Welcome to Gaia! ::

Emnast holds nothing back, not even the most gory of details. But surprisingly it isn't the gory details that surprise Kero the most. It is the deviousness and convoluted thinking which the shadowmages use to snare and subvert their targets. How they build up the hope of a victim then crush it in a single foul moment.

Finally, after the third pot of tea, he sits down and shakes his head. "I'm sure there's more up there in my head... but yer going to have to pull it out of me, like a bad tooth, here and there. Most of what I told ye is the stuff that pertained to all of us. There is no school for shadowmagic. The books choose us and then once we are ripe enough for harvest a master appears and takes over... It isn't a pretty process. The novice is rendered, taught, and abused... in other words used, until he or she breaks free of their master. One of the reasons there is so few of us is that we often times have to kill our teacher to get away from his clutches. If we have learned enough, we survive... if not... She readily accepts the offerings made of our essences."

Em sighs. "It's kind of like blood magic... in fact many of us used it... others, like myself, used different means. Blood and death magic give off an enormous amount of power, but it's usually a one shot deal. Anger, fear, lust, hate... those endure and offer a pool to draw from."

"But if you don't mind, I'd rather not think about it any more today. In fact I think I'll go take a long hot soak... Just talking about it makes me feel all filthy." says Emnast softly shaking his head.

"Room enough for both of us.." laughs Emnast leading the way to the communal bathing room.

As soon as he enters Kero can see that Emnast no long claims this section of the cave for himself, though there is one large dragon size pool set aside from the others. But there are benches and resting platforms all about the cavern which are far too small for him to use. And the pools now seem to follow a set order, going from cool at the entrance way to steaming deeper in. Em's own pool has a hazy fog hanging over it that indicates it's anything but cold. The dragon tells his brother to pick his poison and heads for the only spot in the cave large enough to hold him.

Soon the silence of the room is broken only by the drip of the water and an occassional grunt as one or the other finds a new kink to work out in the heat. Suddenly the silence is broken by a young familiar voice.

"Em? Kero? Mama wants to know if you are coming down for dinner?" calls Mara entering the room and trying to nail them down through the steamy mists. She is fairly sure where Emnast is. There is always a faint hint of ozone in the air around him and only two places in the room he might be, only his sleeping ledge near the vast glass window or his soaking pool, but her step brother she isn't so sure about.

She nods and tells him not to take too long. 'Daddy and Mama are having a chili cook off... and they need you to help decide who's is best. Ari and I are kind of split."

Emnast smiles mischieviously. "I've a recipe for a delightful chicken almondine... and I'm not above bribery... any suggestions for what to put with it?"