User blog:Ziharku/Log 12: Restless

think perhaps that I delved into a topic not meant to be discussed.

It’s been a month since the encounter with the hydra. In this time, we’ve been hired for a few jobs, but I had been unable to discern who the leader is. At first I thought the Thief, a little one with a calculating nature. By that same merit, I wondered if perhaps he was just the tactician. I wondered if the Monk, intimidating as she’s proven to be, was leader by that token. The Ranger and the Dragoon both have a tendency to head into the fray first, something a leader might do should he or she choose to lead by example. With these thoughts, I waited until we returned to our base in Al Zahbi and asked when we gathered for a meal. I received a chorus of different responses, leading to a general argument and a rather dour duration for the remaining time of the meal. The voices snickered at my blunder.

That was just a few days ago, and since that night (I left them debating when I finished my meal) things haven’t seemed to change. I worry the question will have upset the balance, but for the time it’s almost as though I never asked it.

It seems I won’t have my answer any time soon, I’ve been summoned by the Immortals. To the Imperial Palace then, to meet their leader.

At the gate, I’m stopped by the two guards, asking if I have an official summons. My eyes are starting to burn for some reason. On taking a second glance at me, they notice my attire, one of the Immortals. They look me in the eye. Suddenly as though I’d yelled at them to let me in, they jump to the door to open it for me, apologizing for not letting me in immediately. It seems I may be free to come and go so long as the guards know of my place in the Immortal ranks.

Inside, I am met by the piercing stare of the jailer, the warden, the man in the prison with no bars. I feel nothing but astonished that I’d been meeting with the leader already, that he would take time for a newer member of their ranks. Apparently he’s heard of the incident with the Hydra, that I was the one who managed to kill it. “Truly admirable, you knew to go for the body instead of endlessly removing heads.” The heads would regenerate? This news is quite a surprise, and fills me with relief that I’d driven myself past the heads in such a fashion as I did, though the look in his eyes, now glowing, says his praise may not be as…complimentary…as I thought. Almost disdainful. He wishes to meet again in Mamool territory, says that they are planning something and with my expertise it should be easy enough a mission for just the two of us.

After hours of traversing the underground ruins that lie beneath the territories outside the city (how far, I doubt I’ll ever know) I finally find the place of meeting, the Jade Sepulcher. Two Mamool lie dead outside the gate, guards I presume. Going inside, I see more and more bodies, until I find the man in a chamber, surrounded by carcasses. His eyes, glowing. My mouth moves to praise his swift work, but the voices still my tongue. Now is the time to listen, not to speak. And so I listen, and hear the echoes of so many voices permeating his body in this chamber. All of these voices call for more to join them, for blood to seep into this soil. They call for me. The man speaks, first his name as a proper introduction. Raubahn. That I should know the one who would kill me. That I’ve grow too strong too quickly, and thus I am deemed a threat to not only the Empress but the Empire itself. And so, before I can fulfill this he will take my life and drink in the power I’ve worked so hard to accumulate