With a bit of an offsetting smirk Lear pulled himself away from the banister and began. "I'm not usually the one to say this kind of thing.. Galaonis tends to put it in a better way, but I could give it a try." After a moments pause he formulated a few words to explain the message he wished to convey and started up once again. "The God that you follow isn't what you truly believe him to be. He's no benevolent other-worldy king, nor is he completely responsible for the creation of man."


Eris stood up promptly from the bench and reached her hand out to the young girl. "Hello Sera!" She answered with a smile. "And just so you know I didn't mean to make you doubt your friendship with Tyr and Qalim. I simply wanted you to understand that you're free to make your own decisions, allowing anyone to blind you would impede the progress of your mission here, whatever it truly is. Now! would you like to continue on our little walk?"

Grimwald was already running before he could think. It wasn't like a well-thought plan, it was just the thing that he would do if he just did something bad. He had forgotten the knife in his panic, and could only think of the path out, constantly changing due to more figures coming near.

Tyr motioned for him to continue on, curious about what Lear was to explain to him. If it was anything different than what he was taught by the elders, then he was interested in his point of view.
--------
Sera grabbed Eris' hand and pulled herself up. She sincerely smiled back at her, knowing she could finally place her trust in someone else after keeping herself hidden for so long. It was liberating to know that Eris would not force her into anything against her will and she no doubt understood the severity of what Sera carried.

"I would love to. Perhaps we could find some breakfast as well, for I haven't eaten anything yet."

"I don't think so" hissed Aranida while deftly aiming and firing at the assassin. She fired twice from both of her pistols taking care to aim at the man. Of course, she wasn't intending to kill him. The bullets fired were yet another one of her trick bullets with odd attributes. These bullets had been fashioned after syringes and were filled with a fluid that would temporarily knock out whomever they entered. Had she been in a kinder mood, she perhaps could have used a different set of bullets that were made so that the cap fell off and a sedative based fume would be released in the general area. Then again, the area was crowded and those bullets threatened to make the troops around the assassin fall asleep as well.

"I wonder if this is what Avia's people would call a bad omen" she mused out loud. They had yet to begin their journey but already trouble had befallen them.

"Your God was not alone when man was created, there were other deities involved in the initial creation of this world. One to forge the planets and stars in the endless void, one to constitute the multitude of elements that would inhabit the worlds, this included the Spiritual energy used to perform magic. One to fabricate the life forms that would inhabit the natural world, and finally three to oversee the progression of the Universe, these three would look after the world they helped to create and would correct imbalances and major abnormalities. The more powerful deities were the ones involved in the very creation of the world, the ones left to over look it were 'weaker' to put it simply. But even the most powerful of the 'world crafters' was unable to assume a physical form after it used it's powers to create the world, those involved in the actual creation itself were left as spirits that survived in their own creations." Moving back towards the balcony Lear turn to Tyr, his eyes filled with blinding resolve.
"The three overseers who were left controlled the world for ages and slowly creatures evolved and were guided on their paths in this world. What happened next gave man their dominance over this planet, one of the overseers attempted to greatly change creation by consuming the spirits of the crafters and redistributing their powers. He was successful in doing so partly, he gave a small race of humanoid like creatures great power and sent them off to do battle and protect his new slice of creation. The other overseers hatched a plan to stop their rogue brother, by creating a race of Demigod-like creatures in their own image. The Overseers successfully battled off their kin and banished him to a now long forgotten plane of existence. As a sign of gratitude to their creations for defending the land they granted them the right to permanently live in their world, and so began the dominance of man. It's worth mentioning that only one of the two overseers was responsible for actually poring his power into the creation of the Demigods, and it was not the God you currently hail." Lear paused for a moment to allow Tyr time to absorb the information and perhaps question him.
______

"Sounds wonderful, I saw a quaint tavern just outside the city walls that had a veranda as it's dining area. I believe it would be the perfect place to settle down for something to eat, what do you think?" Eris questioned as she began to map the way in her head.

Am I safe?

The first thought that came up when Grimwald finally stopped. He could feel his heart race, and he was panting heavily. Leaning on some sort of wall, he slowly slid down on it, before falling unconscious.

The walked through the streets and Qalim followed through the rooftops. There were a few local thieves hanging about as he shadowed the messenger but they paid him no mind. Noticing that they would soon exit the city gates, he slid down a wall and then stalked them from ground level as they headed towards a tavern with a nice veranda. His stomach growled. Breakfast would be nice too.

