Welcome to Gaia! ::

Briza's expression did not change after hearing the sorcerer's tone. Instead she pressed on.

"My Mother sent me to give you a message. Mass will be starting at 2:00 today. She expects you to dress your finest. After Mass you are to report to the community ballroom with everyone else. A Ball will be held in your honor to welcome you to House Tor'afin."

A slave Arrives at the foor, the slave was obviously sporting the Alaenduis symbol and did seem to have a letter. he was young and unimportant to the house, but the matron of Aleanduis heard about this new house and decided it was time that she would like to meet the matron of this house. so she has sent one of her Captured slaves that had been beaten down into submission by the gaurds her and her daughter. that kid was so scared of the house he would never do anything disobey them. Thus she had trusted him to send the important note.

The guard who seemed to always be on duty at the front gate, made his appearance from a darkened ledge from above still upon his faithful lizard mount who looked a little hungry this time around. He starred down sternly at the slave.

"Vel'bol chaon silara dos ghil nika?" the guard through out his voice like a ventriloquist, seeming to come from just behind the slave.

Briza first returned to the community ballroom to make sure everything was set for the ball. Long tables were set at the sides of the room. The tables slowly started to fill with food as slaves came in to put out the first courses which were mainly salads and room temperature finger foods. Various forms of mushrooms and other edible herbals. Bowls were filled with the purest of water and aged wine. Even surface fruits made its appearance on platters.

At the back of the room was a stage set for the musicians. A female drow peon sat on a pedestal and began to practice playing a harp. The frame looked like jagged, torn metal, the inside had strings that looked like a cobweb. The drow female wore metallic finger guards to help pluck the strings and made a lovely sound. Two male drow peons practiced together with wooden flutes on the other side of the stage and made their own harmony. Slaves were shackled and naked behind the musicians. When the ball began they would be released to dance and entertain under spells.

In certain areas of the ball were sitting places. Large seat cushions and rugs scattered these areas and party favors were present here as well. Pipes and hookahs stocked already with large amounts of tobacco and other exotic herbs.

Briza then whistled, her shrill sound echoed around the room and everyone looked at her in surprise, "Every child of Lolth must report to the Temple, Mass will be beginning in just a few minutes. The slaves are permitted to continue doing their work and making sure everything is prepped for the Ball correctly."

With that said, Briza then turned on her heel and stormed off to the Temple. She could hear just a few people walking briskly behind her. Not wanting to upset the Priestess in any way and receive an unforgivable punishment. Briza smiled only slightly at their haste and continued her way onto the stage.

The elven slave now laid sprawled on the sacrifice table naked. Her wrists and ankles shackled at all four corners. She gave the Priestess a fierce and spiteful look through her golden locks with piercing green eyes. She spat at her and started to scream in a foreign language. The elder drow female from earlier slapped her face and pulled back her hair till the elven woman was screaming in pain and pulling at her binds.

"Enough! Don't grant her the attention. She will get all of the attention in just a few minutes. A whole hour of it right before she dies," Briza gave a sinister hiss as she grinned wickedly at the slave.

The elder drow female then pulled away.

"Did you get your gospel memorized, M'lady? Or shall we stall a few minutes for you to prepare yourself?"

"There is no wait for Lolth. We shall not keep our Goddess waiting. The best of gospels are the ones on the whim. For they are straight from the heart."

Briza allowed the statement to settle onto the female and then gave her next order, "Help with seating and we shall begin."

Briza then went to stand near the podium and looked out on all of the House members. She looked down on the book that held all of the ancient prayers to Lolth, the history and triumph of the Goddess, passed down by the Ancients. Briza starred at the seal which was Lolth's symbol and began to get in tune with the prayer feeling.



Lariexith was inside her sanctuary getting dressed. She decided to wear a extremely revealing, short red dress made of a see through material. The front consisted of only two pieces that barely covered her chest area, the back was bare, the bottom had two slits that went up from the middle of the thigh to the waist. Her hair was up in a delicate hair piece. Hidden in the piece however were poison darts. After going through the portal in her room, she appeared just on the top of the steps in the entrance hall. A floating disk was there waiting for her along with a set of guards. She stepped lightly onto the disk with dainty bare feet and gracefully she sat down. She preferred to be barefooted while on sacred ground when going to Mass in the Temple. To feel the presence of the Goddess if she would make her appearance.

