You can run the jewels or lose your fingers!

[Sophonax]

The adventurous souls with the intentions of visiting Redpointe ranch were in luck according to the weather. It was a ‘balmy’ twenty nine degrees at mid day and under an overcast sky. Warm for this time of year in the wild taiga. While it was warm or at least not dipping well below the zero degree mark [Fahrenheit] the visibility would be greatly reduced by gorgeously thick, heavy snowfall. The seventy five mile path from the common Nexxian coniferous forest belt (the border between the continent and its people and the Redpointe mountain range and woodlands) would be no less difficult to navigate, but, at least it was linear. But for how long? The anomalies were getting a bit worse…

Sophonax seemed to be anticipating company while sitting on her enormous wrap-around porch and watching the snow fall. Evergreens that lined the expansive anchorage surrounding her compound were bending and swaying slightly with the weight of the snow upon their branches and the Siila guessed that they would get approximately eighty seven centimeters of snow on the ground before the night was spent for dawn—and it did not ever fail to stick this far up north. Thanks to the cold the brown skinned, white haired woman tilted lightly in a porch rocker; Ma’tik elk fur boots, a Stetson hat and what looked like several heavy-knit ponchos around her body seemed to be her meager battle against the cold. Or was it comfort? She certainly didn’t seem bothered.

From between the fabrics came a brown hand a pipe. Without the use of a lighter she put the mouth piece to her lips, inhaled and released thick, velvety white smoke from her nostrils that would float away to her left and carried the scent of herbs, rose and marijuana with it. Once the strangers had set foot onto her heart, the land, she’d carried herself outside to wait.

Guests were coming soon, yes? Sophonax was ever the good host.

[Sophonax]

The matron of Redpointe knew the moment an unfamiliar soul set foot on her lands. Some ways back into the blended border between the taiga and the common woods several invisible and warded checkpoints alerted her to the foreign presence. Yes, she'd said guests were coming and as usual she had been right.

"Gerdie-girl. Go'on an' put some tea on, ayuh?" she'd say; voice smoky in such a way that it paired nicely with the blend inside of her pipe. All iron and spice. The little brown skinned filly with two long, thick goddess-style braids that had made the mistake of wandering past the wrap around stoop and getting caught for a favor. She soon scurried inside and put the kettle on while fetching a foiled bag of the matrix blend: heavy with spice and relaxing herbs to put the mind at ease.

Another pull from the pipe and thick, white smoke permeated the air while she watched the perimeter. Rose Na`Gig of coffee colored skin and black hair with an oil slick sheen rode one of the Equus Helios toward the wooden gate stationed beside the trees guarding the path. An adult now, she was quite pregnant and still seemed insistent on taking her shifts for guarding the lands with a rifle in hand, a highway coat and a flat brimmed hat. Assisting her was Whinnie, a Ya'tok tribe orphan, in similar guard-- no baby bump for her.

The first eyes Ciello would see were of the two young women atop, no doubt, the familiar sort of horse they rode. Two Equus Helios; with crimson eyes and hair long and so gossamer that it seemed keen to almost float. Hooves split in three with wickedly sharp curves and sleek trunks more like something lupine than equine. Would she remember Vierge? Khooey's horse from the arena? If so, she'd no doubt found their breeding ground.

'Help you...?' Said Rose; no doubt looking hostile while Whinnie immediately narrowed her uptilted, dark brown eyes at her guarding-partner.

'Sophonax said someone was coming. Chill. She don't look like a Raider to me.' She'd grumble.

After, both turned from each other atop their towering steeds and stared down at the diminutive blond.

'Search her pa-', "Oh my god, I said CHILL!'

Seems Whinnie and Rose had two different ways of doing things. After a bit of bickering Whinny appeared to finally put her foot down.

'Sorry about her ma'am, we've had some...interestin' uninvited guests at the Ranch these past few months. Taken care of now but Rose's 'bout to drop a live one any minute now and cain't seem t' stop getting awful moody on us. Come on in.'

[Sophonax]

Both girls perked up at something tugging the wards. Obviously, no one at Redpointe who couldn’t read the wards and tether themselves to them accordingly would be unfit for manning the perimeter. It took a Djinn heritage to do so and it just so happened that both Whinnie and Rose were Nepenthe, or, one of the rare sorts of demi Djinn born only of Siila heritage and very similar to sirens. Both were most likely literal daughters of Sophonax. Rose, of the yellow eyes and blackbird hair swing her rifle in the direction of the being futzing with the wards with an alarmed look on her face.