"So everything I was taught was merely one side of the story..." Tyr pondered, inhaling deeply and rubbing his brow. He was stunned and was not sure if he could stutter even a few syllables of a response. He gazed back at Lear, doubt of the legitimacy of his own people shining through his glassy eyes.

"Where does Urbel fit into this then? I can't have been lied to by raving fanatics for most of my life!"
-----
"I'll go where ever, Eris." Sera replied with a coy smile.

Before she followed Eris toward the tavern, she turned around, surveying the area. She felt a familiar presence nearby and her wings fluttered weakly. It was someone she knew, no doubt, but where were they located? Shaking her assumptions away, she returned to Eris.

OOC: fast forwarding to the tavern

As they seated themselves in the tavern, Sera stared into Eris' eyes.
"Do you think it's strange that I attract people with eyes like mine?" she questioned innocently.
_____________

Avia bent over and coughed up small traces of blood. She was breathing heavily and was blinded by sweat and tears. She cried out in pain as the slight prick she first felt began to evolve into a weak burning sensation and she felt the warmth of her blood through her robe. The wound itself could not cause this much pain to her; it was all caused by the mental trauma.

"Aranida! Ignore him! Please! H-help me!"

She coughed up blood again and fell to the ground like a rotting tree trunk. The blade dug deeper into the womb and she melted into a pool of blood and tears, bawling her eyes out.

Upon seeing Avia coughing up blood, she immediately slid off the side of her horse and ran to Avia's side. "No! No! No! No!" This couldn't be happening. She turned Avia over and for the first time truly saw the damage that had been done. She lay Avia's head on her lap and stroked her head in an attempt to console the woman. "MEDIC!" she screamed, nearly at the point of desperation "MEDIC HURRY!!" She looked down at Avia with a gentle smile, though she didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything. She didn't know what to do. This was not like losing a fellow soldier, or even just a diplomat. It was something so much more, and she couldn't do anything about it. She didn't touch the blade, not wanting it to go deeper or have her lose even more blood if she pulled it out.

Aranida was startled by a sudden dampness on her cheeks and blurred vision. She was actually crying. Sure, she had shed a tear, and perhaps allowed her eyes to water a bit in the past, but she had never cried since the day her parents disappeared and left her alone in this miserable magic-less world. She was desperate, and powerless. Feelings she had rarely ever felt before. She felt like a disgrace before her troops. A mockery to the Lancaster House and all it stood for.

"Please," she spoke aloud "God of Avia and her people...I know you're not my god or anything...but please, help Avia. I'll do anything to help her. Anything." She had never been religious, and was normally quite skeptical of all things beyond the natural, but at this very moment she was desperate. They needed a miracle.

Qalim found himself in the tavern soon enough. They sat nearer to the veranda but not quite in the open. There was a line of sight from the door to their table though the Messenger seem concealed from the outside, the only one visible would be Eris. Inside was rather poorly illuminated but the threat of fire in such a building was high. Whether by chance or not, they had sat themselves in a favourable position against any attempts to harm them.

Qalim waved to them as he got close.

"Can I join you for breakfast miladies?"

Relieved that Sera was safe for now, he was in a slightly better mood than usual.

"Urbel was the land the the Seers allowed the 'Potaks' to live in, a land where they could interact almost immediately with the overseers. For a time the heavens remained peaceful, but one of the overseers still remained weak from pouring his energy into the creation of the Potaks, hiding away in the shadows he would have to wait hundreds of years before he would regenerate his strength. But during this time his kindred God plotted to devour him to obtain both his power and complete control over creation, it took time but eventually the overseer discovered the plot and took drastic measures, he revoked his spirit from a large portion of his creations but it wasn't enough, they had bred over the years and had thinned his life force out immensely, he would have to consume more of the Potaks if he wished to avoid being devoured himself and for one reason or another, he was unable to do so... I suppose it may have been that he couldn't bring himself to consume all of his creations. Unable to fight, and unable truly flee the God used the energy he stole from his creations to perform two acts, the first act granted the Potaks and all creatures free will and self determination, they were now free from Divine Judgement, the other act created a vessel for him to store all his memories and his remaining power. He hid himself inside a Potak-like creature he fabricated in a last ditch effort to oppose the inevitable." Lear paused, he continued on searching for more of what he understood.
"Eventually war broke out in Urbel between those who wish to free themselves of Godly bonds and build a world free of intervention and those who wished to continue to serve their only known father. Unable to fathom what his Kin had done to the Potaks the God exiled more than half of Urbel's population, only allowing those who were completely devote to stay."

