Springtime Thaw

Log Info

• Title: Springtime Thaw
• Emitter: Seldan
• Characters: Seldan, Acedia, Zeke, Kira, Cryosanthia, Faranmidahn
• Place: A10: Temple of Eluna, Temple of Daeus
• Time: Thursday, May 14, 2020, 4:23 PM
• Summary: Seldan is meditating in the Temple of Eluna when he is joined by a recently dead goblin. Acedia says her lone prayer, then hugs the Silverguard. She relays a summary of the what happened below in the dungeons of Salina's Tower, the encounter with Eclavdran and the negotiations to distract him which lasted until the self destruct and her death. Seldan summarizes their part, and then Zeke appears. Overjoyed at seeing the bluescale, Acedia rushes to hug him, which makes the sith scream and flee. He is followed to his room in the Temple of Daeus, which is now empty of everything. Kira notices the group and comes to check on her patient. Zeke reacts badly to her presence, when Cryosanthia arrives with Faranmidahn. She's overwhelmed by the surprise visitors, but no where near as much as Zeke. Quick thanks for the sacrifice and efforts are given to Acedia and Kira, by both the whitescale and the lucht, then several leave. Zeke seems to be responding to tea, but in his panic injures Seldan, who also leaves. Cryo does her best to calm her cihuaa, being with him and speaking to him in draconic. A little progress is made, Seldan returns, suggesting Zeke be taken to evening prayers. Cryo agrees this is a good idea, and the two do so, although Zeke believes Cryo to be an illusion. Acedia arrives, and Seldan leaves with her. Following that, Zeke collapses when he feels the warmth of the dragonfather.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  Appearing, in Order  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Seldan       5'11"    187 Lb     Human             Male      Ginger-blonde human in armor wearing Eluna's symbol.
Acedia       3'4"     39 Lb      Goblin            Female    An ebon-skinned Goblin in leather armor.
Zeke         6'8"     239 Lb     Sith-Makar        Male      A blue-scaled sith-makar in white Daeus vestments
Kira         5'0"     120 Lb     Human             Female    A young blonde woman wearing simple robes and an eye patch.
Cryosanthia  6'9"     267 Lb     Sith-Makar        Female    A dashingly tall, elegant white-scaled lizard woman.
Faranmidahn  3'3"     35 Lb      Halfling          Female    Albino Lucht woman in black leather armor with a BIG spider
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

The noon hour has arrived, and unlike with many temples, it's a quiet one by the holy pillars and its central pool in the Temple of Eluna. Most people have gone to seek the midday meal, leaving only a few clergy and guards at the Temple - and Seldan, who has commandeered one of the meditation rugs and assumed a meditation posture a bit away from the pool. He isn't meditating, thouggh, as he so often does, but seems more engaged in actual prayer, the rote prayers spilling in a murmur from his lips.

A quiet presence slowly approaches the praying man, her approach quiet as she glides along on bare feet. The Gobbo holds her robes tightly to herself, to keep them from rustling overly much. She stops before Seldan, and slowly seats herself, mimicking his posture. Acedia mouths the one prayer she has managed to memorize, and closes her eyes. It is very hard for her to keep the smile from her face. Any moment now.

This is not the first time that Seldan has been so approached while meditating. He appears to have eschewed the armor for today, wearing only shirt and trousers under the sorcerer's robe, and there is grief and a burden amid the focus that he wears. He does look up eventually, after some minutes, somehow aware of the presence next to him, and opens his eyes, turning to her. "Seer -" he begins, then stops short, taking in the gobber. "Acedia?" A hint of disbelief hides in the Myrrish accent.

That appears to be the signal that the Gobbo was waiting for, her eyes open and her face practically lights up. She springs at the man, to cling to him. "Yes! I am alive, thanks to the Temple of Daeus. They pulled as many people as they could, and and..." Tears now, her cheeks wet. "I... I was somewhere else. And now I am here."

Seldan lights up, most of the burden falling away, his features breaking into a smile that threatens to split then in two. "Great and holy gods, it is well to see you. When first I heard that you had perished ... agh!" He breaks off as the tacklehug bears him to the ground, a hiss of pain escaping a grimace on his lips. He doesn't let it stop him, though, holding her tightly before releasing the hug. "I would hear your tale, does it please you to share it."

GAME: Acedia rolls 6d6: (24): 24
GAME: Acedia rolls 6d8: (25): 25

She seems very content to simply stay there on his chest, but she bounces up and offers the man a hand, to get him back to a seated position. "Did you need aid? Are you wounded?" Her brow furrows lightly, and her eyes search his face. There's a bright glow that comes from her as she lifts her hands up to his cheeks. She concentrates, and the glow continues for a short while.

"I uh... a lot of it is kind of fuzzy, you know? But I would tell it." Acedia makes an attempt to settle in his lap. "So the floor just kind of swallowed us up. We ended up in what turned out to be a dungeon cell. There wasn't a way in or out, but then an opening appeared in, and we ran out. Kira was there, and she lead us to Zeke, and Faran found her mom."

The Gobbo shudders then, leaning back such that she may hide in Seldan. "The screams started then, and I went out to see what was happening. I think Halani came with me, or showed up a moment after. Zeke was near death, and ... Cryo and Kira did not seem to know what to do. Faran was trying to get her mother to leave the cell, but she would not. Eclavdran was killing prisoners. I had the blade out, the one you gave me... Malik's wasn't working. There was something that stopped magic from working.

She rubs her cheeks, and then her arms, as if cold. "He killed two people... right in front of me. So I played. I played very hard. People seemed to kind of wake up, like they'd been in a stupor... So much blood, pain and misery. I talked to him, Seldan. It was the only thing I could do. So I kept him talking. Halani already owed him two favours, he said, and she tried to get him to stop, to... enjoy the work he'd already done.."

A loud sniffle is followed by a long pause. "He was mad, Seldan. Said something about how we interfered and went to the one place he told us not to go to. I tried to tell him that we'd kill Salina, and erase the summoning circles, in exchange for him leaving the prisoners. He said he'd do as I asked in exchange for me owing him three favours. I stalled, made him clarify... I know how sneaky they are. I almost did it, Seldan. But then the building started saying it was going to self destruct. I was telling people to run, and Eclavdran said I should have done the deal, and then he hit me with his whip. Despite magic not working... I healed myself... but then he stabbed me with his sword. Halani left before then. Dunno where the others were or what happened. It all went dark." Acedia's eyes widen. "Did... did they get out? Did the tower destroy itself? Is Salina dead?"

