The Keep, Ebon Askavi, Kaeleer, Just Before Sundown (Kaeleeran Time)

[glacial_queen]

Karla tried not to look nervous as the great doors to the Dark Altar opened in front of her. Inside, Opal witchlights danced in sconces, forming a path for her to follow, rather than illuminating what was within. This was very different than her Birthright Ceremony, where she'd had the company of her parents and several other children, where a Priestess had waited to accompany her into the Sanctuary and discuss what Jewel she wanted. That had taken place in the middle of the afternoon, with sunlight streaming through and picnics set up on the grass and her mother announcing to all and sundry Karla's paternity.

This was darkness and Darkness and she was alone. Here, she was going to prove her worth, her inner strength, and she didn't know what to expect. Children were coached through their Birthright Ceremony; no one spoke of the details of their Offering. It was too intensely personal.

"You must enter soon," Geoffrey told her, gently. He understood all too well the uncertainty in Karla's eyes. "From sundown to sunup, and it is nearly that time now."

Putting on a brave face and a careless smile, she looked back at the people who had assembled to witness this, perhaps the defining moment of her life.

"Kiss kiss," she said with a wink and a salute. "See you at dawn!"

And then the giant doors closed behind her.

[NFB, Post 1 of 2]

Comments

[endsthegame]

It was only right to come here, considering the circumstances - if he and Ben were to be stuck at Fandom on the wrong weekend, they might as well do something worth doing.

He smiled at Karla as she went, but he hadn't bothered to approach: she had made it clear it wasn't entirely welcome, and this was hardly his time.

"Well," he said, as the doors closed. "This'll be interesting."

[changeable-eyes.livejournal.com]

"Interesting?" Jaenelle asked lightly. "You're a fan of waiting, then? Or are you hoping someone will pull out a board for cradle?"

[endsthegame]

"I hope you won't take it as an insult if I decline your offer to playing cradle," Ender said. As he turned to Jaenelle, he had a real smile on his face. "I'm not sure what the protocol is."

[trigons_child]

Once the doors closed, Raven couldn't get a good feel for Karla anymore. Maybe if she pushed harder, but that wasn't her right. She just had to wait for Karla to re-emerge.

She was a little worried about what Karla was going to face in there, but her faith in her friend was strong. The waiting threatened to be maddening, but she could be patient.

Mostly.

[offers-choices.livejournal.com]

That was fine. Lucivar was there to keep her mind occupied. Like how he was just going to stand there, in front of Raven.

And wait.

[life_inshadow]

"Hey," Tara said, sweeping over to Raven. "So ... what do you think she's up to in there?."

[changeable-eyes.livejournal.com]

Jaenelle was curled up on a couch, her hand buried deep in Kaelas's fur. She knew that tradition dictated that sometime soon, she should be in Karla's place, making the Offering that would deepen her strength, widen the distance she felt between herself and the rest of the Blood. But she wasn't going to. She had no desire to rule, no reason to make the Offering. She was already strong enough.

She was happy to be here, waiting for someone else, rather than being the one who was waited for.

[offers-choices.livejournal.com]

Lucivar glanced around and shook his head. For all that Karla was feeling the loneliness of the Offering itself, Lucivar was marveling at how many people were packing in this antechamber. His own Offering had been a silent affair. Most Eyriens had a feast waiting for them at the camps when they came back from the altar.

Not the bastard half-breed, for all that he came back wearing a Jewel darker than most had seen in generations.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Hey, big guy." Dinah was perched on the back of the couch now, next to Morton. "Something wrong?" Gaaah, no, say there wasn't!

[hells-highlord.livejournal.com]

Rather than taking a couch, Seatan had chosen a large, comfortable chair next to a small table. A decanter of yarbarah and a goblet rested there, though he hadn't reached for either yet.

"Do try to keep the rumpus down," he said with a fond smile. "The rest of the Keep still exists, children."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"You seem-- perky." Dinah gave him a smile, nerves thrumming through her. Which was ridiculous, because this was going to take all night, and if she stayed wound up for most of it she might sleep through Karla coming out when she crashed. "Does that mean good things? You think Karla's ready?"

