[Shallindria]

Under cover of night, after the zenith of the winter solstice has passed, two strangers meet by way of the Obsidian Tavern. One who wishes knowledge, to gain knowledge. One who wishes misfortune, through virtue of sorcery.


The evening set like a twilight cloak draped over the pinprick points of starlight. Still those illumenscient points pierced through the veil which brought the chill of memory crawling down the slender pale woman's spine.

Her satin black dress spilled as if liquid night over her elegant legs. Cut at her bust line in a U shape, edged with a gentle purple lacing. She held herself with an air of prominence, seen only elsewhere in the high priests and priestesses of holy orders. Raven hair seemed to match the tinge of chocolate marone lipstick painted so artfully upon the edge of her mouth.
Subdued, the female reclined upon the tavern's porch, a slender crystal glass in her grasp. Crafted from the Falgaire basin, the crystals were both a focus for mages, and a wonderful device to display wealth and elegance. The red liquid passed between her lips with such a pristine motion, it begged at her other qualities.

Tonight was much like any other night, as the realms reins of power were being grasped at by the slippery, and ever-evolving factions played out their plans in abject disregard for any ripples they may cause. The Honor knights, which so unwittingly provide her with an endless chore of seducing young men into terms of power. The Baaton who, whlie not being apart of their order, seemed to causing their own wonderful chorus of disharmony. And lastly, the inevitable Seraphs, who evolved from a universal need to exert balance. She knew she could not trust them, since her own ambitions would lay well within their grounds for meddling.
She had been sanctioned for use of Telepathy, an art which to this day, she will forever cling to as her own birth-right. Only the truely powerful demonic entities retained their powers in the Mortal realms, and while a princess to previously successful demon bloodline, the catastrophy which instigated her presense here had stripped her of all gifts bar her mind.

Yet tonight was different, in some aspects, it was a good night. And when atlast, the moons crept above the horizon to shed pale light over the land, Shallindria smiled in a contentious malevolence. Patrons would arrive tonight. Farmers, residents of L'Ombre, Men seeking the presense of a Companion to relieve their human urges. She was under the guise of an exquisitive courtesean after all. Lavander perfume radiated from key places on her flesh. Her nape, her wrists and mid-section, all were clouded in a warm penetrating nimbus of lavander. Eased to a reclining state, the woman watched, in silence, as the simple towns folk made their way for the evenings festivities. Having acquired a reliable neutrally-aligned mage to inquire information from, Shallindria would await for his arrival.

A surge of awareness brushed the air around her, a sharpening of intent. Shallindria knew magic from her life before now, and as a current of magical energies made themselves aware along a laneway of the continents magnetic flux, she knew someone was arriving through a spell. A crackling resonance which shuned thought for a moment, split the space between spaces. Filling that void with an azure light which indicated lane-flux, the spellbinder, and Warden of the Western Transian appeared at the zenith of illumination, the primal cord of Phonobele's creations pealed in a silent, wonderous note of spellcraft. Within a moment, the lane-flux energy subsided to a smattering of blue-sparks which in turn, dissolved into nothing. The woman shielded her eyes for a brief moment, then studied the figure which had appeared in the specticles place.

Unimposing as a small stone, Aeshen was garbed in brown robes, tattered and dusted with the forestry. He sighed and resigned to a place next to the woman, he spoke in a soft voice, thick with an elvish accent. "You have wrested me from a winters sleep. I tied my spell to arrive with the rising of the moon, the Esbatical methods of druids demand as much of me..." A careful ear to his intonation, lent her an insight into his nature without the use of telepathy. She knew, by wording, that he was much older then she, and as such, may have already suspected the nature of her inquiry. Crossing on leg over the other, she would employ the subtlties of her craft in earnest.
"I thank you for seeing me on such short notice. You do not make it easy to find exactly -which- tree is yours." In truth, Aeshen had merged with a selected tree for the Winter, intent on completeling a ritual purification, which had been habit for a few years now. In merging completely, and surrendering wholey to Phonobele's will as becoming one with nature, the druid sort to balance himself, bodily, spiritually, and mentally.
"I am aware of such. But if you were unable to find me, then you would be unworthy of information from me." The woman suspected as much, and allowed herself a honey covered lulling laugh. "I knew it. You examine intent before action. Then you must know why I've asked for you... expertise." Caution bridged between the two, and Aeshen became acutely aware that he dealt with a woman of intelligence, he broke a moments silence by standing up and walking to the edge of the porch.
"You seek a spell for some reason, or knowledge enough to allow one yourself." Directly, Aeshen had cross-examined the energies which tapped his sojourn through the deep, dark sleep of Treeshape. The signature energy of her being could not be concealed through a simple re-allignment of shadows. Aeshen knew she was Demonic.

