"I am Ishmael." He responded sticking out his hand. What was Samael up to? Still speaking with that girl? Some friend....up and leaving for a woman. He then turned to Szmierc. "And who might you be?" He asked clearly annoyed at the man's actions.
Tsubael loitered on the edges of the room, out of sight, taking in everything that was happening. There was enough activity in the hub that she hoped she wouldn't be noticed. Her prime directive was to record history, not interfere in it. Suddenly, the priest's eyes fell upon her. "Oh my, this keeps getting stranger and stranger," he said, but Tsubael carefully drifted away, moving behind a pair of sparring warriors. With everything going on, maybe he'd forget he saw her… Her disappearing act was aided by a sudden shout. A woman entered, carrying an unconscious man and calling for help. It took less than a millisecond for Tsubael to search the enchanted tablets of her memory banks and discover, with absolute certainty, that it was the man she'd seen collapse in the desert. Using a rough estimate of the city's population, cross-referenced with an estimate of the number of travelers outside its gates, and filtered through an arbitrary figure representing the likelihood of one such traveler stopping to help, divided by the likelihood of said traveler bringing him here of all places, Tsubael concluded that the chances of this man arriving in her presence at this very moment was… Tsubael froze up like a statue. She awoke a few seconds later and realized she'd overloaded something in her difference engine while trying to crunch all those numbers. Conclusion: that man really, really, really, shouldn't be here and she should really, really, really, stop thinking about it, lest she break something (again). Instead, she opened her big book and began to write, recording everything she saw and heard. Every face, every name, every epic speech, and even the departure of the cowards… because, far too often, cowards weren't mentioned in the history books. In truth, history was full of cowards, they just got edited out most of the time. Well, not this time! Tsubael wanted to give a pure, unadulterated, unedited account of the search for the God speaker. Every coward would have his due. When the theatrics were over and people began to settle into conversation, she put away her book and wondered what to do now. History was being made every second, but she had to remember she was also a part of this expedition and that meant she had to prepare for it. There would be time to buy water, but first, she had questions. Tsubael set down her book and her sack of supplies, and silently approached the priest, who was busy talking to a man. She didn't say anything. She just stood behind him, with her hands clasped behind her back, waiting for him to finish… like a fox-faced creepy stalker-statue. When he didn't immediately acknowledge her, she said, "Query," in a monotone voice. "This one has a query."
Ketka leaned back supporting herself with her hands and swung her legs back and fourth as she listened. "It's squishyyyyyy. Are all alien creatures squishy?" “Define squishy,” Ketka said nodding her head at the pokee. “Like hit with a sword several times and ran over by a horse and cart? Or human squishy?” Ketka turned her head distracted by the old priests reply to a question. "The God speaker can speak to God him self, God knows all, I'm certain anything you want to know he will tell you. But, why don't you know in the first place?" “Hey old man, will there be more gold if there are less people?”
“Hey old man, will there be more gold if there are less people?” "With the amount of gold we will get does it matter? do you also want to divide up the air we breath? or seprate the oceans them selfs? for that is the quantity of wealth we will recieve, although it is not why I seek the God speaker." "Query," in a monotone voice. "This one has a query." Jakem turned around slightly surprised. "Oh..it's you, and what do you mean by query?" "A better question is why are you wearing that stupid mask? This isn't a party." Hessa reprimanded.
"And who might you be?" "Oh, hellllooooooooooooooooooo. I'm called Szmierc, and you are..." Ishmael found himself the new subject of the definitely tactful prodding. "...also squishy! Like, human squishy and all! Everyone here is sooooooooooo squishyyyyy!"
"You won't be burying me at all, I'll either find the god speaker or not, dying will not be an option." I said smiling cheerfully. "Well I guess I'm gonna go get some supplies." I said, I had taken my savings when I ran away, getting it usually by doing chores or errands, I never really spent any of it if I could help it, the only time that I used my savings for a non-essential item would usually be books. I had been saving up since I was five years old, only bought a few books that were around 10-50 scales from time to time, otherwise I'd use it on food or water, so currently I had around one thousand scales on me, that should cover the tent, food, water, clothing, and a new pack. Thankfully I had the money in my pockets, on my journey I had gotten attacked by some thieves whilst camping out, they had stolen the pack that I had brought with me that had all of my clothing, food, and water inside of it. I had managed to fight them off before they could subdue me and take whatever was on me. Unfortunately one of them had managed to slip away from the fight and made off with my pack, at least I had the foresight to keep my money on my person instead of keeping it in the pack, and it was a good thing that I was only a few hours away from Pia otherwise I would have probably have died from dehydration. I walked toward the market, wandering through it looking for shops that sold food, water, camping equipment, and clothing, I managed to find a general store and walked inside, I began looking around for a tent and a new pack, trying not to get in any other customer's way.
