"Several years. We knew you survived the incident in the tunnels, but could never find you, regardless of our method of searching. My guess is that your nose for finding new places kicked in again?"
"If you mean 'find a place several thousand feet above the ground', then yes it did. It was quite a sight to see him flail about before remembering his magic."
"Several years. We knew you survived the incident in the tunnels, but could never find you, regardless of our method of searching. My guess is that your nose for finding new places kicked in again?""If you mean 'find a place several thousand feet above the ground', then yes he did. It was quite a sight to see him flail about before remembering his magic."
"Well, I'm certainly glad he decided to 'drop in'," she said with an impish grin.
Fivain casts her gaze across Aananda, Ryleh and Ryo, then raises her free hand to the wall.
"Security? Everything is under control here. Lower the circle - ten seconds, then reactivate."
A tinny voice replies, "Yes, ma'am. Circle disengaging - now."
The circle stops glowing.
"If you'd care to join us in the hall before it reactivates...?" she asks the group as she finally holsters her own Caster.
"Well, I'm certainly glad he decided to 'drop in'," she said with an impish grin."Several years. We knew you survived the incident in the tunnels, but could never find you, regardless of our method of searching. My guess is that your nose for finding new places kicked in again?""If you mean 'find a place several thousand feet above the ground', then yes he did. It was quite a sight to see him flail about before remembering his magic."
"Feeling the love here. Really," Tam replies dryly as he ushers the rest quickly into the hall. ;D
"Since we've been invited in so warmly, of course."
"Though considering our last stop, it was warm..."
Aananda looks around, eyes wide with curiosity as she follows Tam into this strange new place.
"Since we've been invited in so warmly, of course."
"Though considering our last stop, it was warm..."
"Well young man, we're not in the hospitality industry, so you'll have to forgive the lack of such attentions here," she replies with a smile, briefly glancing at Tam appraisingly.
Tam just shrugs.
"I take it that everything here is okay?"
She nods.
"Your idea paid off handsomely while you were gone. We've avoided quite a few...entanglements, thanks to it," noting Aananda's wide-eyed curiosity.
She leads everyone down the hall, through a few turns (and some very stout looking doors that slide open as the go) into a large room filled with chairs and tables. An array of screens (similar to Tam's datapad screen, but much larger) adorn the walls, and the center of the room has a circular console on a raised pedestal.
"So," she says as she motions for everybody else to sit, "I suppose some formal introductions and a lot of catching up are in order...?"
Aananda clasps her hands tightly together to try and resist the urge to examine such fascinating technology more closely.
Ryo takes a seat.
"Ryo Antairus. Home World: Unknown."
He smiles. It's true of course, he has no idea what the name of the planet Agartha hides in is. Not that he would tell them if he did...
"I guess so, yeah," he says as he pulls out chairs for Aananda and Ryleh.
Ryleh sits down smoothly. "I am Rylehtin'aaksavith. I am more commonly called Ryleh."
Ryo takes a seat.
"Ryo Antairus. Home World: Unknown."
He smiles. It's true of course, he has no idea what the name of the planet Agartha hides in is. Not that he would tell them if he did...
"A pleasure, Mr. Antairus. 'Homeworld Unknown'...it sounds like you travel as much as my former apprentice here," she says with a nod to Tam.
She turns her gaze to Aananda and Ryleh.
"Huh? Oh." She blushed and sat down quickly as she realized that Tam was holding out a chair for her. "Sorry about that. I was just....er....what are they made of? Those would be so useful....Oh. Sorry. I'm.....I just get...easily distracted......"
"Huh? Oh." She blushed and sat down quickly as she realized that Tam was holding out a chair for her. "Sorry about that. I was just....er....what are they made of? Those would be so useful....Oh. Sorry. I'm.....I just get...easily distracted......"
Ryleh sighed. "And this is my daughter, Aananda'reavekki. She usually goes by Aananda. And she is somewhat obsessed with technology."
