Timestamp: Tria (Summer), 81379 Character:http://shadowlack.com/persona.php?id=723Sejv Massit</a> Day: Windy and cold, yet not freezing. Sejv hugged his cloak around him, the bitter wind kept attacking him. His fur was matted with frost and shaking his fur in attempt to get the worst off. He had been staying in a village of uncivilized Prendragons for 2 days, learning about a shrine they had. He was investigating its magica aura. It was said to be carved into a glacier, an icy temple. He was making his way to the glacier now. The icy mountain stood out over the bleak and barren landscape. The ground was a dust and soil yet it was so cold it was as hard as ice. He could not imagine it in the winter, the land was cold and unforgiving and it was supposed to be the warm sessions. Tugging his cloak ever tighter he trudged on. His special boots gained enough grip for him to walk safely, his walking staff prodding the ground now and again. In a strange way Sejv liked the icy barren, he liked the wild. He liked being free and surviving on your wits, yet he much preferred the desert. The glacier loamed ever closer, the white ice, cloudy and mysterious. he could feel a magica aura from here. He picked up his pace.
<p align=justify> Character :: http://shadowlack.com/persona.php?id=508Jadul Umdalek</a> An ugly sneer slowly weaved its way into the dark youth's otherwise handsome features. A perfectly manicured paw came to brush away a rebellious tress from his proud visage. His authoritarian glare scanned the horizon with contempt, obviously finding what he saw to be unworthy of him. His demeanour was that of a 'dragon who has no patience for anything but himself. And that was apparently all there was to Jadul Umdalek: a big brain and an even bigger ego. He was the biggest waste of a brilliant mind his teachers had ever seen. He was his mother's favourite, the one she cherished the most and the one who caused her the most grief. He was also a spoilt brat. And spoilt brats like to feel like their fate is in their own hands. But the gods, it seemed, had other plans. Things were not going the way he had expected. He was lost, hungry, and pretty sure he would collapse soon if things didn't get any better. Jad would have easily wallowed in self pity then, relishing in the unfairness of it all, when his bright eyes caught sight of something, or rather someone by the looks of it. Swallowing his pride, and nearly choking as he did so, Jadul began to motion frantically. "Help !!!"
Sejv ears pricked at the sound of someoneÂ’s voice. It sounded young and weak, they must be in danger. His head spun around to see a boy trudging out of the wilderness. He looked weak as anything, if he had been wandering it was a miracle he had survived. He burst into sprint towards the young dragon, as he got closer he recognised the tail tail signs of a fellow Lukuo dragon. He smiled to himself gently, his own werenÂ’t so noticeable but they were there. As he reached the boy his hands reached into his pockets and pulled out some drinking water. Handing it to the boy and helping him drink it. "Are you ok, do you need anything" he asked urgently. The boys welfare was the main thing.
<p align=justify> "Cheers", he lilted softly, carefully taking the drink offered to him. The thirst had rendered his voice a little nasal, yet it still retained some of the musicality of one that has yet to break. Jadul drank ravenously till there wasn't a drop left, then catching the older 'dragon's gaze, he gave back the flask. "I'm alright, thanks to you. A little tired is all... Nothing that a meal won't heal." His bright wide angel eyes sparkled shamelessly. The Lukuo (for he had recognised him to be his kind as soon as he had seen the horns) had given the drink rather easily, perhaps he would also be willing to part with some food... But Jad didn't let any of these selfish thoughts show on his face. "My name is Jadul. Jadul Umdalek", he added, almost as an afterthought.
Sejv smiled when the boy drank, he was glad to see him ok. He didnÂ’t like the idea of having to carry him to safety. He suppressed a laugh at the boys clever suggesting of food and couldnÂ’t see why not. Yet he wasnÂ’t going to give too much, he had drank all of the water. He would need to melt some ice later. "Well IÂ’m Sejv Massit, good to meet you" He said warmly. His hands reached under his cape and into his robe pockets, rummaging around for some food. He hands passed over his usual things and soon found a sweet bar of some kind. He pulled it out and handed it to the Jadul. "They you go, should help you for a bit." He kinda needed that bar but he had plenty of other stuff and eh was older, he was responsible for the younger ones. But sugar was nice, it gave you that extra boost. Normally he would have some fruit but it didnÂ’t last long in this weather. He smiled reluctantly as the bar was taken.
