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Ka'dairihn Ja'lithur took in a shuddering breath trying to placate his fear as he stared out on the small milling crowds in the marketplace of Llurth Dreir. Today of all days...his sisters had chosen a task that was the worst he'd ever had to accomplish. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the fear that rose in his mind when a female strode past him, her chest half bared because of the heat of Llurth Dreir. There was too much skin exposed in the city for Ka'dairihn's liking...especially the skin of the females.

He knew most males would have been smugly yet carefully shooting glances at all the females that strode past them, revealing in the scantily clad women.
Ka'dairihn was not one of those males. He preferred to advert his eyes from any female, keeping them to the ground and breathing slow shallow breathes in an attempt to keep his fear from getting the better of him.

Truth be told, Ka'dairihn was afraid of women. Probably a smart thing, since females were the bane of any male's existence. But in his case, it was worse than just a reverent fear or awe, he was actually deeply afraid of women. So much that he would start to go into sweats and his breathing would become labored and difficult. It was a fear he wasn't happy about. He was a warrior and he wished he could cut the fear out of him as easily as he could cut an enemy down.

He momentarily closed his eyes and started a meditation mantra under his breath to get himself in a state of relaxation. Today, of all days his sisters had ordered him to bring home a piece of clothing from a woman. He wasn't allowed to gain it from a servant, or a female merchant, they had been very specific about that. It had to be from a female that he had spent the day with.

He sighed, and rubbed his eyes and looked up trying to pick out a female that wouldn't be too overbearing or too forward. He didn't want the encounter to go any farther than one day if he could help it. One day with a woman that he wasn't related with would be enough for him. He half figured he would barely survive the ordeal if he didn't choose the female wisely.

Ka'dairihn turned towards the nearest bar, figuring he might have a better chance at choosing a female if his nerves were dulled by a bit of ale. He nodded, it had been awhile since he last had a good drink. Those damn sisters of his always came up with tasks that took him out of the city and away from the watering holes that he liked to frequent every now and then to take the edge off of his fear. At least this time he was close enough to several and they couldn't say anything bad about his getting a drink or two during the process.

His aunt O'phranaylas had actually told him it might be easier on him if he picked up a female from a bar. The Matron had agreed with her, so Ka'dairihn decided it was a good idea, and trudged off towards his favorite one, the Black Fang. It was one of the less crowded ones, since it was located near the far end of the marketplace and closer to the caravans that entered to set up their wares, most high folk didn't tend to go there. Ka'dairihn didn't really care about social status all that much. In fact he preferred hanging around the lower casts, since he was able to keep them on their toes and they were less likely to attack a male from a High standing House.

He walked with a slight spring in his step, as he neared the Black Fang and quickly slipped inside. He took a seat near the back behind a curtain haphazardly strung over a rope suspended between two beams of the building. He reclined back, his eyes flitting over the few drow already taking up residence in the bar; looking over the few females closely before rolling his eyes in frustration. It appeared there were no females of high enough standing to even bother with the task set to him. He motioned for the barkeeper that he was in need of service and set about to getting as many drinks as he could without becoming drunk. It wouldn't do to be completely drunk or his judgment would be impaired and he would end up choosing a female that was too much like his sisters and Matron. God forbid that should happen. He didn't need another malicious, torturous sadistic female in his life.

Ka'dairihn had gotten his first mug of dark ale and sipped at it slowly savoring the n** of the vintage, as well as the heady taste of it. He sighed, and relaxed a little more, putting his feet up on the chair across from his and let his muscles relax in his new position. He was momentarily lost in his thoughts when a young female wandered into the tavern, catching his eye.

The way she moved, so light and appealing with the easy going smile on her face and the pleasant manner in which so spoke instantly charmed him. Something about her, however, raised his hackles. He frowned and kept an eye on her, being careful to appear as though he wasn't observing her.

He gulped the rest of the drink down, carefully wiping the excess foam from his mouth with a cloth napkin before setting the mug down with a thump. From across the bar, one of the servers took note, and came over to him and asked. "Can I get you some more sir?"
Ka'dairihn pretended to consider the offer before saying, "Yes, may I have some amber ale please? Also...I'd like to pay for the female's wine." He said, indicating her with a discreet motion.
The other male smiled knowingly, and left taking the old mug.

Ka'dairihn really didn't know what had possessed him to be so forward. He had never before paid for another's drink before. He supposed it was done all the time so it really wasn't that big of a deal, though at the moment he felt as though it was.

She was female, she wasn't from a low cast, that much was evident by the way she was dressed and the way she treated those in the tavern. Ka'dairihn was interested to find out why she had come to such a hole-in-the-wall bar when she could have gone somewhere much more suited to her. As well as find out what House she might be from. If it was his lucky day, perhaps she would even be interested in him and he wouldn't have to go out looking for another female to meet his sisters' criteria.

Ka'dairihn noted the female's surprise when she learned someone had paid for her drink, and hoped to the gods that it would take her time to figure out just who had bought it for her. Instead..because of the damn server betraying him to her, she knew faster than he had planned for her to. He almost jumped up from his seat and stormed out of the bar, but for some reason he held back the anger that was running through him, and downed the last of his ale, as she perused him with her crimson eyes.

