh of determination she went work. In the end there was a dividing wall that separated the goods from the room that was furnished with a full sized bed, a dresser, chair and small table. The air down here was dry without being too hot or cold. As Vampires had lived here before she did not think it would be a problem for the Dark Elf.

Her job done she left out.

[Sponsored content]