Culture Shock [Mu]

[Mali]

Okena had been a little worried when she started to move off toward the spine. She knew that it was a dead-drop attracting her to the spot, but the spine was so open. There was little cover and that had made her uneasy. However, after meeting up with Baldur and doing the hand-to-hand combat she wasn’t as worried. She had quickly moved up from stances to exploiting anatomical weaknesses and finally to hand-to-hand combat.

So when it came time to go to bed, Okena fell asleep as fast as a flame being extinguished. She was in a deep sleep quickly, soundly dozing off. She knew that Baldur wouldn’t wake her. Not because she had done so much work during the day, but because that was what he did. He stayed up all night even though he said that he would wake her for her shift to watch. She didn’t know if she should be offended or relieved. Tonight, she really could use all the sleep she could get. But other times, she felt offended. Did he not trust her to keep watch and be able to protect him? She was getting better at her fighting, she should be able to protect him easily.

The sun was starting to rise and as it did, Okena started to stir. Sitting upright, she groggily rubbed the sleep from her eyes before looking around for Baldur. He was still in the same spot he had been when she went to sleep. Didn’t his back hurt or something from being in the same spot the entire time? As Okena yawned, she covered her mouth briefly, her arms stretching out behind her. Arms coming down to rest at her sides, Okena smiled over to Baldur.

“You know, it’s odd,” she started, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked at Baldur, making sure that he was paying attention before continuing. “One might think that you enjoy staying awake all night. You should wake me you know, I wouldn’t mind taking turns that is, I worry about you. It’s not healthy for you to stay up all night...” she smiled to Baldur again before standing up. She assumed that like every other training session they had, Baldur would be leaving right away.

Twisting her upper torso back and forth, as she stood, she bent over to stretch out to touch her toes. “So, I’ll be seeing you again later then I assume?” Okena picked up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. She was about to start walking away when she noticed something strange. It almost seemed as if Baldur was going to break tradition and stay longer. It was the look in his golden eyes that told her something was up.

“Was I wrong?” she chuckled, setting her bag back down on the ground.

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[Amur]

Baldur held Ace firmly by the wrist of his dominant hand and span him on the spot, slamming him to the ground in a single, fluid motion. Ace hit the ground hard and gasped in pain, staring up at the sky with his eyes widened in shock. Standing over him, Baldur held out his hand to help his brother back to his feet. Ace had been advancing very rapidly over the course of the last few months, however, he still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of using his Pyromancy when it would turn the tide of a hand-to-hand fight.

“Good, you’re gradually getting better. But, you’re still not using your Pyromancy effectively. Using that new skill you started trying to perfect months ago, you could have very easily increased your body heat to the point where I would have been forced to let you go. It’s why you wanted to learn hand-to-hand combat in the first place; you need to be able to use your Pyromancy at a moment’s notice and while under duress.”
Baldur lectured calmly as he helped Ace to his feet.

“Yeah, yeah... I know, I know... It just ain’t easy to keep my mind focused while I have someone tryin’ to attack me.”
Ace replied; Baldur merely nodded in agreement. That was the point of learning how to do such things in the first place, so that one was not forced to learn them on the fly in a life-or-death situation. Baldur backed away slowly and once again raised his hands, his brother following his example moments later.

“And that’s why you’re learning. Now, we’ll try again. I’m not going to let you rest until you’re able to force me to back off and then ‘floor’ me. We’ll practice all night if we have to, do you understand, my brother?”
Ace lowered his stance slightly and then nodded gently in response. Baldur responded in-kind, lowering his stance as well.

“Then come at me, and remember the first rule when being the first to attack.”

---

Baldur’s intention for bringing Okena to The Spine for their latest lesson had been two-fold, the first reason, was because it was out-of-the-way, and few –if any- people would bother them. And then second reason, was because he had deemed the time to be right for Okena to see the village, and perhaps to meet Morona. Their last four lessons had all been focused on hand-to-hand training, so, Baldur thought that it would be best to take at least a short break from the physical exertion involved with such training in order to Okena to learn more about the culture of the land she came from, it was only right, in his mind’s eye that she should learn of Nirvanian culture from the people within Morona’s village.

He had spent the majority of the night thinking over his decision, making absolutely sure that Okena trusted him enough to meet her fellow Nirvanians, and, that the rest of the village would not react violently to her presence. He had concluded, that now the people were used to even The Dragon Riders, that the presence of a fellow Nirvanian would be a welcome change to everyone still living within the village.

So now, there was nothing for Baldur to do but to wait for Okena to wake up and tell her of his decision. He was sure that Okena would, in her own way be happy to see other Nirvanians, she had already expressed a strong interest in learning what she could about the history and culture of her homeland.

---

Baldur rolled his shoulders gently as he gazed distantly at the sky, the sun was just beginning to rise. Casting a fiery glow across the horizon, he couldn’t say that he actively enjoyed watching the sunrise, no, it was still a frivolous waste-of-time to him. But, he also couldn’t deny that there was a measure of peace to be had while watching it. He shook his head gently, drawing in a deep breath thereafter. Perhaps he had simply forced himself into a more passive view on the subject since he had found himself with little else to do otherwise.

He turned to face Okena as she began speaking and soon found him arching an eyebrow slightly at her comment... She worried about him? She was beginning to sound like Ace; he didn’t like it when Baldur stayed awake all-night for any kind of reason. The only real difference was that Ace had taken to trying to scold him whenever he didn’t sleep; he still didn’t understand such concern, since he was capable of going without sleep for a great deal longer than most beings were.

“You know, you’re beginning to sound like Ace.”
He commented calmly.

“I can go for up to a week without sleep and still function properly; your concern is appreciated, but unneeded.”
He concluded calmly. And it was true, while he did appreciate the concern; he had slept roughly two days ago. So, missing out on a mere several hours of sleep now was hardly going to be detrimental to his health, it was best to drop the topic there and continue the discussion by telling Okena of his decision.

He waited for Okena to realise that he did not intend to leave yet, listening to her as she chuckled and placed her bag back on the ground Baldur simply nodded.

“In this occasion, yes, Okena.”
He mentioned calmly.

“I did have an ulterior motive for bringing you here exactly. From here, it’s not a long way to the village. I think; it’s about time you saw some Nirvanian culture first-hand. By now, the village has long since settled and become used to this land, I think it’s only right that you meet some of the people from your homeland. Maybe even meet Morona; it would be a good opportunity for you to learn more about your homeland, its history, and the people from it.”
Baldur stated, clasping his hands behind his back in his usual way –while holding Findinokhind- as he spoke. He paused for a brief moment.

“... Would you like that, Okena?”

[Mali]

Okena had yet to meet this Ace who was Baldur’s brother. She couldn’t wait to meet him because as soon as she did she would challenge him to a duel. If Baldur were able to train her so frequently, then he must spend almost every day training Ace. Meaning, he was getting closer to being of her caliber. She would be able to fight him soon enough though, she knew that they would be meeting soon, she could sense it.

