Syben

Aspharia: Legends

For a bit yes. I'm at the donation center and I don't go to work for another 3 hours. I'll be around for maybe 2 hours.

Aspharia: Legends

I have a day off tuesday so I will be starting the IC then.

Aspharia: Legends

@FantasyChic No worries. I was just checkin up on everybody.

Aspharia: Legends

How's everything goin guys and gals.

Construction Site

The Ritual

By the time Ignis was old enough to begin understanding the complexities of life, she had also begun to blossom into a woman. Yet, still only in her thirteenth crest, but already garnering attention from the older boys. It wasn't that she began to develop the curves and shapes of other girls, it was something deeper inside her. Something raw, something more tantalizing than the brief urges of lust and love. Malikma had been the first to see it, all those years ago upon the Day of Naming, but the wise old shaman had kept such suspicions to herself, or stir potentially false hope within her people.

It was a fateful night, when both Teith and Toth were absent from the sky, that an eerie glow settled over the village. Brilliantly white, and seeming to emit from a central location, the tribe members slowly left their beds and followed the source of the glow. A crowd quickly gathered around the wide tent of the great hunter Tuiwei, and his loving wife. They murmured and whispered to themselves as the stood outside the tent, the hides of animals glowing with the intensity of the moons themselves. But inside the tent, there was chaos.

"What is happening to her!" Ankhi cried, cradling the spasming form of her daughter in her arms.

"It is Limysus, he seeks to break the curse holding our tribe," Malikma responded calmly, streams of smoke spluttering from the incense pots around her. A high, rumbling hum gathered in Malikma's throat as she began a prayer chant. Quickly the hum rose into a dull crescendo as the people gathered outside took to their knees and joined in on the prayer. Tuiwei squeezed his wife's shoulders, as they both looked on in awe. Yet, Their hearts seized as Ignis convulsed violently, a shrill scream uttering from her lips following by a blinding column of hot, white fire. Her eyes flew open, filled with the same balze, and soon the tent was falling in flaming pieces around them. Her skin grew hot to the touch, and Ankhi was forced to release her only child as her hands blistered and burned.

Still the chant continued, the loose pebbles on the earth vibrating with the intensity of such an ancient ritual. It is said that every man and woman has the power to influence the essence, and such a statement seemed true this night. Ignis rose from the ground, her body shrouded in white flame, her screams defeaned by the roar of the prayer chant. Somewhere a tempo of hand drums started, giving the eerie chant a thumping percussion. And just as quickly as it had begun, it stopped.

Ignis fell to the ground, the power fading from her. Her skin was bright pink, and tender, washed in the intensity of her magic coming to fruition. Yet she seemed to glow, remaining always warm, if not hot, to the touch. Malikma cried openly, cradling the child in her arms as Ankhi and Tuiwei stared, speechless. "Does this mean..." Tuiwei began, his eyes watering as they turned to Malikma for guidance.

The oldest member of the tribe cleared her throat, raw and sore from event, "Look, Tuiwei, into her eyes." He did, closely watching the golden eyes of his daughter. Ignis' eyelids fluttered, and underneath her golden eyes glowed brightly, as if mimicking the sun itself. It was beautiful. "She has been given the gift of Limysus, a fragment of his power of the sun. She has been given it's fire," even as Malikma spoked, she passed her hand over the child. She could feel the vibrations within her, the steady hum of magic coursing through her veins.

Malikma smiled, hope for her people swelling within her breast as she offered a prayer of thanks to the gods above. Yet, to outside eyes, it could almost appear as if it had been the ritual itself that had instilled power into the young child. At least, that is the rumor that passed from the lips of a simple, desperate hunter, to the softer, more supple lips of the nobles. Lips that concealed a silver tongue dripping with greed, and desire. To the discolored lips of a low standing house. To a tiefling long with desire. From then on, the child bore the name Sakiah, or Sky.

Aspharia: Legends

@FantasyChic Years of practice and day dreaming haha

Construction Site

The Beginning

The sky was bathed in swathes of red and orange as Limysus pulled the sun from its perch in the sky to give way for Aulla's two boons, Toth and Teith, both of which were but pale shades visible against the blazing sunset. Yet, such a sight was missed by many who lived on the peaks of The Broken Range, or the Caelum Petram as it was known to the Chu'manah. The tribes were littered across the mountains in the earlier time of man and its rebirth after The Shattering. They lived in relative peace until the world began to reform it's society and culture, leaving no place for such a proud, yet roughly cultured people. Soon, the sands of time began to wipe away the legacy of an aging tribe. Facing the ocean, the last of the Chu'manah nestled themselves away in a secluded alove seemingly cut into the face of the mountain.