Sylvia and Samael "Hello. I must ask you to cease intervening." Sylvia's brow furrowed once again as she heard a voice, but not a normal one. No, this voice made her skin crawl, sending shivers up her spine. She looked towards the rude man, but he had already turned away from her, speaking to another. "Who hath given me this request?" Sylvia said aloud, in her same gentle voice; although a bit shaken. She turned in a circle as she tried to make out a face in the crowd. "Make thyself known to me." "Have I not made myself known by speaking to you? You won't find me in the form of shape though." It responded with what sounded like cheer. At the tone of voice, Sylvia swallowed hard, but remained standing in place, unmoving. "Then, w...who are you?" she whispered. "Bahamut." Samael whispered gently to her. "But...but....but...." she mumbled to herself like an idiot as she lifted her eyes to the high ceiling. "I do not deserve to be in Thy presence." "Oh child of course you do. You've served me well these years." Samael was simply using information he'd picked up based on the girl's speech from when they left the store. She'd clearly been a devout follower. As most of her kind either help the weak or stone the innocent. "So I ask thee. What is you seek? I've seen your brave act of valor defending one of my creations. You've earned my presence." Sylvia was brought to her knees, bowing her head in holy reverence. Although the speech of Bahamut was so unlike what she had imagined, she was in awe. "O Bahamut, your servant hath prayed each day for Thou to guide me in my walk for Francesca and Thou has already blessed my travels. You hath led your servant here to Thy temple and for that I am most grateful." "Oh? Seems you misunderstand. I am not the Bahumat you are thinking of." Samael replied flatly. Sylvia hurriedly raised her head and joyful tears ran down her cheeks. Not Bahamut? What? Taking a sharp breath, she folded her arms across her chest. "I only believe in one Bahamut," she said. "Please explain thyself further." "I am the Bahamut in your head. You are what has gotten you this far no one else. I am how you say.....your inner God crying out." Samael went on. "Try relying on yourself as opposed to praising a Bahamut you know nothing of and giving it thanks for things you do. Its annoying." Sylvia shook her head as if she could get the voice to go away. Or, was she truly imagining it? "Thou speak lies! Lies!" Sylvia shouted, standing to her feet. "Bahamut provides me with life and breath, He should be given thanks!" "And I have simply provided you with thought." And with that Samael's voice faded.
Ketka tapped a finger against her chin thoughtfully. "With the amount of gold we will get does it matter? do you also want to divide up the air we breath? or seprate the oceans them selfs? for that is the quantity of wealth we will recieve, although it is not why I seek the God speaker." She grinned, “yes, I like the idea of that. Money talks old man.” He’d stopped to speak with a strange looking – woman? Ketka shrugged turning her attention back to her bread and cheese. She’d still like alcohol, maybe she’d go back to the tavern and give the old lady there a little slap to see if that would bring some alcohol into the equation. Ketka turned her attention to the hungry one. "...also squishy! Like, human squishy and all! Everyone here is sooooooooooo squishyyyyy!" “Ketka Du-Vox and I don’t know about that. What about you, squishy?” Ketka pointed to the grumpy lady that was giving fox mask a hard time. “She looks pretty ridged to me.” She'd just gotten herself involved in the strangest conversation, ah the things one could do to pass the time.
