Jin looks at Toska, "Do you have any idea why it seems so much different on this island than where we came from? There is a very noticeable difference in the temperature here. Any idea what could be causing it? What exactly did you find out when you came over here?"
Hitome raises and eyebrow slightly at Jin's barrage of questions to Toska.
”They got this big glowing crystal warping everything to make it more hospitable to their master.” Toska simply says.
Jin just looks from Toska to the three maybe bad guys and smiles ever so sweetly, "Oh really now? Hmmmm...." Jin then gets quiet as thoughts start rolling through her mind as to how they might use that information to their possible advantage if necessary.
The three lead you to a set of double doors which open on their own. Beyond, there is only a stone throne with an ancient-looking man sitting upon it. The walls appear to have been torn down, leaving only a stone floor surrounded by the swamp beyond. The man merely looks upon the group with cold, calculating eyes. His eyes land on Toni and remain transfixed upon her.
The three kneel before the aged man. "The Szef and her compatriots, Oyabun."
The man's chest heaves as he takes in a deep breath. "Leave us. Now."
The three depart, leaving the group alone with the old man. He makes no effort to move or speak further.
Toni steps forward. "I am Toni, Szef of the Summoners. These are my-"
The man's eyes narrow. "Dispense with the pleasantries. I know why you are here and your first course of action is likely to fail. Your eidolons would not allow it."
"What are you talking about?" Toni asks.
The man does not answer immediately but looks at Toska. "You are merely pawns in a game you cannot perceive."
"You are making little sense," Sareash says. "We are no pawns."
Jin's eyes narrow, "Fine, we won't bother being pleasant then. You dispense with your double talk immediately and speak plainly. What happens here today is completely up to you." As she speaks, Jin looks from the crazy old guy, to the room around them as she tries to remember everything she's learned recently and figure out a way to use it to help them if necessary.
She levels her eyes at the old man, while Gyo remains at her side. While she tries not to be overtly threatening, Jin did not like his tone nor words and it showed on her face as she keeps her crossbow in one hand, while resting the other on her hip, "And why should we believe anything you say at all? You have done nothing to prove that you can be trusted. Your own men said you were only interested in killing us, or that you would most likely try to at least. So, why should we believe you and not correct the mistake that the traitor house made all those years ago?" She says, her voice not wavering, as her eyes bore into his once again.
Drago couldn't help but think of Chalandra wrote in her letter.
Gyo places a calming hand on Jin's back as her gaze never leaves the old man's face, "Calm yourself Jin, let's not be too hasty. We should at least give him a chance to explain himself and their presence here. I sincerely suggest that you acquiesce my young charge's request Sir. I know she doesn't look like much, but what she lacks in size...she makes up for in spirit and temper, and Jin isn't known for being long suffering where certain matters are concerned. Perhaps you could explain things more clearly, and we could come to some kind of compromise?" Gyo looks around discreetly at their surroundings, in case things became....messy.
Gyo and Jin notice that this "room" deliberately offers nothing to give a tactical advantage. The man ignores Jin before focusing on her eidolon. "It would have been best if you had told your charge to not speak in such a tone to those she does not know."
He leans back against the throne, still tensing for battle but slightly more at ease. "How am I to explain something you probably could not fathom? How long have you lived?"
The Dhampir whispered to the Szef, "Let's see if we can keep him talking. I think we might be missing a piece of the puzzle."
Drago decided to speak up to the older gentleman, "I've lived for over a century. Does that mean much?"
The Duskwalker shrugs. ”I know I’m a pawn. And are we allowed to add lives together?”
Jin growls slightly in the back of her throat before allowing Gyo's calming presence to help her relax slightly. While keeping her grip on her readied crossbow, Jin decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and gestures at Gyo to go ahead andc answer the old fool.
Gyo gives her summoner a polite nod before smiling warmly at Drago and Toska, "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, but I believe thed gentleman's question was directed at me Good Sirs."