[glacial-court.livejournal.com]

Julian wasn't sitting on the couch. He was pacing. It was all very well for everyone else to lounge and relax like they didn't care what was happening in there, but this was his Queen and his future at stake.

What if she didn't descend? What if something happened and she managed to break herself? He hadn't actually heard anything like that happening, but if anyone could figure out a way to do so, it was Karla.

He also had his Sapphire out and prominently displayed on his chest, just to head off any 'Purple Guy' comments before they started.

[momslilassassin]

"Relax, Purple Guy," Ben told him with a little smile because he was a pain in the ass. "She'll be fine."

[life_inshadow]

"Pretty stone," Tara told him. "Hi."

She might have been enjoying the fact Julian was just as nervous as anyone else, if not more.She hadn't forgotten his long-ago doubts about her.

[glacial-warlord.livejournal.com]

Morton was also nervous, though he was hiding it better than Julian. Rather than pacing, which he was certain would get annoying, he was sitting casually on a couch. Drumming his fingers on his leg. And tapping his feet.

But, you know, occasionally.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Stealth hug from a stealth blonde! Dinah's arms hugged him from behind.

"Hey, dude. Long time no see." She squeezed him around the shoulders. "How're you doing?"

[wwiii]

Naturally, Warren was here. For Karla's Offering? Where else would he be?

Once she disappeared behind that door, however, he was going to at least attempt to spend the entire night being completely productive.

... By pacing. Back and forth. Outside the door. A lot.

Totally productive.

[glacial-court.livejournal.com]

Julian wouldn't say that he and Warren were besties or anything, but they had fought together and that made people a little closer. So he nodded at Warren one time their paths crossed during pacing before turning around and walking back the way he'd come.

See? Nodding. That was practically a hug in Julian-speak.

[glacial-warlord.livejournal.com]

Well, Morton had another idea, rather than all the productive pacing Warren had planned. "Hey," he said, stopping Warren as he passed. "I have something for you."

[furnaceface]

Hopefully people would forgive Jono for not being terribly social tonight. Yes, it was a party. And yes, of course he'd come here in order to give Karla his best before her Offering. She was family, after all. But with his last class over and done with and this event laying out just how little time there was left before bigger, more serious things, he was hardly in any state of mind to sit back and relax.

Not when he could find himself a corner to sit at, where he could lay out maps of Glacia and any reading material he could possibly find that could give him the most useful information on just how harsh their winters were, and spend his night attempting to plot out those places where a group of landen soldiers could move safely in a territory where they were, if not outmanned, then at least hopelessly out-powered.

More than a few times as he flipped through his reading materials, he could be heard cursing under his breath, taking his notes, and balling them up to start over.

[heromaniac]

Momoko had been watching him for a while, and finally stepped over.

"What was wrong with that one, that it deserved to be called that?" she asked, nodding to the latest ball of papers as she sank to the floor, as close as his materials would let her get. "What is all of this, do you mind me asking?"

[life_inshadow]

Tara had been pleased to get the invitation to Kaeleer, and not just because she wanted to support her friend. Willow's ex was in town and it seemed like a good time for Tara to make herself scarce. She'd gotten the sense Willow wasn't that into telling Oz she was bi, which was fine, just ... she didn't want to hang around when she wasn't wanted.

Anyhow. All that meant was that it was a great weekend to support her friend, and then to maybe spend a little time in Fandom.

She paced the room, trying to look appropriately solemn. "So does anybody have any idea what she has to do in there? Or is that rude to ask?"

[hells-highlord.livejournal.com]

"She's trying to reach her true strength, Lady Tara," Saetan said with a smile and a small nod of greeting. "Did Karla explain what that meant?"

Not that he was putting much faith in that. Not after needing to explain it to Dinah after Karla had tried.

[heromaniac]

Momoko hadn't been worried about Karla and this offering until she got here and saw how anxious everyone else was. Seeing everyone so jittery made her wish she'd brought snacks or something!

Ah, wait!

She reached into her pocket and retrieved a small bag. "Anyone like a jelly bean?"

[changeable-eyes.livejournal.com]

"Isn't that what you fed Karla when she was teeny?" Jaenelle asked with a laugh from across the room.