"Falst Barder." The veritable prisoner introduced himself in turn. He regarded the man with indifference, too busy wallowing in self-pity to harbor any misgivings. Even if he had been thinking straight, it would make no difference. He was stuck with the former commander, regardless.

Ahmed got their names, save for the little one who travelled with them. With the way he spoke, Ahmed was sure the little one was a child of Filistine. He'd have to be extra careful around that one.

"Let us get going then, God willing we shall reach the edge of the savannahs before the day is out."

He stood and brayed in a most peculiar fashion in the eyes of the westerners. From nearby a camel came trotting along. It was laden with various odds and ends. As it knelt down Ahmed gave Norman a reassuring pat before he mounted it. Ahemd didn't care whether the horses were unnerved by the dromadery or not and clicked his tongue thrice and set off on his way, the metallic clinking of metal following him.

"I wonder... Do you believe that your people would remain steadfast and ardent for their established teachings if they, by unknown means, found themselves forced into this world?" The stranger's voice now carried a tone of intrusiveness. "It would make for quite an interesting scenario, no?" It was obvious now that the armoured figure was hinting at something, he seemed quite interested in the idea of merging both worlds.

As dawn fully rose over the land, Tyr woke up, blinded by the sun almost immediately as he opened his eyes. Shielding his face, he stood up. The night before, he thought about the Gallish portion of his journey. Such a place did exist, but did Cersei exist? She was not like the others he met, she did seem real while the others were too outlandish to be anchored in reality. But it was not a passing thought, for some reason he desired to find out if she was real, even though it would do nothing for him. What was the point of searching for something just to affirm deep dreams?
In an attempt to shake it from his mind, he wandered through the camp to see if he could find Lear and join him as he returned to Isaria. He certainly was not going to go back to the slums in the Black Market after coming this far, he wanted to see this journey through.
----------------------
Sera stood in place, frozen like a frightened deer, staring at the man mouth agape.
"No, why? What's the purpose of that? Nothing would change!" she spat, growing angry without a reason to be.
"If you brought my people here what makes you think that would change anything except where they live? Their opinions would not change, and neither would the lives of those on the surface. Your musing is folly, it's a useless thought!"
______________________

Norman followed Ahmed's lead, and behind him was the Iron Hand, who surrounded the yellow eyes and the remnants of the Dragon Guard. Avia, who was as dejected as she was the night before, and Aranida rode beside Ira, who turned to the woman of the Dragon Guard to speak.

"There is nothing worse than your own home forsaking you, leaving you to wander the land without a place to return. Child, this path is the same that all our ancestors followed when they were exiled from Eden and ignored by God. Hopefully he chooses to watch over us today after all the faith we still kept in him." He said, staring out along the horizon as he thought.
"I hope you don't mind listening to an old man like myself, but I have a few tales I'd like to tell you. They're from our oral tradition and I'm getting old. Avia already knows them well, but I want you to learn them as it seems you are a friend of hers and deserve to know more about our faith."

Aranida rode silently, trying not to think of how she was travelling farther and farther from her home, her lineage, who she was. Did she regret it? No. However she still knew that she was going to miss her home, Djheuti and Greya who had raised her as if she were their own. Ira spoke words of comfort, which she found slightly odd seeing as their first encounter hadn't been all that pleasant. Though she did find comfort in his words and she turned to his direction after he offered to impart to her the history and stories of Avia's people.

"I don't mind at all" replied Aranida in an uncharacteristically soft voice. She was eager to learn more about these yellow-eyed people.

"This land that for hundreds of years has been sought after and assumed by Isaria and her monarchs will serve as the resting spot for your home." The figure pronounced this candidly before shifting away from Sara to face the ascending sun. "The return of Urbel will usher in a firm and tangible Golden Age, and you will be a part of it." raising his hand slowly he eventually out stretched a finger to point towards Sera. "You will weaken the physical boundaries between worlds and allow me to unite these planes."

____

After some time Tyr happened upon Lear who was quickly exiting the tent of the Grand Magus with an expression of distaste on his face.

"You want me to return so that Urbel would become tangible for the people of the surface again? I don't quite understand!" Sera gasped as she glanced up at Urbel and back toward the man "I don't think we should allow them to mingle! They're far too different... well, no they're similar as people, but the denizens of Urbel wouldn't be able to deal with this! They'll force themselves to be incompatible with the surface people and instigate negative reactions from the surface people."

Sera paused after her unchecked reaction and tried to calm herself, but just then she realized the figure was talking nonsense in her eyes.
"And if anything was more irrational than both parties, it would be you talking about this situation as if you had the power to join the worlds! I don't believe the rumors that there are any others than Father who control the universe, there's no reason for them to exist if they never chose to do anything at all. The only force that had control over the outcome was Father, no one else!"
-------
"Lear," Tyr called out as he noticed Lear and walked toward him.
He was about to prod about his mood, but realized that this was the perfect person to ask concerning the Gaul incident he went through in his journey.

"Is there Gaulish territory within Isaria?"
_________

Ira smiled softly as Aranida agreed to listen to his tale.
"This is an old one, my grandfather once told me it was told in the Eden we all came from and originated in a time before what he called the 'New' Eden and the 'Old' Eden. The Father said:

And therefore we must seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.




