The mountain is a difficult place to live. The drow in their isolation have formed strong holds of factions separated by their respective Gods of worship. The fire haired drow reside in the depths, worshiping the heat and ash. The ice haired drow live in the frozen sharp angled cities perched on the outside rocks and high in the air. All live under the rule of Tari en Uiel. Tari was a vicious ice haired drow who used a few followers to strike fear and loyalty into the hearts of many others. She had a blood lust and sadistic need that seemed insatiable. All did their best to merely stay out of her sight for fear that even crossing her path was deadly.

Soza was nowhere near the Tari though. Soza was a Ssussun... a child of light... a drow born with light colored skin and eyes, and rainbow colored hair. The anomalies were few and far between, one every several generations. Those in power knew that the Ssussun had great powers within them that far surpassed their ashen skinned counterparts, but they would never allow the Ssussun to learn of their own potential. Instead, they were raised in cells until they came of age, and then they were sacrificed to the gods of whichever faction they came from. Soza was born of the fire haired drow. She lived in the depths of the mountain where the lava kept the air dry and hot. Her keep Iire tended to her, keeping her alive and ensuring her basic needs until she fulfills her purpose of being given back to the gods.

A rough thud broke the silence of the tunnels as two dark skinned drow shoved a young elf into the rock wall. "We'll ask you again. What were you doing near the surface?" one of the drow asked. He was a large man, heavy set. Clearly one of the guards of this settlement. He was a guard. Luckily, he also picked up on these two being a bit...dimwitted, for lack of a better term. A little mud, some grime from the caverns, and they were mistaken their captive for one of them.

Talid wasn't going to complain. This made things simple. Easiest way in would be through disguise. "Ah...I was...uh...I just wanted to see the outside," he said meekly, scratching his head. Luckily for him, the grime had also messed up his hair. While it seemed that the lighter hair was the norm for drow, his two captive each having a head of icy white hair, his hair was a chestnut brown, common among the forest elves.

The second guard just sighed in frustration. "Let's just take him to a cell. A night out there should scare him right," the smaller man stated. While his form was just as stout as his companion, he was shorter. Two musclebound lugs. It made this whole infiltration business a lot easier.

He didn't say a word, bowing his head in defeat as the two hauled him to his feet. He wasn't given much of a choice as the direction they went in, the young elf being dragged with purpose. It took no time at all for the three to enter a small corridor where few others were held captive. It only seemed to contain one other prisoner, her hair much more vibrant than the others. Opening a cage across from the girl, Talid was thrown in, crashing to the ground roughly as they shut the door, the small drow locking him inside. The two departed soon after, leaving the elf to his fate. He expected not to see those two again until the following day, if their talk was anything to guess about.

Talid groaned as he rolled over. "Gah. Could have been a little gentler there..." he muttered to himself, sitting up and rubbing his head, checking for blood from his hard crash to the rocky floor.

Down deep within the mountain one might think that it would be darker, but in reality the stark blackness of the cavern walls was cut by the warm glow of fire and lava seeping up through cracks and holes in the rock. Soza could hear the guards bringing someone down the hall. It was rare that she had any company. Tari had most criminals simply executed on the spot. But of course the Tari would be in her frozen castle on the outside, near the peaks of the mountains. Right now they were far closer to the base of the mountains where the sharpness dulled down to rolling hills and caves before they began to melt into the forest.

Soza would often sit with her keeper Iire and listen to stories of the forest and the outside world. It sounded like a magical place really. It was hard for Soza to imagine, but sometimes Iire would draw shapes in the ash on the cavern walls, and compare the colors of the world to the colors of Soza's hair. It was the best that they could do, and Soza was happy to take anything that she could get.

As the cell slammed shut Soza silently got up and moved across her space until she was crouching next to the twisted iron bars of her dwelling, watching the brutish winter drow as they made their way back down the hall. She wasn't sure why they sent idiots like that in to the mountain. Everyone knew that the summer drow were far superior. The Tari ought to leave the caverns alone and keep her kind high up in her castle with her.