"I greet you both," she says formally, switching fluidly to the draconic tongue. "That's an interesting naming structure. Most modern dragon names have shied away from it these days. There is a history lover in your family tree, perhaps...?"
"I greet you both," she says formally, switching fluidly to the draconic tongue. "That's an interesting naming structure. Most modern dragon names have shied away from it these days. There is a history lover in your family tree, perhaps...?"
"I have no idea what 'modern' dragons consider appropriate names. Our names are as they have always been. We have had nothing to do with the Empire for a very long time."
"Can we speak in common please? I'm still learning the language and I feel like I'm only getting every third word when we speak in draconic."
"I have no idea what 'modern' dragons consider appropriate names. Our names are as they have always been. We have had nothing to do with the Empire for a very long time.""I greet you both," she says formally, switching fluidly to the draconic tongue. "That's an interesting naming structure. Most modern dragon names have shied away from it these days. There is a history lover in your family tree, perhaps...?"
"Can we speak in common please? I'm still learning the language and I feel like I'm only getting every third word when we speak in draconic."
Switching back to Common at Aananda's request, she arches an eyebrow at Ryleh's response.
"And why is that, if I may ask?"
"I have no idea what 'modern' dragons consider appropriate names. Our names are as they have always been. We have had nothing to do with the Empire for a very long time.""I greet you both," she says formally, switching fluidly to the draconic tongue. "That's an interesting naming structure. Most modern dragon names have shied away from it these days. There is a history lover in your family tree, perhaps...?"
"Can we speak in common please? I'm still learning the language and I feel like I'm only getting every third word when we speak in draconic."Switching back to Common at Aananda's request, she arches an eyebrow at Ryleh's response.
"And why is that, if I may ask?"
"We did not choose to play their little power games. And both sides were decidedly...uncivilized in their response to that refusal."
"Wars never favor the neutral."
"Wars never favor the neutral."
"Very aptly put."
"And wars involving dragons never favor anyone else," Fivain says flatly. "Something we discovered far too late, I'm afraid."
She leans forward, templing her hands on the table.
"Why are you here, then, if you are not in good standing with either of the draconic dynasties?"
"Our kind and our likeminded allies of many other races seceded from the Empire a long time ago. The place we made for ourselves is well hidden,and has been for many centuries. Until recently. A Silver found his way into our hiding place, and while there was unfortunately captured and corrupted by my son. We will deal with my son when we are able to, but in the meantime it is imperative that this Silver neither betrays our existence to the other dragons or provides Chan'trikalliax with yet more power beyond what the abomination that has possessed him has already given him."
"Our kind and our likeminded allies of many other races seceded from the Empire a long time ago. The place we made for ourselves is well hidden,and has been for many centuries. Until recently. A Silver found his way into our hiding place, and while there was unfortunately captured and corrupted by my son. We will deal with my son when we are able to, but in the meantime it is imperative that this Silver neither betrays our existence to the other dragons or provides Chan'trikalliax with yet more power beyond what the abomination that has possessed him has already given him."
"What manner of abomination has possessed your son? And what 'kind' are you and your daughter, just for the record?"
While this conversation has been going on, the young human named Sean pulled Tamrin outside of the meeting room for some reason. Tam now comes back in, looking mildly frustrated but not interrupting the proceedings.
"And what 'kind' are you and your daughter, just for the record?"
"The kind you don't have to worry about, Lady Fivian. You should consider such allies, if they choose to ally with you while we are here, true gems in the mine you might say."
"What manner of abomination has possessed your son? And what 'kind' are you and your daughter, just for the record?"
"A demon. A very powerful one, I am sorry to say. As I said, we will deal with that situation."
"And for the record? We don't exist."
"And what 'kind' are you and your daughter, just for the record?""The kind you don't have to worry about, Lady Fivian. You should consider such allies, if they choose to ally with you while we are here, true gems in the mine you might say."