Ira closed his eyes as his soft smile grew into a grin. Opening his eyes again and returning to the world, he looked back at Aranida and Avia.
"The whole point of this tale is to help us remember that we are still the Father's people. He chose all of us long ago, and even though we no longer have contact with him, we do believe he still listens to us and pays attention to our needs. He doesn't want us to know he still cares, but he does, otherwise he would have killed us all instead of allowing us to live on his beautiful world."

Aranida blinked feeling a bit taken aback. She had been expecting a little tribal ditty about how something became something, or why something was the way it was, or even some sort of origin story of the yellow eyes. This on the other hand was profound. This lord, or whatever, while she personally did not know of him, seemed to think rather highly of himself, so much that even nature seemed to obey him. Of course, to her this was a bit crazy, since the only time the elements did anything spontaneously by another's command was when there was magic involved. Perhaps their lord was similar to her parents, a great scholar of magic who disappeared.

"So when you say we...do you mean all of us? Like, I can understand you and the rest of the yellow eyes, but most of us outside of your villages have never even heard of this lord before. And if he cares, why is he letting the Jenough kill of his people?" she didn't mean any of what she said to come as offence or even discredit their lord's existence, but she was honestly curious.

"The Father loves all of his children, even if they don't believe it. You and I both had ancestors placed down here ages ago by the Father when he cut them off from Eden, so we're all his people." Ira replied. The smile shrunk as he tried to think of how to answer Aranida's second question.
"In all honestly, we don't know why this is still going on. I refuse to believe that he has given up on us, there's no reason for him to hold a grudge toward our people for so long. We no longer are those who he exiled, just because we are their descendants does not make us them, and I hope he realizes this. The old stories often were about his promised people and the troubles they underwent, even under his protection. Even though times were tough for them, they never gave up faith in the Father, and the promise he made kept them going. I like to believe that as well, and I try to teach it to my people. A just father would never go back on his promises and I don't think he gave up on us and now ignores us. I think he's watching us without telling us as a test of faith; to see if we still have the faith in him that he so desperately wants. I think all he wants is for us to denounce the mistakes of our forefathers and embrace him even when he is not obviously around."

Ira sighed as he finished his explanation.
"Sorry, it's hard to choose the right way to tell you."

OOC: Just keep stringing me along for now.

Ahmed listened to the old tale, a retelling he had heard many times. It was an oral tradition in Jenogh, a tradition he looked down on since they were so easily twisted without ill intention. At least a written record proved much harder to corrupt that way. But that was probably his pride as a Filistine but he chipped in with his opinion on their ongoing discussion.

"You may not have heard of our stories simply because of lineage sister. We were banished long ago and we with our yellow eyes are said to be direct descendants. I'm sure Filistine has a book or two about our history and more besides."

Bahaa listened to the old tale, unsurprised by the differences between Ira's and Qalim's retelling. He kept to silence while adults talked, a habit Qalim had instilled him. It was a way for him to learn of things he could later find a use for.

Aranida was mildly surprised, she had expected Ira state that her descendants were some offshoot heathen group that just happened to be here when the maker of the yellow eyes decided to banish them from their Eden. So even she had ancestors who came from this magical place. It was an interesting concept to consider.

"No it's alright" replied Aranida with a smile "I just didn't know that we were all descendants from this father you and the rest of your people often mentioned. Who knows, your people may be right, and the whole world has gone astray. We have genocides and slavers and so much crime. For generations my family has sought to bring peace and stability by capturing criminals, but what if it's all in vain, if this was all simply a test of our patience...Perhaps that's why I'm the last of my line."

"Don't believe my fallacies then, my darling." The figure remained still as stone. "If your certitude is worthily cast then nothing will change, everything shall persist as it is... at least for your heavens." The armoured creature remained silent for some time before finally turning to Sera and approaching her. "I've had your council and I have now forewarned you. I maintain that I have allotted you a strong convenience and ample time to coordinate your forth actions." The figure continued to approach Sera and in what seemed to be a terribly disturbing and frightening experience it walked directly through Sera and vanished behind her, leaving only a chilling feeling.
_____

"Gallish" Lear immediately corrected Tyr before pulling himself together. "Yeah, Galí is a territory that's just right next to the capital. Why does it concern you?"

Sera shook as the figure walked through her as if it were merely an apparition, or worse, a deity. If what he spoke of was true, which it couldn't be, then he had the power to drastically change the surface by merging the two into one reality. Taking in a few deep breaths, she headed back to the camp to speak to the king once again.
----
"I need to head there," Tyr began explaining, growing anxious as he thought about it. "I saw something that seemed too real and I need to confirm it. Will the caravan swing by it on the way back to the capital or do I have to go out on my own?"
____
"You cannot allow your line to fade away," Ira replied. "You'll find a way to keep it alive, even if it only is in name. Blood isn't what matters, the only thing that needs to be passed on are the traditions and tales of your people. Never forget that you have something to teach that you've picked up somewhere in your life.

Ira glanced at the young child on the donkey.
"He's not yours, but will you treat him as if he was?"
He made his remark without turning his head back to Aranida, still peering at the boy. He could tell the boy was lost and had nothing else in the world just by how he carried himself.

Nodding in agreement, Aranida thought on the words of Ira. It was true, though she often felt like a failure, and that she had let her family and ancestors down, she couldn't allow her ancestors, their struggles and their accomplishments to simply fade away as if it never happened. The yellow eyes had managed to maintain all the legends of their people to this day, perhaps more of it was true than the world believed.