[center][h2][color=f26522]Kasari Liesma[/color][/h2][/center]
A pair of rough hands thrust into the carriage to pull out quite the uncooperative bride. Out they dragged a young Gemminite woman with rich brown hair and pale blue eyes, which seemed to appear more greyish in the blightened surroundings. Immediately the girl locked eyes on the Drakken guards with a ferocity not usually exhibited by the peaceful Gem people. Amused but not at all intimidated, the two Drakken guards grasped a wrist and upper arm each to lead their charge to her bathing chambers. Kasari growled as they pushed her inside the depressing room, staggering a few steps forward as she was finally allowed to carry her own weight. Exhaling her frustration, she inspected the bath prepared for her and smirked. If they thought some cold water was going to hurry her up, they obviously had no idea who it was they were dealing with. Heating the water herself, Kasari climbed in and sighed with relief, allowing he heat to soak away the tension from the long journey.

The journey itself had been rather uneventful, but the moments leading up to it were a bit of a different story. A Drakken guard had come without much more in the way of a warning than the thundering sounds of hooves and squeaking wheels. Many a Gem had gone numb upon hearing such a sound, waiting in fear to see who would be taken from their families. The look on her parents' faces were heartbreaking; her mother weeping, her father trying to remain strong in spite of the obvious anger he felt. But no matter how they felt, they did what was expected of them and let the men take their only daughter. Kasari's brother, however, was not so willing to let her just go. She could still remember the sound of the Drakken's fist against her brother's face, a one punch knock out punctuated by a threat to violate her mother in front of them if they tried it again. After that the men dragged away a kicking and screaming girl, practically tossing her into the carriage before escorting her off to her assumed death.

Even in the ill lighting Kasari could tell that there were a few bruises forming on her arms where the men had gripped her a little too tightly. She sighed and sunk beneath the water before hopping out to finish getting ready. Focusing intently on herself, the water began to evaporate off her skin in a cloud of steam that rose and vanished into the darkness. Kasari was a rather impatient girl, it wouldn't do to wait to dry off. While she ran a comb through her hair, she contemplated what she was going to wear. The first impression would be what determines her fate, but Kasari wasn't exactly one for strategy. Ultimately she decided she would show off the bruises as if they were badges of honor, taking a page out of the Drakken playbook in the hopes that it would make her seem more respectable. It was a farfetched plan but her options were rather limited at the moment.

All brushed out, the tips of Kasari's hair reached down to touch the middle of her back to create a lovely curtain of silky hair however she ended up pulling it in front of her right shoulder to bind it in a loose braid. Hugging her torso was a reddish-brown sleeveless tunic that clasped around her neck so as to accent the shoulders and bust. Embedded into the neck of the tunic was a series of light blue jewels that reflected the same color as her eyes, the few that dangled catching the light in a dazzling way. The tunic itself cut off just above the navel, which Kasari left exposed by choosing a skirt that hugged low on the hips. The material of her gypsy-styled skirt was more fluid than that of the tunic, tightest around the waist but then allowed to hang comfortably down to mid-calf. The color of the fabrics might have been considered dull, but the shape of the outfit itself was rather appeasing to the eye. Admiring her handiwork, Kasari slipped a single gold bangle onto her right ankle before stepping into a comfortable pair of slippers. 

Rather than waiting for the guards to come after her again, Kasari marched over to the door and threw it open with a slightly different attitude than she had possessed before. Holding her head up high, Kasari cast the same glare she had been only this time it looked dignified. As one of the men went to grab for her arm, she shrugged it off and took a step toward him. 

"[color=f26522]What am I going to do; run home? I'm already here, I might as well walk on my own.[/color]" She hissed before turning toward the direction of the greatest heat sources and beginning to walk. The guards complied with her request to walk instead of being dragged to the "Choosing Room", however it was clear that they didn't trust her by the uncomfortable lack of space between the large men and the quite averagely sized female. Rolling her eyes, Kasari marched down the steps and joined the others that had already arrived before her. She hesitated upon first entering the room, glancing around to gather her bearings. A few of what Kasari assumed to be Drakken lords, or at the very least "War Heroes", were already in physical fights. It seemed each of the girls to have arrived before her already had at least one person gunning after them with plenty of Drakken still hanging back to judge the merchandise as it arrived. Taking a deep breath, the fire gem marched forward to the place where she had been instructed to stand. Once she had moved away from the exit, the guards dispersed leaving completely on her own. 