The guards made the crowds move aside as the Matron made her to the Temple. Upon coming to the top of the stairs that led down into the place, the Matron instead glided up with her floating disk to a balcony that was built inside the wall to host as the Royal Blood's seating. The Matron then stepped from her disk to the balcony and went over to sat down on a throne to watch the spectacle. Hoping that the Spider Queen will indeed make her honored presence.

It wasn't hard for the Dark Spell Caster to find his way to the cathedral of the House. In fact, it was perhaps the easiest of all the important landmarks in the large Qu'ellar for M to find. After a couple of hours of aimless wandering, the strange Sorcerer quickly became familiar with the entire layout of the House, except for a few spots that he purposely stayed clear of, such as the Matron's throne room and her other personal chambers. Keeping the rule about staying on the right in mind, M was suddenly amongst the crowd of other Tor'Afin's residence as they slowly began to take their seat for the Dark Mass.

Being one not particularly attuned with any religion or deity, M spent this time in the holy sanctuary to study the Matron, her daughter, and other figures for a moment or so without their knowledge. Usually the appearance of an individual would tell quite a bit about them before the actual meeting and from what M could pick up from a few folks here and there, they were definitely the stereotypical Drow; dressed to impress and to flaunt their vanity. An amused smirk played on M's face at the thought. Being one of frugal lifestyles, M never saw much use to such pride. Instead, power and ambition was what he always though as an important quality.

It wasn't long though as the procession began and M's focus on his surrounding quickly fell to those on the balcony and throne. The ritual has begun. The feel of energies from Divine source seemed to fill the room as M, one attuned to Arcane and not Divine energies, sat in silent annoyance to it's presence. During this time, M was somewhat relieve to be a male, for his place in the whole session would be out of sight and hopefully out of mind amongst the females of the group. Though his silver eyes did glance over to the Priestess heading the Mass.

There is more to her than she lets on. I wonder what it is she holds inside herself to let herself look so frail and small? The Sorcerer absently thought as he continued to stare at the woman in a small daze. Shortly, M then lowered his gaze to those before him, a crowd of nobles who showed up early enough to take closer seats for the Lloth ritual. Either way, she carries much potential. If she can summon her Goddess, then there is much I must worry for she might prove more of a hindrance than a blessing for my project... He continued to think as he bowed his head, mimicking a few he spotted through his peripherals.

Briza waited for everyone to be seated correctly. While the Matron had her own place in a balcony in a built in wall, the Nobles each had their own thrones on the bottom which had front row seats closest to the stage. The commoners were divided by gender. Females in front, and males in the back.

Briza then looked behind her and saw that the drow female peons were standing behind her on opposite ends of the sacrifice table. Seven on either side and coordinated by height. Tallest first then all the way down to the shortest. All of them were dressed in violet revealing dresses with blueish symbols and prayers decorating the embroidery and barefooted at that.

Her gaze then cast to the elven woman whose eyes seemed to dance all over the Temple. Taking in every angle and corner of the room. Watching all of the drow enter into their Temple and point and laugh at the elf's vulnerable body. The elf lady's face held one of horror and sorrow as helplessness started to settle in. Her chest rose up and down quickly the more the drow filled into the Temple and as the time drew closer to the ceremony. The last horrible event the elven woman will witness right before she dies.

At this thought, all Briza could do was smirk and sneer as she read the thoughts of her terrified rival.

Turning back to view the House, Briza then lifted her hands to motion for everyone's attention and silence, "Welcome everyone! The sacred place in which Tor'afin has built in appreciation to our wonderful Spider Queen! We should all give thanks to the Dark Mistress, for she is our Savior! For those who have stuck with us from the very beginning have witnessed this! Have witnessed the awesome power of the Deamon Queen of the Abyss! We are renegades! We are assassins! We are Lolth's children! Because of her we never would have made it the Undergaia. Because of her we would never have been able to set up this establishment with no interruption. Because of her we have reached no battles or disputes with the other houses! Because of her we have a safe haven! Because of her our forces have only grown more powerful! Because of her we are alive."

After giving her long rant, Briza allowed the speech to settle in on the House members. The silence giving her speech the effect she wanted.

She then pressed on, "You all should know the tale of the Spider Queen! We were all being held out on awesome abilities. More awesome then one could ever comprehend. But Lolth came to us and told us the truth. Lolth was right all along! But unfortunately, we were all outnumbered by stupidity!" Briza snapped.

"But..." at this statement the Priestess broke out with an evil grin, "As Lolth was right the entire time... she picked US! Which gives US the advantage! We are RIGHT! We are LOLTH'S CHILDREN!"