With the hand, Seldan gets himself back up to a seated position. "A little, but it is not so bad." The demurral comes out funny, though, with her hands on his cheeks, and he does begin to breathe more easily and move more smoothly as the golden glow fades away. "I had not intended to prevail upon you, but you have my thanks." He crosses his legs, taking the gobber in his lap and letting her lean against him as he listens. He nods at various points in the story, listening intently and once or twice with a grimace, and when she is done, he lowers his eyes. "We ... slew her, or at least her double, although Mikilos is of the mind that we did not get her. The double's death, forced her to release the tower, and with no living owner, it began to self-destruct. We sought to move swiftly to stop it, but Mal took control of the circle in the control room, and ... next I knew, we were being dragged towards the door that would take us out, with mere seconds ere the place collapsed. Perhaps he may say more of what took place, but ... the tower is destroyed, for now. It will rebuild itself, in time, and Mikilos and I must needs seek her out to make a final end of her. For now, though, I think Alexandria safe."

"I said before that all I have is yours, and I did not just mean it for the fight. I would follow in your footsteps.", she says softly, regarding the healing magics. "You are stubborn, and this is both a boon and a curse. You should not go around injured if you can help it. I've a mind to tell off those who would not even inquire as to your condition, let alone see to your health." A tiny elbow is aimed, playfully, at his ribs. "And Eclavdran? We should make sure that circle in the sewers is removed. I will find him again, some day, I will send him back to his place in Hell, and bid him never to return. He'll regret the day he met me."

"There were many far worse hurt, Acedia. I was not in so dire a need as to distract from that." Seldan smiles down at the gobber, and does seem to feel a good bit better. "You are right, we must needs see to those who yet have the plague, and to that benighted summoning circle ... and I would make the time to share our deeds with Menel, for surely he will wish to hear of them." Amid a quiet midday Temple of Eluna, Seldan sits cross-legged on one of the meditation mats some distance from the pool, a robed Acedia in his lap, talking quietly as befits the space. "Do you feel well enough to undertake the journey, on your free day?"

The Gobbo turns in his lap, eyeing him with a toothy grin. "You are always looking after others first, and that is always good. But you need to look after yourself too. If I look after you, you will get a gentle scolding to go with it. I am sure Malik does the same." She chuckles then and lets out a low breath. "I could do with a walk in the sunshine after the cold we've all been through." Acedia goes quiet for a little bit. "It was sunny there too. After. And the nice man said that they were calling for me to return, and that I should go."

There is a sith-makar in Daeus robes walking the front portion of the temple. Zeke is not an unfamiliar face in the temple of Eluna, or really in any of the temples, but Zeke hardly looks like himself at all. He is much thinner than he was mere weeks ago when last he graced these halls, and his green eyes are wide as they roam over the people who call this place home or a place of worship. His shoulders are slightly hunched, and he seems... lost. As if he doesn't know where he is going. Yet he does not stop anyone for directions.

"I shall, when I am the one in direst need. Seldom am I so." Seldan's voice is quiet, but in the quietude of the temple at the midday hour, audible. "No, Malik is more wont to make a jest at my expense," he goes on ruefully, not seeming to have spotted the sith-makar so out of place in the Temple. "I have not forgiven him the plush toys."

Acedia bursts into a fit of giggles then. "I want my own Seldan plushie.", she says in a faux whisper. She blinks and gasps, and is up and out of Seldan's lap in a flash. A little blue streak that makes a beeline right for Zeke. Her presence is well telegraphed, she can be heard cleare across the temple. "Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

The Gobbos arms are wide open, and she slowly only enough to not knock him down. There is an attempted hugging.

Zeke stops at the sound of his name and cants his head slightly to the side, until he sees the goblin barreling toward him. Athough to be fair... In his mind he does not /see/ a goblin. She's almost to him and then he screams. Turns, and /bolts/. The sith-makar may not be that much faster than Acedia, but with fear fueling his steps he's outside rather quickly. The sound of his screaming echoes in the temple, even after he's vacated the scene.

And Acedia is gone, before Seldan can quite figure out what happened. By the time he is on his feet, Zeke is also gone, running screaming from her, and it never really clearly registered just -who- that was. "Acedia, you really ought not to run at strangers in this house," he chides gently, picking up his mat and setting it aside on one of the stacks. "Let me see if I may be of aid." Much more slowly, he follows in the direction Zeke ran off to, drawing a deep breath and, seemingly, with it composure and reserve.

The Gobbo returns looking rather morose, and sniffles. "It was Zeke.", she says softly. "I was just happy to see him on his feet and alive. He looked dead when I saw him last." She trails along behind Seldan, simply looking at the ground as they go.

"Zeke was here? And fled from you?" Seldan sounds positively alarmed, all trace of smile fading. "Come, let us go find him ... more carefully." He turns to stride from the Temple, holding the door for Acedia. Determining which way the sith-makar went is a matter of asking questions of a few passersby, and soon enough he turns his steps towards the Temple of Daeus, looking around almost cautiously.

Acedia looks sullenly at Seldan. "Yes, because apparently I'm frightening." She steps out the door, and will make her way towards the Dauesite Temple. "If only Eclavdran had run, that would have been amazing."

"Zeke knows you, Acedia. It is unlike him to flee." Seldan holds open the door to the Temple for the Gobber, and once he is inside, he looks around, as if searching for direction or indication. Eventually, he turns his attention to the nearest Sunblade. "Brightest of days to you, Sunblade. Have you seen Sunguard Zeke pass by?"

A few polite questions lead you to Zeke's room which perhaps is not surprising. A polite knock on the door yeilds... nothing. No response at all. Yet the door creaks open, clearly left unlached by Zeke in his haste to get into the room. The room is startlingly empty. No sign of his bed, his table. None of the small accrutrments that the spartan temple rooms offer. The sith himself is sitting in the corner of the room, obviously huddled in fear.

"I know, I know. Which is why I am upset. I was not meaning to cause him to scream in fear at the mere sight of me.", Acedia says quietly as they meander through the Sun God's temple. She can only peer inside Zeke's room before slowly backing away.

"Acedia, would you please find a tea service and some tea? I care not if the water is cold, I can warm it." Seldan speaks quietly, squeezing Acedia's shoulder and stepping aside to let her out the oor, if she will go. He then steps back inside, looking around the room, and seats himself cross-legged on the floor a pace or two away from the huddling sith-makar, doing his best to let his entire bearing and demeanor project calm and courage. He says nothing, simply waits, and watches.

The Gobbo is out of there in a flash, disappearing into the temple in search of a tea set. A little blue streak in a sea of golds and yellows.

