<div class="floatright">(http://www.boomtron.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/MELISANDRElowres.jpg)</div><br/>Iona had always been one for the open road, the splendor of nature, and the natural beauty of the world. Simple pleasures mostly forgotten by the more 'noble' houses of Ardania. The journey to the fertile valley was long, as the caravan had been nearly at the edge of Ardania. After nearly a month of travel, Iona and her second approached the foot of mountain in the valley. The priests of Eros were quick to disarm Iona and to explain the rules of the festival, though the pure, clean water of the springs had already caught Iona's eye and she drowned out the droning speech with thoughts of casting aside her dusty clothes and diving in.<br/><br/>As her mind snapped back to the reality at hand, she bowed her head to the priest and thanked him most heartily for her invitation to the festival. The pair approached the tent that had been reserved for Iona. It was shimmering in the beautiful sunlight of the Valley, and it almost made Iona's heart skip a beat. This place truly was the most beautiful she had ever been to. Realizing that she now had free reign, her earlier inclination came back, and she took off towards the pools of water, almost tearing her dusty traveling clothes off as she went.