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"I am the spirit of Taraliece de la Shadou. Eternally beloved wife of Jarred de la Shadou "
Born Taraliece Virlinae, Daughter of Terrice and Marcel Virlinae. Both Witch and Warlock. They lived Their lives in a quiet cabin on the outskirts of a small town...hiding Their identities from those that might try and interfere in the Arts They Both practiced...The youngest of nine children, forced to learn at an early age One did what One was told or accept the wrath of Parents that put up with no nonsense. I became well versed in the Black Arts and by the time My thirteenth birthday arrived, My Parents had already prearranged My marriage unbeknownst to Me. I was angered yet afraid to say a word. Never having even met the Man, knowing nothing of Him, His Name, His background...nothing!

Taken to the shed and whipped severely, as My Mother and Father always knew what any of Us were thinking. An inate ability passed down from generation to generation. Being the youngest taught Me many things, I was the quiet One, always trying to please those around Me. Many times I would be rewarded and allowed to participate in the Coven's rituals...playing only minor roles at first, then progressing to the more important and permitted to be a "part" of the Circle.

My wedding day grew closer and closer...warned by My Mother that this "arrangement" was in My best interest, and the interest of generations to come. So I bit back the frustration and rage knowing this was best and reluctantly began to prepare for the dark day. It arrived shortly after My fourteenth birthday, He stood before Me at the sacred alter of stone, the Coven all present. His eyes dark and foreboding, His looks, that of a Man in His early twenties, long dark hair swept back over massive shoulders. He stood at 6'5, His hands huge, on His left palm a tattoo. He beckoned Me closer...frightened, yet entranced I moved to His side. The ceremony went as planned and soon I was Taraliece de la Shadou. After the ceremony, My Lord, Husband and Master took Me to the center of the stones, tore My gown from My young body, and made Me dance before All. His eyes swirled with neverending colors as the Other Warlocks, so envious, had no choice but to stand in the shadow and watch. I could see He took great pleasure in My humiliation as He moved forward, throwing Me to the ground, opening His breeches and savagely taking Me as I cried quietly....On this most unholy night, Our first born Son Jarred was conceived.....

Soon M'Lord brought Me back to His Family Home, The #r-dchateau@soi(Shadou Chateau). It was and still is a large sprawling Mansion, set high on a hill overlooking Northern Beware, with a #r-mal@bwr(manor house) close by. In the beginning Jarred was so sweet, all that One could ever want, although it didn't take long for His true colors to show. I think He took great joy in keeping Me pregnant, knowing also in the back of His mind that this would also be a deterent to Any Others that might have interest in Me, although I would never stray, I was accused of it constantly, brutally beaten in private and in front of the children, by the time I was twenty eight, We already had sixteen children....Jarred Jr., Armand, Valarian, Darian, Wolfe, Ezreiki and Thaddeus, Tempest, Barnabas, the twins Lazarus and Terezz, Malaki, Malvolio, Obidiah, Artemis and Tacita. He taught the children the things He saw fit and brought Jarred Jr, and Armand into town on many a night allowing Them to learn of the pleasures of the flesh at a very young age.