<p align=justify> "Thank you Mr Massit." he cooed, smiling from ear to ear. Jad didn't miss the slight reluctance in the older 'dragon's gesture, and as he looked hungrily at the bar he was torn between what he knew he should do, and what he would normally do. An infinitesimal part of him wanted to give his saviour a part of the sweet and the other was urging him to wolf the whole thing down. With a tiny, almost imperceptible sigh, the youth halved the bar. Without looking at the pieces in his paws, he instinctively sensed that one of them was slightly bigger than the other. It took all his will power to give up the larger chunk. "Here, I'm sure you're a little hungry too. Tends to do that to one, doesn't it, walking around this place? Where were you headed to?" Then, slightly miffed at his oddly kind behaviour, Jadul started to munch on his piece.
Sejv tried not to look dumfounded, he was so surprised that a dragon of his age would be so mature. And very selfless, most adults let alone kids wouldnÂ’t have offered him back part of his bar. He smiled widely at Jad before breaking a piece of his big chunk and eating then giving Jad the rest. "Your young and growing, you need it more than me. I still have other food so its no problem." A smile still plastered to his face. He felt very curious all of a sudden what he was doing out here in the Badlands with no supplies. He gave the boy a funny look. "So what are you doing otu here anyway, its very dangerous." He said with his concerned tone.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class='ooc'><tr><td>Sorry for the lateness! </td></tr></table> <p align=justify>Jad avoided the older 'dragon's gaze. He knew that look of concern and reprimand. How many times had his mother tried to make him feel guilty with her how-could-you-be-so-irresponsible-I-can't-believe-you-Jadul-Rhys-Umdalek! glare, which was inevitably followed by the What-in-Ramath-have-i-done-to-deserve-you sigh? Sometimes she threw in a couple of tears as well... His mother! If she learned of his foolish escapade she'd kill him, stab him to death with her steely glare, deafen him with her shouts. Worse, she'd cry... He hated it when she or his sisters cried. It made him feel powerless and so, so, guilty... No, his mother couldn't find out. Jadul rubbed the back of his head gently, hoping the ache would subside. "I ran away. Every summer my mother tries to set me up with various Lukuo girls whose parents also want to keep the bloodlines pure. You know Lukuo mums... She hopes that I will fall madly in love with one of them and provide her with beautiful Lukuo grandchildren... Well, this girl I was supposed to hook up with (sixth unsuccessful blind date this year), whose parents live up in Dhruv, she doesn't even like blokes. Swings the other way. She hates the idea arranged marriages even more than I do, and made it very clear that she would rather take her life than end up with me. So I took that as my cue to leave."
He let out a heavy sigh, the poor boy has a lot of troubles. Sejv knew only too well what it was like for your family to have high expectations of you. He had ran away from on own family. Yet to be fair on himself he had done it a lot better prepared. He smiled at the foolish boy, he would judge him, he had no right. Instead he just laughed softly for a bit. "Well you can follow me back to the villages or we can head on into the ice temple up ahead. EitherÂ’s good with me, but I'm making sure you get back safely." He said with mild amusement. He didnÂ’t understand the Lukuo part though, his family wasnÂ’t pure Lukuo but he had never imagined that their were Lukuo families that strived to be more mutant. He thought for a moment while he looked at Jad. OOC - nah ist ok :D
<p align=justify> "Temple? You're headed to an Ice Temple?" Of course Jad had gathered that even as desolate a place as this would have some relics of its past and culture, but after his losing his way so stupidly he'd lost all hope of ever finding anything. This Ice Temple intrigued him, sparked his history-loving curiosity. It would never be near as interesting as his beloved Mansukh, with its giant monuments and its tragedy filled history... Still, this exceeded all his expectations. Besides, it'd help him take his mind off things. "I'll come with you... To the ice Temple !" he said, a nioti smile plastered across his face. All traces of the headache had left as soon as the idea of adventure, like a balm, had come to appease his worries...