It was this part of it, that Ka'da hated the most. The subtlety of the female's gaze from behind innocent eyes framed by long lashes. They'd blink their damned lashes and believe that they could woo the male to do their every whim. It made him grind his teeth every time a female did it to him. Females...really got on his nerves.

When she got up from her seat at the bar and deftly made her way towards him and had the audacity to actually talk to him, all Ka'dairihn could do was stare blankly at him before what she had asked actually registered in his mind.
"I suppose so." He muttered under his breath, trying to avoid her gaze and her damned cute eyes. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, pulling his feet off of the other one, and sitting up straight in his seat.
He lifted his eyes momentarily to look up at her once more, looked down at his empty mug and wish he had more ale. If he did, he supposed he might have been able to ease the fear and nervous twitch that started up in his neck muscles.
God damn. He hated when his body gave away his feelings. He sighed, and then asked in a low tone, find courage somewhere deep inside of him to go on. "Are you new to town?"

Ka'dairihn's eyes shifted from her hands to her face, and then to the table when she placed her bag on the corner of it. Oh no, he almost groaned but kept it in. This was moving along too fast for him. He wished to the Gods that he hadn't been as forward and that he could take back buying her drink. Though...he probably should stop being such a stick in the mud and look happy or the female would leave him to his own devices. And while inwardly that was what he wanted, he knew it would be harder to try and approach a much less "kind" female. At least this one wasn't openly hostile towards his reluctance to open up to her, or explain his motivations for buying her a drink.

He was rather shocked when she started talking about the same thing he had been thinking. He was even more surprised when she sat down across from him in the empty chair and tried to get a look at his face.

The next sentence that fell from her mouth caused him to catch his breath in shock and look up in obvious interest and intrigue at her. She was a healer? Surely Lloth was smiling down on him today. Had she had any other job he might have run screaming from the bar. But a healer? A healer was a very helpful thing to him since he was a warrior and all.

"I apologize for seeming disinterested in you. The fact is, I was in a bad mood but you've just throttled me out of it. So..you're a healer are you? That's a very good job to have, especially with all the attacks that happen in this place. You should have no problem finding a position in a House. I'm Ka'dairihn of the House Ja'lithur." Ka'da returned, his mood immediately improving.

Perhaps the task wouldn't be as difficult or as unenjoyable as he had first believed. Even if he didn't get very far with the female as he was supposed to, he might be able to convince her to come to the House for a position. The House hadn't had a healer in the last three months, due to an unfortunate event between the oldest daughter and the healer. His sisters had never specifically said that the clothing he brought home had to be empty of its female.

Ka'da watched her as she looked him over. For a female, she wasn't bad looking, he thought to himself. Sure the hairstyle was a bit different, and her clothing was a little...strange but at least it wasn't as revealing as the other females in the city of Llurth Dreir. He figured that since she had been traveling she had worn warmer clothing, but now that she was in a city surrounded by volcanoes, she would soon be donning clothing that covered less of her thin willowy frame. His eyes momentarily strayed down from her eyes, but he pulled his gaze back to her face, keeping them from straying further than her collar bone, so she wouldn't think him to be as crude or rank as a gnome.

He felt a slight smile start at the corners of his mouth when she suggested, with a very pleased look on her face, that he could show her around the town to make up for his bad mood. He had been rather unpleasant, but it seemed that she hadn't minded too much and had forgiven him, which relieved him greatly.

A drow at the bar had started singing quite badly in an off key tone and was banging his mug around loudly, so He had to lean slightly forward to catch what she said next. He was rather glad that he had done so, a healer that didn't have to depend on the goddess's blessings was a great find indeed! He watched her open her bag and show off the odd mixture of herbs, tubes and other medical supplies in her bag.

He was rather impressed by it, and relieved once more that she wasn't a priestess healer but a simple healer. He had always been wary of such healers, not to mention reluctant to have one of them doing any sort of work on him. He always feared that if he should see one of them that they would weave some sort of controlling or mind control spell over him. He had heard of it happening to several other males, which was the biggest reason why he stayed away from priestess healers. The other reason was simply because he was horrible at being a patient and would never stay still long enough to recuperate. Fortunately he was lucky he had never been severely wounded yet.

He said her name over in his head a few times before he let it roll off of his tongue.
"Yallinda, it would be a pleasure to show you around the town. There's really not anything interesting about my House, save that I'm the only male in the immediate family. I'm sure the Matron would be pleased if you were to offer your services to the House, we have had need of a healer for quite some time now."
He paused for a moment, at a loss to what to do next. Then he saw that her cup was now near empty, and asked her politely. "Would you care for another cup before I show you around Llurth Dreir?"

Ka'dairihn wasn't surprised by Yallinda's reaction to the drunken boisterous drow, and a small smile flitted over his face when her face was turned over her shoulder. For what he could reason, she must have been from a high standing House but had fallen on hard times or fallen out of favor with her Matron and had been forced out of the House. He wondered what she might have done to cause her to become banished or estranged from her House. Now a days though, it seemed that the matrons didn't need much to austrasize their children, be they male or female.