People always need to eat, and there are those who need healing and tending, too. That includes the healers and tenders, themselves! That's part of the reason Kira is passing through the temple square, and then into The House of the (Rising?) Sun. She carries her basket of bread and, while it's light, she is moving slower than the norm.

People still need to eat. People still need aid. People still have duties... and getting back into routines is a good thing. Not to mention that it also gives her a chance to check on those who arrived here with her very recently. Or maybe even those who didn't?

As Kira looks around the hall and spies the blue streak, she gasps loudly. The sound is promptly followed by a clattering basket and a loaf or two rolling along the floor.

Far sooner than one might expect, Zeke looks up, it's fear that drives that reaction though, the need to know what's in the room with him. He watches Seldan sit down, and looks around the room, finds it empty and returns his gaze to the paladin sitting calmly on the floor. "Where is the wolf? Did you see it kin?" His voice is soft and hoarse from ill use and from screaming earlier. His green eyes tiredly roam the room again, as if expecting to see something that isn't there. The words are almost a whisper, as if Zeke wasn't really expecting a response from the other man. <draconic>

Seldan closes his eyes and lowers them, in the way of one hearing a response that stabs them to their very soul. He does not move, though, from his sitting position, and he murmurs a very brief, rote prayer under his breath, using it to settle himself. "Zeke," he says gently, looking up. "Do you know your kin?"

Several people near Kira stop to assist, the basket is returned to her, while the few loaves that escaped the basket are enjoyed. And then, under that basket, she is hugged. Acedia squeezes. "You made it out!", she says, grinning broadly.

"You... are alright!" Kira hugs her back, smiling widely and setting the basket neatly aside, this time. "I'm so sorry, I thought... I didn't..." She pauses and instead gives another squeeze before shifting simply to, "It's good to see you."

Zeke tilts his head at Seldan, shifts his weight and... sniffs. The familiar-unfamiliar scent makes his nose crinkle and he nods slowly. "You... you are actually here?" His tradespeak is even more shakey than it usually is, as if he hasn't spoken it in some time. "I sssmell you. You sssmell... Like Sseldan. Like kin." He sounds uncertain though.

Acedia squeaks at being squeezed, quite happy for the attention. "You were in a terrible place, we all were. It was bloody, dark and terrible. I told everyone to run, do not feel bad for doing so. He was a Demon and we were outmatched." Her expression remains serious for only a few moments, before a hand reaches for Kira's. "Come, I am looking for a tea service. I think Seldan meant a tea pot and those small mugs... Your bread would make for a nice snack with tea." She tugs gently and insistently on Kira's arm. "I am happy you made it out. Did the others make it? What happened to the Demon?"

"Even so, Zeke. It is I, I am here, and you sit within the holy temple of the Draco Solis in Alexandria. Where you belong." Seldan breathes deeply, although a smile comes to his features as Zeke recognizes him. "Tea comes, as soon as Acedia can find some." Zeke may or may not have caught some of Seldan's scent on him, when he first awoke, but the paladin makes no mention of that now. "Do you hurt, kin?"

"That sounds wonderful!" Kira agrees with tea and bread and helps Acedia to look for the service set. "How is Seldan?" As for her other questions, her smile dims. "The demon fled... Where does he need the tea?"

The blue-scaled sith-makar looks down, his claws touching his body as if he's not quite sure of the answer. "N-no. Thisss one isss well." He blinks twice and looks up once more, eyes tracing over Seldan as if he doesn't quite believe what he's seeing. He looks exhausted, weary in body and spirit, and if his reactions are any indication - in mind as well. He reaches out with his crystal claw toward Seldan, hesitating though. Stopping well short of the paladin. "We are in the Dragonfather'sss temple. We... We are in the Dragonfather'sss hallssss." He reaches out again, clearly meaning to see if Seldan is as solid as he seems to be.

Seldan takes a look at the reaching claw, and scoots himself forward, slowly, until he is within reach of that reaching claw, and gently, slowly, reaches forward, hand out, for that crystal claw to take. He does not attempt to touch the sith-makar, instead allowing the sith-makar to touch him, but even as he does, he holds his breath, just a little, waiting.

"Zeke's room is where we're headed." The Gobbo is silent for the rest of the trip to the kitchen, where she nudges Kira forward to ask for the tea service, for six. Acedia simply stands out of the way, looking a little sullen. She does watch, though, curious as to what sort of tea they are getting.

Kira politely requests the service from the kitchen, then immediately turns to Acedia. "Zeke! Is he well? Was he healed? Did Cryosanthia speak to him? I hope they fed him.. he was very hungry..." She glances across the main hall with concern. "Which one is his?"

Zeke's claw touches Seldan's hand and Zeke takes hold of it gently but firmly. He can not /feel/ Seldan's hand in his own, but he can see it. He knows that it is there. His eyes close and the grip turns firmer, clutching at this link to reality. His other claw comes out, so that he's holding Seldan's hand with both of his. Feeling its weight, those green eyes open and a world of hurt resolves therein. He lets out a little mournful sound, quiet, but there and vibrates with the desire to gather his kin up and feel him in his arms. As always fear keeps him in place, but... He does not let go of Seldan's hands. "Thisss one did not think that thisss one would live to sssee you again."

A growing smile forms across Seldan's even features at the touch, and he offers the other hand as well, allowing Zeke to hold both of the magician's hands on both of his, should the Sunguard wish to. "You have lived to see it. I am real, and I am here. More still - the tower is thrown down, at least for some time. She is slain, though I know not whether 'twas the real her, or a duplicate. Nonetheless, the tower has been wrested from her, and we rescued as many as we could. Acedia was slain in the tower, and the people of the Draco Solis have restored her. She should return soon. As for the demon..." he pauses. "I know not the demon's fate."

"I don't know. He ran screaming from the Elunian temple when I ran up to greet him." Acedia is very sullen then and shrugs. "He did not look well, but he was alive. He is skinnier than I remember. I was dead when all that happened, so." She shrugs again, and when the tea service is ready, the Gobbo will offer to carry the basket of bread. "It's this way, I'll get the door, yeah?" The little blue streak leads the taller woman through the temple at a more leisurely pace. "So... so how are you feeling, then?", she wonders, looking up at Kira.

"Oh no..." Kira takes the tea set and follows Acedia... though Kira's idea of a leisurely pace may be closer to the previous blue blur. Nor is it especially conducive to tea service as Kira is rattling the service whilst following the gobbo and/or nudging her forward. "We should hurry! He must be starving..." Stepstepstep. Rattle. Nudgenudgepush.