"The God speaker can speak to God him self, God knows all, I'm certain anything you want to know he will tell you. But, why don't you know in the first place?" Kyra took a deep breath, it wasn't the first time it spoke about its tale, as thus it knew that it would be a bit long "I woke up six months ago in the bed of a store, according to the owner he found me lying in avery bad shape in a nearby meadow, he also said I've been sleeping for already four months sinceh he found me. When I try to recall my memories I can't find anything besides common knowledge about daily routines and numerous terms, yet more detailed stuff like politics or religion doesn't exist within my mind just like my true self. According to Mister Adel they found a sword lying with me named "Golden Reverie", that indicated I may had been some sort of warrior, which fits as I unconsciously know a lot of combat skills.... yet also according to him, the crafting of the sword is so strange that he claims it doesn't belong to this lands, and that I'm probably from another place. During the past six months I've been working for Mister Adel doing errrands, attending the counter or defending the store, yet not even an inch of my memories show up, I think that I probably lost them forever, yet if this God Speaker can really accomplish such miracle as talking with the Bahamut, I would like to take this as a chance to recover back my memories...." Kyra looked down and suddenly realized that it forgot its manners "Oh.. I didn't introduce myself, I'm sorry... I'm Kyra Fabullia Bernardus Lee... or at least I think that's my name, I read it on the cape I came with, yet it only said Kyra F.B. Lee, as thus Lidya invented the other names for me. I work at Mister Adel's store that offers a big variety of products ranging from food to weapons. Nice to meet you..." said offering a handshake.
The high priest turned around slightly surprised. "Oh..it's you, and what do you mean by query?" he asked. "'Query.' Noun," she said. "Definition: a question or inquiry. Contextual purpose for usage: this one would like to ask something of you. This one is seeking permission to perform an inquiry. This one would like to know-" "A better question is why are you wearing that stupid mask?" Hessa interrupted. "This isn't a party." "This one agrees. Fact: there is no party. However, the statement rendered by Hessa, daughter of Jakem, is incorrect. Fact: this is no 'stupid mask,'" Tsubael said in a flat tone. "Would Hessa, daughter of Jakem, like to reform her query, such that this one might better formulate a response?" “She looks pretty rigid to me,” another woman said. "Correct," Tsubael said. "Fact: this one is not squishy." She briefly considered lying about the 'mask,' or just walking away and hoping they let her leave. However, if she was going to be following them around, she may as well get it out of the way now and let them ask any questions they wanted to ask.
"Oh, hellllooooooooooooooooooo. I'm called Szmierc, and you are..." Ishmael frowned and backed away from Szmierc as he went prodding spree. "I'm Ishmael......Izzy for short. You like touching things don't you?" He asked with a shiver. This guy was creepy.......
"What in waters quenching power is going on?" Hessa said blankly staring at the robot girl, she shook her head, "Is she mocking me?" "never mind that Hessa I'll handle the Fox lady." Jakem said putting a calming hand on her shoulder. "Pardon me madam, um what should I call you? and what is it you want to know?" Hessa turned back to the Kyra with a scowl. "Sorry about that." She extended her hand and took Kyra's. "Names Hessa, but you already knew that. I am a metal crafter, I can forge weapons using eather instantly, as such I am very knowledgeable with blades, may I see yours? Maybe I can help identify it?"
She extended her hand and took Kyra's. "Names Hessa, but you already knew that. I am a metal crafter, I can forge weapons using eather instantly, as such I am very knowledgeable with blades, may I see yours? Maybe I can help identify it?" Kyra looked down for an instant, it quickly raised its head after that and said "You said we should get ready in about two hours right?.... I'm still not too sure about going or not, but if I take a desicion I'll came back with all the necessary stuff.... that includes Golden Reverie as I have it at my room..."
"You like touching things don't you?" "Toucccchhhhing? No sir," the glint of smiling teeth shined faintly from under Szmierc's cowel. "Eating is what I like. And I haven't eaten in FOREVER. WHERE IS THE FOOD?!"
Madness. All of it was madness. Heading to the most lethal and treacherous creature -a sphinx- in the area was madness. The Feral, with his strange accent, who bounced around the room taljing about food and squishy-ness was evidently mad. The girl, not ten feet away from him, falling to her knees praying, murmuring and crying was completely mad with devotion. The only sane creature appeared to be a mechanical women. Even from where he stood, Ra'if could hear the clicking and turning of cogs and the venemous hissing of compressed steam, flowing through her parts like blood flows through a human. Though he was curious about the mechanical woman, she was already surrounded by others so instead, Ra'if walked up to the crying girl. "Hello," he said faintly, briefly tapping the girl's shoulder, a flash of worry crossing his face at seeing how fervently she had been crying. "Is there something wrong? Who should be given thanks?"