Smiling at him, she nodded her head. So he could go days without sleeping, that was fascinating. She didn’t know when it had happened; maybe it was during their previous lessons, but her feelings for Baldur had changed. Before she merely admired him, she thought that he was quite knowledgeable and smart for someone his age. Although, she didn’t know exactly how old he was, she admired him for all the knowledge he had in his head.

But at some point she didn’t just admire him anymore. She believed that she might like him, in romantic ways. It was strange, he had been teaching her about the anatomical weaknesses and strengths of the body and when she glanced over at him, she felt her heartbeat quicken. It was the first time she had gotten a real good look at Baldur and actually thought about the way he looked. She knew that he had long hair, which he tied back, but as it fell over his shoulders, she noticed how soft it looked. His shoulders weren’t just broad anymore, but looked strong and protective in their own way. She believed that she liked Baldur, but didn’t know what to do about it. There was little chance that he would ever like her back, so it was fruitful thinking, wasn’t it?

Staring at Baldur intensely, Okena realised that she should have been paying attention to what he was saying. She nodded her head, trying to make it look like she had just been making eye contact instead of staring while he spoke. It was about his reasons for bringing her here. So there was a reason for being so out in the open... There wasn’t even a water source close by for her to practice with so she had had to use water from her water skin while they trained last night.

“Okay....” she listened to what he said. At the mention of a village, Okena sat straight up and looked alert. A village? Morona? Did she want to consider what he was even saying to her? Morona was a horrib—wait, no he wasn’t. Baldur had explained to her a few times about the history of Empire Nirvana and how he was written to be the bad guy. Maybe meeting him wouldn’t be so bad.

Thinking about her answer to what he asked, she was uneasy about it. She was a hydromancer, someone who practiced what had been deemed inappropriate. Would they scorn her for it as soon as they met her? Would she be given a chance to be on good terms with the people in Morona’s camp?

“I would like to go to the village, but I’m worried. I’m a hydromancer, won’t they think badly of me because of it?” it was a silly worry that she had and she wouldn’t admit that she was only serving to confirm her feelings for him by having him comfort her. It would feel nice to hear soft words of comfort coming from him, even if it only led her on to believe that he may share her feelings. Sighing quietly, she shook her head, she shouldn’t be thinking like this. He wouldn’t share her feelings like that, so she should stop thinking about it. But she couldn’t, it felt so nice...

“But if you think they would accept me, then it should be fine,” there, now he wouldn’t have to comfort her and lead her on.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Okena’s hesitation to answer his question had not been unexpected. Nirvanians by their nature were a very slow to trust and highly judgemental lot, which, simply served to make earning their trust something close to impossibility. So, he understood her trepidation and worry. Nevertheless, he gave her a small, controlled smile. The village at large trusted him, Morona trusted him and even The Hunters trusted him, if he was the one to bring Okena to the village, everyone within would trust his judgement on the matter, regardless of Okena’s lineage.

“I understand your concern. But, the people of the village trust me and I consider Morona to be something of a personal friend. I believe they will continue to trust me and will be able to ignore your lineage. I also assume that they would happily greet a fellow Nirvanian; after all, they’ve all had to deal with foreigners over the last two years.”
He stated calmly. He fell silent for a brief moment, thinking over whether or not there was anything else of importance he should be telling Okena. And, other than the fact that everyone in the village usually spoke in Nirvanian-Common, nothing immediately came to mind. His reasons for taking Okena to the village in the first place were to allow her to learn of the culture of her homeland by giving her a first-hand experience with it.

His mind drifted back to Morona and how they had been involved in an incident two years ago that had resulted in the death of one of the natives. He allowed himself a small nod as the thought occurred to him, it would be best to prepare Okena for a meeting with Morona before she met them. He would probably also need to prepare her for Kaime and Alexia as well... Well, perhaps Alexia more-so than Kaime.

“Hmm, though. Thinking about it, there are some things I should explain to you before we reach the village. I’ll start with the easiest. Everyone within the village, while capable of speaking the common-tongue of this land usually opts to speak in Nirvanian-Common, the only people that don’t are Morona, Kaime, and Alexia.”
He stated flatly, pausing for another brief moment as he best considered how to explain Morona to her... It was unlikely that Okena had any previous experience talking to Union before, so, he would have to break it down for her.

“On the subject of Morona... They can be somewhat difficult to understand. They’re not human, well, not anymore. The easiest way to explain what they are is to use the term they coined themselves, and that is ‘Union’. They are the result of two separate beings biologically, spiritually, and mentally joining together. Which causes their bodies and personalities to meld together so completely that they become another being entirely, it’s difficult to explain unfortunately but, if you have any further questions regarding Morona then just ask them; do you understand what I’ve told you thus far?”
He said calmly. He may have understood Morona’s Union enough to know how to talk to them, however, that didn’t make explaining Union to other people any easier... Still, he gave himself another gentle nod, he had told Okena the basics; at least, so at least talking to Morona shouldn’t have been too overwhelming for her.

“I would suggest if you have any questions, that you ask them as we walk. We still have some hours of walking ahead of us, and, if we make a move now, we should be at the village by the end of the morning.”
He stated flatly.

[Mali]

Okena couldn’t help but feel at ease as Baldur smiled to her. It was only a brief smile and it appeared to be a controlled smile, but it was still a smile. He barely ever smiled. He chuckled sometimes when she came up with ridiculous ideas or said something amusing, but that was the best she ever got from him.

The last time she had come close to getting Baldur to smile was when Baldur asked her to consider how she could use her hydromancy for anatomical weaknesses and she had said aloud that she would stick her fingers in the person’s mouth to connect with their saliva to then be able to control the inner fluids. He had chuckled and then suggested that she cut them instead. It was moments like those that make her consider her feelings for him.

“Okay, speak Nirvanian-common, got it,” she moved to stand up, picking up her bag as she did and was about to turn on her heel when she noticed that Baldur was deep in thought. Was there more that he had to tell her other than speaking in the Nirvanian tongue? She quickly set her bag on the ground before sitting down again.

Morona. She didn’t know how she felt about meeting Morona. She knew that he wasn’t a bad person, that history had been written so he appeared to be the bad guy, but she was uneasy with the thought of meeting him. Now she knew that he wasn’t normal either. He was ‘union’ whatever that meant. She didn’t think that she completely understood what that meant yet. So he was two people in one body type deal? That kind of made sense to her.

“I don’t think I have any questions about the people there, but I do have one question, does Morona know anything about me? Like I’m a hydromancer, or that my father was Wynn Johyrk? Or anything that would make him go, ‘Oh no!’ or something?” She said the ‘oh no’ part in a deep voice that was supposed to be a mimic of what she thought Morona would sound like. She didn’t have any questions about Morona, she was now worried about what he knew or didn’t know. Even if they trusted Baldur, there was still a chance that, if Morona were to find out these details about her, he might send her away.