Soza waited until the guards were sufficiently gone before popping out from the side of her cell door and wrapping her fingers around the bars, pressing her face against them. She squinted her bright orange-red eyes slightly, before lifting her face and pushing her messy rainbow hair back.

"Hey... hey you... Hi."

She slid one of her thin hands through the bars and waved at him. It may have seemed simple or childish even, but regardless of where they were, Soza really was interested just to see another person show up. She rarely had any contact outside of Iire, and lately even that was maybe once a week if she was tracking the days accurately.

Forest green eyes met orange hued in the darkness that surrounded them. The young man cocked his head to the side curiously. He hadn't expected to see another person in these cells. It was hard for his eyes to adjust to the surrounding darkness, but he could vaguely make out her shape from the other side of the bars. The faint torch light every so often was no where near proficient for seeing in this dim setting...but he supposed that living down here had helped the drow to evolve their eye sight. Elves had always had superior eye sight, seeing further into the distance than most other creatures, but the underground setting was always a weakness for them. It made sense, though, that the elves that deemed it appropriate to stay underground would eventually be able to see well enough down here.

It would prove to be an excellent defense mechanism too. Talid couldn't see for the life of him. He was lucky to make out these vague shapes. After a moment to register, he lifted his hand up slowly in a wave. "Oh...hi..." he said softly. "I didn't think I'd see anyone else down in these cells...what're you in for?" He wasn't sure what the rules were down here, but he figured he could learn something about them while he had someone to talk to.

Soza smiled at the simplicity of his comment. It was so rare that she got the opportunity to speak to someone outside of her keeper.

"It is rare that anyone comes here... I'm told that most who make the Tari unhappy are sacrificed immediately."

Despite the grave nature of her comment, her tone was upbeat and pleasant still.

"What do you mean what am I in for? I live here... I am the Ssussun."

The comment was very casually stated, as though there wasn't anyone who wouldn't know what she was talking about. Furthermore, she had no issue seeing him. Her face rested against the bars of her cell watching him, her eyes and hair almost glowing in the darkness. She was a small girl, perhaps 5' tall if she stood up and definitely light. With elves being notorious for being lighter than other species, it was likely she weighed no more than 50lbs or so.

"You look strange."

She was obviously more intelligent than the other two that he'd encountered, and she could see him clearly enough to discern that there was something different about him.

Talid scratched his cheek lightly with a sheepish grin. Seems his secret was out. Hopefully, she would not out him to the guards, though. He didn't need to see who this Tari person was. "Ah...do I? Well, let's keep that our little secret, okay?" he asked with a small grin. He had to squint to see her, though the glow of her hair was definitely helping. An odd addition to the Elven appearance before him. She also seemed much paler than he had thought the drow would be. One finger was placed lightly to his lips to make his point.

As he leaned back against the steel bars of his cell, he considered what he could talk to her about. Their way of life? Who this Tari was? These drow are much different than he had expected. That might be the best place to start. Then again, he decided to approach the most interesting topic he had heard so far. "I'm a little confused. I hit my head and can't really remember a lot of this stuff. What's a...Ssussun?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. "Why do you live in a jail cell?"

She furrowed her brow at him some. She was different... he was different... they were both in cells. She wondered how much his difference was really a secret, but she shrugged anyways with an innocent giggle.

"Sure... our secret. Not like I have anyone to tell but you."

She crossed her legs in front of her and considered the implications of his question. He certainly didn't look injured. But she wasn't going to bother arguing with him at the moment.

"Ssussun... the child of light. There is never more than one per generation. The child produced from the coupling of priests and priestesses during the celebration of the gods. The Ssussun is kept and prepared until the time comes that the nation requires a sacrifice to the favor of the gods. High Priestess Iire herself is my caretaker... she should be coming soon with food and water."