Briza then made her way over to the elven woman on the sacrifice table. She then took her fingers and gently caressed the elf's face, right by her tan ears. The elf tried to pull her head away but the Priestess then grabbed hold of her ear and started to tug on it. The elf woman yelped in pain!

"These things! These wretched mud dweller Fae! They call themselves elves! What is an elf without magic and chaos? Not healers and peace keepers! They are wrong! They are fake! The world is revolved around chaos! Without no end there can be no beginning! Without no conflict there can be no move! The world continues! We revolve it! Because we were chosen by Lolth!"

Briza then took out a small book that seemed to be a smaller version of the large leather bound book found on the podium. She then opened the book, flipped through a couple of pages, found what she was looking for, took her finger and read a line. As she was reading the tip of her finger started to glow a magenta light. Snapping the book close and replacing it back inside her powder blue robes, the Priestess then grabbed hold of the elven woman's arm in one hand and took her other hand and touched the finger she had used for the book close to the surface of the elven woman's flesh on her arm.

Just then, some blood red runes began to slide from her finger to the elven woman's skin, through her skin, and then started to pulse through her veins. The elven woman cringed instead of yelped this time. For this time the sensation felt more like she was being injected with a sedative drug. Though not really feeling the total state of sleep but a slight yingly numbness took control of her body.

"I have just injected her with a spell that has been passed down by our Ancients of Tor'afin! For those who are new, the history of our Tor'afin Ancestors, I will reveal this bit of information at this point in time. The Ancients from Tor'afin would use a injection spell for their sacrifices to Lolth. This spell would act almost like a sedative. Leaving the body in a constant state of anesthesia though the victim is able to feel every bit of pain and removal from the body. So as we slowly decapitate our guest..." she then flashed a sly grin to the elf before continuing, "She will get to feel every part of her removed. I will begin first... with the ears..."

"The ears gives us elves the identification to our race. We are not humans. We are elves! Though elves have been broken into two different types. The dark... and the light. What is said that elves are powerful, magical beings of great wisdom. if our cousins were stupid enough to believe the lies of the other deities and not turn to the one that was always right... then they are not wise. If they decide to play in the forests and live like the beasts around them... then they are not elves. Elves have dignity! We are not common savages like the other humanoid races! So our Fae cousins are in no relation to us! They are a different species! They have determined their fate! And for that, they are not elves!"

At this roar, Briza then chopped off one of the ears on the slave as the House members went wild. Building from the cheers, Briza raised her athame again and this time the other ear off. Briza then ran back to the podium and held the bloodied ears up for all to see and waved them around at the jeering crowd!

The rothe who had received the letter watched Alaenduis's slave run out as fast as humanly possible after the guard captain of Tor'afin had given the order.

The rothe in turn then started to run back the way he had come. Back up the path that was obscured by the black mist with towering mushrooms and stalagmites leaning over the way.

Just then, a holler followed by a gurgled cry sounded out. The rothe was swept from the path, slain by one of the guards, and the letter was picked up. The guard captain starred at the Alaenduis's seal as a sinister smile flashed on the doppelganger's face. It amused him how the lowest ranking House seemed to be getting the most attention. Whether or not this was a good thing, it has definitely made Tor'afin all the more interesting.

Knowing that the Matron and all of the Nobles are in Mass at the moment, the guard captain then slid the letter inside his chest armor for safe keeping before moving on to attend to his duties.

Briza held out the ears to the crowd for a good few minutes. To allow them to see and do their jeering. Once the crowd started to die down a little, the Priestess then retrieved the ears and walked over to a brazier that was blazing with violet faerie fire. But this brazier seemed to represent more then just your average brazier. Two of them stood in front and beside the sacrifice table. Taking the ears, the Priestess then cast them into the fire in the brazier on the right hand side. They burned up instantly and the brazier began to smoke. The smell of burnt flesh lightly lingered in the Temple.

"You see the smoke Lolth's children?" Briza asked gently as her hands twisted and turned into the billowing smoke on the brazier.

"See how something as strong as bone, as true as blood, and as real as flesh can burn up so easily? Especially in the heart of faerie fire? Something our Goddess gave to us long ago. One of the many abilities she promised us! One of the abilities our rivals do not have for they were not chosen. Flesh, blood, and bone always breaks down in the end. Their ashes become smoke, smoke becomes air.. and air is our vessel we use for Lolth to receive our offering."

Everyone seemed to watch as Briza used some of her power to make the smoke twist and tangle to her liking. Adding more effect to the prayer. The smoke started to climb and reach for the ceiling before vanishing in a swipe of air.