Fidgeting where she sat, she tilted her head to the side and looked up at Baldur from an angle as she considered whether it was a problem or not. Even if he didn’t know anything about her and then found out that information, and even if he sent her away, it was his loss.

“Let’s go then, we have a village to terrorize, I mean, visit,” she was trying to be funny, but didn’t think she did it right. She was never any good at comedy. Her father was funnier than she was, and he was dead. Hey wait, that was a good one, right?

Picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder once again, she then proceeded to pull her other arm through the backpack’s shoulder strap before shaking her body from side to side to adjust the bag nicely against her back. Now that she was comfortable, she would make the trek with Baldur to Morona’s camp.

---

Baldur was right, they did have a lot of walking to do before they arrived at the village. The sun was high overhead of the pair which made Okena assume it to be close to lunchtime right about now. So Baldur had been right about another thing as well, if they left when they had, they would arrive by the end of the morning.

Okena started to wring her hands together as they approached the large wooden walls that appeared to surround the village. What would they think of her? Was she dressed in an adequate manner? Would they shun her once they knew her last name?

One of the men stationed atop the wall noticed Baldur and moved away to open the doors for him when Okena stopped. The doors were slowly opening and she was walking away from the doors. She stopped herself again before turning around and walking back to Baldur’s side. She was so nervous right now it wasn’t funny.

Moving closer to Baldur’s side, she reached out, grabbing hold of Baldur’s hand, a wildfire blush across her cheeks. She knew that he would ask her what she was doing, why she was holding his hand and if it was appropriate for her to be holding his hand. Like he had asked when she had touched the side of his face and said she thought his eyes were pretty. But she didn’t care, she squeezed his hand tightly as the doors opened completely. Taking a deep breath, she slowly let go of his hand, their bodies still close together—practically pressed shoulder to shoulder—before she started to walk forward.

Passing through the large doors, Okena squeezed her eyes shut before she took another deep breath and opened them. She was surprised to see that people weren’t staring at her like she thought they would. Some glanced up from what they were doing but no one seemed to come any closer or further from them. They just continued to do what they were doing. Some people seemed to acknowledge Baldur, but that was the only form of contact that happened to the pair.

Okena sighed with relief before stopping. She turned to Baldur before looking back and forth, as if she were sneaking around before whispering, “What do we do? Where do we go?” She was really anxious.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

“I have already informed Morona about you. They know of your relationship to Wynn, but, they will not demonise you for it. In fact, Morona has managed to accomplish a lot with their rule over the village. The village actually has a small group of four Hunters allied to it. Morona made that alliance possible, if anything. The villagers know better than to demonise people based on their bloodline alone.”
He answered Okena’s question calmly. It was the truth as he saw it; the villagers had grown remarkably as people since their arrival here. Their relationship with The Hunters was no longer strained to the point of murder –though, there was still some slight unease among them- and The Hunters had actually started treating the villagers like actual people.

That had actually surprised Baldur when he had first learned of it.

He looked at Okena, with an eyebrow quirked in curiosity as she made her remark. He couldn’t help but then conceal a small controlled smile before walking in the direction of the village.

“That also sounds like something Ace would say.”
He noted calmly.

---

Much to Baldur’s expectations the village was in sight by the time the morning was nearing its end. Of course, he had already tested the length of time it had taken to get from the village to the area he had taught Okena in yesterday and back to the village again. So, he already knew that his estimate was accurate.

He had, very discreetly kept a close watch on Okena’s actions as he had walked with her. And had noticed her becoming increasingly anxious the closer they got to the village. However, he had kept himself quiet, she had wanted to come to the village with him, but her very clear anxiety told him that she still had some very big doubts about what she was getting herself into... He had briefly considered asking her if she wanted to hold off going to the village until she felt comfortable actually going there.

However, he stopped himself under the belief that it would keep getting put off if he allowed Okena’s anxiety to get the better of her. So, he remained silent and allowed Okena the opportunity to work through her thoughts. Who knew? Maybe she would calm herself down.

Baldur inclined his head slightly to the guard stationed at the gates; the man returned the gesture and immediately opened the gates for him and Okena. He cast another glance to Okena, whom seemed to be having difficulty keeping her anxiety contained, now. He opened his mouth to speak, clearly she was agonising over “what if’s”. He had seen Ace do the same thing on multiple occasions and every time he did it the outcome was always the same.

However, before he could so much as utter a single word, Okena walked back to his side, pressed her shoulder into his arm and took hold of his hand.

Baldur froze, unsure what exactly to make of Okena’s actions. He understood that anxiety made people do strange things, he really did. However, the contact made him feel awkward. Nevertheless, he kept a straight face and merely fixed Okena with an incredulous look, he had a feeling that she already knew that her action was inappropriate, so he felt little need to address that. He remained silent and allowed her a brief moment of what he assumed was reassurance.

The moment soon passed and Okena was walking forward.

Baldur shook his head gently and allowed himself to relax as he followed Okena into the village. He returned the several greetings he got from various villagers as he passed them by, stopping a short distance behind Okena, Baldur adjusted his cravat slightly and allowed her to ask her question... He didn’t quite understand why she was whispering, the village was hardly silent.

“I trust that you got everything you needed from that.”
He stated flatly as his first response. Not really leaving Okena much time to respond to his question, Baldur took a quick look around the village before he spoke again.

“Did you want to get something to eat before I showed you around? I seem to recall that I didn’t give you time to eat anything before we walked here.”
He said calmly. That had not been intentional; however, it had cut some time off of their journey to the village. In his mind’s eye, Baldur thought his answer to be an appropriate step forward.

“Perhaps it would give you the time you need to calm yourself down, as well.”

[Mali]

Okena barely noticed the look Baldur had shot her direction as she took hold of his hand. She knew that he would say something about it later, but she didn’t care right now. Right now she needed some form of reassuring contact with someone she knew that this was really happening. She didn’t think that she would be meeting Morona and his people so soon. She really wished that she could have held Baldur’s hand the entire time she was in the village but knew that Baldur would say something and it wouldn’t be nice.

The village didn’t seem nearly as scary as it did before. It must be some kind of illusion spell people were casting or something. It was the only logical solution. They made the outside of their village appear menacing so people would stay away but it was really a normal village. Smart people, although, it wasn’t right to scare her like that. Or maybe she was making things up in her mind and the village had never been scary to begin with.

She was brought out of her thoughts as Baldur asked if she got everything she needed from that. From what, the handhold? Oh yes, yes she did. She looked down, a little embarrassed to have grabbed his hand in the first place. She was also shocked that she’d had the courage to grab his hand, even if he deemed it inappropriate.