________

"No, people are naturally drawn to their own kind. They trust them more than anyone else, it's a natural trust." Eris replied taking a sip of a small cup of tea the keep had left for the two while they ordered. "To be quite honest though, I dislike that kind of trust most of all. Human beings should be able to trust one another completely, though I'm certain it'll never happen natural trusts only acts to pull as all further apart." Spotting Qalim out of the corner of her eye, Eris waved him over to sit replying to his questioning with a simple 'sure'

Tyr paused and soaked in Lear's explanation without a word. He knew Lear was right, that there was more to what he was told. Whether the truth truly was that there were more gods or not did not matter to him. What mattered was that he knew that what he was taught was false. As he grew older he became skeptical toward the dogma and how radically his people clung to their oral fairy tales. He could not doubt there was something strange with the yellow eyes, but he did not believe it was the cause of a god who showed no presence in the natural world. There was a reasonable explanation out there somewhere, he merely had to find it.
----------
Sera smiled to Qalim as he strode toward them.

"Oh, it was your presence I felt earlier then," she remarked casually. "I was worried I felt something else."

One of the staff approached the table and asked what they would wish to order.
Sera thought for a moment and smiled at Eris.

"What would you order?"
______________

Avia firmly lifted her arm and wiped Aranida's tears and then the blood around her mouth. She was hyperventilating, but tried to compose herself. The blood around her abdomen was no longer pooling up as severely as earlier.

"The miracle is that I'm not dead yet, sister," she whispered. "God sacrificed my child to save me. I have a purpose in this world and I'll complete it even if it means I lose what I love."

Avia gripped the blade and prepared to cut her belly open, tears welling up as she thought about her child. The only way they could save her from complications was by cutting her abdomen open right then and ripping the fetus out. She knew God would allow her to survive the procedure, because he wanted her to save her people.

Inspecting Tyr, Lear could see clearly just how uneasy his was. He was certain that Tyr wasn't going to fully accept his explanation, but he was unsure just what was going through his head.
"So, is that all?" he asked his tone muted of intention or clear emotion.

__________________


"Well, I suppose eggs wouldn't be too bad" Eris took a moment to ponder, this may be her only chance to have 'real' food. "And ham, eggs and ham." She nodded her head and self agreement as she turned her attention towards the others. "And what of you two? what will you be getting?"

"I'll have the Paired Poached Pidgeon Partridge in a Pear Treat. Local tourist trap delicacy or so I hear and I'm keen to try something new since we're on the road and all."

Which, for a rare sounding treat actually arrived rather promptly. Faster than eggs and ham really. The dish was overly garnished in pear tree branches. In fact, it was a tightly woven basket made of pear stems. How they managed that was something Qalim would have to investigate at a later date. The pidgeon was just a whole pigeon arranged between partridge thighs, roasted in a basting of pear juices. At first glance the meat seemed under cooked but it was evenly white when cut open. The taste was unique, melting with the sweetness of a pear but having the savoury and saltiness of a well seasoned fowl, with a slight bitter aftertaste from some unknown source. It may have been anything from poison to harmless charring but Qalim didn't suspect foul play at this stage of the journey. Paranoia, sometimes, was self-defeating.

Tyr nodded his head and stood by watching the people, groping the stub of his shoulder his his right hand.

"You can go. I'm going to stay and think about what to do now." he replied, already absent in thought.
----------
"I think I'll order what she's ordering," Sera told the waiter. "I'm interesting in trying it."

The waiter was confused she said she had never eaten common eggs before, but shrugged it off and left to pick up the order. He returned in a couple minutes with the plates for Eris and Sera, both piled high with eggs and ham with a side of toast. He also brought a jar of dark berry jam for the toast.

Sera took a bite of the eggs and chewed it curiously.

"It's much different than what I normally eat back home," she mused aloud, now thinking about her friends. It had been at least a week since she left, and she wondered if they still remembered to pray for her as she requested.

"They're good, I hope all surface food is as satisfying."