The blue-scaled sith shakes his head. "It ssseemsss like ssssuch a long time ago, that we were fighting her." His eyes glance down to where their hands meet. He doesn't seem to mind the addition of Seldan's other hand at all. If anything he seems to take further comfort from it. "Thisss one... thiss one doess not even remeber it all any-more. Ascedia... Thisss one remembersss her. Thisss one isss glad that ssshe isss returned to usss. Too many have been lossst to... to her." His hands clench once at his hesitation as to what to call the mistress of the Shard tower.

"This day is the fourteenth of Hattanani, in the year 1022," Seldan tells Zeke, quietly, letting the man hold his hands for as long as he wishes. "We returned from the remains of the tower yestereven. But ... it was Acedia who ran at you in the Temple of Eluna." He adds a rueful smile to that. "I have bid her move a bit more slowly, but she is most upset. Tell me, who else have you seen?"

"Well, he can't eat it all at once.", the Gobbo points out. "It's this door here." She knocks twice on the door, waits a moment, and then opens the door, waiting for Kira to enter first, before following in behind. The basket is placed carefully within reach for the others, and Acedia moves to Seldan's side, and sits down. She leans against him gently and eyes Zeke.

Kira happily enters first, seeming to take the pause as an invitation to do so. Her face first brightens in a smile, and then firms in concern as she spies "Zeke!" The tea service is somewhat carefully set on the nearest, semi-convenient, mostly horizontal surface that might be nearly large enough for it.

A slight draft is then created across Seldan as Kira all but appears at the sith's side. Despite his concerns, which are known to her, she barely hesitates before examining him. It's not quite a snout to tail scale survery, and she doesn't go so far as to try and disrobe him... but she does lay hands upon him, either to pat down areas covered or tug at neckline, sleeves, or other edges to check areas near their edge. She knows where he is... or was ... injured, but also checks for any new arrivals. "Are you well? Have you eaten? You should eat, and drink. We have bread and tea..."

Zeke withdraws his hands as they are joined by another arrival, and then... Kira steps in and the sith seems to withdraw entirely. He doesn't run away as he did with Acedia, but his eyes grow quickly distant and vacant, his body totally still. He doesn't even seem to breathe while she checks over the injuries that he no longer bears. It's... somehow worse in a way, watching him withdraw from you all without actually leaving the room. He doesn't respond to her words at all. Just sits there.

"Sentinel, back away, you are frightening him." Seldan sits up straighter, suddenly, from where he'd been sitting just within arm's reach of the sith with their hands joined. "He tells me that he is in no pain." His tone is firm, and brooks no argument. "His body has been seen to, but the mind is injured worse still. Have you the tea service? It may help."

The door opens without warning, Cryosanthia shouldering it to come through. She's carrying a box. Her clothes are a mix of white mithril armour and leathers, tight fitting with a short, shiny cape. She halts in surprise. "Zeke! You're awake. You have visitors. Hello."

She looks around the empty room, nods, "Right, it should be safe out here," and leaves the box in the hall before entering in. She slowly approaches, "Faran is with me, will that be too many? I have the tea service."

The Gobbo squeezes lightly at Seldan's arm. "There are too many, I think. I'll go, to give a bit more room, yeah? You know where t'find me." Acedia snags one of the loaves of bread, and offers a smile to the others just arrived. "It is good to see you all, I'm glad we got out of that scrape, and that we don't have to worry about Salina or the tower." She eyes Zeke and smiles to him. "Rest and recover, Zeke. All that you have gone through, the terrors, the sadness, the triumphs... it was not for naught." The wee, blue-robed Gobbo makes her way for the door, then.

Kira doesn't even seem to register Zeke's withdrawal. "You're looking much bett-" It's not until Seldan speaks up that she halts mid-sentence. Her hands jerk back away from him abruptly as if he'd hurt her... or she'd hurt him? Her expression is pained, whatever the case, and she now just stares at her own hands.

Zeke still isn't registering anything. If he hears Cryosanthia enter, or Acedia's farewell well-wishes... He doesn't respond to them. He simply sits there still and calm. His eyes still distant and vacant things.

"Acedia!" Cryosanthia calls out happily as the sith finishes her inventory of the room's occupants. Approaching the door, the goblin is now on the receiving end of a surprise pounce hugs that she is usually delivering, which is a unique experience when performed by a much larger lizard woman. Cryo is careful to avoid rolling across the entire floor, somehow stopping after she throws herself at Acedia. She wraps her arms around, holding tight. "You're back! Oh thank Daeus! We only made it out because of you. We barely made it out. He chased us all the way here. You are the second I've had to leave, fleeing him, and it bites deep. I'm sorry I could not do more, help. I tried to get the Tower to send everyone but it only sent those on the Circle. Thank you for telling me to run, thank you so so much for your sacrifice. I am deeply grateful."

Faranmidahn trails in after, wearily, though her hair is bound into a thick ropey braid along ber back. She looks about the room, seeing Seldan tending to Zeke brings some awkwardness to her features, though as Cryosanthia pounces on Acedia, she moves closer to the Goblin, "Acedia..." she says softly, "I'm.... "

"Let him come to you, Sentinel. We know not the full truth of what has been done to him." Seldan modulates his tone a little, but nods up at the voice saying that they have tea. "Perhaps the tea can be brought to him, Cryosanthia?" he asks, turning back to Zeke. "Zeke. You are surrounded by friends. Hold fast." He lets the sith-makar hold him still, or not, as he chooses.

The Gobbo is surprised by the sudden arrival of Cryosanthia, and squeaks as she's hugged, the smaller woman squirming. She wavers between joy and despair in those moments, as the Sith unpacks the ordeals and the events after her untimely demise. Finally she reaches a hand up, placing it on the Sith's cheek, a little warm spot. "Shhhh. It is okay. I am here and we are all safe." Acedia reaches a hand out to the Lucht. "Your mother made it also, Faranmidahn? And Torrent, too?"

".. I know..." Kira comments softly. She does know of Zeke's experiences, at least for what she was present for. Which amounted to enough. Too much.

Her hands still hold her eye's undivided attention, though she was at least aware of Seldan's comment. After several more moments of silent staring, she all but whispers, "Forgive me."

Though Zeke remains largely unresponsive, he has in fact accepted Seldan's hand. Holding onto the paladin's hand as if it is the lifeline that it is. The blue-scaled sith smells of nothing. He is far away and gone inside his mind, but the distance in his gaze is slowly receeding. There is the scent of tea in the air, and other comforting now-smells which call to him as a siren call. Promises of safety and security. He is not dumb to them after all, but they are a distant promise for the moment.

