Prospernalia's End Feast - Day 5 - OPEN!

"Holding this form requires concentration. If I go to sleep it'll transform back, and you've seen how big I actually am. It's safer if I just head home, it's not too far from here."

She drank her wine as Draga spoke, and then paused when faced with the bold reminder of what @totallynotadragon was. A dragon. A relative to the beasts that had destroyed her nation, her home, and her family. She swallowed slowly, and then very deliberately put her cup down.

Then, she turned those silver eyes onto Draga, her lips a bit wine-stained, and said, "Alright. Take me home with you."

Draga was laying forward, looking at the rest of the crowd, as Farrah spoke.  It took a few seconds to register but eventually she sat up and looked at her with a surprised look.

"...Really?  You'll come visit?"  She asked, a smile slowly forming on her face.

Draga squealed with joy and began to stand up.

"Yes! Okay, sounds fu- wait, hang on, my place is a mess...I gotta go home first and clean it!"

Quickly she slammed a piece of paper n the table and scribbled something. When handing it to The Sparrow she would notice it was a map leading off into the mountains from Isra, with a large X near a cave.

"Come here tonight when you finish partying here, alright? The place will be super nice for you. I can't wait!"

She bounced a little with excitement before sinking into the ground below and vanishing from sight.

The man wanders into the glowing grounds of the feast for the evening. Granted, he seemed seriously underdressed compared to the people that were wandering around, but no one seemed to stop him from entering. He was rather plain in his attire and simple, wrapped in his traveler's cloak still at this point. But he couldn't help but wander in out of seer curiosity... and a mildly hungry stomach. At least he was somewhat accustomed to being around high risers rather than being intimidated by them.

His gaze remained steady as he answered, rather impassively.

"Is there no way to negotiate with them? Surely a river is beneficial to all in a desert?"

He was genuinely curious, how tribespeople could create that much of an issue for a city. Were her concerns humanitarian or were they a potent military threat? He failed to see how they could be, but then pirates had killed his father, so he could not be too judgemental.

"The Leviathans of the Deep seldom trouble us, but when they do it is a colossal undertaking to deal with them. You would be at more risk from mundane waves, rocks, and pirates then you would from them, just by frequency alone."

She nodded her head, leaning a forward a bit in her seat so she was closer to the Daimyo Akagi Zuikaku, her legs crossing so the scarlet silk of her gown was trapped between her gold-decorated thighs. The Emira perched an elbow on her knee, her goblet in a nonchalant grip of her hand. "It is entirely possible. Yet every time I send a messenger into the desert, he does not return. This could entirely be from the nature of the Sorala itself -- she is a fickle mistress. Or..." She didn't finish her sentiment, and instead drank more wine.

"Mm, so shipments of trade back and forth -- your waters would be safe? Not that I doubt your abilities, Daimyo," Fairuz said, her green eyes on his dark one. "I am merely curious about what Quying is like. I would like you to visit Sakand. I would like to have an official discussion between what our cities could do for each other."

Double entendre? Or no?

She smiled for him -- for him, a turn of her lips and a warmth in her blue eyes that seemed truly just for him -- as he took her hand in his own and she rose like a swan from a glassy lake, grace and poise incarnate as she all but floated beside him onto the dance floor. The fairy lights above them continued to sparkle among the hanging flowers, the orange-gold glow creating a lover's atmosphere, if not just for Ryden Greyiron and the woman in his arms, then for the others who danced as well.

The enchantress moved into his embrace like she was made to be -- like this moment, this night, this feeling had already been written into the Loom of life, each of them a thread wrapping around the other. Her heart skipped a beat at that sudden clarity, and she held her breath for a moment (too subtle to be truly noticed) as her dark lashes lifted to look him in the face as he spoke to her. This close, he'd be able to examine her elegant beauty without even being bold -- the slight curve of her eyes, the straight line of her nose, how her bottom lip was a little more full than her top, the beauty mark on one cheek bone that almost teased to be kissed.

The sound of his voice, the feeling of his bare hand against the naked skin at the base of her spine, the grip he held of her other hand -- it all added to the romance of the dance as she rested her hand in his, the other on the line of his shoulder. His question made her blush a little, a rosy flush coming to the honeyed skin of her cheeks, but she did not look away and hide, or simper, or smile like some younger maiden ought. She was beyond coyness and games.

And she sensed that the Chancellor was as well.

"I do," she answered his trailing assumption, trying to search his dark gaze for... something. "I have enjoyed your company very much, Ryden. I think, perhaps, I might find myself easily becoming accustomed to your figure in the doorway of my shop." A lighter tone, a smile on her words and on her face. "I will have to think of reasons for you to keep buying clothes," she joked, laughing gently and then breaking his gaze as her golden head dipped a little with the chuckle, only for her to subtly shake her head to get the whisps of her blonde hair from her face and looked up at him, the happiness still in her eyes... but also a bit of that sadness, too, as if always keeping a little of herself back.

"You are indeed unique," Kelmaer replied, his hand slowly lowering; sliding down over her curves if only for a moment before rising up again to its prior position. "But so are all creatures, in their way. Any unnaturalness you have about you is mere spice to enhance the dish, but from where I am looking, that dish remains largely the same as so many others I have tasted. A sweet smile, soft curves and something down below that men would lose themselves for; you are not the only woman with these things, and I know many back home who are equally as equipped to provide release."

Continuing their dance, he closed his golden eyes so that she could no longer look into them. "After this dance, or this night, we may never meet again. I would assume a creature as beautiful and divine as you claim to be would not be saddened by this, much in the way I would not," he told her, the slight harshness of his words matched equally by the tease hidden in them. "But never-the-less, I am not a difficult man to find. Follow the tales left in my wake, the gloating of those travellers who have seen me and known me; you need but follow them to my kingdom, my empire - where you will see the glory constructed in my name. The statues, pyramids, towers and roads that those who love me as much as they fear my wrath have built in my honour."

It might be difficult to believe the claims of the man who now physically touched her, who danced with her and spoke about things usually reserved for lovers. He himself might have trouble ascertaining the truth if he stood in her shoes, but that wonder was entirely the point of what he said. Either way, Ganymede would find it nearly impossible to read from him whether or not his words were a lie.

"But enough of what I control, speak to me of things I do not. What is this place? This city that I have stumbled upon in my travels? Who rules it, what architect built it, what magic holds it together?"