Tsabral'godevirr allowed himself a breath as he moved into place within the summoning circle and began his work. A massive and intricate design had been drawn onto the ground where the dark elf stood, in the lowest level of House Barri'afin's compound. The lines, a vast number of overlapping and interconnecting circles, with several triangles and runes drawn upon them, had been marked onto the floor using chalks and powders, and were now beginning to glow a faint white. With the exception of two torches lit with faerie fire, the musky room was entirely dark, and was inhabited by only three people; Tsabral, dressed in finely made robes bearing symbols of both Lolth and House Barri'afin, his hair pulled back into a high ponytail, though it still managed to cascade far down his back, and two slaves he had picked out that morning, the details of their appearances beneath his notice.<br/>(http://www.anca.tv/gathering/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/magic_circle.jpg)<br/><br/>The two slaves, one male and one female, Tsabral noticed, were both blindfolded and positioned on outer circles, portions of them crossing into the greater circle, so that their chests faced inwards toward the center. Tsabral stood in a third outer circle, so that each of their respective spheres sat on the vertex of a large triangle. As he began to chant, Tsabral could feel his strength begin to dissipate as the spell's magic took hold. At the same time, both slaves cried out at the same moment as holes were burned through the fronts of their ratty shirts; dark, blood red pendants dangling from their necks becoming visible. Continuing the spell and ignoring the cries of the slaves, Tsabral focused on the circle's center as identical waves of energy began to flow out from the pendant of either slave, the two streams meeting in the middle of the summoning circle and forming into a compact sphere, which continued to feed off of the streams.<br/><br/>Tsabral continued the spell through the screams of the slaves as the red sphere began to expand. Then, suddenly, a fiery burst of light accompanied by the sound of a loud explosion filled the room, followed by the final shrieks of the two slaves, whose limp corpses proceeded to crash onto the floor. After taking a few moments to allow his eyes to recover from the bright flash, Tsabral allowed himself a grim smirk as he looked upon the culmination of his efforts, and his willingness to sacrifice two slaves; an enormous, leering Glabrezu. The creature, which Tsabral noted was male by the appendage hanging between its legs, looked around the room, slowly taking in its surroundings. Before it had a chance to try and tempt Tsabral with some sort of offer, not that the drow would listen to it, or even test the confines of the circle, Tsabral dismissed the creature. The purpose of its summoning had not been to actually do anything, but simply to see if he could manage its summoning using as few people as possible; Ilphbryn, the youngest child of the late -sixty years late- Matron Mother Vierril's daughters, all of whom were older than Tsabral himself, sought to mate with one of the creatures in the hopes of birthing a Draegloth. The birth itself would most likely tear his sister apart, but it was of little concern. Leaving the fallen bodies of the slaves, Tsabral turned away from the summoning circle and began to make his way to the higher levels of House Barri'afin's rather large compound.<br/><br/>When the young drow male strolled into Matron Mother Elvvyll'hlaate's audience chamber several minutes later, unannounced, Tsabral found himself greeted by several sets of hard, calculating eyes. His eldest sister, the current Matron Mother of House Barri'afin and High Priestess of Lolth, was sitting on her throne near the end of the room, their fellow siblings gathered around her as well as the House's current Patron, though Tsabral had a notion that his brother Noquurden meant to kill the man off soon, and so did not bother to commit the fellow's name to memory. "House Mage or not, you are a male and would do well to learn your place, Tsabral'godevirr. Males do not enter the chamber of a Matron Mother without being summoned, or given permission to do so," Elvvyll'hlaate spat from across the room, her eyes and voice holding threats of the whip all too clearly. Though, her voice fell after a few moments, "How did your experiment go?"<br/><br/>"Quite well, Matron Mother. Though, that was to be expected," Tsabral replied, beginning to stroll across the room to join the rest of his family, not bothering to keep the haughtiness from his voice. He regarded  Ilphbryn with a look as he moved to stand beside her; she was, perhaps, his favorite sister and it would be a shame to allow her to die. But, a Draegloth would be valuable, far more valuable than his sister.<br/><br/>"That is all well and good, but we have more pressing matters to deal with, Matron Mother," said Rilssysn, middle of Tsabral's sisters. "I do trust that it has not slipped your mind," she added, but continued before Elvvyll'hlaate had a chance to verbally flay her, "Matron Qu'larrin has called that the High Council meet immediately."<br/><br/>"I am quite aware of that fact, Rilssysn! Do not overstep your place," snapped Elvvyll'hlaate, her eyes full of malice and hatred for her sister. Settling back onto her 'throne,' she settled her gaze on Tsabral, "Our youngest brother shall go, and Ilphbryn and Noquurden along with him." The Matron Mother nodded as she spoke, and then continued when she noticed Rilssysn opening her mouth to speak, "Matron Qu'larrin has no ground to bear insult; I shall be sending a High Priestess of our Goddess, House Barri'afin's House Mage, and its Weapons Master to represent us before the Council. No matter what power the woman commands, or thinks she commands, I will not be her dog to bark and follow as she calls." In truth, the chosen group was meant to keep the balance of power equal; if Elvvyll'hlaate went and left Rilssysn at the compound, her sister would find some way to increase her power throughout the House, but if she had sent Rilssysn, Matron Barri'afin had no doubt that her sister would have increased her standing with the Council. Had both of them gone, Rilssysn would have undermined the Matron Mother before the Council, of that she was sure. "It is settled, our siblings shall go, and we shall remain here." Elvvyll'hlaate allowed herself a smirk even as Rilssysn glowered and their other siblings left the chamber, heading out of the compound for the Temple.