"Correct," Tsubael said. "Fact: this one is not squishy." Ketka grinned and shook her head. “Not really human either are you fox face?” Ketka looked down at her hands only to realise she’d eaten the past morsel of her snack. “Damn.” The cowled man was smiling and asking for food. Ketka decided there was something likeable about him. She wrapped the clothe while she watched him and put it back in her bag.
"What in waters quenching power is going on?" Hessa said. "Is she mocking me?" "Incorrect. This one meant no offe-" Tsubael began, but stopped when the priest placed his hand on her shoulder. "Never mind that Hessa I'll handle the Fox lady." Jakem said. "Pardon me madam, um what should I call you? And what is it you want to know?" Tsubael watched Hessa go, before her unblinking gaze shifted to Jakem. "Response to first query: this one is called 'Tsubael.' This one shall pardon you, though this one sees no necessity for pardon. Response to second query: this one wants to know everything. Increased specificity required. Revised response: this one wants to know more about the one known as 'Zafara.' This one has processed 1,267 volumes of source material containing the keyword 'sphinx,' but zero containing the keyword 'Zafara.' Query: does Jakem, father of Hessa, possess source material containing both terms, such that this one might perform a cross-examination to reconcile the subject matter?" “Not really human either are you fox face?” "Correct."
Hessa nodded "Very well, I hope you come along though I blame you not if you don't." At that moment Hessa spotted Ra'fi. She blinked, "you!" she pointed accusingly. Jakem smiled at Tsubael, "your strange to me Tsubael, but I like you, tell you what I'll answer your questions if you answer mine. Like, what are you exactly? But Alas you asked first, I will tell you. Zafara is an old sphinx, one of the more powerful and dangerous of the kind. She sees herself a God, and acts like one. Using her great power she built a pyramid north of here where she hides herself, and her secrets, it is said that from it she see's all, and knows all." Jakem pulled up two chairs and invited her to sit down, "you see sphinx's are very clever beasts, they understand things that we mortals cannot begin to fathom, I remember my grandfather spoke to a sphinx once, the sphinx told him a code. E=mc2, the Sphinx promised my grandfather that if he figured out the code he would be the wisest of all humans. As of yet no one knows what it means. That is the intellect of a sphinx. But Zafara, she is smarter than even that old the sphinx. And, according to legend, much much crueler. Her superior mind has made her proud, she delights in confounding mortals, toying with them like a cruel god. Alas if we are to find the God speaker she is our only hope. We must gain her favour"
Altair Vague memories of being carried, dropped, prodded and poked came to his mind, but nothing clear. That is, not until he awoke to see the face of a kindly old man above him. Then there was an old woman, and a young man. They had given him water and treated his wounds. He tried to thank them, but his throat was still raw from thirst, and his words only came as a whisper. Then they led him out into a great hall. The old man was speaking, and at first, Alitair's couldn't understand what it was that they were all saying. He heard about a man eating Sphinx, and a test... A test for what? Alas if we are to find the God speaker she is our only hope. We must gain her favour" He had struggled to understand everything the woman had said up till then, but as soon as he heard GodSpeaker he sat bolt upright. "You're trying to find the Godspeaker!" he exclaimed, or more accurately, rasped. His voice was still a ruin. "Where is he! I must find him, I mu-" he cut off mid sentence, choking. He was still half mad from the sun, and far from coherent.
"Talking about Zafara?" Samael asked appearing once again speaking to Ishmael. "Yes they are. She sounds like one nasty old biddy.....where were you?" "I was speaking to the girl who is now crying. As for Zafara she is old and very cunning. Brings back fond memories of a peer of mine." Ishmael's eyebrows went up. "You're making girls cry and getting sentimental on me? Who are you?" He asked sarcastically. "It was not my intention to upset her but to enlighten her." "If she doesn't want to accept what you have to offer. Then forget her. We have bigger fish fry." "Cats actually." Samael replied "Huh?" "Sphinx's are closer to being cats then any sort of fish. So we have bigger cats to fry." He wrinkled his nose in response to Samael. Smart ass. Ishmael turned the burned side of his face towards Hessa and Jakem. "I hate those who call themselves a God. I've yet to hear of one person who was fitting of the title." And then some dying man started speaking. "Wow buddy. Anyone got any water?" Ishmael asked his face stoic as he stared at Altair. "Or something to help this poor guy out?"