"Based on the...fragmentary information you're giving me, 'ally' is a pretty strong word to use since we already have an 'alliance' with members of the Qesemet, which you say have no love for your kind."
"A demon. A very powerful one, I am sorry to say. As I said, we will deal with that situation."
"And for the record? We don't exist."
"You don't exist. Hmmm...just like us." she replies wryly. "Yet, just like us, here you are."
"Who is this Silver, and what precisely are you asking of us?"
Tam raises his hand from the doorway. :)
"Yes, Tamrin?"
Aananda watches silently, sitting on her hands to help her resist the temptation to disassemble a viewscreen to see how it was made. She isn't sure what to make of this Fivain woman and watches and listens to her carefully looking for any clues to her character.
"We don't know who the Silver is precisely, not yet anyway. We weren't able to interact with him much. I think he may have been working on establishing a base of operation for the Qesemet when he accidentally found a way into their 'hiding place'," as he motions to the others. "He was on a comet in an outlying system in Altaran space. I can't see any other reason for a Silver to be in White territory other than to be doing something against the Asamet."
"If this place is found out, it's another resource Mezzenbone will subjugate and exploit, Fivain."
Fivain turns her chair to face Tam.
"And did they ask you to come here, or did you offer that idea up yourself?"
"It was my idea. Aananda and Ryleh took a serious risk leaving their home to try and stop this Silver. Ryleh has some pretty reliable means of narrowing down his location and finding out who he is - but she couldn't do it from there. She finds him for us, we intercept him..."
Aananda looks back and forth between Tam and Fivain, a confused frown on her face.
"And what? Detain him? Imprison him? Kill him?"
"How do you think any of those actions will go over with Khelorn and his allies, Tamrin? Of which this order counts (however tenuously) as one?"
"Well....we could tell Khelorn that this guy's been compromised and brainwashed into working for somebody else..."
"Which would require telling him about these two and the third one who is possessed by a powerful demonic entity. Again, how do you think that will go over, Tamrin?"
"Ummm - we could not tell him everything..."
"Trying to lie to the patriarch of the Gold dragons, the leader of the Qesemet clans, and the first Emperor of the Dragon Empire? Really?"
"Well, we can't tell him the truth. He'd probably kill us. Or hire someone to do it. Again."
Tam runs his hand through his hair, looking more than a little embarrased at how this is unfolding.
"Look Fivain - I dropped into their home by accident. They are in a situation and need help. I said I would. Doing nothing will hurt them, and not spell glad tidings out here either. It's the right thing to do, and I have personal reasons for wanting to help too. This shouldn't take too long, and if we need to keep it under the radar, believe me, we'll do so. It's probably safer for everyone involved anyway."
"This order is balanced on the blade of a knife right now, Tamrin. We can't afford to make any more enemies. There aren't enough of us left to survive another culling. Do you really want to risk putting both sides of the draconic races against us?"
"You told me the order never saw the first attack coming because they withdrew from the day to day affairs of the Empire - they had no connection to it. That model of operation didn't work - we need to do something different. Like get involved in the galaxy around us and try to improve things so we can stick around. That's why you put me in charge of it, remember!?"
Fivain lets out a long breath, then says quietly, "Yes, Tam. I remember that day as clearly as if it were yesterday."
She stands up and walks over to him.
"So is this going to be another one of 'Tamrin's Laws' added to the Codex, then? Another change to our course?"
"Don't you think it should be?"
She smiles, and puts a hand on his arm.
"I know that you will do what you think is right. Hopefully it will be so."
She turns back to the others.
"I'm sure you would all like a sojourn from our internal philosophical debates. Why don't you show them around, Tam, and get them quartered so they can rest and get comfortable. We will catch up later."
"For now, you are our guests, and we will try to be as acccomodating a host as we can be for you."
She starts to leave the chamber, and calls out over her shoulder with a smile, "Welcome aboard the Harbinger Ascendent."