A Clanmother's Calling (Arisel/Dro'Jhala)

Dro'Jhala had spent most of the evening thinking about what she would teach and how. She had agreed to show Arisel what it means to be a clanmother and teach her all she can. Dro'Jhala remebered herself, 50 years or so ago, in the same situation. Barely an adult and already made into a clanmother by the circumstances. There were some hardships which Jhala hoped her teaching would allow Arisel to avoid.

It was early in the morning, the birds had yet to begun chirping, when Dro'Jhala began to make her way toward the agreed upon spot. It was a bit away from S'ren-ja as they agreed that secrecy and quiet was necessary. She had no problem leaving unnoticed, at this time not many guards were about. After about 20 minutes of walking, Jhala reached the spot. It was a slight overhang looking upon the surrounding landscape and a bit of the town. This had been one of her favorite places when she was young, she used to go here almost everyday and immerse herself into her imagination. As a child Dro'Jhala had been more of a shy cub, preferring to roam around by herself to brawling with the others in the Moon-Sugar Fields during planting season. For a while, Dro'Jhala had dreamt of becoming the Mane, leading the Khajiit to a great age never before seen. She would be seen prancing about town, gushing about the things she would do and pretending to order everyone around. However, this dream did not last too long. One day, when her father found out about it, he ordered her to his room and beat the idea out of her head. Since then Dro'Jhala continued to dream, however only here where she was away from the rest of the world. Dro'Jhala found a comfortable spot and sat down, going in her head over some of those beautiful dreams of her youth while waiting for Arisel to arrive.

Though she hadn’t spoken or seen Dro’Jhala in quite some time, Arisel had taken it upon herself to better understand the spirit world Clanmother’s build a link with. It helped that she already had a great knowledge about Jone and Jode, but it was entirely different to speak in theories and stories versus actually seeing the power within another realm.

It was easy for Arisel to slip into the spirit world when she meditated, but she found it a bit more difficult to return. On several occasions her body lay still for several hours as she wandered around the vast plain, exploring and noting things of importance. She used the necklace Jhala had given her as her guide back when she struggled to return.

As Arisel reached the meeting spot, she sees Jhala sitting quietly, as if contemplating something. Not wanting to interrupt Jhala’s thoughts, Arisel takes a seat quietly next to her and looks ahead towards the horizon.

Dro'Jhala was still going through her memories when she noticed that Arisel had arrived. Giving her herself a moment to gather her though, Dro'Jhala then turned to great Arisel.

"Greetings, Dro'Jhala welcomes you to her humble outlook." she said, a warm smile having spread itself on her face as she had gone through her memories. The sun was rising, slowly illuminating the landscape with its warm rays, reaching out to hug as far as the eye could see. The sky was also very clear making this a day worthy of spending outside and perfect weather to slip into away, not afraid of the weather doing any harm to the body.

Turns to Jhala and nods with a warm smile. "Good morning Clanmother Jhala. This is a beautiful place," she says taking a deep breath, enjoying the cool breeze coupled with the sun's warming rays on her fur. "We will be traveling to the spirits yes?"

Breaths in deeply the morning air before answering Arisel's question. "We shall, have you been practicing?"

Breathes in a few more times before preparing her mental state and body slowly for the upcoming challenge. Dro'Jhala suspects they will be in the spirit world for hours, readying the body is needed unless you want to return somewhere else or starved or something else happening to the body. When in the spirit world, all control is lost.

Nods at her slowly, pointing to the necklace reflecting the sunlight off it's brilliant metals. "This one has, though not as much as she would like to lately. Getting there is easy, getting back is still a challenge at times. Everything there is so fascinating, this one is afraid she'll get lost in all of the senses not seen to those here." She closes her eyes and takes another deep breath, saying a quiet prayer to Jone and Jode, preparing herself to follow Jhala.

Nods at Arisel's words. "Yes, in fact there is something Dro'Jhala should tell you. A warning of sorts. Since the incident where Dro'Jhala faked her death and then disappeared, she has never completely left the dream world. A part of Dro'Jhala has become stuch and cannot leave. Slowly more and more of her is being sucked in and taken. It will still take a while but Dro'Jhala may become completely trapped. Don't worry about her though, Dro'Jhala can handle herself and being in the dream world has benefits. Due to her connection, she can now spead Daedric but that is besides the point. When in the dream world make sure to always stay safe, there are many spots where you can get trapped and your spirit would remain. Now, are you ready?"

Dro'Jhala reaches out her hand to Arisel, motioning her to clasp it and prepare herself.

Arisel listens to Jhala intently as she speaks. Surprise flashes across the young Clanmother's face when Jhala says that she may become fully trapped in the dream world eventually. Not wanting to hold her training off any longer, she reaches out for Jhala's paw and takes it firmly within her own, nodding at her to indicate that she is ready to begin.

The moment Arisel takes Dro'Jhala hand, the world vanished. For a short instant everything was pitch black, all senses nullified. Then Dro'Jhala and Arisel found themselves on the same cliff edge, overlooking a the same view. However much was changed. The sky was dark in all cardinal directions, the only opening being found directly above them where a couple of rays of sunlight managed to shine through. Dark Anchors could be seen on the horizon all around and S'ren-ja was a charred husk of its appearance. This spot was the only light in a world of darkness. As they turned around, a small wood hut could be seen just meters away from where they stood. The door was wide open so the two could see inside. The hut had only one room, with a table in the shape of Jone and Jode, a couple chairs surrounding it. A couple of senche, alfiq-raht and alfiq were hanging about, curled up in the sun.

Dro'Jhala emerged from the house, shattering the illusion that had stood next to Arisel. "Greetings to Dro'Jhala's humble home Arisel."

Arisel opened her eyes after several seconds. What she saw both amazed and frightened her. The last time she meditated and came here the world was dark from daedric influence, but not this dark. She couldn't see more than 20 meters ahead without the world fazing into a complete darkness. She noticed the lonesome beam of light atop the hut, and jumped when Jhala disappeared from her spot next to Arisel and reappeared in the doorway of the hut.

"What happened here?" she says as she gets up, making her way to Jhala. Her eyes still wander all over the skies. Never so much darkness had she seen in your young life.

"All what you see is a manifest. We are only ever here with our spirits and our spirits have no senses. What you see is what is being manifested for your spirit to see. Same with feel, taste and hear. You can learn to manipulate the manifestations and you can learn to read them. The manifestations must have been caused by some spirit out there, so there is always some knowledge to be gained. Let Dro'Jhala show you." In an instant, where Dro'Jhala had stood was now a large bunny in full armor. Noise was heard to the left and a hoard of small skeevers, armoured and weaponed, charged the bunny and a fight ensued. After a few seconds the bunny had won, the skeevers strewn apart bleeding honey. The bunny started to eat his longsword as if it were a carrot and then Dro'Jhala was back and the scene was back to what is what before.

Arisel listens close to Jhala's words, not wanting to accidentally interrupt her. Although wise herself, all of this was still very new to the young Clanmother and she wanted to get as much out of it as she can.

She stared in surprise as Jhala manipulated the dream state around them, but being a very realistic Khajiit Arisel couldn't help but ask, "How does this help in Tamriel? This one cannot do these things in the physical state."

"Knowledge is always helpful, and aren't the spirits of many here still connected to Tamriel? The physical state you cannot change out of the spirit world however the emotional, spiritual, and mental state you can. Often that is enough."

Arisel nods at the Clanmother. "This one understands." She pauses to see where this instruction would go.