[Avrie Eventide Drega]

ooc: Many apologies. I've been really under the weather.

Avrie listened to Hanzi's explanation, then nodded. She understood enormously how a family member might not want to continue a family tradition even though the rest of the family carried that tradition out. Hadn't that been the case with her as well? "I know what you mean, Hanzi. Our family wanted us to be winemakers... both my twin sister and I. But it turns out that neither of us I think will be into the business." She said with a smile, then turned her attention onto Luca.

Sensing the Ambarando Lines were fascinating stuff, and when she returned from her journey, Hanzi was commenting on how interesting it was as well. When he got to the point where he asked her about Anora, Avrie simply smiled. "My sister is a mystery for most. I could try to explain her, but I doubt you'd do anything but stare at me. Anora is very loving and very self sacrificing. She surrounds herself with ice and fancies herself cold-hearted and unworthy of a lot of things. It's all in her mind though. She's very warm, loving... she just sees those things as weakness and walls them up inside of herself. What she needs is a child to melt the ice." Avrie said, laughing slightly. Her sister would be horrified if she heard the youngest Eventide's talk.

"How about we both make camp here?" Luca added, already gathering firewood and ringing up scattered stones to form a nice firepit. "We can continue in the morning, and introduce you to the next phase after we get you both some rest." Their uncle commented. Both nodded, and soon they were settled into their makeshift camp and talking deep into the night before sleep claimed all three of them.

In the morning, Luca woke them, fed them, and was ready to continue his lessons. Once their camp was cleaned up, the fire banked and stones scattered, Luca was ready to continue. He set them to drifting then phased them down the line so they were well within the ten miles limitation to sensing the Kalbaka near Natura. Then he left them hovering in a stalled drift and quietly began his explanation. "The Kalbaka are pools in the Ambarando Lines. They collect and gather the energy, and can make powerful sources of energy for a drifter once they are tapped. It's important you know what these things feel like when you start learning to drift. They can, with new drifters, give them the feeling of being somewhat drunk as they tap them the first time. So close your eyes, use the skill I taught you yesterday of sensing the line, and push north on it until you find the Kalbaka. Try to give me a really good idea of how big it is and how it effects the Ambarando Line... and then we will move on to teaching you how to transmit messages down the line." He said, smiling gently.

Avrie did as Luca bid and used her new skill of sensing the lines to look northward. It wasn't an easy process. She had to fold her legs, relax, quiet her mind, and open her awareness. The process was time consuming, taxing, and difficult to get her mind around the first few times. She managed though, merging with the line, and pushing her awareness northwards. It was a slow process, relearning the sensing, getting used to the terrain, smiling as she saw someone she knew out gathering herbs in the forest in the line's territory.

Then suddenly... she was caught in a giant whirlpool of energy that writhed and swirled and calmed. It had been disturbed by her awareness pushing across it, then it had settled just as easily. The bardess could tell it was a lot like an aquifer, vast and endlessly deep. They'd taken their vineyard water on Cloudkiss from an Aquifer that one could walk via caves down into. This was absolutely no different except it was a pool of blue-green energy that called to her, taunted her, and didn't want her to leave. She sighed in pleasure as the energy washed her, refreshing her, seducing her.

But she couldn't stay... she could feel the tiredness creeping up and pulling at her, forcing her away. She didn't want to leave it... not at all, but she couldn't stay either. Not really. She had too much flesh and bone and too many reasons to stay alive rather than stay with the energy and let her body die.....

She came back to herself, gasping....