He was abruptly pulled out of his thinking when she called him Ka'da. He inwardly cringed at the nickname. He hadn't heard it in a long, long time. His younger sister Min'hyvairr had called him that for the longest of time before she had been able to pronounce his full name. Though secretly she had called him Ka'da for years until she had stopped abruptly and begun to show disdain and a rather uprighteous act, as though she were better than he. He hated when that had happened. She had been the only sister that he had ever been close to, and her betrayal had hurt the most.

"I'd rather you didn't call me that. I'd rather Rihn, if you feel you need to shorten my name." He interjected after she asked.

He didn't quite agree with her when she said that the bar had lost its charm. The bar had never had any sort of charm, that was the one reason why he frequented it. There were no pretenses to it in any way, which was a relief to him. He didn't have to be wary or on the look out every minute, it was an unsaid rule of the bar that it was a fight free area, and that those who came wanted no trouble. Though, the crowd that did come had no problem in the area of fighting, since the majority of them were mercenaries or warriors. They came for drinks and a place where they could relax and keep their guard down for a change.

"I suppose," He replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
He was rather surprised when it was her that suggested he escort her to his House. He watched her rise from her seat, as gracefully as she had entered the room, putting her bag over her shoulder.
"It would be a pleasure to do so Lady Yallinda. For obvious reasons, I like to avoid the volcanoes, though there are areas of the city where you can see them quite well without having to get too close to them. Is there anything else that you would care to see before I take you to House Ja'lithur? Oh and I wouldn't worry, your chances are quite good. Though I should warn you, my sisters are quite suspicious and tend to deal harshly with others who have ill intentions." He replied, and walked over with her to the door of the bar, holding it open for her like he had been taught.

Ka'dairihn was surprised that he liked how his nickname rolled off of her tongue. It was an odd feeling, one that he hadn't experienced before. Sure, he was used to people shortening his name, but they way his sisters said it didn't make it sound as good as Linda did. He got tingles when she said it, as though his sharing his nickname with her was something forbidden, something sinful.

"That's kind of you Yallinda." Ka'da replied, keeping his pace at a slow amble while he joined her side and they began to traverse the slightly more open streets.

In Llurth Dreir, it was common enough for people to be attacked on the streets, no matter what part of the city you were in. It was a warring city, not to mention one that was split in their choice of gods. More and more were beginning to follow Ghaunder(sp?) and Lloth's chosen were beginning to become more ready to attack, maim, and kill any of Ghaunder's followers. The followers of Ghaunder would in return strike back, usually at one of the Houses involved in the attack, usually one of the higher ones. They never went after one of the top 5, but any House below them they would do so without restraint. This was one of the many ways the House hierarchy's changed so frequently in Llurth Dreir.
The city was in a constant state of warring. Not so much a good thing, unless you're a warrior and know how to take care of yourself.

Normally Ka'da was accompanied by several hired mercenaries, in order to be protected. Since the House of Jalithur was one of the higher ones, it being the 8th house and not to mention, one that still worshiped Lloth publicly, he was for the most part attacked quite frequently. Remembering this, Ka'da inwardly cursed his stupidity at conveniently forgetting it, keeping a constant eye out for any attack that might come.

"It might be smart to forgo walking, the streets aren't safe in Llurth Dreir. I will tell you anything you want to know about my House once we get a cab to the House." Ka'da told her clenching his teeth in worry, looking over at her, looking rather agitated.

He knew he might get a reprimand for bringing a guest into the House without asking first, but he didn't really want to be responsible for her getting murdered on her first day in the city. That would be something he would regret for a very long time. He figured that his Matron wouldn't be that upset, seeing as she had been looking for a healer for several weeks now, but hadn't found anyone that was to her liking.

Ka'da held up a hand, trying to wave down a cab, all the while keeping an eye out for thieves or murderers who might attack them. As they waited, he decided he might as well fill her in on a few things and clarify details about the city that he felt she should know. He kept his left hand ready to draw his long sword, while holding his right aloft in a signal for the cab drivers to see that he was in need of their service.

"For some reason, I feel my Matron would be very open to discussion of allowance and whatever you need in order to get you to work for her. Just as long as you two don't clash in personalities. She's started interviewing other healers...but hasn't liked any of them. I feel you have as much chance as anyone else. As to the status of the House, it depends on what happens in the city. Llurth Dreir is constantly changing, as is the status of the Houses, because the city has so many warring factions within it. With a healer in the House, we'd have more chances of keeping our House's status or rising in status. Right now, we're the 8th House. Ah, here we are!," Ka'da exclaimed in relief as a cab finally pulled up.

The cab in question was designed to look like a spider, eight coils depicting the legs curled around wheels in the front and back. It was being manned by a rather short male drow, one could suppose he had gnome blood in him. The cab was being pulled by a rather large reptilian bird like creature, which shook its head impatiently as it waited for them to climb in. The iron frame creaked as Ka'da stepped up inside the "body" of the spider and held out a hand to Yallinda to help her into the cab.