Here, on the gentle bottom slope a roughly sewn animal hide tent set upon the light sands of the beach a woman's screams echoed across the crashing waves, strained cries from the throws of labor. The mother, Ankhi, leaned back into the loving embrace of Tuiwei Kywen, the parents of the yet unnamed baby painfully worming its way from within its mother. Tuiwei smiled, brushing the sweat-matted hair of his wife from her head, "Ankhi," he cooed, "You are so very strong, our child will be beautiful."

Ankhi squeezed his hand in response, her tear stricken face scrunched together in pain, "The baby is strong," she wheezed, smiling, "Just like the father." Tuiwei smiled, his heart warmed by his wife's humor even during such a challenging trial. The minutes turned to hours and finally the baby came forth and choked down its first breath of air.

The Shaman cradled the baby in her arms, looking at the two parents before her, "It is a girl," she stated, passing the baby into the arms of her mother. Ankhi kissed the baby's forehead, as did Tuiwei, before passing her into the arms of Ankhi's mother, tradition dictating that the mother of the mother name the baby. Malikma, Ankhi's mother, rose from her position kneeling next to her daughter. She held the baby gingerly, meeting the gaze of two tiny golden eyes. With a swift cut, Tuiwei seperated child from mother and Malikma turned to gaze upon the land.

Before her the sky bled. Limysus rode across the sky, slowly trailing ribbons of deep red, bright orange, and brilliant yellow, painting the setting of the Sun with the brilliance of its rays. A reflection of the scene glittered from the calming ocean waves, as if the water had chosen to walk, rather than run to the shore. The backdrop of the two pale moons set against the harsher color gave the moons the appearance of glittering, almost as such as the baby's eyes. It was then that Malikma knew, and the words fell from the elder shaman's lips in a hushed whisper, "Ignis.. Ambu'leh," she paused, "Fire walker."

The years passed by as baby grew into child. Most nights, the great fire in the center of the village was prone to the boisterous laughter of the child echoed across the rock and sand. There were not many her age, births being far and few between, yet this did not bother the child. Rarely the smile fell from her face, the joy and livelihood of such a young age leaving her free from the stress of living in the world. The men would travel miles to hunt in the Wilden Woods, but Ignis Ambu'leh would only know laughter and play, until the time was ripe for her to become a woman.

As a child, she was always drawn to her grandmother's ways, that of the Elder Shaman. Even at such a young age, she would find time from her fantasies and activites to watch Malikma teach the younger Shaman's how to create a certain poultice, or a brew to cure stomach aches, and many other ancient remedies handed down through the ages. Though interest never stuck long with Ignis, and she never really gleaned any real information, Malikma saw in her the next great Shaman. Perhaps, Malikma would think to herself, Ignis would be the one to break the cycle of curse, and bring back the powers of the Chu'manah bloodline. It had been nearly twenty years before anyone had been born with any latent magical ability. Though there were those that could be taught, their ability to harness the essence of the land were minimal at best. Unfortunately, the last great Shaman, one who could tear lightning from the sky itself, died not long ago at the tender, cocky age of his late twenties. Malikma had great hopes for her granddaughter, but those hopes always lay silent behind old, sparkling eyes.

Ignis learned many things as a child growing up in the Chu'manah way, yet nearly all of her learning centered around survival and remembering the past. The other women of the camp took a fond liking to Ignis, but it was the Chu'manah way that everybody pitch in with the proper raising of a Kelpi child. Even as she played with the other, if a bit older, kids she was learning morales and how to get along in life with the soul in balance. She learned how to cook and properly clean an animal so that each of its parts were usable in some fashion, from the ears to the hooves. From there she learned sewing and leather working, all things centered around benefitting the tribe.

Aspharia: Legends

@RedDusk Whichever you want.

Aspharia: Legends

@Raijinslayer Even with Nylphites, it works however you want it. Enchanted Tattooed Inscriptions, Reading from a Spell book, inciting ancient, forbidden INSCRIPTIONS HERALDING THE PROPHETIC DOOM OF THE KNOWN UNI-...*cough* Excuse me.

So, yea, however you want. If I have a problem with it we can always work something out.

Update: Sakiah is nearly finished, excluding her biography.

Aspharia: Legends

@FantasyChic Actually anybody may play one. There is a central plot (among my many, many other schemes... Bwahaha-*cough*cough**splutter*) and theme revolving around them, that will be uncovered slowly but surely. There will be much to do