<strong>Catherine Elizabeth - Aislin Haven</strong><br/><br/>Catherine gazed down into the valley, from up here on the mountain where she was perched it seemed she was eye level with the wispy clouds drifting past lazily. It was a gloriously sunny day and the light danced like a million fireflies across the water surface of the large lake in the center of her new residence, even from here the water was so crystal clear that you could see deep into the water, the white sand of the beach shone through the blue tinted water until about 30ft out from the waters edge the lake grew considerably deeper, going from about 30ft deep at the shelves edge where you could see clearly to a depth of over 250ft which though the water was amazingly clear one still could not see to the bottom of the lake where the mermaids made their home.  White and orange carp, easily three feet long drifted through long ferny fronds that grew in patches not too far from shore. The calm sandy beach turned quickly into shrubs and small trees that provided dappled shade which then became full shade as one traveled further from the lake. The taller trees greedily ate the light, though many of them provided delectable fruit and nuts for eating and some provided good basket weaving branches. To her right, the northwest side of the lake, there was no sandy beach instead the water had cut its way through rocks over centuries to create its own entrance to the lake. Her eyes followed the stream that cut its path through the forest where the sun glinted off of the water, it was mostly obscured behind the thick vegetation, some trees even growing right in the middle of the stream where they could have all the water they could handle.  You could not see the bottom of the gorgeous waterfall from where she was but it was her favorite place in the valley.  The waterfall itself was fed by the ever melting lower ice of the mountains,  a luxurious pool had formed where the water cascaded down, large flat rocks protruded from the water surface providing convenient lounging places then the pool overflowed into a stream leading to the lake, the dense thick foliage around the place made it absolutely breathtaking and often with the splashing water, several degrees cooler than the surrounding areas.<br/><br/>Of course she could not see the homes of her fellow were from her vantage point either except where she knew exactly what to look for, a slightly thinner area of trees etc. as most of the homes were in the forest or the caves of the surrounding slate gray mountains. She could see them in her mind though, she had taken time to explore many of the empty caverns, some were small tight niches suitable only for dry one person to have room to lie down,  a few were monstrously large enclosed areas that could easily hold hundreds of people at once. Most though were happily in between and she had chosen one to stay in after having toured all of them she could find.  It was large enough to give her room to live and room to work with patients as needed. She did not have a lot of belongings really, just a few things she had been able to carry in her pack, everything else was gone.<br/><br/>Though she was still relatively new here she was quickly adapting to life within this oasis, even the mountains here were pretty with their perpetually snowy caps hidden within tufts of clouds that looked as though they got caught in passing and the slightly blue tint that the grey stone held. Truly she had never beheld a more beautiful site, she had hoped to view it from even higher but without changing forms she was as high as she could go on this particular mountain. She was unaccustomed to so many people being so close to her so her normal meditation had been difficult with the extra noise. Coming here had given her ample respite from the noise and somehow feeling the strong gusts of wind tug at her as the brushed through added to the calming effect deep meditation had.  She felt revived and even energetic to get back to the matters at hand.  Representatives for each clan were being chosen where they were not already present. She was interested to find out who they would be. She knew there would be other healers, or at least hoped there would be and she felt that perhaps they should gather together and make a specified location for injured people to go, gather their supplies to, and share knowledge. Aislin Haven was not prepared for such a large influx of people, with a bit of organization though things would be running smoothly and no doubt everyone would feel right at home. Even better than right at home, they had one of nature’s most bounteous locales for their new residence and nary a human of evil intent in sight.<br/><br/>She didn’t consider herself much of a leader but surely she could gather these people together and get things moving in the right direction. She headed back down the mountain the rocks rough against her bare hands. She ignored it though and instead took note of the various plants that were growing in the mountain crags. Life never ceased to amaze her, even here with strong blistery winds, ever cool temperatures, and no soil to hold life giving water. These plants were amazing and several even had lovely flowers. She did stop and gather a couple specimens she had never seen before to test them for medicinal properties. By the time she had reached the mountain bottom the sun was near midway through the sky. She straightened her black leather vest wiping off the rock dust that had accumulated from her climb as well as the dust from her leather shorts then ran her fingers through her windblown hair and headed into the forest in search of blaze. She walked past several houses built cleverly into the trees made out of leather skin, wood, or sometimes even out of antlers. Many of them tended to use the materials most abundant for them and since many of the weres tended to be meat eaters they had a lot of bone, leather, and antler left over. Some of the homes had even been carefully painted to match the colors of the forest itself making them almost invisible to any humans that may happen by.  There were plenty of people out and about, some of them new faces, she would have to introduce herself later.<br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/>Modified to add easy links.<br/><br/>Interest Check Thread = http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=67234.0 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=67234.0)<br/><br/>Approved Character Thread = http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=67248.0 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=67248.0)<br/><br/>O.O.C. Thread = http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=67249.0 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=67249.0)<br/><br/>I.C. 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