001 [Audio] & [Open Commentlog]
[Zhaneel has spent the last day getting settled in and letting her eye heal from its run-in with a chair. Having gotten to know her capybara (now named Kechara), she made a point of scouting the area with a few low height flights
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The hertasi are humanoid creatures that resemble lizards or a sort. They are of human intelligence, or more so if you ask one directly. [She laughs softly at this, shaking her head once.] Gesten would happily turn you on your ear if you thought yourself at all above him. They help around camp in all manner of ways; they are healers assistants and cooks and cleaners. Advisors and friends, above much else. I'd not have felt half so confident with the training course I put together without Gesten's helping me. Ma'ar..
[Zhaneel falls silent, the name very nearly a growl and she would spit if she were at all able.]
Ma'ar is .. was .. the leader of the force we were opposing. He sought to control those with his magic and bend them to his will through its use. He twisted his spells and the creatures he used his magic to make. All of it dark and dangerous. Urtho, the Mage of Silence, sought to keep him from achieving this.. He created my kin to help our side during the war and Ma'ar created the makaar in our image; twisted as much as his magic ever had been, and so were they.
[She shakes her head in disgust.]
No people should be ruled in the manner Ma'ar wished to rule Velgarth and fathe- ... Urtho took it unto himself to see that he would not succeed.
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It sounds as though our experiences are similar. Ma'ar does not sound so different from Chaos and his warriors, nor the makaar from the manikins that I have faced.
[There's a pause as the Warrior gathers his thoughts to give an explanation in return.]
Prior to arriving here, I was summoned to fight in a war between Cosmos, the goddess of harmony, and Chaos, the god of discord. Chaos and his warriors wished to destroy the world, or rule it, according to taste.
[The Warrior strongly disapproves of both.]
My comrades and I fought to stop them, but the enemy used shadow copies of us and themselves, called manikins, as troops against us. It was...a difficult fight.
[There is a long pause.]
I hope that you had more success against your foes than we did against ours.
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Zhaneel nods her head once and she'd be offering a faint smile if she were capable. Her tone, however, reflects such as she speaks.]
It would seem there are similar instances throughout our worlds, no matter the name the enemy choose to go by at any given instance.
[She listens attentively as the Warrior tells her about his own struggle with the one called Chaos. She wonders at how well they managed in their battle until he says the last and she hisses out a soft exhale.]
Would that I could tell you how the final battle fared, Warrior. It was that which would decide the future for Velgarth; whether Ma'ar reigned or fell at the hand of our own. [She is silent for a moment, dreading to think of the possibility that those she loved died to see the war won.] I know those that fought would give their lives to see Ma'ar defeated; and if any could see it done, it would be Urtho and Skan.
[Urtho had, in fact, given his life to destroy Ma'ar, and Skan had barely made it back to their camp alive. You can see why she's torn about not knowing what's happened. Skandranon is her mate and Urtho her father and creator (for all purposes). To think either of them dead is horrific, but she's knows well that they'd both give their lives to make it so.]
I can only hope ..
[There is no denying the hopeless lilt to her voice.]
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He hears that hopeless lilt.]
Cosmos once told me that even in the darkest of times, there is always light.
[He tries to hold on to that at the moment.]
Even if Chaos won, my own survival gives me some hope that when our task here is completed, I can return to continue the fight against him. I did not expect to wake up again, yet I arrived here. And if my survival is possible, then there is hope yet for my comrades, as well. It may be that they, too, will arrive here.
Perhaps your friends will, as well.
[Now look, Zhaneel, you made him give a speech. And one that he only half believes, to boot.]
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I try to believe that ..
[Her voice is soft in comparison to his, but the tone is honest. She's just lived so long wishing herself dead that it's strange living the opposite way now that worth has been given to it. Her golden gaze falls on him and she listens silently as he goes on, head tilting slightly. There is a stretch of silent as he trails off that she is contemplative.]
I suppose there is really no way to know until we are done our task here and sent home once more. It is best to think that all is well and they have carried on without me there .. or perhaps that things have been put on a standstill ..
That any of them might come here .. that is so much to hope for, but a hope I feel I can maintain.
[Such a wonderful speech, though! Really, if anyone from Valdemar showed up, Zhaneel would be beside herself.]
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[He looks at Zhaneel.]
And even if our friends are not also Called, there is nothing to prevent us from forging new friendships in the coming conflict.
[This is his awkward way of saying I'm glad I've met you.]
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I think that you are most correct and that is the best way to see this entire experience. I'd not miss the opportunity to forge new friendships with any simply due to this being an unfortunate circumstance. It's unfortunate to many of us, after all ...
[Her expression turns a bit coy and bemused as she turns her head slightly and looks at him sidelong with one eye.]
You of which are one, Warrior... I'm very glad to have met you.
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And I, you. Even if I had been warned that I would be brought here, I would not have expected to find a true comrade so quickly.
[Have a smile!]
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At his words she chortles softly, flushing across the nares (nostrils) and bobs her head as her facial feathers fluff up.]
If I'm to make friends like you while I am here, than the adventure is well worth it.
[And a gape grin right back at you!]
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