He had paced the porch before, but with emerald eyes cast down in consideration, Shallindria didn't need her gifts to percieve his mind.
"You're questioning whether such an act will disrupt your Major Balance." Unfamilar with it's tenets, yet aware enough to realise it's governing axis, the Major Balance in the primal edict laid down by the King of Gods, Lensen, at the dawn of the new age. Phonobele now held precedent over all of nature, and all things that occur naturally. While consorting with this demoness was outside the juristiction of his Goddess, unless she threatend nature in some way, he was still cautious about aiding any dark-aligned being. He closed his eyes. "Speak then, of your request, then let me, alone, decide the Major Balance." Passion transmuted to a glowering stern stare at the woman, and as moonlight lanced off the chiselled features, high-cheekbone, and strong, yet small, jawline, the last scion of the O'N'Haal bloodline became a figure as imposing as any obstruct in nature.
Shallindria arranged her skirts as she absorbed his stance, habitually assessing his body language, and the tattoo of station etched with ritual ink upon his face. He was, by no means, one of the most powerful beings she'd met, but he was not defenceless either. "I want to be able to learn how to combat wards which shield the mind."

Aeshen was struck with a peal of beauty from her, and just as quickly, he brushed aside looks and appearance, for past experience had taught him to be weary of such. Every rose had a thorn.
"You will have to start from the beginning then. And it will cost you.." Shallindria raised her chin slightly, in pride. "I can pay you 300 gold for a lesson." She offered her sum in the hopes that it wouldn't be nessesary, yet Aeshen counter-offered. "Five hundred, and you'll tell me who's magick you will be trying to evade." Shallindria stiffend in insult, but with a gentle sigh of calming, retained a composure that could outlast stone itself. "Four hundred, I tell you who, but not why." Aeshen folded his arms in self-admonished defence, then inclined his head after a moment of thought. "Very well, we have an accord.." His fingers moved to trace a line of Elven rune ciphers in mid air, the phosphorescent symbols appeared to link to each other, then a wave of magick flushed through them, as if something beyond flesh read them, accepted them, then used them. The static pulse of quickend lane-flux enveloped his being, and he merged completely in a flash of blue sparks, into the primal cord of Phonobele's creation, only the be transfered through means of teleportation, to his destination. Lane hoping, as it were.

There was left no terms of the lessons she would recieve, and no knowledge of what form that they would take. Shallindria would have to wait then, in patience, in shadow.

[Aeshen]

As the twin full moons cast silvery radiance over the crystalline landscape surrounding the tavern, inside, the woman moved with a caution that seemed almost suspicious. Clad in a rich black velvet gown, with long sleeves looping at their ends, she appeared almost royalty. At her neck, a cast iron choker that spanned the width of her neck, lay clasped without discomfort. Tonight would be the beginning of her lessons in magical defences against the mind.

Aeshen appeared with little fanfare, a swirling mass of green energy flashing briefly outside the tavern was all Shallindria needed to settle herself down by a secluded alcove. Curtains of dark fabric hung like a death shroud around the obsidian tables and chairs. Shallindria moved the flap of one sheet aside with alabaster fingers to admit the spellbinder in. Aeshen, garbed in a simple tunic and pants, with his long hair bound in a pony tail behind him, entered without discussion. As the curtains flowed back into place, their tone changed, blotting out defined vision through them.