"Sentinel, would you please bring us the tea?" Seldan's gaze goes up to Kira, searchingly, pleadingly, even as he lets Zeke hold his hands. "It will help him, this do I promise you." He does not yet talk to the others, although the brief squeeze of arm from Acedia did register. "Go and get the tea, Sentinel."

"Any favours, anything, just ask." The whitescale sith is so caught up in embracing the goblin that Zeke's withdrawal, the lack of improvement from the night before, hadn't registered with her yet. It does now. She lets go, slowly withdrawing her arms from the goblin. She exhales as small, cold cloud.

Cryo leans back, crouched and sitting on her tail, looking across at Zeke. "Oh. Yes. Be gentle. He's suffered tremendously. Good thought Sir Seldan." A moment of careful breathing to centre herself. She stands, goes through the box, and brings out the tea set. Another moment waiting at the door, then she carefully draws closer. She's making a low vibration in her throat, a comforting noise. Her scent is minimal right now also, but she's working on that. Her words are soft, "Zeke, thisss one isss Cryosssanthia. This one bringss tea. You are sssafe."

The sith moved all her stuff and Zeke's to Mikilos' place when he was taken. The box is it being brought back. Zeke's tea set, is within, along with his boxes of tea. When Cryo took Zeke to the room the night before, he became afraid of the furnishings. They were moved out. He finally went to sleep, and that allowed her to get the stuff and return to visitors.

Acedia pats Cryosanthia gently on the shoulder. "I would not demand favours of you. Friendship, nay, kinship, is give and take. But I do appreciate how you feel, I would feel as you do, were I in your position. Your thanks, and indeed, all of our continued survival, is more than enough for me." The Gobbo lets out a huffs of breath, makes her way back to Seldan, and settles at his side once more. Just out of view of Zeke.

Kira blinks a few times and finally lowers her hands as she looks away from them to Zeke, then to Seldan, and past him to Cryo, Faran, and Acedia. "I'm sorry." She rises to her feet, slowly, and steps back from Zeke and Seldan. "I ... should go. Forgive me..." Kira turns and heads for the door, giving the others as wide a berth as she's able to in the room, eyes mostly towards the floor.

Faranmidahn's eyes glisten with Acedia's gracious query, and as Cryo releases the goblin, who then drifts near Seldan she surges forward with a fervent embrace for Acedia, "Thank you!" she exclaims, "Thank you, thank you so much!" The Lucht's voice is tight with emotion, then, "Without you.... I couldn't...! I wanted... I tried, but....!"

Seldan draws in a deep breath as the tea is finally brought closer, and releases it, but only looks after the Sentinel as she fairly flees, then turns back. Acedia's proximity gets a brief, small smile, but it is Cryosanthia who gets the full of his attention. "Cryosanthia, if the water is not as hot as it should be ... the very same spell one uses to clean oneself may also be used to warm a cup or a pot of tea. You need only cast the spell and think on the temperature that you wish for the water to be. If the tea is not already made, perhaps you could...?"

Zeke's holding both Seldan's hands.

It's hard to tell what if anything Zeke is making of the general tide of information that is passing in the room around him. Largely he seems utterly unaware. Yet his hand tightens on Seldan's hand as Faran moves - perhaps more quickly than is comfortable for the sith - and his eyes actually flicker toward Cryosanthia as she draws closer and sits beside him. There is no tea yet made, and all of what she has brought with is in a box still tucked away amid the cups and tea pot. They are familiar items to him though. Things that like Seldan are not memories. It might seem odd, but the truth is that his eyes are more on the tea pot and its accompanying cups than on his cihuaa.

"Thank you Acedia." Cryosanthia gives the goblin a small bow, setting the tea set down beside the other ones. She's about to start combining and pouring when Kira rises to leave. Now the sith is chasing her.

"Kira!" She embraces the paladin from behind, holding tight, not letting her leave yet. "This one has to thank you too. What you endured! I saw. I know. I Know. My cihuaa lives because of you, you suffered so much for us. I'm eternally grateful. I'm so sorry you had to get to know the Mistress. Please, we must meet and talk after."

Then... the whitescale blinks at Seldan. "Really? I can make hot tea? Oh ssscalesss that's funny! It never occurred." Cryo sees Zeke focus on the tea, not on her. She nods slowly, releasing her hold on Kira, turning to move back to her mate, a bow of respect to the paladin again.

"Wait, Kira..." The Gobbo raises her arm to try to wave the woman back, and lets out a low huff of breath. "She forgot her basket of bread. And I think she should have stayed." Acedia looks a little more sad, but then squeaks as Faran comes for hugs. She squeezes the Lucht and sniffles. "No no. We were all in it together. I could not imagine what I would do were I in your position... it is perhaps... only perhaps... a bit easier for me because I have turned my back on my parents, but I suspect I would be as vulnerable and at a loss as you felt, seeing your mother there, and all of those other poor, poor people. We were all overwhelmed." Faran, too, feels the warmth of the Gobbo's hands upon her cheeks. "All that matters now is that we heal, and count ourselves fortunate that the day was won, won together."

Hugs? For Kira? Of course she loves hugs!

Or she used to? She startles at Cryo's call and the sudden embrace and immediately... squirms? in the sith's arms. "Please, I can't... I shouldn't..." When she is finally released, she darts out of the door, with gratitude, though she doesn't even get her thanks out before her soft words are out of earshot. "Thank you, Mis..."

Faranmidahn lowers her eyes a moment, then closes them entirely, giving Ace another firm squeeze before she draws back to look into her eyes, "I... understand, Ace... but, still." She leans in to kiss her cheek, "A thousand times, thank you."

"Acedia...." Seldan sighs, squeezing in return the hands in his. "There are many people in here, and Zeke is not responding well to people moving quickly. I think him in need of a quieter space. Reunions must be had, but perhaps this is not the best of places. We tend to those in need here." The paladin is trying very, very hard to be polite about this, since the space is not his - but his intent is clear enough. _Everyone, either calm down, or leave_. "What sorts of tea are available?" he asks of Cryosanthia, looking over at her.

The whitescale sith heard the whispered words. She halts mid step. The Mistress has claimed another. She will have to find Kira later, see what can be done. "I'll get her basket to her Acedia. She... will need to talk. She is a healer... it's clear everything down there hit her very hard."

She nods at Seldan's words, her voice is soft, "There is Wintermint, one of my favourites. A green, a black. A blackcurrent made from flowers, it has a very pleasant aroma."

Cryo glides over and flows into a kneeling position near Zeke, moving the tins into his field of vision. She opens them, so he can sniff.

