So he had returned. The black sheep of their family. A literal Black, if we're being more specific. Camellia had assumed him dead, figuring he must have succumbed to the curse that he carried within his very blood. His return had been somewhat of a shock, and Camellia had withdrawn back to her hearth to consider what she should do. In the end he had been invited to the family's new lair, specifically summoned and guided by Balthazar on Camellia's behalf. Her avian friend had returned to her with a renewed sense of duty and eagerness to help and had taken up the task quite willingly. Camellia awaited him outside the cave, perched neatly upon one of the great tusks that frame the entryway. Her front paws were crossed and her tail hung low, flicking idly at the tip. She spotted Balthazar in the sky and gave a light chuff. She knew they were near. Trade Experience Site-Wide Double EXP boost +10 Create a potion with a specific use +20 Help a character with a non-physical illness (Riordan's black fever and the subsequent offensive smell) +20 Make up a song or poem about another character's deeds

Although he often times had wished himself dead, perished by the scum who made up the half of him he hated most, Riordan was very much still alive. He'd been late to the party, of course, but he'd made it all the same. And with the welcoming caw of Balthazar no less!

Treading swiftly after his feathered friend, Rio would soon make it through the cumbersome drifts of sand. Although the grit and itchiness of the sand irked him, the merle would push forward. Balthy certainly wasn't a creature known for his patience, after all.

It took a final scramble over a dune for the beast to fix his gaze upon his cousin. She stood regally atop a massive tusk sticking out from an enormous dune. Her messenger had arrived with him in tow.

A warm, boyish smile crawls its way to his face as he closes the distance. He is careful as always to not linger too close. Riordan knows what danger he presents to his kin, and he doesn't want to take any unnecessary risks. So a simple and curt nod is given to the woman as he stares expectantly at her and then into the mysterious darkness of the cavern behind her.

@Camellia

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Movement within the haze of desert heat would cause the woman to rise, and she stood waiting as Riordan approached. She was silent, no cheerful smile or glitter of affection in her eye as she apprehended him. Balthazar had flown in ahead of him and now perched upon the very tip of the tusk, but his manner was subdued compared to normal and he too said nothing. At last, Camellia would turn and gracefully descend from the tusk, dropping out of sight behind it and taking the long way around. She had experienced first hand the way the sand tended to shift and give one an unintended slide into the cave if they weren’t careful. She appeared from behind the tusk and stopped short of the younger lion. "Have you cleansed yourself?" She asked, referring to a ritual the two of them had developed involving the ingestion of charcoal, clay, and certain herbs. It was a combination seemed to reduce the offensive odor of his curse and thus, she hoped, the virility of it.

The smile dropped slowly from his face as the woman disappeared upon his arrival. Concern etched onto his features. @Camellia had always treated him a tad...differently than she did the rest, but Rio was accustomed to it. What he wasn't used to, was her sending for him and then leaving. But he'd sigh when she returned to sight, seemingly having gone to descend the structure and greet him.

It was not a warm welcome, but the merle beast accepted it all the same. At the mention of cleansing himself, a task he often did laboriously, he'd echo her curt nod. "Yes, just this morning. I've been running low on clay, so I was going to look for some when you called." he'd murmur, ever the dutiful student and lab rat. He was more than open to subjecting himself to whatever the medic thought was needed - if it kept his kin safe from himself, that's all that mattered.

Nostrils would take in her scent, noticing she smelled of other lions outside of the family and a brow would quirk. "You've joined a pride, Maγe Emä?" Earth Mother, a title hard earned and one that came with ample respect. It was different than his own mother's rank as matriarch. He wondered absently if they'd found a suitable lioness to step up to the plate. A pang of loss hit him then, thinking of how his mother had perished.

Lips would flatten into a line. "Who all is left?" he'd near whisper, somewhat scared of the answer.

