This was not his first trip into the underdark, but it finally felt like he was welcoming it as the new home it was going to be.  Here there was a purity in the life he could view with his eyes.  The earth had its own decay process, but it was only on the trail of which they walked where he could feel the negative energy rise.  It seemed that their own feet scuffing across the rock caused the only death that he could really perceive.  Black waves shimmered up from the feet that plodded in front of him marring the beautiful deep blue hues of the living stone.  He could almost feel the earth groan in protest at their intrusion, every footfall a pain that would be remembered far beyond their puny existences.<br/><br/>Though the earth slept, it never forgot.  There was a sense of a balance that was growing ever more top heavy in favor of the negative energies that the earth had succumbed to.  A point would be reached when the earth would awake and retaliate in the form of an earth quake or an eruption from its core, Lowan knew this.  He also knew it was why he was so drawn to this place.  The prospect of a vast and untapped store of power made him weak in the knees for the want of its mysteries and secrets.  The trail represented a key generation point with all the travelers that used it.  He had been careful to maintain his wards when he entered the caverns, minimizing as much as he could his own contribution to the earth's pain.<br/><br/>With practiced meditative ease, he focused past the red to white blooms within his sight that represented the living members of his party and lost himself in the cool and tranquil shades that surrounded him.  Fungus was a fascinating life form that grew primarily off of negative energy.  It decomposed things and helped keep the world in an appropriate balance.  Down here without the light of the day star, the fungus and molds grew unchecked, maintaining a perfect balance.  They showed up even darker into the jewel tones of the bluest sapphires, some emerald greens, some amethyst lavenders.  The hues were glossed over a deeper and darker blackness that represented the food source of the plant life.  He felt a shiver travel up his spine not for the first time, and he knew it would not be the last.  This is where he belonged.<br/><br/>The Drow were just like they always were to them.  They were after all just lowly humans.  It would not be this way for ever though, soon, the positions would be reversed and it would the ones at this outpost that would be saluting them.  Each one of his party members represented a powerful force of skill and prowess that would only further aid Drow society as a whole.  Some of these greater than the others.  Lowan had not worked as closely as he would have liked with his companions though he attempted to make up for that on the days that it took to reach Archrand.  He was mostly interested in the others approach to "magic" and the wielding of immense potential that lie about them mostly untapped: Kamilsa and her blood magic, Kaelia and her shadow magic, Ciara and her arcane disciplines and of course Irena and the near magical way she used her mind.  He found all these ways that they reached for and attempted to do the same things fascinating beyond measure.  Most of all, the idea that shadow was tappable.  And then there was the physical might of the weapon wielders who dabbled in enough magic to aid their weapon play.  They were a formidable group and they all wanted to be Drow.<br/><br/>Lowan shook his head wistfully from the back of the line as the myriad of thoughts washed through him.  He plodded along with his bone stave aiding him cane like swing from his right hand to match his right step.  He did not need the help, but it always comforted him to walk thus.  Also, to the less mentally acute, it made him look weaker than he was.<br/><br/>The final approach to the city was a fascinating assault on Lowan's senses.  Bright pin points of light moved all over the cavern, top to bottom, representing life forms of all kinds.  The maw of the city that opened before him threatened to envelop him in darkness of the dead and hewn stone from which the city was primarily constructed.  A few of the stalagmites were used as housing and glowed powerfully.  It took practice and much patience to adjust to his sight as he slowly acclimated to the subtle variations of gray within the black, and slowly began to discern the reflection of living energy off of structures.  The city walls were black as night to his sight from outside the walls.  That meant that they were some kind of metal, as far removed from the once originally living material from which they were drawn from.<br/><br/>Walking within the gates with the group, Lowan heard talk about a magistrate and followed, still taking in the city and its varied shades darkness amongst the living bowels of the earth.  He entered the open door after all else had entered and found a corner along the front wall and leaned in.  He wondered who would feel it the most important to talk first.  He also wondered laughingly whether or not anyone would speak at all in deference to not being perceived as weak.  There was not a leader amongst them per say, the trip had needed little organization.  They were all quite head strong and after but one common prize.  Their similarities ended there.<br/><br/>Lowan smiled slightly and waited patiently.