Within a crag of a tall cliff positioned impossibly in the middle of an endless desert stood just short of a dozen unlikely figures outside of several dark, hovering ships.
Harzgar shifted from side to side uncomfortably.
Grelada heard his voice in her head.
"What kind of things are these anyway?"
"Chitons, if I am not mistaken... they are from Crenea." She replied, beaming a smile across the table.
"They look like contructs... it is making me want to kill em."
"Calm your nerves, Harzgar... we have to work with these things - for now."
A resonant voice filled the air as the lead of the creatures spoke.
"So, you are certain that this thief of theirs did this?"
They stood before the slaughtered remnants of the camp, the ground covered in dead Therans and Naga.
Richala spoke to the four man sized insects together. "Well, we tracked him this far, but he couldn't have acted alone."
Grelada spoke up "Why don't you just ask their spirits?"
The creature emitted a chatter from it's mandibles.
"They are corrupted, such would be a fool's errand. This you should have already known."
Grelada spoke to her group "So I guess they are just as afraid of horrors as anyone else."
The Chitons murmered to eachother in an unknown tongue.
Thill stomped his foot on the ground angrily. "Why in the passion's name would you bring us all the way back out here if you knew there was nothing to be gained from it?"
The leader figure turned again, a strange cacophony of sound emitting from its various rings and jeweled pendants that peirced through his angular flesh.
"Well, little one, you make a good point. You would not have come back at all were the shadow lord still here."
Grelada took pause. "The Shadow Lord? Nulth? Master of Mole'heim?"
The leader "nodded."
Grelada seemed shocked "So the legend is true? The Jinari of the Shades not only exists but resides in some simple cave? I find that hard to beleive of an entity that has existed since the dawn of the dragons."
One of the other creatures spoke this time.
"The legends of Marac are very clear about the subject. These are the harsh masters, nothing like the pharons, or your passions or dragons. These jinari spawned from Ao, the Immortal. Torn apart by All-Wings, they all returned to the land of their creation."
Richala laughed. "That is ridiculous, how would they have survived the scourge? How would they not be well known in power throughout unified Thera?"
The leader spoke again this time.
"They were split into 6 aspects. So goes the knowledge that the Therans were the first to discover. The bones of Ao were rent, and became earth, the blood of Ao was spilled, and became sea, the strength of Ao was torn and became fire, and the last breath of ao became the air."
Grelada noted "Six?"
The creature paused before continuing.
"Yes, supposedly. The last two were less well understood. The fear that All-Wings held for Ao became the night, and the conviction of All-Wings became the day."
Richala spoke "They sounded reasonable until this - perhaps by sun they mean life and death, as in Vasgothian druidic principles?"
Harzgar spoke up "No, the night belongs to the creatures of deception, and the sun to those of thought. It is not so simple as you say it."
"They are just legends." The leader said quickly.
"They have value in so far as they give us clues to the reality of the situation at hand. The jinari who resided here has gone. This represents a great degree of unrest. If the balance between these ancients is disturbed, it could be damaging for those of all of Thera."
Ruglor snorted "Maybe for Marac, but who cares?"
The chitinous creature shook its angular head back and forth.
"No, my Orcish friend. This affects far more than Marac. Look around you, do you see more than emptiness? Where are the great mountains of Vasgothia? Where are the tall trees of Shoshara? This place is trapped in the void of absence."
Richala nodded "He is right, there is little of any elemental strength here, save for, perhaps, the heat. Are you saying that the 'stength' is the only aspect here?"
The creature cocked it's head at an impossible angle, "Far from it, what do you think burns within the Death Sea?"