Redirecting her attention back at the figure on the throne she says, "I am older than I care to share in mixed company. Suffice it to say that I've.....been around the block a few times, so to speak. You wouldn't deny a lady the mystery of her age would you?" She chuckles slightly before re-addressing the aged figure, "As for Jin, I have been with her since she was but a child, and I can tell her from experience, that even I can't control her opinions, or words for that matter. I am as much hers, as she is mine. I do apologize for her tone, but she is young and still prone to emotional outbursts. That being said, with all due respect, you do not know us either." Gyo says, gesturing towards all if them assembled. "We humbly request that you try to explain as much of what is going on that you think we might understand, and then maybe we can come to some kind of understanding that doesn't haved to end in bloodshed." The large Eidolon ends by giving him a respectful bow.
The man lets out a sigh. "Call forth your eidolon, Szef. The right hand of the Allfather has been around long enough to know the truth."
Toni nods, bowing her head to call forth her eidolon.
A winged serpent materializes before Toni. "I am here, Szef."
Hyggindi then takes in the figure at the throne. "Ytias..."
Jin furrows her brows. Obviously confused by the familiarity between Toni's Eidolon and the one on the throne.
"I am honored that you remember me, Hyggindi," Ytias remarks before looking back to Gyo. "I shall tell you a tale and Hyggindi may rebuke me if I tell you a falsehood. Is that fair?"
Gyo looks between Toni's Eidolon and the one on the throne, confused as well by the turn of events and a little irritated at being ignored, but glad that at least for now, they were communicating with the old one.
Shaking herself from her confusion she nods, "Of course, it is your story to tell afterall. I am sorry if I mistook your asking for our honored Szef's Eidolon, as a slight against myself. While I am slightly confused by these events, anyone that is honored by Hyggindi, honors us. I have a feeling that this tale is going to be a little long, would it be alright if we were seated for it?" She asks, clearly intrigued now by what he might have to say.
Toska tilts his head, curious where this was going.
Hitome stands silently, not in any way dropping her guard as she studies the man on the throne.
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Gyo, who had been in a number of battles with Jin and knew her prowess, was not that concerned with being able to be battle ready in a moment's notice. Looking around and noticing the lack of seating, she takes a seat on the floor.
Looking up at Jin she sighs, "Come here and sit down for a moment. You need to breath." She could tell by the rigidness of Jin's muscles that she could spring at likely any moment, but that would not help their cause. She knew her girl, and what she needed right now was some time to breath and center herself so that once he was done with his story, she could calmly and rationally discuss things with him.
Looking over at Gyo she furrows her eyebrows, "I am breathing. Maybe I don't want to sit." She says in a huff before crossing her arms, her crossbow still in her hand.
Gyo sighs to herself, though she loved Jin as her own, she could be very....trying at times.
Giving her the "look" she says in a calm voice, "Jin, he is giving you what you want, an explanation. Just sit down and try to relax a little okay? Come on, come sit with me." Gyo holds a hand out to Jin and waits to see if she'll unruffle her feathers enough to listen.
Jin looks at Laenid and then to Gyo before rolling her eyes and huffing out a breath, "Fine..." Leaning into Laenid slightly she says quietly, "You can sit with us if you want to, but you don't have to. I still don't really trust him that much, but I'll sit down since she thinks I should. Don't worry though, okay?" Jin gives her a brief kiss on the cheek before turning back towards Gyo and taking her hand, plops down in her lap, still holding her crossbow at the ready. Craning her neck up at her Eidolon she says in a pouty tone, "There, I'm sitting. Happy now?"
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Gyo just smiles, "Immensely."
Looking up at Ytias she gives him a polite nod of her head, "I apologize for the interruption, please...go on with your tale. We are very interested in anything you can tell us that will help us to better understand what is going on."
The corner of Hitome's mouth moves fractionally in a hit of a smile, but she otherwise remains as she was, unmoving, her breathing barely noticeable.
Ytias waves his hand over the floor and several short pillars rise from the ground. "Be seated if you wish."
He takes a deep breath. "Eidolons did not simply appear from the ether. They possess knowledge beyond what their summoners know and have somewhat independent personalities. They cannot come to this plane without being called and bound to a mortal. It is thought that eidolons are much like the undead...a transformation of mortality. Moreso, they seem to be spirits of mortal beings forced into a form of their master's choosing. Except for you, Hyggindi...you do not change."