She then turned back around to face the elven woman and walked back to her, still with the bloodied athame clutched in her hand.

"The final mutilation for our guest tonight. Males, let me have your attention especially! Females! You all know this in your hearts. It is our birth right. And it is the way Lolth made it to be. The way it was MEANT to be. For those who don't know about our rivals... not only do they wallow in the mud and think beasts are at our level... they have done something much worse. Something that proves we are RIGHT! The females are below the males..."

A couple of hushed gasps sounded within the Temple.

"FEMALES BELOW MALES!" Briza shouted this statement at the elven woman and rose her athame to aim for her uterus, "What filth of word is this? How do they survive? Which is why we are stronger! Without the elementals on the surface world we can easily beat our rivals! They live in nomadic tents made of wood and skins! What is wood against stone?! What is unicorns against tana'ri!? They put shame to elves! And they put shame to Females!"

At this the athame then sliced through the air, the point of the knife dug into the elven woman's lower stomach and ripped sideways leaving blood drops free to fly through the air! Just then, Briza then dug out the woman's uterus and held it high in the air as she walked slowly to the left brazier. Allowing the cheers to sweep through and echo throughout the entire Temple. At the last second, Briza then threw the uterus into the brazier and it burned away and smoked in the air, quickly vanishing into the air.

"And now... the final punishment..." Briza said this as she walked slowly back up to the podium, seeming to not care that her hands were dripping with blood at this time.

Behind her, the drow female peons had changed their positions. They swept and flocked over to the female. They stalled her blood loss and removed the ancient sedative spell. The elven woman was now able to pull at her binds and scream if she wanted to. But she wasn't screaming yet, her body was still in shock.

Slowly she looked up at the crowds, "Now that she has no ears.... what is a slave's punishment when they have overstepped a drow? Now that she has no uterus... what is a male's punishment when he defiles a Priestess... when he defiles Lolth?"

The drow female peons then stepped away from the elven woman. Briza walked over and stood behind the sacrifice table to be able to look down at the elven woman and also look up at the crowds. Briza then slowly took out her seven headed snake whip. The snakes on the whip twisted and tangled themselves as they became alive once the Priestess touched the handle. The snakes each had a pair of ruby red eyes, cotton colored mouths, and black coils. The snakes hissed at the elven woman and tried to reach out and bite her with their poisonous fangs. Briza then took up the whip and in a single movement pulled the snake heads down from the air to lash at the elven woman. Again and again this happened. The elf became covered by lashed coil bruises, pin pricks of blood by the snake bites, and started to convulse and cringed from their venom as it worked instantly through her veins and took its course. The elf lady's skin started to become pale and white as it seemed to take the life from her right then and there. Her screams sounded throughout the Temple even as her tan colored skin was turning white in front of everyone. She screamed in vain as her life was slowly taken from her in the most brutal of ways.

"Hear her screams, M'lady Lolth! Hear her screams like a song to you! The instrument we play, the music she makes. Let the notes reach you to the lowest layers of the Abyss! Hear our calling! Bless us with your presence! Bless us with your Voice! Bless us with your Power! Bless us with Knowledge! Bless us with Prowess! Protect our House! Allow our House to be GREAT! Use us as your henchmen! We will revolve the world! We will bring chaos! We are renegades! We are assassins! We are Lolth's Children!"

Briza shouted this as she sent every lash at the elven woman. Slowly the elf began to make a gurgling noise. Her throat was filled with her blood and her mouth began to foam from the poison. Slowly, the woman began to drown in her blood.

At the last second of her life, Briza then clasped her whip to a latch on her belt around her robes and reached in her pockets to pull out a gem. Briza leaned over the elven woman and whispered something to her. The elf slowly nodded her head in a 'yes.' Briza then pressed the gem to the woman and a tiny glow of light issued around it. Pulling the gem away, the Priestess then stepped back as the drow female peons came near, they had pulled the brackets of fire from the braziers and came to lean them over to the elf lady. The elf then burned away instantly leaving behind a small pile of ash, and that ash then blew itself away.

Briza then looked back up at the House members with a look that was back to her usual expressionless look, "I extracted her soul to be delivered to Lolth separately. She will first receive the elf's ears and be surprised. She will receive the elf's uterus and find humor. She will receive the lashed and beaten body and be content. But once she receives the soul," the Priestess then held up the gem, "She will be delighted. I pray the screams of our tortured rival and the jeers of our members are like music to her ears. And have reached her lovely head on the 66th layer of the Abyss."

The Priestess then bowed her head and departed from the stage.