“Calamity? Who is that? One of yours? She aint s’pposed to be able to do that”

Whinnie rolled her eyes but seemed alarmed as well.  “It’s fine, Rose…simmer down. Ought to tell Sophie about this”

Both of them squinted; watching the space where Calamity should have been unseen but no doubt seeing more than assumed considering—and they didn’t quite realize this—that she was apparently kin. There was certainly an aura of power and familiarity around the one with thick blue braids.

“Guessing that’s Calamity. Alright ladies, let’s go. Can’t keep the mistress waitin’ too much longer” said Rose who, for some reason, seemed to finally be on board through there was quite a bit of suspicion laden in her tone. Now, Whinnie extended a hand to Ciello with the obvious offer that she mount her Helios, Kirikke, and accompany them to the other side of the coniferous woodlands and into the bare, snow covered anchorage of the Redpoint main grounds. Rose, however, had already turned around to head back. Seems Calamity didn’t get the offer—really, she wanted Sophonax to get a load of the floating.

By any means they would soon breach the grounds’ gates and into a sprawling compound; the redpointe wards’ dorms to the left of the grounds complete with three old fashioned red school houses, the main house directly ahead across two acres with a few industrial looking facilities and silos behind it. To the right lay the horse pens; their stables appended to the main house. Just behind the compound? A massive, sprawling lake with a gorgeous, snow capped mountain scene behind it.


[Have some pics for fun!]

Path


Grounds




Main house



Lake and mountains behind the house!

[Sophonax]

Whinnie felt the swell of the small woman’s belly against her back and grunted softly at having hands laced around her belly so tightly; her eyes widening—but there was no one to share the wide eyes signaling alarm to since Rose had ridden ahead. Odd behavior to get so upclose and clingy with a stranger, but, the older Redpointe girls were used to handling traumatized little girls all hours of the day who weren’t exactly human, thus, Ciello’s actions were noted as odd but weathered without the slightest bit of grousing.

“Tsch! Tsch!” she clicked; sending the Helios into a graceful gallop, again, more akin to the sleekness of something more lupine than equine. There were no hoof clicks with the thundering thanks to them being split in three.  And, interestingly, when Ciello quietly tried to engage the horse in her strange fashion she would find smoke, whispers, and weird promises if she were keen enough to pick up on them. The impression of hundreds if not thousand and millions of mini intelligences seemed to come alert and pick up the phone—the Dwirgi. How they were connected to the Djinn and Equus Helios was  one of many great mysteries.

Only moments of riding as they breached the treeline until they’d reach an area some yards from the main house’s wrap –around porch only to find Sophonax very suddenly standing only steps in front of where the horse’s came to a halt and huffed their black exhaust all over the top of her Stetson hat. Her wavy, white as the snow hair contrasted with nut brown skin and seemed to want to escape the thick lazy braid she’d put it in and cherry red eyes missed Whinnie, Rose and even Ciello to fell with unwavering decication on the one referred to as Calamity.

“Now…aint this unexpected….” She’d drawl; her mountain accent much stronger than the one’s on horseback and even Khooey’s while carrying a smoky, husky tone to it that seemed to hold many secrets. To boot, Sophonax was nearly identical in seize to Ciello which meant she was quite diminutive—but somehow seemed so old, mature and in absolute control of everything.
The reason being? She was. Sophonax had only the faintest lines around her eyes putting her age at mid to late thirties with enough darkness in her skin to offset the scale of aging but also somehow looked ageless with otherwise smooth skin and a youthful, heart shaped face.  She was pure Djinn, but unlike Khooey  and her father Bahst, not an Ifrit but something different: a Siila.  

“Calamity, Calamity. Sho’r does live up t’ her name, I ken.” The small woman fully at ease and with heavy lidded eyes extended a small hand in the direction the elemental Djinn engaged in her puckish exploration and testing. “Y’wanna come see m’, ayuh?”

Even Rose and Whinnie looked perplexed as they watched the display and the both of them seemed fully unwilling to question or interrupt the scene and may or may not have been holding their breath. While their heights were respectively 5’6 and 5’9, they both looked as if Sophonax could be heir younger sibling and not mother or matrix but seemed naturally cowtowed by her presence. They wouldn’t dare and instead, their odd hybrid  eyes coursed between the Siila and a little female who was quite visually confusing. What would happen now?

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