Opening her mouth to answer him, Okena was met with another question of whether they should get something to eat. As if on cue, her stomach rumbled and she blushed madly. Why did her body have to embarrass her like that? And in front of the guy she liked too, it was a sign, wasn’t it?

“Okay, but where do we do that? They don’t have a pub, do they?” Okena didn’t think that they would have enough travellers to have a pub in the village. So where would they get food from? Unless of course, Baldur intended to ask one of his friends for food or even Morona. That would be awkward for Okena. Then again, Baldur must know what he’s doing, so she should trust him.

“Lead the way, I’ll just follow behind you,” she gave him a shy smile before waiting for him to lead the way. She followed behind Baldur, almost cowering behind his back. She was jumpy right now and she didn’t know why. These people were her brethren in a way; they were all from Empire Nirvana and shared her heritage. And yet she was scared of them. Morona might not demonise her for her heritage, but there was no telling what the other people would do.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Baldur noticed almost immediately that Okena had blushed when he had asked her if she had wanted to get something to eat. He couldn’t understand why, however, it had been a simple question. It hadn’t been her fault that she hadn’t eaten yet, after all. Or was she simply so anxious about being in the village that she was embarrassed about it? Baldur simply shook his head gently as he gave up trying to figure out the reason and simply nodded his head to Okena gently as she told him the lead the way.

He walked at a brisk, but measured pace as he led Okena toward the back of the village and, at first towards the audience house. However, while still a reasonable distance from the audience house Baldur turned to the right and led Okena toward the wall.

He stopped for a brief moment in front of the largest house in the village. It was positioned with its back against the village wall and was made entirely out of wood. He reached into the inside pocket of his robe and withdrew a small ring of keys and immediately found the key he was looking for. Approaching the door –which was more than twice as high than Baldur was tall, and more than three times his width- he fitted the key into the lock –which was actually located in the doorframe- unlocked the door, and then calmly pushed it open.

He stood to one side and allowed Okena into the house before he entered it himself and closed the door behind him. He gestured immediately to the small sitting-area to his left upon entering.

“Make yourself comfortable, Okena. I’ll see what we have around... Unfortunately, there is unlikely to be much, since Ace has yet to actually visit the house. But, I’ll see what I can do.”
He stated calmly. Walking past the living area and then turning to his right as soon as the wall ended, walking into the area that served as a kitchen, Baldur placed Findinokhind on the table and procured a small plate from one of the cupboards.

Upon inspecting the cupboards that did contain food –some of which had been enchanted to keep various types of food fresh- his initial statement had been confirmed. All he had been able to gather from the various food-containing cupboards around the kitchen had been; several thick slices of bread, some cheese and some pre-cooked meat.

He shrugged to himself gently, drawing the conclusion that it was better than nothing and made his way back to the living-area. Passing the plate to Okena –who had sat on one of the chairs to the right-hand side of the living area- as he passed her; he stopped just long enough to allow her to take the plate of food from him before walking to the single-chair positioned in the corner of the room and sitting down.

“We are in no rush, Okena. Take your time.”
He stated flatly. With any luck, that should serve to at least partially decrease her anxiety.

[Mali]

Okena followed behind Baldur, only stopping once to watch as someone did something. She had no idea what they were doing, she had never seen anyone do it before on her travels and it looked interesting. Maybe it was something native to Empire Nirvana. However, she didn’t have time to dawdle and quickly caught up to Baldur.

She approached the single floored house and gazed at the door. Why did Baldur have the keys to someone else’s house? This couldn’t be his house, not with the size of the door. It was massive and Okena had to wonder what kind of person lived here. Scooting quickly past Baldur and into the house, Okena was amazed at how big everything was inside. The furniture appeared to be regular human sized, but all the doorframes were huge, aside from one door that was straight ahead of her and was closed.

“Oh, okay,” she watched as Baldur moved past and went around the corner into another room before she sat herself down on one of the couches in the room. Straight across from her was a huge shelf of books. She wondered what they were about, maybe there would be a book of fairy tales up there. She’d always asked her father to tell her fairy tales when she was a child but the only stories he knew were about the Gods and after a while, they held no interest for the five-year-old girl.

She was about to get up and go over to the books when Baldur walked in with food on one plate. She took it with a small thank you before picking up the meat and cheese, placing them on one slice of bread and then making a sandwich with the other.

Taking a bite, she had to admit that it was very good considering it was all that he had in the house. “I see you’ve decided not to eat with me, and when eating other people’s food as well,”

[/color] she giggled before realising something. He had said that Ace hadn’t been to the house yet. So did that mean that this was his house? She looked around at all the books and the large doorways before looking at Baldur.

“Wait, this is your house?” She paused before sighing and looking around again before her eyes settled on him again, with a quick nod over her shoulder toward the doorframe. “Why such big doorways if you’re not even close to being that tall?” she was curious. Even though he said for her to take her time, she might as well talk to Baldur as she ate. Maybe she would be able to learn more about him this time. She already knew that, for some reason, his body was able to go days without sleep or food, but she wanted to know more about him.

Finishing her sandwich, Okena placed the plate down beside her before looking over to the bookshelf again. “Are there any fairy tale books up there? I always wanted to know about Nirvanian fairy tale stories. The only ones my dad knew were about the Gods.” She stood up and made her way over to the bookshelf, running her hand over some of the spines of the books.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Baldur gave Okena a confused look as she commented on eating “other people’s food”, had she not been listening when he said that Ace had yet to visit the house? Blinking slowly, Baldur opened his mouth to answer when the realisation that she was sat in his house seemed to hit her. She then asked Baldur if this was his house, to which he simply nodded in response.

Looking around the house, Okena fell silent for a short while before nodding her head in the direction of one of the large doors and asking him why the doors were as large as they were. Thinking on how to best answer that question, Baldur remained silent for a long while. Morona had told him that they had constructed the house with his natural appearance in mind and had taken every step to assure that he would be comfortable while he was not in his human-camouflage-form. He considered lying to Okena and giving her the same reason that Morona had given the rest of the villagers; that it was simply something he had been used to having at his old family fortress. However, he remembered how open Okena had been with him about her past, her upbringing and her father.

“Morona constructed this house for Ace and I with my natural-form in mind. The large doors may seem out-of-place; however, when I’m in my natural form I am much larger. Almost twice the height I am now and a great deal broader. Morona stated that they constructed the house to allow me to live in comfort regardless of whether or not I walked around in my human-camouflage-form.”
He stated calmly. Well, that answered her question in full. For the time being he had nothing more to say, so he allowed Okena the time to finish her food in peace.

When Okena finished eating she looked up at the large bookshelf that had been built on the wall opposite the chair she was sat in and asked Baldur if he had any fairytale stories in his large collection of books. He sat in thought for a long while, Baldur’s collection of books were all factual in one way or another, he was one of the many Nirvanians that found no pleasure in reading fables or myths.