Sejv grinned at he boys enthusiasm, he threw the giant glazier another look. It was certainly big enough for a temple. When he had first come to the village near by asking about it they had tried to lie but after some careful persuasion they reluctantly pointed him in the right direction. "Well you see I'm some what of a treasure hunter and an investigator of magical sites. So I get about a bit and I'm always off to places like these." He said while his mind was more recounting memorise then paying attention. He had found out so much over hsi travels and been through so much. His name is listen in practically every museum for donating at least one relic or ancient item. He gets paid a bit as well but its not really about money. Its about making your mark on the world before your time is up. And in the current times that seems to be happening way to often in odd circumstances, especially considering Pendragons donÂ’t die of old age. He walked on a bit with Jad, trudging over the barren lands with the cold making the soft earth hard as rock.
Jad only half listened, taking in the beauty of the same snowy landscape he had been cursing when he had lost his way only moments before. Somehow, in his capricious eyes, the act of hiding uknown mysteries and marks of pendragon civilisation was enough to redeem the scragly glacier. "To which Deity is this Temple dedicated?" he inquired, never taking his eyes off the horizon.
Sejv mentally slapped himself with a massive fist inside his head. He hadnÂ’t asked the people of the tribe who their temple was too. he had instantly assumed it was some backwards god, that didnÂ’t really need paying attention. He was surprised however at the intelligence of the boys question, he was expecting him to say "are we their yet" or "how many words for snow are their" to hear a well thought out question was a nice change for him. "Well I donÂ’t know, I couldnÂ’t understand their word for it. Maybe you could find out." he said, a lie mixed with a complement, usually hid the fact his had made a mistake. He said as they walked on idly towards the hidden temple, their feet hardly leaving a trace in the rockish earth. He was watching the boy gaze at the surroundings. He looked away with a smile at the innocence of youth.
<p align=justify>Jadul nodded absently, silently retrieving any bit of information about the Badlands he might have learned in history class. If he had ever paid attention in his years at Janardan it had been in this class. So, surely, he should be able to remember something pertinent? Jad's memory was incredibly selective, but what he did memorised he memorised pretty well... "That's it! Jasaisa. This Temple is most likely one of His Temples. I remember now: 'The Badlands: population - 60% Yki. 38% pendragon. 2% other. These north dwellers are a very superstitious people. Many Temples have been built for the God of Sickness, Jasaisa, in the hopes of appeasing his anger.' Well, we'll know when we get there I suppose." A proud and broad grin graced his features, as the dark youth happily anticipated the treasures they would find within the Temple. The grin never left him as they finally made it to the entrance.
Sejv gave the boy a curious look, he didnÂ’t really think he knew anything useful like that. He smiled pleasantly at him still mildly impressed at the boys knowledge as they practically entered the glacier. He stopped with the Jad right at the entrance look down the long icy corridor. It was like a white tunnel with a domed roof, it looked like some one had just chiselled it out, the sides where rough and un-smooth bur the very idea of making a temple in Ice was still amazing. "Well thanks for that, I just hope we donÂ’t catch some strange disease from this place" he said with a shudder. He slowly walked down the tunnel with him, light began to fade as the entered deep into the tunnel. It didnÂ’t seem to have any torches or much natural light, The ice ceiling above them was a pale blue from where the light slowly filtered down. He muttered some simple incantation words "Hni ya gjh...." and a small light appeared in his hand the floated up above him light a halo of golden light. The tunnel was soon opening up to a large room as they walked down the tunnel.
"I hope we don't either. This girl in my year, I think she had some obsessive disorder of some kind, once made a one hour long speech on how diseases were everywhere. She went on about how the 'nasty things' could 'never be erradicated', and could survive in the 'coldest ice' and..." Jadul's gentle voice suddenly trailed into nothingness as his attention was caught by writing-like scratches on the walls of the tunnels. "I think I've found something!" he called excitedly, using his flame tail to illuminate the wall, "There's some writing... It's in ancient Ramathian. It says... fhus hut raam, et, ump ulfuit fell ra." Then, turning around with a sheepish shrug, the youth admitted, "I'm not quite sure what that means. I never did pay much attention in those classes."