Soza tucked her hair behind her ear. Her ears were more horizontal, typical to the drow, making them stick out more visibly.

"The Ssussun cannot exist within the rest of society for they taint the blood line and threaten the composure of the people. It can be... uncomfortable to be in the presence of the Ssussun I'm told... for normal people."

She seemed so sure and calm and clear about everything she said up until that last comment. That one sounded unsure, but perhaps it was hard for her to understand how her presence might affect others.

Talid looked curious at that comment. They were to be sacrificed? Why would the drow sacrifice their own people? What more, what did she mean by normal people? He didn't feel uncomfortable talking to her. He actually felt more comfortable than he expected to feel talking to a drow. Regardless, this meeting was proving very interesting. He wanted the drow culture. He was getting a lot more than he expected. They were so...different from the forest elves.

Slowly, he moved forward, crawling up to the metal bars that separated the two of them. "Well...I must not be normal then," he said with a shrug. "I don't feel uncomfortable talking to you at all." He smiled reassuringly at her before falling back onto his bottom, sitting cross legged in front of her, hands placed in his lap as he looked on at her. "Are you really okay with being sacrificed? That seems pretty drastic just because you were born different. It's...unique. It almost seems like a crime to rid the world of something like that." He scratched the back of his head as a sheepish grin came to his face again. "I guess I just don't really understand the point of it."

She didn't seem at all effected by his words. Truly her face was strangely serene and unreadable - constantly steady and without emotion. She merely watched him, studying him almost as he sat before her.

"Why would I not be? It is my purpose... True that it is not my decision or my control over my birth or my purpose, but when one has been born to a purpose, how can they not be... okay... with it?"

She seemed determined in her question, as though she really wanted him to think about it. She didn't consider her circumstances an injustice. She considered them only a reality. Of course, it was hard to weigh her comfort level with her treatment and what was to become of her against the truth that she was raised by people who taught her to believe this is right. It was impossible for anyone to know then whether or not she would be equally 'okay' with her fate if she had been born somewhere else or raised by someone else who viewed things differently.

Talid placed a finger to his chin as he thought it over. She did have a point, he supposed. It just seemed like such a distant way of thinking of things. "I...don't know. Isn't there anything you want to do rather than being stuck inside these cages?" he asked. "I understand where you're coming from. My family talks about destiny and purpose all the time. I just don't agree. Destiny shouldn't be the focus of a life. Purpose should be what you choose for it to be." He seemed confused by her own line of thought, unable to wrap his head around it. He had his own arguments with his family over what his purpose in their society was. In the end, he took it into his own hands to find a new purpose.

While it was a much lesser extent to what was going on here, he thought it applied to all situations. At that thought, a grin came to his face. "How about this? Tell me one thing you would love to do before you get sacrificed and can't do it anymore," he stated happily. "I'll make sure you can do it before the ritual happens." It was an odd thing to offer to someone he had just met, but he felt that this was important. Besides, if he could get on her good side, maybe he could learn more about the drow without all this subterfuge over pretending to be one. Though, to her, the whole proposal probably just seemed like big talk. After all, what could he do from inside the same cells that she was trapped in?

Soza simply stared at him and blinked for a moment. Not that she didn't understand the question, just that she didn't understand the possibilities.

"Quite honestly I have never known anything outside of my dwelling, or the stories that my keeper tells me of the sacrifice. I don't know what I would do... I don't know what there is to do. You are the first person to speak to me of things beyond these walls... My keeper says that such conversations are forbidden for the Ssussun."

Whether he was catching on or not was one thing, but all of her comments added together to a relatively clear picture - they told her nothing and showed her nothing beyond what was intended for her so that she never longed for anything other than what they told her was her purpose. She wasn't 'suffering' per say... she was merely contained and kept ignorant in a way that kept her from ever wanting to rebel or escape or find or learn. It was a very careful and calculated way of handling these persons born among them who they knew would only be used for this purpose in the long run.