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Camellia continued to eye the man, appraising him carefully. Certain events recently had worn on her morale, and her suspicion had been elevated. She knew the danger that Riordan's.... condition... posed to the family. Her dedication to her kin, which did include the ill-fated man, meant that she had always tolerated his presence, even worked tirelessly to find a cure if it was possible. The two of them had grown up together, she a yearling at the time of his birth. They shared a particular interest in herbal medicines and experimentation. As much suspicion and distrust existed for her cousin there was affection and kinship. It was dampened, then, by distance and by the treachery of her own adopted daughter. Perhaps, though, it could be eased. Her nostrils would subtly flare, testing his scent as he confirmed that he had cleansed himself. She could detect hints of that sickly scent that still lingered upon him, sharper perhaps since it had been so long since she had scented it. "Hmm." She replied. "Egy kis jázmin és zsálya segítene." She murmured, thinking aloud. "Jön. Biztos vagyok benne, hogy van valami, amivel elfedhetjük ezt a szagot." It seemed, at least, that he had satisfied her inspection, for she turned and flicked her tail, indicating that he should follow. "Valóban." She would reply, without turning around as she led him towards the mammoth skull where the sand sloped down into a dark passed where the tusks joined the skull. From a distance, it was hidden from view, only apparent when you got up close. With sand sliding beneath her feet, Camellia ducked into the shadows beneath. "A büszkeséget úgy hívják Andal Oasis. Egy nevű ember vezeti Ronin Svend. Jó ember, vagy legalábbis nem mutatott mást nekünk." Once inside, the cave opened up into a large chamber, dappled with sunlight from small hidden shafts above. It was an impressive place, glittering with crystals embedded in the walls, and strange and colorful mosses that clung to rocks wherever enough light could reach. The scent of many Savante was already apparent here, mingled together in the family's new home. Camellia turned around, waiting for Riordan to have a look around. "Üdvözöljük az Otthoni Barlangban." She said, smiling despite herself. Despite the recent hardships, the discovery of this place still filled her with pride. "Az Anya látomást adott Florentinának, és elvezetett minket erre a helyre. Sokan vagyunk. Itt vannak a testvéreim, Verisänak szeretői és fiai. Az unokatestvérünk, Silviana és a lányom." Anyone who knew Camellia knew that she had adopted the twins as her own and helped Valens to raise them. It would be strange to hear her speak as if there was only one, but she did not elaborate. She went on, knowing that her next word would carry great weight. For Teodora had not spoken of her son, and Camellia was unsure if she was aware that he had returned. The majority of them had been sure that the Blood Mother herself had perished. "Néhány holddal ezelőtt Veriemä visszatért"

She smells him, a clinical stare upon him as she does her inspection. A suggestion for herbs to help cover up more of his stench, and he nods silently. Those are good ideas, and he is eager to pretend he doesn't hold that particular curse - to rid himself of it completely if possible. Rio follows her obediently, listening closely to what else the woman has to say.

Ears perk as they enter the cavern, trying to avoid slipping and sliding in the loose soil. Claws lash out to steady him as his paws lose traction for a moment and he struggles to stay upright. But he's still paying @Camellia attention.

"Feltételezem, hogy ez az Andal Oasis a sivatagban van." he wrinkles his nose in distaste. With fur as thick as his, that didn't sound all that appealing. But he'd go wherever he must to be with his kin.

A surprised expression crosses his features, one he tries to hide by turning to gaze upon the space. It's quiet and ethereal - a perfect place to conduct their familial rites. Rio expected nothing less of his cousin, and felt both a swell of pride and pain for her. Clearly one of the twins had been lost. The merle Savante doesn't press on this, figuring she clearly didn't want to discuss it. And he would rather not, either. The loss of their family members ran deep and harshly through his heart, just as he was sure it did for all of the others still alive.

"Ez egy gyönyörű hely, unokatestvér. Szép munka." a soft rumble, gentle and praising. But she didn't need his praise, nor was he really worthy of giving it. Riordan simply felt it was the best thing to say at the moment.