That was not to say that such books did not exist, no. There were many examples of Nirvanian fiction alive and well, uplifting tales and large-scale epics alike did exist. Baldur just happened to be one of the common lot whom did not own any of them.

“I’m afraid that all of my books are factual in some way or another, Okena. Mostly journals or other similar writings intended for study. Nirvanian fiction does exist; very few choose to read it, however. Personally, I also feel that reading the journals of various historical people can provide a much more enthralling reading experience than a work of fiction ever could.”
He said. It may not have been the answer that she wanted to hear, but, he had no reason to lie to her.

“I should also point out that they’re not all written in Nirvanian-Common, there are various writings in my collection from a wide variety of Non-Human people, all written in equally varying languages.”
He concluded.

“It may not be the answer you wanted to hear, but, I’m not the sort that enjoys reading works of fiction.”

[Mali]

Natural form? She had never heard of that before. She knew that many who came from Empire Nirvana and were non-humans tended to look vastly different, but she had never heard of anyone possessing another form before. She sat up eagerly, waiting to swallow what was in her mouth before asking her other question. “I’ve never heard of people from Empire Nirvana possessing other forms before, is it common?” it wasn’t a personal question for Baldur but she had to wonder if he would answer it. She hadn’t asked him what he looked like or anything like that, just whether it was common for non-humans of Empire Nirvana to have another form.

Maybe she should enlighten Baldur on what she already knew? “I know that most of the non-humans don’t look the same and have all interbred with other species. I mean, my father had a beak for a nose and chicken legs, which he hid under pants. So it’s fascinating to hear about another form.” She wouldn’t ask anymore about his form. She wasn’t sure how comfortable he would be telling her about this form. But she wished that she could ask more. She wanted to know everything about Baldur, her crush for him only deepening as he told her more.

Okena’s shoulder slumped a bit when she heard that he didn’t have any fictional stories on his shelves. The idea that he liked to read historical and true stories piqued her interest. So he really was as factual as she had thought him to be. And he had books that were written in other languages too? She didn’t know how to respond to that. She wished that she knew some of those languages. Although she could read Nirvanian common, it would have been nice to learn some other languages from her homeland. She thought about asking him to teach her that as well, but he was already teaching her about the history of Empire Nirvana as well as hand to hand combat. It wouldn’t be fair to ask more of him.

“Oh, well if you ever come across one in Nirvanian common, let me know,” she giggled lightly before picking up her plate. “I’ll put this away...” she stood up and headed out of the room and around the corner where she had watched Baldur disappear around before. The kitchen was large, but everything else was normal sized. If the house was built for his natural form, then why was everything else so normal sized? Placing the plate in the wash basin in the kitchen, Okena pulled some water up with her hydromancy, found some soap under the basin and begin to wash the plate really quick. When she was done, she walked back into the sitting area, a smile on her face. She hadn’t put the plate away but left it to dry on a drying rack, since she didn’t know where the plates went and didn’t want to rummage through his cupboards.

“I’m ready to see the village now. Where should we go first?” Okena fidgeted only slightly, playing with the hem of her shirt. She wasn’t as anxious now, just a little feeling of butterflies in her stomach. She would go wherever Baldur thought she needed to learn, see or meet someone.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Baldur found Okena’s sudden curiosity about his ability to change his appearance somewhat perplexing. Then again, as he was about to tell her, possessing the camouflage reflex that he had was not common, in fact; as far as he was aware, his family were the only beings from Empire Nirvana that had the ability to alter their appearance without the use of magic. He sat in thought for a moment longer before simply shaking his head gently.

“No, it’s not common. As far as I’m aware, my family are the only ones that are capable of altering their form without the use of magic. And that was the result of generations of interspecies breeding, as you can imagine, Warlords are notoriously picky when it comes to breeding and often breed for strength. They attempt to ensure that their next generation will be stronger than they are so that the survival of their bloodline is more likely.”
He explained calmly, not entirely sure why he had just gone into so much depth with his answer when he generally disliked discussing the finer points of his Warlord heritage. He shrugged inwardly, perhaps that was just a reflex reaction due to the fact he had spent much of his time up to this point teaching Okena.

He had to admit, however, that learning more about Wynn did prove to be interesting. Even when it was only a small aspect of his appearance, historical descriptions of Wynn were vague at best and often all inconsistent. He wondered absently, just what lengths Wynn had to go to, to truly hide himself from everyone here. Surely, at least someone must have figured out that the man was not human.

As Okena asked him to “let her know” if he found any written in Nirvanian-Common he fell into thought, did she mean works of fiction, or factual books? Hadn’t he just said that he did have books written in Nirvanian-Common? He barely noticed as she left the room to put the plate away, his mind was suddenly too consumed by his thoughts.

She must have meant fictitious books...

He shook his head gently, why was he looking so deeply into what she had just said? Sighing gently, he pushed the thought aside and stood up, just in time for Okena to return and tell him that she was ready to see the village. Baldur nodded gently in response and took a moment to think on what to show her first, there wasn’t a great deal to show, as he had already said to her, his bringing her here was to educate her in the various cultures of her homeland.

He looked at Okena as he made his decision.

“Well, I’ll let you decide. I can either show you around the village first, and show you how various pieces of Nirvanian culture work first-hand or, I can take you to meet Morona first. It’s your choice, since you came here with me.”

[Mali]

Okena was very curious about Baldur now. He had another form that she didn’t know about—well, she knew about it now—but she had never seen before and it was huge... She didn’t know how to respond as he went into great detail about how his heritage had been picked specifically for strength to be passed down to the next generation. She knew more about the warlords now and could understand why they were so feared.

Other than being scary, bad people, they were also elitists who nitpicked their mates based on what breeding qualities they would bring to the table. This made Okena a little worried. If she ever told Baldur of her feelings, would he turn her down just because of her breeding? She was only human and she assumed to be part bird. There was no way her heritage would pass by Baldur with the way he was raised and all. She could only hope that he wasn’t as nitpicky about a partner as his family was. It was the only hope she would have of becoming Baldur’s potential mate.

“So your parents were looking to make you a winning stallion?” She giggled again. She already thought that Baldur was a winner, and possibly a stallion if you thought about him being a prize, which she wouldn’t. But his parents bred for him to be stronger and better, like a winning race horse. To be better than the best and ensure that he survived, whatever that meant... Of course, he would survive, were they expecting to send him off to war and hope that he came back. Wait, they were warlords, so war was their family business. So maybe she was right about that assumption.