[hr]
[center][h2][color=8493ca]Azilon Dantanath[/color][/h2][/center]
On the rare occasions that Azilon made public appearances one thing was always certain, he would not be amongst the first to arrive. The man liked to go as unnoticed as possible unless the moment called for it, however the beginning of a bride claiming didn't qualify in the Drakken's mind. Clothed in all black, Azilon purposely waited for the room to liven up before he even entered. Sticking to the back, Azilon found a spot where he could watch all that would happen from a safe distance. Most of his kin were either too distracted by the women or each other to pay him any mind, so he was able to settle in going mostly unnoticed... Just the way he liked.

For the meantime, Azilon had decided to keep the hood of his cloak up to shroud his face from the crowd. The fact that he was there standing in the room was proof enough that he was supposed to be at the event, so he didn't think showing his face was all that necessary to do what he and many others had shown up to do; at least not yet. Arms folded across his chest, he spent some time taking in the scene. He had arrived shortly after a female Drakken which luckily for him was worth more in terms of gossip than a guy in  cloak. Right off the bat were a few hasty selections, or at least moves to show intentions. Two of the girls were pulled aside completely by their suitors, one failing in his attempt and surrendering her over to another Drakken whom he faintly recognized as being Zakroti Unalim. Azilon wasn't much for names but it was hard not to when a good portion of the nation's lords were fighting each other because of him. 

Turning his attention back to the remaining Gem, her felt bad for the poor thing. Ripped once away from home, and now from her sister, she was left standing all alone to await her new husband's summons. He was eager to see if anyone would step up and challenge the earlier Drakken for the girl, but he didn't think it likely with the way he held himself. Shrugging to himself, Azilon yawned as a new Gemminite was brought in. It wasn't as if he didn't think her attractive, but this really wasn't striking him as his "thing". Already he was beginning to regret leaving home to attend the event, but he remained rooted to his spot nonetheless. The night was still young, perhaps something would happen to change his mind about the whole thing. Until then, he would wait patiently and watch as the next girl was pushed through the door.

[hr]
[center][h2][color=82ca9d]Sorrin Lucielle[/color][/h2][/center]
All her life Sorrin had lived in ignorant bliss of what was going on in the world outside of her home. Her aunt had told her very little about the Drakken people and nothing at all about what they took from Gemmenia as so called 'peace offerings'. Perhaps it had been her aunt's hope that if she didn't talk about them, they wouldn't show up. But now she was being marched down a corridor to a room full of strangers with absolutely no idea what was going on. As she stumbled into the room, she glanced around trying to put any pieces together that might explain what was happening.

Each of the girls had been unique in their own ways, but it didn't take much to see the unspoken differences between her and those that came before. She wasn't as slim as some of them, having slightly rounder cheeks and not much in the way of sexy curves. Everything about her screamed cute; her eyes, her hair, even her choice of an outfit set her apart from the others. Her green eyes glistened with the tears she had shed back in the changing room, now beginning to regret her decision not to change clothes instead. She wore a short blue dress that cut off just above the knee, and that was held up by two thin shoulder straps that matched the silver-threaded belt that cinched the fabric in at the waist as well as the sandals that laced up her calves. 

After her brief moment of panic, Sorrin really began paying attention to the room around her. She couldn't lie, the place was unlike anything she could have ever imagined. Intimidating, yes, but beautiful in its own ways. Her pulse began to slow as she found more things to focus on, scared out of her mind, but distracted enough not to pass out from fear. Much like the architecture, she thought the people were dazzling too. They were so much bigger than she in comparison, even the Drakken females towered over her and her Gemminite kin. Every move they made was like that of a predator's in the most primal of ways, which made her realize where she stood on the food chain. Rumors began circling through her head, talks of girls being taken to a far away place where they were made the brides of ruthless warriors. 

"[color=82ca9d]Do they really expect me to become the bride of a man I have never met before?[/color]" She murmured out loud nervously.