Acedia blinks at the Lucht, and nods slowly. "You are welcome, many, many times over." She looks to Seldan then, and nods slowly. The Gobbo squeezes his arm, and stands, moving to the bread basket and snagging two loaves for herself. "I will return for the bread basket later.", she says curtly. With that, she moves to the door, and quietly lets herself out.

Zeke continues to stare at the tea pot, and the longer he does the more he seems to come back to himself. His hand twitches in Seldan's hand and hesitantly he reaches out his other to touch the tea pot. He blinks twice, a flicker of surprise crossing his features. The blue-scaled sith withdraws his claw slowly and he looks at Seldan, returning finally to the here and now. "Tea?" Cryosanthia opens the tins and the scent of them hits him hard enough that he blinks twice, instinctivly leaning toward the scent. It's quickly followed by an unpleasant expression crossing his face. His hand clenches suddenly tight on Seldan's hand, his eyes flickering toward the basket of bread as if just now seeing it. Possibly because Acedia took a few loaves from it. "No. No."

His hand is threatening to crush Seldan's hand and a flicker of his hand knocks the kettle to the side a little as he grabs the bread basket and throws it violently across the room. "NO!" His breathing is heavy suddenly, the scent of his fear thick in the room as his pupils threaten to swallow his eyes whole.

Faranmidahn lets Ace leave as she would, uncertain. Maybe she peopled wrong? She lifts her hand slowly and offers, "Be well, Acedia!" in a soft voice, as she caught Seldan's earlier chidings. She begins to turn the paladin's way, though she is draw at once to the sound of Zeke's voice. Any lightening of her expression sours to unsettled concern at his words, and it's only a mild startlement that results from his last, most vehement exclamation. She moves slowly closer, still not within arm's reach, certainly not her arms at any rate, and, "Z-zeke...?"

There is no hesitation from Seldan in letting Zeke's hand go, so that he may reach for the tea - and then his other hand is being crushed, and he gasps in pain, grimacing as unbidden claws dig deeply into the flesh of his hand. For the sith, the smell of the paladin's blood mingles with Zeke's fear, but still he does not remove the hand - not that he could right now if he wanted to. "Take ... the basket outside and ... return it to the Sentinel, Faran," he instructs the halfling quietly. "I would ... take him hunting." A drop of crimson falls to the floor from where their hands are joined. "Cryosanthia, the tea. It will help."

Cryosanthia struggles with herself. Returning to the Tower settled many years of conditionning back on her, behaviours that are hard to shake off. Suppressing her scent is part of that, a tightness, a lockdown, where she would mimic Salina. It's hard to let go with the Zeke she now remembers being imprisonned with, be herself from before or after the Tower, and not the self that was locked in the tower. She inhales, exhales again, forcing herself to be calm, confident, to smell safe, smell like something Zeke would remember from their time there, which isn't terrorized, as that would not help. "She would have punished him after I escaped, for letting me, for making me. She's done unspeakable things in that time. Kira would know some and I'll ask what she saw, but she has suffered too. I know the Mistress' mark and she's left it deep on her soul also. She may have trained him to hate food, to hate the paladain. This one is not sure."

To Zeke, her voice is soft, gentle, "Zeke. Thisss one isss here. Tea, isss here. We are free. Ssshe is ssslain. Letsss make tea." A graceful gesture and her gloves glow, she places them around the teapot and warms the water. "Focusss on the tea."

"Hunting?" Cryo looks over at Seldan, head tilted quizically, "Is this something you both often did?"

Faranmidahn blinks and looks worriedly between her sister and Seldan, then with a mournful, "Zeke..." she nods and begins to move toward the breadbasket with a soft, "Yes, Sel, right away...!" She looks between the two, intoning, "I'll.... wait outside until bidden when I return..." and, with that, she sets off to find Kira. The jewels along her left cheek divert a tear as she exits the room, damning the fae queen anew for her sins.

There's the scent of blood in the air, the basket far away, but the blood-scent is near and... Zeke looks down at his claws and it's on him. It's Seldan's blood. His /kin's/ blood. Eyes wide Zeke pulls his hand away from Seldan, looking at his claw with ever-growing horror. He screams for a second time, screams and wipes the blood furiously on the floor. "No, no, no!" It's not much blood really but his claws scrape against the ground again and again as if he can't make it go away. A low anxious moan is gathering in his throat and he claws at the ground uselessly. <draconic>

"Agh!" This time, Seldan's gasp is nearly a scream as Zeke's panic-driven claws come free, ripping out of his flesh and leaving bone-deep wounds in their wake. He immediately pulls the mangled hand back, cradling it in the other and only glancing up occasionally at the pair of sith-makar. "Cryosanthia..." he manages through gritted teeth. "I must have this seen to, would I not frighten ... or upset him further, and I am spent ... until next I see Her face. I shall return directly." He stands, cradling it carefully and testing the fingers one by one. "Kin, I am not angry ... I shall return."

Cryosanthia winces at the paladin's gasp, then the sight of his hand. She makes a grimmace and a bad joke, "This one could freeze it for you? I'm sorry, he's not himself. He would not normally... Please have it seen to. I'll do what I can to reach him."

She watches, still crouched as Seldan moves. Cryo waves her hands, her white gloves glowing as she makes wiping motions. The blood, Seldan's blood, is cleaned away as if it never was. The scent vanishes. Cryo draws in a breath, starts a low thrumming in her throat, "You are sssafe. Zeke. You are in the Dragonfathersss housse. He protectsss. Remember when you left with her? You were ssso brave. You are brave. Focusss, on my voice."

'Seldan...' Zeke's eyes are wide as they take in the other man's injury, the blood dripping from his hand. Zeke shifts, looks away and into the corner and reches loudly. There's nothing to come out of him, but his body tries to be sick for him anyways. "No, no. This one will not! Never, never." Zeke moans quietly and huddles into his corner shivering. He quiets slowly under Cryosanthia's voice, but doesn't move. <draconic>

For the briefest of moments, Seldan turns back from the door, as if wanting to help the stricken sith, but firmly shakes his head and releases the mangled hand long enough to open the door and exit through it, leaving it slightly ajar behind him.

"This one is here. Listen to my voice." Cryosanthia moves to crouch beside Zeke, keep him company with her presence. She concentrates and her clothes vanish, leaving her just the armour, boots, gloves and sleeves. Not quite what she wore during their imprisonment, but close. Familliar and different. 'We are sssafe. We have esscaped. Thisss one will not let anyone hurt you.'