He dismisses the slight tangent with a wave of his hand. "Where do these spirits come from? Correct me if I am wrong, Right Hand of the Allfather, but they come from worlds conquered by the eidolons. Conquered worlds where their spirits are harvested to become part of the Allfather's legion. Am I wrong, Hyggindi?"
"We are planar creatures, much like devils and angels," Hyggindi says. "We have no souls to speak of. Your assessment is wrong, Ytias."
Ytias smirks. "But aren't new devils and angels borne from those who died?"
"Continue your tale, Ytias...for what it is worth."
Toska tilts his head. That is not how that works, or maybe not in all cases anyway. I working from small reference pools he thinks to himself. "You have them, you just have them differently than mortals." he allows himself to say.
Drago stayed silent, thinking back to his one visit with The Elder. Something was making sense, and he wanted to hear more.
"Let us set aside speculation for a moment and now focus on facts," Ytias says. "Vesaria, when it was created, possessed several mana wells. They are points of magic so potent that even an amateur spellcaster could accomplish what most would consider miracles and what some would consider perversions of nature. The mana wells are what allowed the first race, the Predecessors, to exercise control over almost the entire world. They also drove them to madness...madness that you might have seen in unfettered eidolons. There are many who would consider that kind of power...attractive."
His eyes fall on Hyggindi again for a moment before continuing. "So, when Styrkur wandered to the remaining mana well on Zahvroma, he attracted the attention of the Allfather. The greatest eidolon had found a resource to free his eidolons from this parasitic relationship and another ripe world to conquer. He endowed Styrkur with power in exchange for access to the mana well. Yet, the Allfather needed time to put his plans into motion."
Ytias smirks briefly. "Tiamat told of us this danger to not only us dragons, but to anyone that the Allfather did not consider useful. The metallic dragons refused to interfere with lesser races and the Summoners spurned Tiamat's first-born, Malfeliax, so we set upon besieging Blackcrown in order to save the Summoners from themselves. Hyggindi's forked tongue did much to convince you that we were the villains, that we were there to claim the source of the Summoners' power. Only House Akulov saw our reasoning and gave us the edge we needed to drive the Summoners out of Blackcrown."
Ytias sighs. "Chromatic dragons are loathe to cooperate with each other, but we did so at our Mother's command despite being imprisoned together by this duty. There are enough dangers in Zahvroma that we don't need power mad conjurers making things worse. If we could have destroyed the mana well, we would have and this would not be an issue.
However, when the bloodlines of the Summoners died out, the Allfather continued to pass on his power to those he could convince that they would be great heroes. I don't need to tell you how many fools are enamored by the idea. You still see it around you...people picking up swords and staves because they believe they can make a difference. A noble sentiment, but a misplaced one, nonetheless."
Ytias props his chin on a hand. "Now, here you are...some of you, at least. And you will do the bidding of the Allfather because you are told that you are right and I am wrong. This is why we seek your death because reason will fall on a Summoner's deaf ears."
Toska blinks. "You're justification is 'I'm just because I say so', so projecting much? For someone who talks a lot you sure didn't actually say anything."
"And in two sentences, you proved my point," Ytias remarks.
"No I didn't because you have no point, you haven't actually said anything. The sky being blue makes it neither good nor evil." Toska counters.
Jin looks at Gyo, "Is that true? Do you just want to take over?" She asks of her long time companion and friend, while ignoring at least for the moment, Toska's big mouth that would likely get them all killed if he doesn't learn how to shut it.
Gyo shakes her head, "I can only speak for myself, and no...I am not here to take over anything. What we all need to remember here, is that we can't judge that which we do not know to be good or bad." Gyo sighs as she tries to think of how to put what shed was thinking into words that they could understand, "Sometimes, there is no right or wrong, but merely different points of view." Gyo looks to Toni, "You are our leader, and our loyalty is to you. What outcome are you looking for? Do you have any thoughts on how you would like to proceed?" Gyo then shoots Toska a warning look.
Toska holds his hands up and steps back.