I'm finding everything about you terribly interesting, though.
[ There's a twitch of his lips, a crooked lilt to his grin. It's not a lie - from the moment he'd encountered her, she'd been nothing but fascinating to him. ]
[That is all she can ever be— which is to say she doesn't consider herself to be all that interesting on her own, but his intent expression says he feels otherwise.]
Some years ago, our star suffered a calamity— one of many it has seen, but the only one in my lifetime. It was only through the deeds of heroes willing to put their lives on the line that it survived, but it changed the way I looked at the world. I lost my mother during all of that, but she had always done her very best to help others, even encouraging me to become a conjurer when she thought I had talent for it so that I could do the same in my own way.
[Her smile falters, just a little.]
With her gone, I first thought to take over her apothecary and continue helping the locals as she always had, but Gridania has no shortage of healers. I thought I could do something more if I left home. Needless to say, I never expected it would take me down the path it did. I never thought myself to be anyone of consequence. I didn't want to become a hero— only to do my part. Heal those who were under-served, or who didn't have the luxury of being able to seek out aid for themselves.
[ It sounds like something Azem would say. He smiles slightly at that, humming softly to himself. ]\
You may not have intended to make such an impact, but I can see why you did. Even if that wasn't why you did it, I'm sure you left many lives changed for the better in your wake. They were fortunate.
I'm not so naive as to believe that the only changes I've made have been for the better, but I do hope for the majority to be so.
[Nothing, of course, is ever so black and white, and she has made more than her share of mistakes— and faced plenty of consequences for doing so.]
It's been an interesting road, to say the least. I can't say I ever imagined myself visiting a place like this upon leaving Gridania— the only world I knew was my own.
A far way from home indeed. Is it very different, your Etheirys?
[ It's hard to imagine, what the sundered world she knows as home could be like. He wonders what it would feel like, look like. Would he be able to feel the difference, were he to see it firsthand?
Could she feel a difference, stepping back into the realm she'd once traversed in its unsundered form? ]
Quite, though some things are much the same. The trees, the sky— most of the creatures here in Elpis, I recognize from my own travels, though they are known by different names in my time.
[It is different, but still easy to see how their worlds are connected, even if she hadn't already known.]
The atmosphere here is...
[She pauses as she considers how to word it.]
The aether feels more dense. Full. I've never had anything for comparison, in that regard.
[ That gives him more answers than he'd expected and his expression brightens with curiosity for a moment as he considers that. ANd the fact of how aware of it she is. ]
I find it hard to imagine otherwise, but I suspect it's just as strange to you. How the very air around you can feel changed. But I would wager it's comforting, too, to find something familiar in this place.
[ He sighs softly, his gaze going distant for a moment. ] It's good to know that not everything was lost.
I would apologize, but I'm more relieved there is enough of you there for Emet-Selch to have made corporeal. [ He chuckles, shaking his head. ] Had anyone else wandered past you this morning...
[ He stops. Shakes his head. There were scant few who could see the shades and colors of a soul. If he and Emet-Selch had not passed by this morning, she would have gone completely unnoticed. UNknown. Unseen. Unheard.
That might be a bigger tragedy yet, considering the warnings she had brought with her. He's even more grateful, now, that he insisted Emet-Selch lend some of his own in exchange. ]
It sounds fascinating, though. Would that I could witness it myself, to see how different they could be.
I'm grateful for that, as well. If you hadn't convinced him to lend some of his own, I don't know that I would have managed to learn much of anything in this place.
[She still hasn't found the answers she needs, but it feels distinctly less overwhelming with the help she's been given so far. Hythlodaeus has already agreed to continue offering his, and Venat is as bent on uncovering what mystery lies at the heart of Elpis, as well. She can only hope that Emet-Selch himself will change his mind, that his love for his people will allow him to make a concession.]
Without you, coming to Elpis may have been entirely futile.
[ Hythlodaeus just chuckles and shakes his head. ]
I'm not doubting your ingenuity that far. Although it was exceedingly brave of you, to step into the unknown as you did. Not knowing what you would find here - if anything. [ He falls silent again before glancing over at her, reaching out to lightly tuck a stray lock of hair back away from her face.
His tone turns serious. Determined. ] We will help you find something. If it is here to be found... I do not doubt your resolve. And I wish to see it fulfilled.
[She does manage a faint smile, but the praise feels misplaced— with the stakes being what they were, how could she have made any other choice?
Instead, the fact that he reaches out to tuck her hair away from her face takes her by surprised; while she doesn't quite duck away from him, it had obviously been unexpected, if her quietly startled gaze is anything to measure by.]
... that means a great deal to me. 'Thank you' doesn't feel like enough. I wish that it was within my power to change what's to come for your people, as well.