Sejv peered at the writing on the wall, he had grown up in a very well to do area which meant he knew Ramathian very well. He looked at the old carving in the wall and grinned at it, it was very typical of these places. "Well it says "what has been, is, and always will be", well more or less. I didnÂ’t pay attention in class either but my family speaks it at important occasions." He said with a mix of smugness and remorse for his family. He thought out what it could mean, in different context it could mean that nothing was being let of the temple or that the temple was just old. "Any ideas" He said with a mix of confusion and admiration for the boys keen eye. OOC Great work with the adding stuff, feel free to add more like that. *thumbs up*
"What has been, is, and always will be?" mouthed the youth softly, his brows furrowed in confusion, "It could be a motto of some sort. Perhaps the people of this place pride themselves on their ancestry? Sounds almost Lukuo. Then again, it could refer to a timeless ritual... Or it could be a warning, maybe even a threat... No, that would be quite sinister wouldn't it? Really, it could be anything." Jad trembled slightly as he felt a frozen shiver down his back. He would have liked to ascribe it to the cold, but he knew the cold had very little to do with it. "You're being silly." he chided himself scornfully. "Shall we go in?"
Sejv frowned slightly at the thought of the saying being Lukuo yet it was a possibility. He didnÂ’t have any experience with Lukuo families and it was a very new concept to him that some Lukuo families wanted pure blood, which the considered to be Lukuo, in his opinion how could a mutation be pure. He sighed at his thoughts, maybe when he was older he would understand. "I donÂ’t see why not" in a mix of false bravado and slight nervousness. In truth he was slightly superstitious and didnÂ’t like the idea of cursed temples, however he had raided and looted more than his fair share so he was more expecting the gods to get even with him. He made a sign of good luck with his paw fingers as he walked with the boy through the gloom into the large central chamber. It was massive, the ceiling was about 100 meters high and carved into a smooth dome, it marvelled Sejv to think how such a primitive people had made such a thing. It was set out much like a church, with tow columns of seats on each side made up of many rows with a gap running down the middle for people to walk down. At the end of the seats on the opposite end of the room was a alter made of the clearest ice he had ever seen. If it wasnÂ’t slightly refracting the light then he wouldnÂ’t have seen it, on top of it was some kind of chalice made from silver which eh couldnÂ’t quite see clearly as it was fairly far away. It almost looked like it was floating on the clear alter. "Wow" Sejv mumbled yet his voice was magnitude and echoed around the room making his even more nervous.
<p align=justify>It was with a toothy grin plastered on his face that Jadul followed the older 'dragon into the frozen chamber. But this was only bravado, only show: His step had lost its usual bounce and his heart was beating at an unhealthy speed. The youth had tried to shrug off his previous thoughts as one shrugs water off one's coat after a bath, but it had been in vain. He could not do away with the nagging insecurity at the back of his head, could not silence the silent urgent pleas for retreat. Jad had the eerie sensation that somehow they had no right to be here, that they were tresspassing on someone's sacred place... Sometimes his head would whip backward and he would scan the shadows behind his shoudler, certain that they were being followed. As it turned out, what he thought to be the footfalls of a stalker were in fact the echo of his own paws as they made contact with the blistering ice. He didn't like this one bit. And yet... "It's beautiful." he whispered reverently, in reply to Sejv's gasp. "I wonder if it's still in use? Do you know?" he inquired softly. Beyond the altar, the far ends of the Hall were obscured, yet Jad thought he could make out the entrances to what ressembled tunnels similar to the one they had come through. He half expected to see a group of wizened primitive priests stumble out of the shadows chanting obscure encantations... But that was just a silly thought. Besides, the word primitive seemed ridiculously inadequate to describe anything within an edifice of such beauty.
