[Avrie Eventide Drega]

It was like a slow flowing river of blue and green that bisected the valley blow and around them. She sat on the rocks, staring, intrigued that before now she had really no idea it had been there. But in looking at the land, reading it, she could see now why it would be. All the features of the topography pointed to it. Before, she'd been blind to it, ignorant, but now she saw it for what it was. "It's like Telath's Blood... just exactly like it." And it was as blood was... full of energy, life, and incredibly potent. She rose to her feet, still in awe of it, and turned in a circle. There were smaller lines, distinct ones, that ran down from the mountains like water would, flowing into the big stream of power. Then there were others that flowed from it up hill, defying the natural course of water. She asked about them. "Uncle Luca... what are those? They look different from the big lines." She said, her arm automatically coming up to point to the others.

It was then that Hanzi approached. She hadn't heard him coming, too lost in the river of power they sat within. It was a beautiful sight too... looking at him and then Luca, she noted immediately how connected they felt to the Ambarando Line. The 'water' of energy didn't part and flow around them, it seemed to flow through them. She glanced down, and realized the same was true of her. One with the world.... Drifters were one with the world. Avrie smiled, and Uncle Luca endeavored to fill in the lack of her knowledge. He reached out and clasped a hand on Hanzi's shoulder even as Avrie gave him a "Sastimos Hanzi!". His look to Hanzi was apologetic, as if to say... "we need to get through the very basics with her.... and I know you know this stuff.... already".... Then he spoke, filling Avrie in with a gentle explanation to her question.

"The main lines are called Major Ambarando Lines. Think of them as big rivers. We call them Ambardis in Aire. Most, like this one are a mile or more across. But the smaller ones, the minor ambarando lines, are called Ambis. There are two other main features on these likes... Nexus points.. both major and minor. Nexus points, or Kalbaka, are pools where these rivers pause, gather, and have incredible power. There are smaller nodes along the Ambis as well, called Baki. When you advance in your studies, you can phase from Kalbaka to Kalbaka easily, and draw from them at will. At this level though, we can only teach you to phase along the Ambardis... because thats the function that takes the least control and the most energy." He smiled, and glanced at Hanzi to make sure he understood this all as well.

Avrie smiled, nodded... four words she needed to remember Ambardis, Kalbaka, Ambis, and Baki. It made sense. She committed the terminology to memory and took a moment to do as Luca had suggested... she reached out and felt the line with her mind. It was like receiving a drink of ice cold water on a blistering hot day. "Hanzi, your last name is Ambarando isn't it? Whats the connection there?" She knew there were really no coincidences in Aire. And admittedly she was curious. If he indeed was an Ambarando, why didn't he drift now? She left that one unanswered, figuring it would come out in the course of her training. After Hanzi had answered Avrie, Luca continued.

"The first and most potentially important of our gifts isn't the ability to line drift or phase... though thats one of the most interesting. The most important of the gifts is to sense whats along a line. To do that, you have to give yourself up a little to the line, let it sweep your conscious up and down its length. This takes concentration and timing. If you know the art of meditation, it comes even easier. We are on this big line that runs roughly from Medonia to Natura.. it runs north and south. Now... this test for you... Hanzi, you sense southward.. tell me what major features run along the line that way. Avrie, you sense north... let it sweep you towards your home. You both should have about a ten mile rage. Take all the time you need, but when you're sure you know, tell me what you see." He paused, laughted lightly, then nodded. "Once we do this, we shall call it a day. Tomorrow though I will phase you within sensing distance of Natura's Kalbaka and let you see what one looks like from a distance. We are quite a bit further than ten miles from it here but with me, and if your training advances, one day with you, distance won't really be a problem." He added.

And so Avrie sat down and quieted her mind. It took a considerable amount of time to actually figure out how to slide her conscious into the energy. It was more a question of 'how alike' she was to the energy instead of how different she was.. and as soon as she wrapped her mind around the concept of being 'fluid' it worked out much better. Soon, she found herself slowly and almost mindbogglingly so moving her awareness up the line northward. There was a huge sense of disconnectedness from her conscious, and she moved with a snails pace, viewing the land in shades of blues and greens as the lines painted out the topography for her. Slowly, she began to speak, passing on the information to Luca as she did... until she reached the absolute end of her ability to push any further. Was it ten miles? It might have been, but she wasn't sure.

"There's a small lake just north of here, and a large stream that flows out of it. The land is easy to pass and rolling until it comes to a narrow valley, but there's a trail through it. It opens up on the other side, and there's a series of ... three?.... farms. Then there's more forest, and it gets really rugged, but there is still a road, though its a muddy tract..... I can't feel any more after that... Its like I'm too tethered to my body?" She said, coming back to herself. The bardess realized then that she was exhausted, and sweat pooled down her body from beneath her arms and the small of her back.