As Okena came back into the room, she noticed how Baldur seemed to be in thought. She wondered what he was thinking about before he gave her the option of what to do next. Great, he wanted her to decide? She had no idea what she should do first. If she met Morona first, she would be able to get it out of the way and do the easy stuff last. But if she put it off until later, then they might arrive and Morona wouldn’t have as much time to see them as he would if they saw him first. There was also a chance that if they saw him first and he had nothing else to do, that he would accompany them around the village. She didn’t know how she felt about that. But then again, Morona was a very busy man, she assumed, who wouldn’t have a lot of free time to just wander around with them. So if they saw him first, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

“I think I’d like to meet Morona first...” she said it slowly, before nodding her head to confirm that that was what she wanted to do. So what if he did follow them around the village, it would mean she would have more time to come to understand Morona and get to know him better. Heck, she might even like him as soon as she meets him.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Baldur blinked slowly and maintained his usual straight face as Okena made her comment about his father looking to make him a “winning stallion”... He had absolutely no idea what to say to that, even if her comment had been intended as a joke it made him feel awkward. Unable to find the words to respond to Okena’s joke, Baldur simply continued to remain silent. What could he say to that?

As Okena left the room, Baldur ran the joke through his mind once more. And concluded that while it was an incredibly simplistic –and somewhat insulting- way to look at it, the statement wasn’t too far removed from the truth... It had been the way of things since his earliest ancestor, the Warlord would breed with a very select creature in the hopes that the best traits from both sides would pass on to their child.

He shook his head, pushing the thought away moments later. He saw absolutely no reason to be dwelling on the comment further than that of an awkward joke.

When Okena told Baldur that she would like to meet Morona first he simply nodded and told Okena to follow him. He saw no reason to further address Okena’s awkward joke, so he simply remained silent thereafter and pushed the thought of it from his mind.

The walk to Morona’s audience house was swift, as there was not much distance between it and Baldur’s house. With little more than a nod to the guards posted outside –which got him a salute in return- Baldur pushed open the first set of doors and allowed Okena to pass before proceeding onward.

---

Today had been a relatively slow moving day. An oddity for us, we usually had things to be doing, however, today had been unusually void of any notable activity. We seldom had the time to take such breaks, and while we were able to appreciate a period of rest, we disliked having nothing to do with ourselves.

Nevertheless, we kept ourselves seated. Kaime was stood in his usual spot to our right, most likely deep in thought, as he usually was. We considered making conversation, since we had little else to do; however, our thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the doors to our audience room opening. We immediately recognised Baldur as he calmly strode into the room, inclining his head slightly to us and then to Kaime he greeted us in his usual way.

“Ah, Baldur; we did not expect-”
We paused as we beheld something new with this situation. First of all, Baldur was not alone. There was a female accompanying him, and secondly, Baldur was walked around without his sword. That was not something we had ever seen before.

We cast a very brief sideways glance in Kaime’s direction, only to get a similar curious glance in response. He had clearly noticed the second oddity as well.

“Oh, our apologies, we did not expect Baldur to visit us with company.”
We corrected ourselves. We allowed ourselves a very short pause as we looked over this female. And almost immediately we were able to tell that she was not fully human, that could mean that this could be none other than Okena Johyrk. Baldur had briefly stated his intention to bring her to the village some time ago; however, we would give her the opportunity to introduce herself to us. It would have been rude to do otherwise.

“We suspect that we already know who you are, however, we will request that you introduce yourself to us. We are Morona, and this is our Right Hand; Kaime.”
We made a brief motion to Kaime as we introduced him, to which he responded in his usual manner of giving no more than a silent nod. Alexia had, unsurprisingly, remained silent. Undoubtedly using Kaime’s eye to watch what was going on.

[Mali]

Okena waited a moment after her comment to see what he would say. But as he said nothing, she began to worry. Had she made him uncomfortable again? Like when she had grabbed his hand? She knew that he had been uncomfortable then, even if he didn’t tell her. How did she know? It was simple. Holding his hand, showing any kind of affection, or even complimenting him, all made him feel uncomfortable in the past. She should learn from her mistakes.

Why had she even said it in the first place? Now that she thought about it more, why had she been thinking of mating with Baldur? Okena blushed like crazy as the thought finally hit her. She had been thinking about doing... that with Baldur! Even if she did have a crush on him, she wasn’t ready for that! She didn’t even know if he liked her back!

But now wasn’t the time to be stressing over something like that. As Baldur stood to lead her to meet Morona, Okena felt that the walk there had an awkward silence surrounding it. She wanted to apologise for her embarrassing comment earlier but didn’t know what to say.

All too soon, they were at another building and Baldur nodded to the guards who saluted back to him. Was he considered to be of high status in the camp? Even when they had first entered the village, he had received some form of greeting that would be presented to someone of high rank in society. Was it because he was a warlord’s son?

Okena passed through the doors, ahead of Baldur at first but then waiting for him to enter the building and follow behind him. She shouldn’t be following behind him though, she should be walking beside him. She didn’t want to come out from behind Baldur and shock whoever she was going to meet aside from Morona. So she quickened her pace and started to walk beside Baldur.

A moment after they passed the initial guards, they passed through already opened doors this time and into a large room. There were two men in the room, one of average height and another much taller. As the taller man turned and started to greet Baldur, he paused as soon as his eyes landed on Okena. She looked up at his eyes and gasped. Quickly covering her mouth, she tried to avert her eyes from his but couldn’t draw them away. His eyes were freaking her out and for some reason, she didn’t want to look away.

It was his eyes. The way they were like a lizard. Had that been the creature he merged with? She wondered how he might see things. Was it like that of a snake or lizard? He also spoke differently. He referred to himself in plural. Maybe it was because he was plural, two people merged into one body. He was also very tall for being part human. He even towered over Baldur and he was tall for a humanoid. Wait, was it right to call Baldur a humanoid now that she knew he had a real form and this wasn’t it? Not the right time to be focusing on what she refers Baldur as.

Morona continued to speak, addressing Okena this time and asking that she introduce herself. She was hesitant at first. Even though Morona knew who she was, did this Kaime know who she was? Right hand, did that mean that he was the one Baldur had spoken about before? That aside from Morona, this Kaime was the only other person to know of what happened to God Baal?

“Um, I’m Okena Johyrk,” she didn’t know if she was supposed to say anything else. Was there a tradition to introducing oneself to other people from the homeland? Was she supposed to say anything else other than her name? What if there was something she was supposed to do? She glanced back at Baldur before looking to the ground. She couldn’t rely on Baldur to do this for her.

“It’s... nice to meet you,” she swallowed hard before looking Morona in the eye again. It still crept her out that he looked so human aside from his vibrant, bright green lizard eyes.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

While Baldur had never before given us a reason to doubt what he said to us, we had still been unconvinced that this Okena Johyrk actually had any relation to Wynn whatsoever. However, upon looking at her, we were almost immediately able to see the resemblance. We did not allow the shock to show, however, it may have been difficult to believe that Wynn had eventually had a child with a human. But, now here stood the proof that such a thing had indeed taken place. We remembered our encounters with Wynn vividly, what could have possibly caused him such a large change?