The children grew and began mastering all Jarred and I taught them of the Arts. Each excelling in their own chosen area of the Craft. Jarred Jr. and Tempest derived great pleasure in healing, each finding their calling in different directions......psionics, earth magics, satanic ritualistic healings, all called upon during the childrens so called "practice sessions" in which they used their other siblings as test subjects. There was many a time during their early years that incantations needed 'adjusting' or the wrong herb used, and Jarred or I would end up correcting the small miscalculations such as when Laz fell from the large oak tree behind the woodshed nearly severing his right ear as Terezz screamed in pain. Tempest, being close by rushed to her younger brother and sister, chanting hastily, and slapping on her own concoction of mixed root salve. The wound healed and new skin replaced old, but Laz's ears also began to grow.....and grow.....and grow. Darian and Armand, also close by, dropped to their knees in a fit of laughter, tears streaming down their faces, holding their bellies as Laz, still unaware of the bungled healing walked around for half the day with ears twice the size of his head. TheirFather, returning from the Village of #r-torrich@bwr(Torrich), although finding the situation quite amusing, turned a fixed glare on His eldest daughter, brought out the switch and beat her severely for not going to her older brothers for help sooner. My Husband often sent mixed messages to the children, confusing them. But My little ones, to this day, are unaware of the threats that kept Me from interfering with His disciplining. Watching them being beaten was far less painful then watching them die or sold to Slavers as My sweet son Thaddeus was. Jarred was unmerciful, with a soul blacker then any Others. There were times when He was so sweet, bringing Me flowers or other small gifts. Always the Master, always knowing just when and how to endear Himself. I was such a fool. I loved Him in spite of what I knew.

Jarred was a womanizer, and the town whores flocked to His beckoning, however Jarred was not foolish, no children were ever conceived outside of this Family. He always boasted about the purity and strength of the untainted bloodlines of the Shadou/Virlinae children, so any other that dared to claim Him as Sire to a child, would simply vanish without trace as well as the so called offspring. Little did these women know, that Jarred's kiss and the kisses of His eldest sons, carried and passed through the saliva, a miniscule seed, rendering impotence to Them and infertility to Their partners. The Village women that dared to sleep with a Shadou Male soon learned it safest to never claim a Paternal link of any kind.

Years passed and Takira, Trina, Tiara, Tamra, another set of twins Tanith and Tyliara, Teylynn, Trianna, Ta'Raja and Jeremiah were added to the Shadou Family. Sadly, I never got to hold or nurture Teylynn or Trianna. I loved them both, but it was in their best interest that I allowed Jarred to take them away. My sweet Teylynn was conceived in pain and humiliation. During the season of ongoing rituals, Jarred's Brother, Arturo arrived at Our Village, joining the Coven. To welcome His Brother, I was offered to Him for the night to lie with and pleasure Him. A gift, to His Younger Brother. I was as beautiful as ever, and Arturo could not refuse Jarred's offer and bedded Me just beyond the campgrounds of the Circle. To afraid to go against My Beloved Husband's wishes, especially in the presence of Others, I reluctantly followed and gave My body to Arturo. There was something different about Arturo, He was also tall and olive complected and had this huge tattoo covering most of His broad shoulders and back, His eyes were dark as pitch, the kind that absorbed You, swollowed You whole.....just as Jarred's did. The entire time the Younger Shadou lay upon Me, the sound of thunder rolled in the distance. Lightning crackled and One could hear the approaching storm. Now that I think back, I could see the storm brewing in His eyes.....slow, steady, with impending danger at the moment of conception. Arturo's dark seed splashing deep within the walls of My womb, His gutteral growl into the night, gale force winds whipping around Us as He called forth His storm and impregnated Me.

When this child was born, I named her Teylynn, but as Jarred gazed upon the child, He knew it was the spawn of His Brother and after but a few months, He could no longer look upon her, His hatred so intense, and so Jarred cast her out into the #r-blackfor@bwr(Black Forest), where He had made arrangements for a quick demise. I pleaded and begged, but as always, Jarred had the final word. Crying accomplished nothing....begging, the taste of My own blood in My mouth.....pleading, only succeeded in bringing the darkness, as a solid backhand slammed Me against the wall, where I lay unconscious on the stone floor of Our home.