She concentrates, striving to feel strong without seeming like Salina. To let her own confidence out, to smell like the sith she's become, that Zeke would remember from both before and at the end of his ordeal. "It is over. Safe. Dragonfather watches us. You never did. You resisted. You are free. Come to me." <draconic>

The draconic is familiar and comforting, as is Cryosanthia. He looks up from where he's hunched in the corner and looks at her mournfully. "Thissss one hurt him. The blood... the blood." He looks down at his own claw and makes a hurt noise. The tea sits forgotten off to Cryosanthia's side and he doesn't seem aware of it. "Did Kira essscape?" Zeke is suddenly despirate sounding, moving slighly away from the wall. As if she hadn't just been in the room a few seconds ago. "Did ssshe get out?"

"Ssssssss. It'sss gone. It ssshall be healed, he underssstandsss." Cryosanthia says, drawing out her sylables, crouching on elbows and knees beside Zeke like a giant, lizard-like cat. "Ssshe esscaped. Ssshe esscaped with usss. Ssshe is sssafe. Ssshe will come sssee you sssoon again. Kira hasss injurries also, in the mind."

The whitescale hesitates, then makes a guess based on what she saw, how the paladina acted with her cihuaa, "You sssaved her too. Ssshe held on, to help you. You endured. It kept her sssane." Sane-ish. "Sssmell me Zeke, sssmell thesses stones. Thisss isss not the Tower. You are home. You are sssafe. It isss done. You have been ssso sstrong, ssso brave."

Zeke breathes out and relaxes as if the words have eased some burden off of his shoulders. He blinks at Cryosanthia and he takes another, deeper breath. The room doesn't smell like the tower though it's made of stone. To a sith, there are differences. "How long hasss it been Cryosssanthia? It feelsss like for-ever sssince I sssaw you lassst. Every-thing hasss changed." He sounds sad, his voice a small hurt thing. "It hasss been too long and thisss onesss memoriesss are faded."

"It'sss been too long. For thisss one, five weeksss since I fled the Tower. Four remembering, then you were taken, then a week. Waiting, preparing." Cryosanthia says softly. She doesn't move, doesn't touch, only sits and concentrates on feeling powerful, smelling powerful to reassure her mate.

She knows it can't be the same for him, and she has to ask. Her heart sinks as she raises the question, "How long after I esscaped wasss it? Do you remember the daysss, the weeks..." The whitescale hesitates, "... the months..." she hesitates again, "... yearsss? How long wasss Kira with you? She wasss a week gone here, asss well. The day after thisss one remembered it all. After your sssacrifice."

The blue-scaled sith shakes his head. "Thisss one can not know. No sssun. No moon. It feelssss like a very long time. Kira... hass not been in the tower for very long... Thisss one knowsss because..." He trails off suddenly and looks vaguely as if he might be ill again. "The Missstresss... ssshe began to tessst thisss one after you were gone. To pussh. Ssshe wasss curiousss. A-about. The Forgotten." His voice is hollow by the end of the sentence, he expression haunted. "S-sssshe wanted thisss one to e-eat Kira." He isn't looking at Cryosanthia anymore, but some far-off distant place off to the side of her.

A horror the whitescale wasn't expecting blossoms in her soul. She knows of the Forgotten. It has touched her. Some of her distant relatives, but her first imprisonment in charnath and how her blood was awoken. Her scent becomes acrid with fear at the word, and she swiftly clamps down, steels herself. She smells like nothing at all. "Thisss one came asss fassst asss ssshe could. Thisss one knowsss the Forgotten. How far did ssshe pussh? Kira, isss whole, hasss all partsss. Isss sssafe. You did not eat Kira."

Cryosanthia shoves thoughts from her mind, that Salina might have regenerated Kira. It seems unlikely, a waste of effort when other prisoners could be used. "Tell thisss one. Thisss one hasss ssscrolls, thisss one can sssee. Ssshe can not hurt you now. What did ssshe do, forrce you to? What mussst we un-do?"

Tired eyes turn on Cryosanthia and hurt flickers through Zeke's eyes. He shakes his head. "Do you think that thisss one... thisss one /could/?" His voice is hoarse and he draws into himself. "Thisss one would /never/. NEVER!" His voice reverberates through the room, harsh and loud and full of hopless rage. He's shaking with it. He stands up suddenly, wavering on his feet. Steps to move around Cryosanthia. He clearly has no idea where he is going. "Ssshe can sssend all the illusssionsss sshe likesss but thisss one will not!"

The door opens again, and Seldan returns. All trace of blood-scent is gone from him, and he gestures at the floor before him to remove any drips that he may have inadvertently left, but does not get two steps inside before Zeke gets up, shouting. Instantly, he is on guard, dismissing the minor spell he was using, and closing the door, standing in front of him. "She will send no more illusions to trouble you, Zeke." His eyes lower. "I ... was far too late to move. I would have your forgiveness for my slowness." "Zeke!" Cryosanthia is on her feet as well, flowing in front of him to stop his progress, "Thisss one iss here! Thisss one isss Cryosssanthia! You are sssafe! You never did! You NEVER did! Sshe isss gone, there are no illussion. Feel me! Smell me! Hear me!"

She calls, pained, the sound a sith makes over an injured mate. Not the one she intended, help me more than come to me. She understands his confusion, knows it. Still awakens believing she's in the Tower, that she's never left, and Zeke has had twice the experience and more. "You did not, you did not. Ssssssss, relax, it isss sssafe."

Without looking at Seldan she makes a wave for him to approach. "He regretss, and... Her handiwork and revenge was viscious."

Zeke is shaking his head, wrought with emotion. He looks at Seldan's hand, confusion flashing across his face. "Thisss one... thisss one hurt you. And..." His eyes flicker to Cryosanthia and he flinches, stepping away from her. "Thisss one... thisss one isss sseeing thingsss. Thisss one..." His eyes drop to the basket on the ground, the spilled bread and agitation lashes at him. "Thisss one is in the Dragonfather's house. Yesss?"

The blue-scaled sith is in panic, his eyes stairing at Seldan as he shakes his head back and forth. "Thisss onesss cihuaa... Ssshe believess in thiss one. Ssshe... ssshe..." He lifts his hands to cover the thin slits of his ears and shakes his head. "Ssseldan... Sseldan thisss one..." He moans again quietly and steps closer to the other man. "Help. Please... please help."

Seldan's left hand is now covered with a black leather swordsman's glove, but otherwise seems fully functional, there is no trace of blood-scent, and while he isn't using it very much, it does not appear to pain him overly much. "Zeke. Kin. We are in the house of the Draco Solis, and they have set all aright. Would you pray before His altar?" He looks around the barren room, shakes his head at the tea set forgotten on the floor, and opens the door, inviting them both to step out. "Would the smell of grass and trees be of aid to him, Cryosanthia?" he asks, stepping through and waiting for the two of them to come as well, if they will.