[ He casts her a rueful smile for a moment before shaking his head. ]
But you can't, can you? Not really. It's already the past. It's already written in stone and even were we to find a way to change our fate... it would do nothing to change yours, would it? [ His lips press together in a thin line for the moment, because such complicated theories are hardly his domain, as fascinating as they might be to speculate over. He'd prefer they just have remained theoretical, in fact. ]
So you came here to find out the connection to Elpis, and to better understand what became of us. Do you truly think you can find the answers here? [ It seemed a strange notion, to him. Especially here, so far distant from Aumarot which was, at its core, the heart of all of them. ] I don't suppose your 'Hydaelyn' gave you any other useful clues on where to look? Or have you found any leads in your search so far, since I'm afraid I missed the latter half of your day after Emet-Selch's temper tantrum.
[She shakes her head as he assesses the situation— unfortunately, he's exactly right.]
Nothing done here will change the future. That much, Elidibus was quite certain of.
[As much as any of them were certain of any of this. As for the rest:]
To understand what is to befall my own people, I have to understand the source of the Final Days. Hydaelyn was not able to say much— but Venat and I did talk, after your departure.
[She frowns faintly, the image of Emet-Selch storming out still crystal clear, the sharp edge to his voice as he declared her story preposterous. Truly, who could blame him?]
Though I don't believe it to be intentional, I do think Hermes is at the center of all this. Somehow, he is the key.
[ This is new news to him. But then again, he suspected she and Venat had done their own investigating after he and Emet-Selch had left. ]
Hermes? Really?
[ One eyebrow arches upwards in surprise. And a little confusion. Hermes really didn't seem the sort to be at the center of some great disaster. Getting stuck in a tree? Yes. Starting some new school of thought along the lines of "save the animals"? Likely. Causing the destruction their star? That seemed a little far-stretched even for his imagination. ]
What makes you think he has something to do with it?
[ He gives a quiet hum in thought at that, leaning forward until he can prop his elbows on his knees, tapping one fingertip thoughtfully against his chin. ]
Which part of his work? His studies here in Elpis? His experimentation with Meteion, perhaps? Or were you thinking this strange esoteric topic of dynamis?
[She frowns, clasping her hands together between her knees as she leans forward, considering.]
I had never heard of 'dynamis' before he mentioned it, at least not by that name— but I'm certain I've seen it in action. The crisis my home is currently facing... it does seem to be intrinsically linked to emotion. Negative ones, in particular— fear, despair.
[It's an earnest question, one she wishes desperately to have a more direct answer for.]
You know this place far better than I do. If there's anything that seems amiss as we go about our business in the coming days, anything that stands out as being unusual, don't hesitate to say so. The source of the crisis my own world is facing is the same as the source of the Ancients' Final Days— and even to Emet-Selch, after millennia of walking the star, it remains unknown.
[That doesn't bode particularly well for them.]
If he couldn't discover the cause, I find it hard to believe that I can— but Hydaelyn thought this place to be significant, and I believe that Elidibus chose this specific time for a reason. He must have known the two of you would be here— and Venat.
Could he have found knowledge that Emet-Selch lacked?
[ That seemed... hard to believe. But the picture she'd painted of her future sounded little like the world - and companions - he knows.
Shaking his head, he gives a thoughtful hum. ]
Their reasons are hard to predict, especially with so little context. But I will dig into the studies here and Hermes' particular fields of study. If there is ought to be found here, you can be sure we will do our best to uncover it.
[ Even if Emet-Selch isn't aware he's being recruited just yet. It's fine, he'll get over it. ]
If he has, I don't believe it to be intentional. Hermes himself seems an earnest sort.
[If he had discovered something he thought to be dangerous, surely he would share it— though the fact that whatever hidden cause they may find here is likely known to none makes their chances all the more slim.
Still. Failure is not an option.
Some of the tension eases from her shoulders, and she offers him a truly grateful smile.]
Thank you. I'm glad to have your aid— and to have had the chance to meet you, like this.
[Because while they have met before, on more than one occasion, this is something entirely different, an opportunity they never would have had otherwise.]
[ He arches an eyebrow slightly at her wording. He knows there is much she did not say - the summary she'd given was already full of information they needed, all of it overwhelming. And while she had mentioned his shade, in the casting Emet-Selch had done to grip close his memories, he's still not entirely certain of her meaning. ]
'Like this'? Was I so different, in Emet-Selch's memories?
[ He wonders at that. At how his friend remembered him. Saw him. Sees him. How would it differ from who he was? ]
[And not only because of his mask— perhaps it was that sundered souls could not perceive those who came before them, or the nature of the shades themselves, but when she had encountered his very soul on the moon, it had been much the same.]