"Alright. Let me be clear in stating this. I cannot teach you magic." Like a whiplash, Shallindria's face turned to aggression.
"We had a deal Spellbinder!" She spat in hot tones. A look of hatred scathed across her at him, and Aeshen, placatingly, raised his hands to explain.
"I can train you to stand down magical defences of the mind, yes, but your powers have already taken root in your mind, and magic by your hand would fail. Since the frequency vibration of spellcraft is much different then your highly focused self-awareness, it is impossible."
The demoness' simmering temper calmed itself as she understood the dilemma. Folding her hands within themselves, she spoke in icing tones.
"Then I would hope, for your sake, that your training me is worth it."
Aeshen smirked a little, this little power before him was nothing to worry about, he could blast her to ash within a moments notice, but he was honourable, atleast. Taking out a small square of fabric, Aeshen took out a tiny piece of charcoal and dashed a circular rune upon the surface.
"This is the Suil'thederan rune. It is elvish for 'Grand Focus'. When you delve into my mind, for practice, you will see me construct a barrier, using this rune as the foundation. Since a frontal assault against any beings mental shields is folly, and taxing, you must subvert their willful concentration to disrupt this pattern." Instantly the rune circle flared acintic green, casting it's pale light over the druid's features. "Begin.."

Shallindria paused a moment as he stared into the rune focus, she was hesitatant of the mage's request, and since he had told her nothing of how to disrupt the rune focus, she was left to think on her own. Understanding occured in the form of her own instinct taking over. She would need to be crafty, and autonomous to learn how to evade the shield of a mind, and slip through. She stilled her thoughts, narrowing her awareness to a singular point of perception. Her third eye awakend with a blistering peal of voices. Yet well trained to the minds of others, Shallindria stood within a maelstrom of defeaning thoughts, her iron will allowed no thought, no matter how loud to tear her awareness asunder. As the raging torrent of voice subsided, Shallindria knew a mental silence, a calm that was almost intoxicating. Free, to engage the prime strictures of her self-awareness, she arrowed her intent towards the mage before her.

She heard nothing. Not a whisper, not a stray thought, not even the stoic calm of deep meditation. Fascinated, Shallindria burrowed deeper. There, her folly was revealed. A crackling dissonance of force met her push. His mind was shielded from telepathy. Instantly, her mind fanned out into a spray of probes which danced along the shield, following it's intricate patterns. Like a second mind itself, the shield was not aware however, yet Shallindria could still delve deeper. Training in the ways of Mysticality, allowed her to ascertain the patterned lines which made up the shield were interlaced rune ciphers. She could not read them, but she didn't have to. She followed them along their tracks, to a dizzying result. The spiralling string of runes trailed down into a singular, difficult to perceive, base pattern. The Suil'theredan. The grand focus existed, sustained by Aeshen's free will and active concentration. This is what needed to be disrupted. Without magic herself, the demoness lacked any measure of counterspell to assault the focus with. Instead, she angled all her probes towards the burgeoning rune pattern and smashed them against it with as much force as she could. The pattern distorted briefly, but Aeshen's mind remained secure...

Frustrated with her thwarted attempt, Shallindria unleashed a hellish scream of anger into the grand focus. The effect was instant. Shimmering patterns of mental static suffused with the detailed pattern of the Suil'theredan. This static pulse transfered with a crackling rapport up the tendralling rune ciphers which made up the witch's barrier. It weakend. Shallindria took her chance. Collacing her awareness to a singular point, the seductress zipped through the weakend barrier before the spellbinder could re-focus his shield. Shallindria sensed pride, and his voice rang out. 'Well done, know that I let you in however..' She snorted mentally and looked towards the vast landscape of his mind. She felt a surge of energy manifest, and knew he was trying to force her out. All that knowledge, all that self-awareness, key points to his weakenesses, thoughts whizzed by as runes began to flash infront of her mental vision, the energy of these runes was violent and painful to her, but as the vista of Aeshen's knowledge faded from view, denied to her, she almost unleash another torrent of hellish screaming to block him. She disengaged the strictures of her powers, and opened her eyes to view angry Emerald eyes burning back at her.

"Can't blame a girl for trying..." She said coyly, as she massaged her temples. Aeshen frowned still, such an almost violation of his privacy could have met with her being reduced to a pile of ash, but in truth, the spellbinder forgave her nature.
"That is all for tonight. You did well to follow the strands of the shield. Some mages will be clever and lay several barriers, others can construct more advanced ones that can midlead you, and trap you into a self-contained maze-spell of the mind."
Shallindria listend on to his lecture, quietly committing all the knowledge to her mind. All the while, her heart lusted for the incredible memory and knowledge which she almost touched, sealed away within the spellbinders mind.