"Yes. It would." There is anguish in her voice, she tries to hide it. She steps carefully. Her clothes re-appear, white Daeusite robes, with pale blue accents. Cryo exhales, drawing on her own experiences, "A little. Too much will be over-stimulating. We. He has been without normal scents for a long time. Prayers might, yes. The bells and smells, clergy known to him. The warmth of the Dragonfather will be a sign, something he's not felt in a long time."

The palescale advances, encouraging her cihuaa to move with her by being visible. "A swim, might help. It helped me. The weight of the water in the lungs, it switches the body, changes thinking. Zeke may be too fragile for thisss, and the Tornmraw will be too cold for him yet. Perhapsss a bath, thessse were not known in the tower..."

She flinches. Unknown unless the Mistress wanted to experiment with drowning. Which, she did at times. Cryo turns to Zeke, "Prayersss, we should go to the altar. It isss quiet now. Ssshe could not sshow you hisss warmth."

Zeke steps forward eagerly toward the doors. "Yessss. Dragonfather, prayersss." He seems eager at the thought, though he hesitates outside the doorway to look around, stepping uncertainly down halls that were once familiar to him. It's been eighty years for him. A lifetime to forget which way to go. He lowers his voice to Seldan, whispering to the man and then glancing sideways at Cryosanthia. There's an aching slowness to how he moves. His body is weak with malnourishment, and lack of sleep, but he wants this. Needs it. He mutters at times to himself, odd things that make sense to him, careful to keep Seldan in sight and glancing at Cryosanthia often.

Seldan seems in no hurry, and by this time, he has come here enough that he can find his way to the main altar. Prayers, he knows, can be as food and drink at times, for the devout, but when Zeke whispers to him, he turns, looking at Zeke oddly. He doesn't answer immediately, though, waiting until they have reached the area of the altar, where the clergy pray most often. When they reach that open, green space, he turns to Cryosanthia. "Would you offer Zeke your hands, as I have done? Let him take them. Let him feel what is real, and not a trick of the mind. Salina was an expert of tricks of the mind, and yet does touch so often banish such tricks." How does he know?

The whitescale moves beside him, positioning so she fills the bluescale's field of vision. Cryosanthia walks as slowly as Zeke does, patient, her voice gentle and her words even, a little musical as she talks to Seldan in a way that is almost hynotic. "Everything feels so strange, like the building you grew up in, when you were a youngling. It's like a dream, a place you almost forgot existed, didn't believe existed any more. One you've only seen in your sleep. People you remember are strangers, arriving from the depths of memory. It's all so long ago."

Cryo lets Zeke and Seldan lead. Her cihuaa held his faith in the Tower without the Dragonfather's touch. For her, the experience was much more sterile. Her god never provided there, and hasn't much outside the Tower either.

At the altar, at Seldan's request, she nods. She holds out her hands for Zeke to take, so he can feel she's real.

At some point along the way towards the altar, Seldan acquires a little, blue shadow. A tug on his arm, followed for a small hand reaching for his... once Zeke is done with them. "Hello.", she whispers up at Seldan. "Did you want to leave them here while we go and visit someone who is waiting for news? He's probably bored with camping now. Maybe would like a warm, dry place to sleep, and the feeling of his friends nearby."

Seeing the new place straightens Zeke's posture, and he actually wags his tail at the old familiar surroundings. The scent of the green grass. The gentle mumur of those at prayer. He glances at Seldan, clearly surprised by the man's words, and then with obvious suspicion at Cryosanthia. He glances at her hands. He doesn't take them though. He shakes his head. "Thisss one will not believe an illusssion." He nods to Seldan and then to Acedia. "Thisss one will pray. You do not have to sstay. Thisss one can make it back to the room." He gives them an encouraging look that might be more encouraging if he hadn't just said that his cihuaa was an illusion. Then he moves away a few steps; to join his fellow priests.

Cryosanthia stares, as Zeke ignores her outstretched hands and limps a few steps to join the priests. All sorts of things going on inside her, barely expressed. She stands still and impassive, her tail limp behind her. She closes her eyes. She wants to roar, to embrace him, cheer victory, but he is so fragile. Her own damage is not so much healed as packed inside the Tower in her mind. Something to explore later. Be herself, be calm, smash stuff up, the options flood. "Thisss... will take some time. Perhaps the Daeusite robes were too much. This one will stay with him, make sssure he returnsss to his room. Ssstays, if you need. He was patient for me and this one can be strong for him."

Seldan looks after Zeke sadly, and his eyes lower a little. When he looks up, it's at Cryosanthia. "It will take time, but know this - naught in the world dispels illusions - of the mind, of the heart, of the eyes - quite as the touch of a loved one. Remember that, would you aid him. I should go ... Acedia is right, we must bear news of what has passed." A silent gaze. "Acedia, if we may go by my house, that I might arm?"

Acedia eyes Zeke, and then looks to Cryosanthia. She stretches out to patch at the Sith's forearm. "He will come back. He has been lost before, and love lead him back. You are strong enough. And you can lean on me if you need." A wave is offered to the two Sith, and she looks up to Seldan. "Yes, given the craziness of the past few days, I would have you well armored and armed." She hops from foot to foot, a fast grin on her face. "And you'll clank loud enough that you won't startle him with your arrival." Zeke stands in prayer. Most would kneel, but Zeke stands, mostly thanks to his artifical leg. He seems at peace like this though. And it's not until Seldan and Acedia are away that there's a murmur of concern among the clergy as Zeke tilts over and falls onto the grass - unconsious. It seems that his body has finally given into what it needs, and that the peaceful contemplation of reaching out to the Dragonfather was enough to drop him.

"Thank you Seldan, Acedia, hearing that helps, and I will not lose hope. She is done, I am here, he will believe it, that it is over. I may come... for that help. I expect to shatter at any moment yet I do not." Cryosanthia smiles wanely, holding her arms wide then waving farewell.

Then, as they depart and she turns to move beside her mate, she witnesses him collapse and that shattering seems all too close. She rushes to kneel beside him, hand on his back, waving assurances to the other clergy. It's fine, he needs the sleep. The chanting will calm him. Yes, someone who knows what they're doing would be wonderful. Make sure he's comfortable and safe, then we'll take him back to the room. I'm his cihuaa, that means wife...

The whitescale stares upwards. Oh Dragonfather, protect him.