Holy mother of euphemisms, Batman! However, Rena was a little more focused on Frutolla's problem with talking to a cat. Okay, granted, it WAS kind of silly, but on the other hand...he really didn't know Garlock. Still, yes, Exon had warned her, mostly because he knew that Frutolla would need to be convinced. Rena smirked at the quiet comment made. This was clearly a routine that had been danced down before.
They soon sat down in a circle and joined hands. Rena knew nothing of rites like this, even though she had studied some Thanati practices, so she would just do as instructed. Frutolla started to chant in a manner that - naturally - she had never seen before. She watched, and then...the eyes opened to white, all white! Smoke from the candles began to take shape between them all, taking the form of a cat. Good. It was working.
"Garlock, I need to ask you-"
The words stopped dead in her mouth as she noticed it, as Exon would as well. The candles were all churning out black smoke now. The cat was changing form. If Frutolla were consciously aware of any of this, he would know that this wasn't just a cat. It was either
a demon or a spirit, or both. The cat form changed and Feldler was likely to growl as it reshaped into a large black cat-like head of smoke, shifting and turning to regard Rena directly before eyes of red glowed.
"Yeees?"This was something that Rena had been dreading. He and her were almost family, but he'd become this
thing, after what happened to her uncle. Still, Rena pressed on. Garlock would tell her what she wanted to know, IF he knew anything about it.
"Go easy on the man letting us talk. He wasn't expecting this."
She took a breath, and then asked him.
"What do you know about Uncle Zan's trip to Thanatos?"
"I didn't go with him. He needed someone to keep an eye on the other animals. He told me about it, though. Mostly, he told me about the country and the customs. What do you want to know?""Did he say anything about the Eye of Hunger or Arlius the Scribe?"
"Yes, he did. He told me... It was a short time before his death.""And dad's..."
Zan
had been talking to him about it. They came down to talk, and then on the way back up...the Silver Horde attacked. Neither of them could go out to handle the situation, whatever it was.
"He wanted to get your father down to talk about it, because it was forbidden to use the kind of destructive magic you might need to destroy it, and even then...it might not work. He figured he'd see if a master swordsman like your father could handle it. When neither of them could return, though, the Scribe had to keep an eye on it."The tone of Garlock's voice was starting to sound a little more warning now.
"It's an artifact, Rena. Some kind of living thing you wear for power, but it's dangerous. Zan said it devoured mana, life, and soul. He left it in the keeping of this man calling himself a Scribe, but he's a Monk."A monk! Of course! The man in charge of recording everything of note! Who would Zan seek in a place where he can't use magic to combat a magical threat? The smartest man around! He who does nothing but read and write history and legends and all things religious! Now, this would remind
Extrotun of something. He would've been just a boy back then, but there had been whispers and rumors about a brutal manslayer, an unknown figure of great physical and probably supernatural power. Some said it a man, others said it was a beast or a demon. Because of the state of the bodies, they called him - or it - the Devourer...
At any rate, contact with Garlock would break early now. He had been verbose, and there would've been a strain.