His breath hitches when she mentions the Blood Mother. And the way she says it, he knows that it's her. Rio spins to fix her with a disbelieving and shocked stare, jaws hanging agape as he searches for the words to say. "És a ekä?" perhaps it's too wishful of him to hope that his littermate would have made it as well. But if Teodora had avoided life as a spectre, perhaps he too had managed.

---

+10 - Learn something interesting about a pride or family (Teo is alive & the fam lives in Andal)

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There was a subtle gleam of amusement in her eyes as she watched him navigate the unsteady slope of sand at the entrance of the cave. It was far easier for the smaller and more nimble of their kin, but he would grow accustomed to it soon enough. She couldn't help but give a small hum of amusement as he wrinkled his nose at the thought of the desert. "Valóban, ez egy sivatag, nem messze innen. Eleged van a homokból, már unokatestvér?" She teased. Her initial cold demeanor was lightening. At the end of the day, Riordan was family and thus he would always hold a place within her heart. Camellia was many things. Unkind was not one of them. Camellia continued; "De ez a hely az igazi otthonom. Ez minden maradni vágyó Savante otthona. Rengeteg odú van, itt mindig tiszta és hűvös a levegő." Camellia did not miss the way he turned away, avoiding looking at her at the mention of the twins (or one of them). She was glad that he did not press her, for she did not wish to speak of it. No doubt he would find out soon enough. She waited quietly as he looked around, then bowed her head humbly at his praise. "Ez az Anya ajándéka." She insisted. He asked about his brother next, and to this Camellia could only shake her head. "Nem tudom," she answered. "De sokan túlélték az utazást ezekre a vidékekre. Egy napon megjelenhet." Her tone was frank, it was not meant to fill him with false hope. They could not change the fate of those they had lost, and they could only pray that the Mother had protected those who had survived The War. Not wanting to dwell upon these unpleasantries, Camellia inclined her head towards a nearby outcropping of stone, beyond which lay a short passage to her healer's den. "Gyere, nézd meg a patikusomat. Hozok neked néhány illatos gyógynövényt" She said, leading him around the outcrop and through the passage and into a remarkable chamber. The apothecary was a large room with a high pitched ceiling. The walls were lined with shelves of stone that were already being utilized to store various containers of stone, woven grass, shells, and move. The smell of earth and aromatic scent of a multitude of drying herbs hung in the air. A thick beam of light shone in from an air shaft high above them, catching upon countless glittering crystals that Silviana had embedded into the walls. Camellia trotted into the center of the room and circled once, inviting Riordan to have a look around. Her previous humility seemed to have vanished for she was clearly filled with pride at this place. The Savante medics could not have asked for a better base for their operations. The only thing missing was their traditional sacred fire, burning in a hearth at the center of the room. "Riordan, erős harcos, áthelyeznél nekem néhányat ezekből a kövekből?" She trotted over to one of the shelves and began rummaging about, seeking the right herbs to make him a perfume. As she worked she began to hum a soft melody.

Ears flick at Camilla with faux ill temper, a mocking scowl on his face. "Túl száraz és meleg van, félek, hogy megégek és elsorvadok. Arról nem is beszélve, hogy a homok kurva lesz kibújni a bundámból." he'd grumble, shaking a paw and watching as the particles of soil drifted down from his silky locks. Rio had never been a particularly vein creature, but he liked to keep himself orderly. That seemed difficult to achieve in a place so...dusty.

But it'd be a lie if he said he didn't have a fondness for this particular little haven. It reminded him of home, and he felt the comfort only the Mother could inspire within its confines.

Camellia spoke once more and he'd give a purring hum. "Az Anya kedves volt. Ezúttal remekül megáldott minket." an appreciative glance is cast around again, a whimsical sigh drifting past his lips.

She says she doesn't know of Sasha's fate, that he'd not returned, and he snaps out of his haze. Pain spikes through his heart, and he shoots a quick prayer to The Mother that he is well and on his way to them. Riordan missed his littermate deeply, even if he could never get close enough to him to show his affection. The smaller man was important to him, and protected at all costs - maybe even just a little more than the rest.

