The Mortalborn observed his surroundings closely as they moved through the city and towards their destination, not in the way of some sort of tourist that stupidly gawked at every novelty that he came across, but so that he would be able to remember the way back, should it become necessary.
That his focus was not first and foremost on the sights didn’t mean that he was unimpressed of course. On the contrary, the towers that were visible in the distance and the fact that the city’s design was quite effective didn’t go unnoticed. Etzos was different from the places that he had spent most of the past couple of arcs in, in more than one way, he realized. It was stronger and more easily defensible.
He didn’t attempt to make conversation with his escort, but walked with them quietly. He was more interested in getting to their destination quickly and finding out what this was all about than in engaging in pointless small talk and posing questions that they likely wouldn’t be able to or willing to answer anyway. He only stopped for a moment and looked at them questioningly at the sound of the commotion.
“Is there a problem?” he asked and gestured in the direction that the sound had come from. He had never expected Etzos to be some sort of anti-immortal utopia, but the mention of “Eidisi scum” seemed somewhat strange to him. The research that he had conducted prior to boarding the ship to Etzos had not pointed towards any such racial tensions.
No matter what they said, if anything, he would quickly turn his attention back to the tower that was closer now. There were more pressing matters to attend to than mere racism.
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Even though the man that greeted them bore no signs of rank or faction, the Mortalborn immediately knew that he was somebody that should not be trifled with, despite his somewhat questionable attempt to look mysterious and his penchant for exaggeration. Although Doran did appreciate compliments, he was not as susceptible to flattery as mere mortals. He didn’t smile or grin upon being called an inspiration, but only inclined his head and looked at the stranger thoughtfully for a moment before he shook his hand.
“My journey was largely uneventful”, he replied. “Truth to be told, I had expected to encounter some trouble on the way here, but it seems as if my enemies are slow to act.” Vuda would be able to notice a hint of disdain in his voice, but only for a moment before the Mortalborn’s usual polite and slightly cool demeanor took over again.
At the mention of Lisirra he raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Lisirra had, as far as he was aware, been one of Syroa’s allies during the battle in Treidhart, and thus he couldn’t help but wonder what the proximity of her followers to Etzos would mean for him. Was it something that he would be able to take advantage of or would it cause him trouble?
“I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Chief Advisor”, he replied as his companion finally introduced himself before he continued to ascend the stairs. All those gems and fine fabrics made the tower look a bit gaudy in his opinion – he very much preferred subtle elegance to blatant displays of wealth – but they did make him realize just how rich those people were. Perhaps, he thought, he had indeed come to the right place.
Hushed whispers and speculations were something that he was used to, to some extent – his colleagues at the university had had an unfortunate tendency to gossip - but the looks of admiration that the people they passed by gave him were not. They truly considered him to be a hero.
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The title that the Etzori had given him – He Who Would not be Deceived – was a bit cliché in his opinion, although it was true. Yanahalqah and he had been the only ones of the thousands of adventurers that had been summoned to Ne’haer that had seen right through the Immortals’ lies. For a moment he wondered where his companion was now and whether she had chosen to walk a similar path or gone back to pretending that she was just another law-abiding citizen, and then he focused on the people around him again.
He took note at the robes of the ministers and their insignia and nodded at them politely before he took the offered seat and listened to the High Marshall’s words. Xiur himself had been there? He couldn’t hide his surprise entirely. Perhaps, he realized, his enemies had not been negligent after all. Perhaps he had only made it to Etzos through sheer luck. But no matter what the reason was, he was here now and thus relatively safe.
As the High Marshall asked to hear the truth, he inclined his head. “I thank you for your reception”, he spoke. “It exceeds my expectations. I will gladly tell you what really happened. I have moved past the point where I feel bitter about it a long time ago.” He let his gaze sweep across the gathered ministers so that they would feel included in the conversation. He was not only speaking to High Marshall Parhn, but to all of them, to every single Etzori that was gathered in the room. “You all have a right to know.”
“Once upon a time I was just like them”, he admitted. “I believed what the Immortals said. I thought that they were, for the most part, good and only had Idalos’ best interests at heart. I even prayed to some of them.” He emphasized the word in a way that made it seem that he had committed a despicable act. In truth he still prayed to one of them, but if he had any say in that matter, the people of Etzos would never find out that he had received Syroa’s blessing. “That all changed when one of them contacted me.”
“It was in Vhalar during the shadow beast attacks. He came into my home – I was a professor, teaching chemistry at Rynmere University at the time – and asked me to join an important mission. He claimed that Idalos was in danger and that he needed me. I admit, I felt honored – at first. When I boarded the ship of which he had told me, I quickly realized that he would not join us. He would not risk his life on the battlefield.”
He paused for a moment to give them some time to think about the cowardice of that one Immortal before he continued,
“The ship took us to Ne’haer where we barely survived another shadow beast attack. A few other Immortals were waiting for us there. They told us more of the same, that they needed us. The only needed us for one thing. I realized that we were little more than sacrificial lambs, sent to a frozen wasteland in order to die so that they could realize their great plans. They didn’t really care about us.”
“Xiur was the worst of them. He used his magic on the people he had lured there. He made them believe that they had a chance and that there was hope for them. The only thing those poor souls could hope for was a quick and painless death.”
“I made a decision then. I would do what nobody else had ever dared to do. I would not keep my head down, but put an end to all the falsity and the lies. They opened a portal through Emea for us so that we would reach the place where we were supposed to die faster. I decided to strike the moment our group left the portal, when things were still slightly chaotic. While Xiur unfortunately did not die, I managed to weaken him enough that he could not work his magic anymore.”
“The Immortals”, he informed them. “Should not be underestimated, but they can be wounded, and they can be killed. If his allies had not arrived as quickly, Xiur would certainly have perished. That”, he finished. “Is the truth of what happened.”
It was. At no point had he ever lied outright. He had just kept a few things to himself, such as the fact that the Immortal who had visited him had been his father and that he had already begun to doubt the Immortals several lifetimes before, when both his only child and his lover had died, and none of them had come to his aid even though he had begged them on his knees. There was another, deeply personal reason for his fury and his hatred.