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Silence takes the dice back and shakes her head. "You need to learn to gamble with cheaters.... We know nearly every way to cheat.... I just rarely ever get to play like that...." She tosses the dice, still rambling, and rubs her belly.

Silence smiled and took up the dice again. "Shall we end this, Cyn'gus?" She tossed the dice and sat back waiting for him to make his last throw.

Annoi could not resist letting out the soft chuckle as the numbers were calculated in her head. "It looks as though you have defeated my husband, child. Well done." She had walked over to see what Cyn'gus was up to and could not help but watch the game play out. She saw the dice pass between both players and found it amusing to see that the dice were never switched. A tender smile touched her lips as she leaned down to hug Cyn'gus and whisper into his ear, "Usstan tlun vhaid d'dos, Cyn'gus. Dos jivvuln fei'ir lu'noamuth l'nibele al."

Alantha turns away. "It's nothing...." She slowly starts to calm herself down. She couldn't hold it back anymore. She lets out a low gasp as she starts to cry. "I should....I should have tried harder to save him...I knew that..my home, they would have found out about us sooner or later..but I wanted to late to flee our home...." She buries Her face in her hands. "I failed them..my husband...my sons..."

"Yes..I did..I had to..but it wasn't enough..the head Matron...she was more powerful then...anything I've seen, her powers...they had to come from Lolth herself...." "I fought.....I....they just..killed him, as he was trying to get away...I didn't see them kill my children..but..I knew they were lost as well." Alantha shakes her head and quickly gets up. "I'm sorry, I think I'm going to be sick." She heads out of the camp.

As Cyn’gus knelt next to the shaken drow maiden, he listened to her begin to speak, his eyes searching hers for a sign of what may have caused her to stir so suddenly. With only a few moments of observation, it then occurred to him that it was not a physical pain that she was experiencing, but a deeply traumatic emotional one. Before he was able to think of what say or what to do, Annoi arrived next to her with heartfelt concern on her face and began to engage Alantha in hushed tones.

He was very grateful to have his wife present. It was especially for situations like these, when her heart opened up to someone in need and shined most brightly. She was able to speak to Alantha, look inside of her and relate to her in ways he could not. Although he could only sit and listen, providing the support of merely being present, Cyn’gus knew he was doing all that he could for her at this point. Having already sent a dispatch to the Chosen, he could only wait for the aid she needed to arrive. It was then that he looked over to Silence, calmly sitting nearby and whispering comforting words to her unborn child. He hoped that he had acted in time.

When Alantha began to sob, he saw Annoi reach out and embrace her. Cyn’gus took a deep breath and let out a sign. It panged him to see someone in such sorrow. After having listened to the recount of what befell Alantha’s family, he felt remorse….shame. Not by any of his actions, but of those of his kin that dwelt below. It was the plots and schemes of the spider kissers and their queen that tore into the very soul of this poor maiden that lay before him, sheltered in the arms of his beloved if but for a moment of solace. She had made her way to the night above, through sure determination and will. Through the grace of the goddess she had found this small beacon of hope in the company of strangers. By the Dark Maiden, he prayed…, please comfort your child and stay her soul….

When Cyn’gus looked up from his inner thoughts, he noticed that Alantha had gone. Turning his head and searching the perimeter of the campsite from where he knelt, he saw Annoi moving to the edge of the camp, a blanket under one arm and her medicine bag in the other. He saw that she was walking towards a hunched over figure near where the tree line began.

He stood and, taking another deep breath… then turned his gaze towards the full moon.

The light of the moon showed brightly over the path leading through the forest. With a determined yet graceful stride, the Moon Song priestess made her way down into a clearing. It was a familiar place to Zeenat, ancient and also sacred. ‘The Glade’ she said under her breath, more a whisper, to no one in particular. There were no structures of any kind, just a clear area surrounded by the forest. Though it may not have looked like anything more than what the eyes could see, it was a temple, a place of worship for the faithful.

Zeenat strode into the center of the sacred glade and paused to kneel. She used her staff for support as she knelt and began to send her prayers up to the goddess. The blessings of the Eilistraee filled her heart as the time passed, and as the moon continued to shine down on the open area of the dense forest.

Zeenat finished the last of her chanting, then opened her eyes looking up towards Selûne. Divine power flowed through her, and even the precious moonstone set in her staff gave off the power of enchantment being newly restored.

As she rose, Zeenat cast her attention to the task at hand. With a fluid movement of her hand, glowing blue letters appeared in the air in front of her. She read over the message again sent to her by her youngest sister’s son, Cyn’gus. She recognized the handwriting, knowing the message had come from him. But she also knew that he had been given the duty of Emissary over the long established Outpost.

When she received the message, it came to her in a female’s voice. A young drow woman’s actually. One that called herself ‘Silence”. She had activated the scrying spell which dispatched the message to Zeenat’s ears. After the message had arrived, it was determined that a member of the clergy should attend to the Outpost, more specifically to learn more about the drow maiden Cyn’gus had mentioned in his letter and had received a call from the Dark Maiden herself.

With another fluid gesture, the glowing message faded away. Zeenat then slowly made her way back to the edge of the glade to where the path began. Inhaling deeply she could smell the campfires of the nearby Outpost. With her determined yet graceful stride, she set out to finish the last leg of her long journey.