It seems his cousin doesn't want to speak of such things any longer, for she's off once again. An apothecary. Now that had Rio on her heels. His paws stepped carefully so as not to slide around, but he was swift in entering the room she'd spoken of. Awe colors his features at the sight. The Savante man could've squealed at how spectacular a set up Camellia had fashioned!

Rio matches her pride with his very own, excitement bubbling just under the surface as he approaches the stores and shelves to peer in and take a look at the stock. Nostrils would twitch as he carefully scented each. Some were fresh, but most were drying out. Good. They'd last the winter, hopefully.

"Ez... látványos, @Camellia. Túllépted magad. Hozzáférhetek ehhez a jövőben?" a pleading look overcomes him, the large man staring at the healer hopefully. He had always enjoyed the art of medicine. This was like some sort of wet dream to him! A magnificent display, to be certain.

The only thing missing was their flame. And when his kin asked him to help move some rocks, he knew exactly what to do. A fire needed a hearth, something to contain and protect it. An amused chuckle was his response before he began to heft the rocks and place them neatly in a circular shape.

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+10 - Learn something interesting about a pride or family (Missing sacred flame for Savantes, and AO is in a desert)
+10 - Practice speed or strength (carrying and placing rocks for Cam)
+20 - Set up a base for your group (helping Cam with the Savantes' hideout/ Home Cave)

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As Riordan worked, Camellia flitted about as she selected various ingredients. Each of her chosen herbs was inspected and then added to a small pile atop a smooth stone with a hollowed out depression. When she was satisfied with her selection she would carefully grasp a small round stone that fit into the depression, pressing and rubbing it atop the dried herbs to grind them down preparing them for use. As was so often when she worked, Camellia had started to hum. The art of herbology and healing was one that suited her well and brought her happiness. It brought her back to simpler times, when she and Riordan had shared many a day at work in their grandmother's apothecary, back in their homelands. Soon enough, as easy sort of flow had developed as Rio arranged the stones and Camellia ground the herbs. It wasn't long before her humming flowed into a lilting song. "♫ A Harcos, magasan állt, erővel a szívében. Küzdelmeit és fájdalmait széttépte. A sötétség vére, öröksége ellentétes felmenőivel. Bátorsága és bátorsága, örökké stílusban. Becsülettel harcol, és a szíve igaz. ♫" One of Camellia's favorite things to sing about was the deeds of the family's warriors. If Riordan was paying close enough attention, he may have noticed that she was singing about him. As the song trailed off, Camellia fetched a small coconut shell bowl that was filled with water and carefully added it to the mixture of ground herbs. She gave it a sniff, and then glanced up at Riordan. "Gyere szagold meg, Büdös Harcos." She would say with a coy little smirk and a teasing glimmer in her eye."

+10 - Practice speed or strength (carrying and placing rocks for Cam)

+20 - Set up a base for your group (helping Cam with the Savantes' hideout/ Home Cave

+10 - Learn something interesting about a pride or family (Missing sacred flame for Savantes, and AO is in a desert) (done)

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Muscles worked overtime to heft the rocks she'd directed him to lift and place for her. Camellia was quite the fan of putting him to work and stroking his ego while doing it. It was sadly a rather effective means of getting what she wanted. Riordan was all too happy to particularly and neatly stack, pile, and place them in a fashion that would make a formidable base for their flame.

His work would be finished all too soon, a bit of panting from the exercise as his ears took in her song. A soft smile crossed his face and he ambled over when beaconed to like a good boy. His bobbed tail twitched behind him with barely contained happiness. It was nice to be back where he belonged. Excitement filled him with the aspect of seeing the rest of is kin.

"You sing beautifully, cousin. Sometimes I think you see me in a far better light than you should." he'd murmur, coming to sniff delicately at the concoction she'd whipped up. A grunt and nod of approval. Riordan would end up smelling quite flowery, but he supposed that was better than smelling like one of them.

@Camellia