And hear your voice. I could understand before, but it wasn't the same as having a conversation the way we are now. The nature of magic and souls, perhaps— but you were still as kind and generous as you've shown yourself to be here.
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[She had hardly asked Elidibus for a list before coming here— it would have been an impossible task, she imagines.]
With as much as I've told you already, I rather think I've broken all the rules already.
[But that was about what brought her here, and that isn't what he wants to know. Apparently, he wanted to hear about her.]
Let's see... perhaps about why I became an adventurer? That seems innocent enough, though I don't think it's terribly interesting, either.
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[ There's a twitch of his lips, a crooked lilt to his grin. It's not a lie - from the moment he'd encountered her, she'd been nothing but fascinating to him. ]
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[That is all she can ever be— which is to say she doesn't consider herself to be all that interesting on her own, but his intent expression says he feels otherwise.]
Some years ago, our star suffered a calamity— one of many it has seen, but the only one in my lifetime. It was only through the deeds of heroes willing to put their lives on the line that it survived, but it changed the way I looked at the world. I lost my mother during all of that, but she had always done her very best to help others, even encouraging me to become a conjurer when she thought I had talent for it so that I could do the same in my own way.
[Her smile falters, just a little.]
With her gone, I first thought to take over her apothecary and continue helping the locals as she always had, but Gridania has no shortage of healers. I thought I could do something more if I left home. Needless to say, I never expected it would take me down the path it did. I never thought myself to be anyone of consequence. I didn't want to become a hero— only to do my part. Heal those who were under-served, or who didn't have the luxury of being able to seek out aid for themselves.
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You may not have intended to make such an impact, but I can see why you did. Even if that wasn't why you did it, I'm sure you left many lives changed for the better in your wake. They were fortunate.
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[Nothing, of course, is ever so black and white, and she has made more than her share of mistakes— and faced plenty of consequences for doing so.]
It's been an interesting road, to say the least. I can't say I ever imagined myself visiting a place like this upon leaving Gridania— the only world I knew was my own.
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[ It's hard to imagine, what the sundered world she knows as home could be like. He wonders what it would feel like, look like. Would he be able to feel the difference, were he to see it firsthand?
Could she feel a difference, stepping back into the realm she'd once traversed in its unsundered form? ]
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[It is different, but still easy to see how their worlds are connected, even if she hadn't already known.]
The atmosphere here is...
[She pauses as she considers how to word it.]
The aether feels more dense. Full. I've never had anything for comparison, in that regard.
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I find it hard to imagine otherwise, but I suspect it's just as strange to you. How the very air around you can feel changed. But I would wager it's comforting, too, to find something familiar in this place.
[ He sighs softly, his gaze going distant for a moment. ] It's good to know that not everything was lost.
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[Her smile turns a bit wry, quirking to one side, but she nods in agreement— he's quite right, not everything was lost.]
The world, sundered though it may be, still holds fragments of what once was. One just has to know where to look.
[She can't help but think of the ruined structures beneath the waves of the Tempest, even before she had seen Emet-Selch's replica of Amaurot itself.]
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[ He stops. Shakes his head. There were scant few who could see the shades and colors of a soul. If he and Emet-Selch had not passed by this morning, she would have gone completely unnoticed. UNknown. Unseen. Unheard.
That might be a bigger tragedy yet, considering the warnings she had brought with her. He's even more grateful, now, that he insisted Emet-Selch lend some of his own in exchange. ]
It sounds fascinating, though. Would that I could witness it myself, to see how different they could be.
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[She still hasn't found the answers she needs, but it feels distinctly less overwhelming with the help she's been given so far. Hythlodaeus has already agreed to continue offering his, and Venat is as bent on uncovering what mystery lies at the heart of Elpis, as well. She can only hope that Emet-Selch himself will change his mind, that his love for his people will allow him to make a concession.]
Without you, coming to Elpis may have been entirely futile.
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I'm not doubting your ingenuity that far. Although it was exceedingly brave of you, to step into the unknown as you did. Not knowing what you would find here - if anything. [ He falls silent again before glancing over at her, reaching out to lightly tuck a stray lock of hair back away from her face.
His tone turns serious. Determined. ] We will help you find something. If it is here to be found... I do not doubt your resolve. And I wish to see it fulfilled.
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[She does manage a faint smile, but the praise feels misplaced— with the stakes being what they were, how could she have made any other choice?
Instead, the fact that he reaches out to tuck her hair away from her face takes her by surprised; while she doesn't quite duck away from him, it had obviously been unexpected, if her quietly startled gaze is anything to measure by.]