Nevertheless, we inclined our head to her as she spoke. She was nothing like her father was; that much we could see almost immediately. Which, was almost as shocking as knowing of her relation to Wynn, that such a devout follower of The False Gods did not raise his child to follow the same values that he did suggested to us that something had caused Wynn to undergo a major change, however, it was not a question we could bring ourselves to ask... It was unlikely that Okena would know the answer anyway, so we had little reason to ask.

We spent a moment longer simply looking at Okena, she was visibly anxious. We could safely make the assumption that part of that anxiety was because of her heritage. The other part was likely because she was meeting us, we were all too aware of our false historical reputation within Empire Nirvana... We also had the niggling suspicion that Wynn would have demonised us to Okena as he raised her.

“Be at ease, Okena. No-one here will bother you based on your heritage. We have four allied Hunters among our people, so you can rest assured that our people will know not to judge you for your father’s place in history.”
We assured her.

“We must admit, however, that we are somewhat surprised that one as fanatical and anti-human as Wynn was had a child. And with a human no less...”
We said.

“We are unsure of what Baldur may have already told you about your father’s part in The Preclusion War, but if there is anything you may want to know about him from us. Do not hesitate to ask, we will warn you, however, that what you hear may be upsetting.”
We stated, of course, the most Baldur could have told her would have been from the history book. We had first-hand experience with Wynn from our time in the war; he had been a powerful, resourceful, sadistic and ruthless man. One that we had ultimately come to respect, he had proved more than once that he was willing to go to any length to do what he thought needed to be done, every encounter with him had been a new struggle.

“If you wouldn’t mind indulging our curiosity, Okena we would like to see just how advanced you are in your practice of Hydromancy. We were never able to fully understand why it was deemed to be a failure when Wynn consistently demonstrated its uses in the battlefield.”

[Mali]

Okena was trying not to fidget in front of Morona as she waited for him to say something to her. Relief immediately flooded her system as he said that no harm would come to her. She didn’t doubt what Baldur had said about Morona ensuring such a thing, but she could never be sure. Her father had sided with the same people that had started to war all those years ago. And if the feud had been anything like that between the elves and humans of Alagaesia, she had reason to be worried.

She was about to open her mouth and answer Morona’s questioning statement when he continued on about what Baldur might or might not have told her about the war. And then he offered to answer anything she wanted to know about her father during that time. There was so much that she wanted to ask but wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the answer.

“Well, I know one thing that I can answer for you. My father always told me, when I asked that is, that he never loved my mother. That he wanted a child so badly that he put aside his views and chose someone unknowing of his past and mated—she paused, not sure if she should share this with him. She trusted Baldur, but she wasn’t sure about Morona—He said he wanted me that badly,” She looked down at the floor, blushing. Maybe it was just a white lie a father tells his daughter to make her feel better and keep her happy but she would continue to believe it no matter what anyone said.

Okena quickly looked up, caught off guard by Morona’s eyes again. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on what he had offered again. “I have questions about the war, but not about my father. I know the truth now of what happened during the war. But what I wonder about you wouldn’t answer. It’s personal after all,” she smiled nervously. As Baldur had said, he’d tried asking before and Morona wouldn’t tell him, and Morona trusted Baldur a lot it seemed. So if he wouldn’t tell Baldur, then there was no way he would tell her.

A brief look of shock crossed Okena’s features as Morona asked for a demonstration of her talents. If only they had an ample supply of water in the area that she could work with. The only instruments she had with her was her water skin. She knew that Baldur had a water skin on him as well and looked over to him, blushing faintly and motioning toward his water skin with a quiet, ‘may I?’. With a nod of his head, Baldur handed her the water skin and she set both containers on the floor.

She decided that she would do this sitting down so that she was closer to both water skins. So she sat on the floor, one water skin on either side of her. Reaching into the container, she pulled the water out as if it was pulling taffy and then constricted the water to surround her hands. She knew that she was going to do an ice sculpture but she didn’t know what she wanted to sculpt yet.

Creating a large block of floating water, Okena let it hang in the air as her deft hands moved quickly, the water all connected by her fingertips. Reaching down to draw more water from the skins when needed, she quickly started to sculpt the large replica. She was going for detail and glanced up at Morona every now and then, wanting to make sure that she got everything right and properly proportioned.

As she was finished her miniature sculpture of Morona, she decided that she would show off her ability to change the water’s properties. As the ice set and froze in places, she glided more water over the hair and the eyes, changing colour as her finger moved across the ice as if she were colouring with paint. “There!” She turned the large, three foot tall sculpture toward Morona. She had even gotten his eyes done with the green and the black slits for pupils.

“I’m still learning how to use my hydromancy more for combat, but I’m more of a performer” she blushed faintly and wondered what Morona would think. It looked almost exactly like him. She was an artist, she already knew that, but she was anxious to know what Morona thought of the sculpture.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

We fell into thought as Okena stated to us that she did know Wynn’s reasons for finding a human to copulate with. What she said most definitely sounded like something that a human depreciator like Wynn would say; it seemed to us that Wynn had eventually become fearful of dying without leaving anything behind. And the end result of that fear had been this Okena. So, perhaps he had been genuine about wanting a child as badly as Okena claimed he had said, but, it was more likely for the sake of his own ego than to actually raise a child.

Though, the idea of somehow managing to find someone that did not know of his part in The Preclusion War was strange. Perhaps his chosen female had grown up in a very isolated community, we kept our thoughts on the matter to ourselves; however, there was no need to state them aloud in this instance.

So we simply nodded gently to Okena as she finished speaking.

We remained silent as Okena asked Baldur for his water skin, which he handed over with little more than a silent nod. We cast another sideways glance over to Kaime and met his eye briefly. It seemed that once again Kaime had noticed a small discrepancy with Baldur’s actions. He would not normally hand something of use over with such ease unless there was a particularly pressing need for it, and we already knew him well enough to know that he would not normally see this kind of situation as a pressing need... So, why would he comply with such a request when it was not within his usual range of reactions?

We had the feeling that there was more to this than we were seeing.

We watched in silence as Okena set about indulging our curiosity regarding her level of skill with Hydromancy. And we had to admit that it was... Strange... We had only ever seen the art used as a means of destruction; to see Okena use her skills to create such an intricate ice sculpture was a surreal experience.

We spent a long while simply looking at the sculpture that Okena had created; we had to admit that it was very impressive. She was not at the same level that Wynn had been at. But, even she acknowledged that her skills were more for performing with as opposed to fighting with. We nodded gently in understanding.

“It’s very accurate.”
Kaime observed.

“Indeed, we can see that you have been well taught in the use of Hydromancy. You’re not on Wynn’s level, admittedly. But it has been interesting to see Hydromancy used for something other than destruction; your eye for detail is quite impressive.”
We added to Kaime’s observation.

