Taalia Giovanni


Down, down, down into the dark depths of the Under-Empire, the haven of the ratmen and source of so much evil inflicted upon the world. The tunnel was busted, its contents hidden behind walls of shadow and darkness, but Taalia felt an odd comfort in sliding back down into those fissures, one that she had not expected. The girl had, afterall, grown up in the Skavens bleak dominion. She had only been six years old when she had disappeared beneath the earth in Norsca, only to re-emerge into the light of Tilea when she was seventeen. Taalia had been adopted into the darkness, and had not seen the light of day until she was already a woman.

But back here, descending once more into the underside of the world, Taalia oddly little real fear. A dark and peverse part of her soul even clamoured in relief at returning home.

When the shepardess touched down and could not spot the boy around her, she first tugged appropriately on the rope. Then, she pushed it down from her waist and drew the noose together so that it would fit around her foot if she needed a swift escape - one that would see her standing rather than dangling on the end of a tether like bait for a fish.

Sinking into the dim atmosphere, the light of the surface melting away into sheets of blackness, Taalia instinctively drew her shoulders together and hunched down, drawing herself closer to the ground with her arms slightly out at her side for stability and balance. Quietly, Taalia sifted through the darkness, relying on both her fantastically developed night-attuned eyes and excellent hearing - and both soon led her to the boy.

She spotted his small, huddled figure soon enough, drawn in to appear small, hiding as best he could. He had, after all, just heard the ugly language of the Skaven spoken down to him from no visible human source - so naturally he would seek to draw himself into an enclosed space where he could hide and wait out the danger.

Assuming, of course, that that was what he was trying to obsfucate himself from...and not something else.

Still crouch-walking low to the ground, Taalia would draw herself close to him and bring a hand up to her face, where she would make the 'Shh...' gesture with a gloved finger over her lips.