I awoke in an #r-equinox@bwr(alcove) that Jarred Jr. had set up for his healings. Somehow, through sheer will power and the touch of six pair of small hands, Young Jarred's, Armand's, Darian's, Barnabas's, Tempest's and Wolfe's, through their combined efforts to save their Mother, the web of shadows faded and without hesitation, I kissed each child before rushing out into the forest. Jarred did not leave a well worn path, no, indeed just the opposite, so I summoned the 'Dark One' and begged for assistance. The skies overhead began to swirl as two shadowy hounds of Hell were placed at My disposal....Deeper into the forest they led Me, into an overgrowth of thicket and thorns. There in the center was My child wrapped in an old coverlet. Her tiny fingers reaching out of the blanket as her dark eyes met Mine, and I knew I couldn't let her die. It was then I heard a voice from behind Me....the words spoken, strange to My ears. As I quickly spun, before Me stood a Dark Skin, a Drow....Khazid'hea. Somehow, He knew My pain, saw the sadness, and I felt a kinship, some type of bond. Its difficult to explain, but from that moment, I knew I could trust Him with My child's life. He never argued, never questioned. He simply took her and I never in life, saw her again.

My next born child was also taken from Me. Jarred was beginning to resent all these children under foot all the time.....not always minding, doing what children do best - causing havoc. Trianna was sold to a family that desparately wanted a little girl. Durant was Their name. Jarred's only words on the subject were "We have enough female children, They had none and were willing to pay a handsome price, far be it from Me to deny Them. Think of it this way Tara, once a witch, always a witch, someday She will find her way back to Us" and nothing more was ever said. Another little one lost.

Ta'Raja was born a year later. She was Jarred's favorite. A regular little princess. Jarred treated her better then the others, always bringing her little trinkets on His return from His trips into the Village. Raja had a bad habit of always taunting and teasing her brothers and sisters, only to go crying back to Jarred with false tales that they had been mean to her. Their reward.....a beating. Her reward....a kiss. I watched in sadness as the years passed, and the kisses Jarred gave to His last born daughter became passion and lustfilled. I simply turned away, no longer having the strength I once had, and again finding Myself with child.

My youngest son, Jeremiah was born in the dead of Summer. The skies were calm that night, but the moon was full and one of blood. Jeremiah, child of My heart, always aware of the whereabouts of his older brothers and sisters, a caring child until he was deceived. Some would say I favored him, others would say he was spoiled, but to Me I saw one that would always be there for his family. He enjoyed playing the hunter much like Tacita, he loved the shadowy places, he tended to be a loner, always internalizing everything. Now, I watch from a distance at the Man He has become. A bringer of death and vengence, yet still at times I can see the prankster he portrayed as a child.

My children were now older, and had learned much. Jarred and I taught them well. I love them all and am pleased with each one's special abilities....My children, My babies...... I remember singing them lullabies and telling them nursery rhymes to lull them to sleep on the nights Jarred was away. I recall the night My children told Me that their Father had gone to town. Through puffy, black and blue eyes, and a badly battered body, I listened to their words, never asking any questions, never wanting to know......the 'truth'....Jarred never returned.

Death called upon Me during the birth of My youngest daughter. She was named Trinity. She is not the daughter of My beloved Jarred, she is the child of My Eldest Son. There were so many times before My crossover that I did miss My Husband. Jarred Jr., always so wise and intuitive saw My despair and would come to My room late at night when the others were asleep. He comforted Me in so many ways. Yes, Trinity was the child of My child and as beautiful as any of the others. In her quest for love, she chose an outsider, a Magician. My children by now had made the decision that outsiders were not welcome, that they might try and possibly succeed in corrupting the bloodline. This Mage was never excepted and the other children seemed to shun away from Trinity. She was young and spirited and would balk at every turn when they tried to make her understand. She died in the #r-killzone@bwr(battlefield of death) without her family. I watched from the distant shadows and did not lift a finger to aid her. Her beloved came for her as I knew He would. She rests hopefully in peace, as I know her soul now soars.

My body lies at rest in the family #r-dscrypt@bwr(crypt) but I do not rest quietly, My children still need Me, and I will be there for them. My soul and essense wanders......sometimes aimlessly, sometimes with purpose. Very few will ever see Me, and this is how I choose for it to be, but many will hear the faint whisper of My voice followed by My eternal wrath if they seek to hurt any of Mine.