<strong>Eshalu - connecting the dots</strong><br/><br/>Though she was pleased with Reliyian's excitement at finally being set loose on the Saurian village, Eshalu remained bewildered when the mage exchanged confused glances with Aeryn.<em>Have I missed something?</em>At first, Eshalu could not quite discern the sense of Reliyian's explanation. All she could feel was the lingering caress of the Far-Seer's long, delicate fingers - pale, for she had a scholar's hand, and ethereally graceful. The ranger sat immobile and entranced. It was like being under Reliyian's spell, her focus following each movement of the mountain elf's fingers while they traced the curve of her throat and down to the hard, but supple surface of her jerkin. Even through the fine leather she could feel the path of Reliyian's touch. She remembered some of the shamans of her clan had a similarly deft hypnotic touch, though Reliyian's intentions seemed illustrative rather than entirely sensual.<br/><br/>"<em>You mean</em>," Eshalu began in Wood Elven - it was a subconscious reflex, triggered by the familiar sensation of Reliyian's touch; it had been so long since she had felt an elven caress, "they desired to couple with you?" she concluded in the human tongue.<br/><br/>Eshalu scowled, instinctively reaching for the shaft of her spear. "How can that be? I do not wish to couple with their kind, so why do they seek to take their pleasure with ours?" A disturbing thought occurred to her. Some of the more experienced rangers of her Lodge, who had traveled distant lands, spoke of places where the males of thinking races would force themselves on both the females and weaker males, just like certain species of beast. Nature was cruel in that way, but she could never have thought that such practices could transcend the boundaries between races.<br/><br/>The mere thought of such an act perpetrated on one of the People was inconceivable and abhorrent. For her physical intimacy had always been an indispensable part of social life - it was playful, loving, carefree and a way of sharing herself with her lodge-sisters. The idea of a scaly, slavering Saurian forcing itself upon her seemed too repulsive to believe. "I will be watchful, Far-Seer, and if they dare raise claw against either you or Aeryn, their blood will nourish the soil of this accursed place."<br/><br/>For once, her curiosity was blunted. That was an aspect of other societies she would have been happier not knowing.