... that means a great deal to me. 'Thank you' doesn't feel like enough. I wish that it was within my power to change what's to come for your people, as well.
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But you can't, can you? Not really. It's already the past. It's already written in stone and even were we to find a way to change our fate... it would do nothing to change yours, would it? [ His lips press together in a thin line for the moment, because such complicated theories are hardly his domain, as fascinating as they might be to speculate over. He'd prefer they just have remained theoretical, in fact. ]
So you came here to find out the connection to Elpis, and to better understand what became of us. Do you truly think you can find the answers here? [ It seemed a strange notion, to him. Especially here, so far distant from Aumarot which was, at its core, the heart of all of them. ] I don't suppose your 'Hydaelyn' gave you any other useful clues on where to look? Or have you found any leads in your search so far, since I'm afraid I missed the latter half of your day after Emet-Selch's temper tantrum.
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Nothing done here will change the future. That much, Elidibus was quite certain of.
[As much as any of them were certain of any of this. As for the rest:]
To understand what is to befall my own people, I have to understand the source of the Final Days. Hydaelyn was not able to say much— but Venat and I did talk, after your departure.
[She frowns faintly, the image of Emet-Selch storming out still crystal clear, the sharp edge to his voice as he declared her story preposterous. Truly, who could blame him?]
Though I don't believe it to be intentional, I do think Hermes is at the center of all this. Somehow, he is the key.
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Hermes? Really?
[ One eyebrow arches upwards in surprise. And a little confusion. Hermes really didn't seem the sort to be at the center of some great disaster. Getting stuck in a tree? Yes. Starting some new school of thought along the lines of "save the animals"? Likely. Causing the destruction their star? That seemed a little far-stretched even for his imagination. ]
What makes you think he has something to do with it?
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[Though it's hard to say anything more than that. What evidence do they truly have? Intuition isn't enough, but...]
There was a reason that I was asked to come here, to this place, at this point in time.
[She pauses, shaking her head.]
I'm sorry. I don't quite know enough to be able to explain it, but I believe his work to be linked to the cause.
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Which part of his work? His studies here in Elpis? His experimentation with Meteion, perhaps? Or were you thinking this strange esoteric topic of dynamis?
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[She frowns, clasping her hands together between her knees as she leans forward, considering.]
I had never heard of 'dynamis' before he mentioned it, at least not by that name— but I'm certain I've seen it in action. The crisis my home is currently facing... it does seem to be intrinsically linked to emotion. Negative ones, in particular— fear, despair.
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So he fixes her with an intent gaze, watching the expressions play out on her face. ]
What can I do to aid you, my dear?
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[It's an earnest question, one she wishes desperately to have a more direct answer for.]
You know this place far better than I do. If there's anything that seems amiss as we go about our business in the coming days, anything that stands out as being unusual, don't hesitate to say so. The source of the crisis my own world is facing is the same as the source of the Ancients' Final Days— and even to Emet-Selch, after millennia of walking the star, it remains unknown.
[That doesn't bode particularly well for them.]
If he couldn't discover the cause, I find it hard to believe that I can— but Hydaelyn thought this place to be significant, and I believe that Elidibus chose this specific time for a reason. He must have known the two of you would be here— and Venat.
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[ That seemed... hard to believe. But the picture she'd painted of her future sounded little like the world - and companions - he knows.
Shaking his head, he gives a thoughtful hum. ]
Their reasons are hard to predict, especially with so little context. But I will dig into the studies here and Hermes' particular fields of study. If there is ought to be found here, you can be sure we will do our best to uncover it.
[ Even if Emet-Selch isn't aware he's being recruited just yet. It's fine, he'll get over it. ]
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[If he had discovered something he thought to be dangerous, surely he would share it— though the fact that whatever hidden cause they may find here is likely known to none makes their chances all the more slim.
Still. Failure is not an option.
Some of the tension eases from her shoulders, and she offers him a truly grateful smile.]
Thank you. I'm glad to have your aid— and to have had the chance to meet you, like this.
[Because while they have met before, on more than one occasion, this is something entirely different, an opportunity they never would have had otherwise.]
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'Like this'? Was I so different, in Emet-Selch's memories?
[ He wonders at that. At how his friend remembered him. Saw him. Sees him. How would it differ from who he was? ]
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I never had the chance to see your face, for one.
[And not only because of his mask— perhaps it was that sundered souls could not perceive those who came before them, or the nature of the shades themselves, but when she had encountered his very soul on the moon, it had been much the same.]
And hear your voice. I could understand before, but it wasn't the same as having a conversation the way we are now. The nature of magic and souls, perhaps— but you were still as kind and generous as you've shown yourself to be here.
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