Nikodemus made a pleased sound.<br/>"An important question to be sure. Despite everything I warned you about, Seemings are important. For one thing, your Seeming can usually tell you a great deal about your Durance, your time in Arcadia, even if you can't remember any of it. You asked me what I am. I am a Beast, my legs and horns are clear proof of this. What little I remember of my Durance is being hunted for sport by an uncaring and cruel Keeper. I still remember the teeth of his hounds, all of them human once and as much victims as I was. Day after day they rended my flesh and tore me to bits, but each night the Keeper stitched me back together so we could do it all over again the next day. Over time I became quite adept at eluding the hunt, scrambling over jagged cliffs, always climbing higher and higher. When the day of my escape finally came my legs was those of a mountain goat and I looked like the satyrs of legend."<br/>He absent minded scratched the spot between his magnificent horns, curved like those of an elderly ram.<br/>"Now, Pylea has a closer relationship with fire than you do, which tells us something. Your own gracefull and hypnotic movements have been borrowed by those of a flickering flame, but there is where your kinship with fire ends. Pylea on the other hand is fire made flesh, telling us that her primary function in Arcadia was to provide warmth and illumination, just like fire. But she is also very pleasing to the eye, and then there is that colorful plume of smoke that follows her around. These things tell me there is some Fairest in her, creating an intriguing and exotic mix. I do not think she illuminated some random passage, no I think she had a prominent place in her Keeper's household, like a beautifully crafted piece of furniture or a treasured piece of art."<br/>He gave the Elemental a fatherly smile, he was looking to see if the mentioning of her slavery opened up some old wounds. But Pylea seemed her old, bubbly self so the old Beast didn't offer further comfort.<br/>"I'm right, am I not?"<br/>"Yes, not bad for an old goat," Pylea giggled.<br/>"I was the main source of light in some weird, alien harem, the place of a never ending orgy. I have seen gods, devils, angels and other creatures of myth do more decadent things than the both of you could imagine in a lifetime." She giggled again and winked at Ember, before giving Nikodemus a mischievous smile.<br/>"If you had seen what I've seen your head would burst into flame too!"<br/>"Erhm, well..." Nikodemus replied, clearing his throat. Ember thought Pylea actually had made the sweet old man blush.<br/>"Anyway, on to the Fairest then. If my mental faculties haven't suddenly failed me, that is where I would place you, Ember. I haven't mentioned this before, I didn't want to confuse you needlesly, but you can divide the Seemings into smaller subcategories called kiths. I think you are of the Dancer kith, just seeing you move is evidence enough. But you also, I would wager, belong to the quite rare Firetouched kith, and that is why you girls seem so much alike. But that is also why Ember doesn't feel quite as familiar with the Contracts of Fire as you do, Pylea, because Firetouched is a Fairest kith."<br/>Nikodemus pulled a blanket closer around him and shivered, despite the wagon feeling toasty warm to the two girls.<br/>"The Fairest are, as the name implies, creatures of otherworldly beauty, the Fae lords and ladies of the old stories or sirens tempting mortals with the promise of every carnal pleasure imaginable, if only they could capture them..." He smiled at Ember. This part of his lecture was obviously mostly for her benefit.<br/>"As always one should take the stories with a grain of salt. While much of it may be true when it comes to the True Fae,  the Fairest of the Lost have little in common with those cruel creatures. The Fairest roles in Arcadia always seem to be to entertain. Some were forced to stand absolutely still, living works of art. Some were made to perform, Fae magic taking their art to new heights. Or maybe the Fae took their captives as lovers and showered them with magnificent gifts and undivided attention...at least until they grew bored." A meaningful look from Nikodemus made Pylea put her arm around her friend's shoulders, pulling her into a comforting embrace, and only then did the old man go on.<br/>"You remember little of your Durance, and while I think that might be a blessing, it's only natural that you would wonder what happened, what it was like. It most likely was something like what I just told you. I can only hope you will be satisfied with this and not go chasing after what is bound to be severely painful memories." He waited for Ember's reaction before moving on.<br/>"Now, I have mentioned three of the Seemings, that's half of them. Any questions so far?"