"You're strange to me Tsubael, but I like you," the high priest said. Tsubael cocked her head to the side, like a bird. She'd never been liked before. Actually, she hadn't been anything before. Back in the ruins of Azi Khaliya, there was no one around to like or hate her. It was just her and the rubble… "Tell you what, I'll answer your questions if you answer mine," jakem continued. "Like, what are you exactly? But Alas you asked first, I will tell you. Zafara is an old sphinx, one of the more powerful and dangerous of the kind. She sees herself a God, and acts like one. Using her great power she built a pyramid north of here where she hides herself, and her secrets, it is said that from it she see's all, and knows all." Tsubael nodded. Her mind was processing the information, but she did not wish to interrupt. He offered a seat and she sat. Not that she needed to; she could've stood for hours. "You see sphinx's are very clever beasts, they understand things that we mortals cannot begin to fathom," Jakem said. "I remember my grandfather spoke to a sphinx once, the sphinx told him a code. E=mc2, the Sphinx promised my grandfather that if he figured out the code he would be the wisest of all humans. As of yet no one knows what it means. That is the intellect of a sphinx. But Zafara, she is smarter than even that old the sphinx. And, according to legend, much much crueler. Her superior mind has made her proud, she delights in confounding mortals, toying with them like a cruel god. Alas if we are to find the God speaker she is our only hope. We must gain her favour." "Query satisfied," Tsubael said. She hadn't moved an inch since sitting down, nor did she blink. Their 'Zafara' sounded a lot like 'Aephear,' a sphinx from inari mythology. Could it be the same creature? She'd read every intact book in the inari archives from cover to cover, but the inari were a very insular people. Their knowledge of what lay beyond their own borders was very limited. But their knowledge of technology and mathematics was quite sound. The 'E=mc2' thing made no sense to her. She could solve it -- she could think of an infinite number of ways to solve it -- but applying 'meaning' to it was, quite frankly, not her expertise. If this is the kind of nonsense the sphinx spewed, this would be quite a trial indeed. "This one's queries have been satisfied," Tsubael said. "High priest Jakem, father of Hessa, may now render any queries he deems appropriate and this one will answer them to best of her capabilities. Please proceed." She was not in the habit of referring to herself as 'her,' but he'd already called her 'madam,' so she deemed it appropriate. "You're trying to find the Godspeaker!" a man explained. "Where is he! I must find him, I mu-" he cut off mid sentence, choking. "He must hydrate," Tsubael said, without breaking eye contact with Jakem. 'This one witnessed that one collapse of heat exhaustion outside the gates approximately forty-two minutes ago. Situational assessment: that one requires further medical attention."
"You're trying to find the Godspeaker!" he exclaimed, or more accurately, rasped. His voice was still a ruin. "Where is he! I must find him, I mu-" he cut off mid sentence, choking. "easy, easy friend, we know how to find him. but not where he is right now, all you need to do now is relax. Hessa pleases attend to him." Hessa nodded and brought him some water. "Bahamut must like you, you should be dead." she said giving him a flask of her own water. Jakem studied her a moment. "Well firstly, what are you? and where are you from? why are you here?"
"Where is he! I must find him, I mu-" "You must do whaaaaaaaaaat?" Szmierc suddenly hovered over the dying man. "You must be delectable, that's for one. You smell reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally good." Szmierc stood and shouted to nobody in particular. "Doctor! How long does he have? I'm ssssssstarving!"
"Bahamut most like you, you should be dead." Altair struggled against the water at first, but as the cool liquid trickled down his throat, he calmed down. "Bahamut has cast me aside," he whispered. "And I cannot even curse him and die, I am forced to go on..." he said to no one, looking to the ceiling. His fevered mind struggling to make sense still of what was going on. "Doctor! How long does he have? I'm ssssssstarving!" Altair looked at the giant Feral for a moment. "I am dreaming... I must be, either that or I am dead and this is the hell to which I have been condemned..." And then he sat back down and took another drink, then put his head between his hands. The fog was beginning to clear in his mind. "Where am I? Who are you people?"