“If you wouldn’t mind answering us this, Okena... What brought you and your father here? And how long have you been here? It seems odd to us that any other Nirvanians would have known about this place before we and our people left.”

[Mali]

Okena couldn’t help but beam as the right hand, Kaime, said that it was accurate. She was an artist and used her hydromancy to perform and create. Of course, she knew that Hydromancy had been created for war, but so had pyromancy. And surely there were tricks that pyromancers performed to entertain themselves like she did with her art form.

As Morona stated that she wasn’t at her father’s level, she felt put down for a moment. She may not be able to attack and fight as her father could, but she had thought that she surpassed her father’s level overall. She was able to do something he never could and that was to change liquid’s state to that of something else. Of course, she was still learning how to change the water to blood and vice versa, but she was able to change a great many things to other states and with different properties.

She was about to state all the things she could do that her father couldn’t when she held her tongue. Maybe he wasn’t just talking about fighting. Her father could still do a lot more than she could, but then again, he had had many decades to finesse his abilities while she had only been alive for a short while. She would soon surpass her father. Maybe her demonstration should have been more grand? Maybe then Morona wouldn’t think her abilities to be so low.

“Thank you. If only I had a more ample supply of water, my demonstration was limited by my resources.” Okena smiled to Morona and Kaime before separating the water, melting it down and placing it back in the water skins. She of course left the coloured water out and used it to paint her fingernails. Why let good coloured liquid go to waste? And why was she so eager to impress? It wasn’t like her relationship with Baldur and her desire to impress him whenever she was able to. But then again, she admired and now had a crush on Baldur. What had changed about Morona that made her want to impress him instead of hide from him?

Okena thought hard about Morona’s next question. She knew the answer as she had already told Baldur the same thing a while back. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to share the information; it was just a lot to get out. She didn’t want to turn this meeting into a history lesson.

“Most followers of the Gods practice in secret. I was practicing in the rain when someone in our village saw me. That’s what forced us to leave Empire Nirvana twenty years ago. But we knew where we were going to go long before we left,” She took in a deep breath before deciding how she was going to word the next part without leaving any loose openings for questions or confusion to be had.

“As you know, God Baal was different, he spoke the ancient language or the forgotten language, and he came from Alagaesia or what he called it, the old religion.” she paused to let the effect sink in. “There is a teaching from God Baal that includes a map and directions. The directions are backwards, as in they tell us how to get from the ‘old religion’ to Empire Nirvana. The directions are written around the edges of the map and are in the ancient language.

Even though most of his followers could speak the ancient language, my father was the only one devout enough who learned to read the ancient language. So when it was time for us to leave, my father told me that we were heading to the old religion and were going to embrace the ways of God Baal. I thought him to be crazy because God Baal states that the old religion was destroyed. However, once finding Alagaesia, I believe that the old religion is a way of life, instead of the actual place.” She had said a lot and knew that Morona would have questions as well as a lot to think about. No matter how much depth she went into, there was no way she would be able to answer all his questions without him having to ask them.

“The teaching also states that when God Baal left the old religion, he underwent a change which made him a God. The original map is still in the temple back in Empire Nirvana, burned into the wall by God Baal himself. But this is what I learned from my father. I never got to see the temple for myself. I even gave a replica of the map to Baldur. I have yet to find the original in our house.” She finished with a smile. Let’s see how long it took Morona to process everything she had said.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

“The demonstration accomplished what it was intended for; even with limited resources you have talent.”
We said calmly. Perhaps our statement putting her at a level beneath Wynn had knocked her sense of worth when we had said it. We had of course meant purely from a perspective of power, Okena was not on Wynn’s level. Talent was difficult to judge, after all, we had only ever known Wynn as an enemy on the battlefield.

We fell silent as Okena answered our question. So, she and her father, Wynn had been chased away simply because an unwanted set of eyes had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The highly judgemental attitude many Nirvanians took toward people based on what had happened in the past –even if the person was only related to the one the past had demonised- would more than definitely have Okena immediately painted as a foul, irredeemable monster in the eyes of a typical Nirvanian. We remembered those days all too well, it had been nothing short of an uphill struggle for us to get our people to accept the presence of our Allied Hunters.

As Okena continued with her explanation we found ourselves already knowing what she was going to say... We had seen it during our first meeting with Taured.

Regardless, we nodded lightly. Her explanation simply confirmed our suspicions beyond any reasonable doubt, perhaps we would have to arrange another meeting with Taured at some point in the near future. We wanted to confirm that, if they were able to find the name; that it fit. It would at least go a long way toward putting our mind at ease.

The moment Okena mentioned to us that she had given Baldur a replica of the map she and her father had used to get to this land, our curiosity was immediately piqued. We looked over to Baldur and sat up straight in our throne.

“Do you have this map on your person, Baldur?”
Very much as we had expected, Baldur answered with little more than a silent nod. And then, without having to be asked, he walked toward us and produced a neatly folded piece of paper from within his robe and handed it to us. We silently nodded our appreciation to Baldur and then gently unfolded the map. There was no mistake, both this land, Alagaesia and Empire Nirvana were very clearly shown, as well as everything that lie in between. There were parts of the map that were not to scale, but we overlooked that, the original copy of the map Okena and Wynn used must have been huge.

“Would you mind if we held onto this, Baldur? There is much we would like to study this map for; that is assuming you haven’t found anything of interest already.”
Baldur thought for a moment before simply nodding his head.

“I have no issue with your request, Morona. I haven’t been able to glean anything particularly informative from the map; I would need the source material to get anything worthwhile. But, perhaps you may be able to find something with your magical abilities.”
He stated to us flatly. We nodded our head in appreciation once more and then carefully refolded the map and handed it to Kaime, where it was then safely stored within one of the pouches around his waist.

Baldur returned to the position he had been standing in before bringing the map to us, allowing us to return our attention to Okena. We gave her a small nod.

“While what you say raises many questions, Okena; we are greatful that you were open with what you had to say. It gives us a lot to think on concerning the origin of arguably one of the mightiest foes we ever fought.”
We said. We held our tongue for a moment, trying to decide on just what to say next. Which was rapidly becoming a difficult task owing to all the questions we now needed answering. But, we had lived long enough to know how to be truly patient, calming our mind we grandly returned to a seated position that we found more comfortable.

“As you so accurately point out, False God Baal was capable of speaking The Forgotten Language upon his arrival to the land that would become Empire Nirvana. It was his arrival that saw the non-humans of the land also learn the language, which had always been a confusing turn of events for everyone –including us- residing within The Isle of Origin. For, you see The Forgotten language within Empire Nirvana originated on The Isle of Origin, with the humans that called the land home, we had originally thought False God Baal to have ties to the original human Kingdoms from The Isle of Origin, and we know now, that this is not the case.”