Cl'tevia looked up from the small shrine as another being entered the building behind her, but she continued her genulflections, not letting the intrusion stop her. She continued her personal ritual to the nature god, dedicating her sacrifice, before pulling a knife out, and drawing the blade along the inside of her arm. The thick, crimson blood dripped down her arm, to group on her claw-tips, and then fall onto the small plant that was the focus of the ritual.<br/><br/>She waited as the wound slowly stopped bleeding and then picked up the small pot, and carried it to the back of the shrine, and placed it in the sun, noting with minor pleasure that the flower was much healthier after the ritual blood feeding, and returned to the shrine, and bowed to the Yaun-Ti abomination that had entered the small shrine. He nodded, and hissed, "The Mistress calls all. You by name. She is at the entrance."<br/><br/>Cl'tevia nodded, and turned to her room, gathering a few items that she carried always carried except when she was filling in for her mother, the only druid of the small village. Which made her something of a noble, by the fleshling's standards, though here it meant only that she was expected to do more for the village, not that she was expected to waste time. Putting on the minimal clothing that was all the heat, oppressive even for her people, would allow her to wear, she then left the shrine, heading for the only entrance to the village, the male abomination slithering beside her. She moved like the serpent her people were, and while she appeared to take her time, she still arrived at the entrance faster than most fleshlings would have. Bowing to the Mistress, a female abomination with powerful magics, and always accompanied by at least two skeletons, she waited to hear her words.<br/><br/>The last of the residents of the  small village, all seventy of the Yaun-ti, mostly pure bloods, with a double handful of half-bloods like herself, and three abominations, arrived soon after she did, and the Mistress waited for a moment, surveying them, before saying, "Our destroyers will succeed in ten moons."<br/><br/>None of them said a word, knowing that by willingly leaving the main encampment, they had all volunteered to die, so the news was no surprise. But when she continued, several of the younger serpents hissed softly in surprise, "But we can survive. One of us must venture forth, to a fleshling encampment, revealed by the spirits, and attempt to do the unthinkable. The destroyer's god must be destroyed."<br/><br/>The entire encampment froze in shock, not a sound, as their minds processed what the Mistress had said, before one of the eldest Purebloods asked, "Who must venture forth?"<br/><br/>The Mistress nodded, and then turned to the young female half-blood, and said, "Cl'tevia."<br/><br/>Taking the next day to prepare herself for her journey, she presented herself before the Mistress, and announced that she was ready to leave. The Mistress nodded, but said, "Come here child, I have something that will aid you in the endeavor. Scrolls of power."<br/><br/>The aged Abomination handed a scroll case to the younger female, and then two scrolls, before saying, "The first scroll will allow you to understand, speak, and read every possible language you come across, even those forgotten in time. The second one will make the first a permanent spell so it is always active. Cast them now, child, for here, I can help."<br/><br/>An hour later, Cl'tevia stepped out of the tent, a skeleton bodyguard for her journey behind her, the spell now a permanent part of her, and left, walking out of the encampment without a look back. The journey was long, nearly a moon, and she avoided the fleshling encampments, not wanting to risk herself in some meaningless skirmish with the barbaric weaklings. Eventually arriving at the manor, she sent the skeleton back to the encampment, before walking up to the gate, and announcing herself. Following the slave, she entered her room, and dropped her bag of holding, before looking around. Nodding to herself, she tossed the bag onto the nearby table, and then went to the library, where she spent most of her time, waiting for the two weeks before the host made the proposal.<br/><br/>She spent most of her time meditating and reading the various scrolls and books in the library, enjoying what she could learn. Nothing was ever wasted, it was just spent unwisely, as the Mistress would say. She rarely slept, and never ate, one of her rings making both unnecessary. Then after staying in the manor for two weeks, she looked up at a cough from behind her, and turned, her hood half flaring at the interruption of her studies. She collected her temper when she realized that it was one of the manor slaves, and he said, "The Master wishes you to assemble with the others in main hall. He will announce why you are here."<br/><br/>The young Yuan-ti said, "Of course, I will be there in a moment."<br/><br/>She finished the page she was on, in no hurry, as she knew what the purpose was, and that she had to accept it for the encampment. It did not matter if she missed the offical announcement or not. Returning her current book to its place,<em>The History of Dragons and Their Gods</em>, a somewhat inaccurate but still interesting treatise about the greater kyn, she walked out of the library, to arrive at the main hall, her cloak drawn tightly about her. She knew some of the beings here would gladly attack her, and did not wish to tempt them any more than she had too.<br/><br/>She did not react to the revelation of the purpose, already knowledgable, but she did carefully observe the others, curious as to why so few actually seemed to know why they had come.<em>So strange, these fleshlings, and so willing to spend their time unwisely.</em>