Legend of Ransera

Prædium Solunarii, Drathera
2nd of Glade, 125 Anno, Ævum Ferro

"Annum novum faustum felicem."

After wishing Alikhandrian a happy new year and ensuring he had done his duties to hospitality, he settled into his seat.

It had been a little over a week since he had witnessed the conversation between the Witch Innogen and the iron dragon, and perhaps he would have held this meeting earlier, but the life of a legatus was always occupied with something and while he didn't know what Alikhandrian busied himself with from day to day, he knew the dragon wasn't available at the drop of a hat unless it was an emergency.

This was not an emergency, but certainly a curiosity.

"The Zaichæri witch, Innogen, asked me to meet her in the practice fields before the Temple of Raxen where we had first met and to bring my lute. I arrived early and was whiling away the time playing for myself when an elder iron dragon appeared. Her mortal seeming was... hm... more Orkhan than elven, perhaps more dragonborn than Orkhan. Deravæcia."

He related the conversation between Orkhan witch and iron dragon verbatim. Such was the eidetic skill of the bard.

"I will report as much to Phocion Princeps, but as this is a matter draconic and will surely reach the eyes of the Crownwyrm himself, I would like your opinion on the interaction and whatever context you might add to it. I know not whether it will have any bearing upon Drathera, but if it does and Ecith falls under the banner of Sol'Zalkyrion, it will be. And even if it doesn't, he might wish to know the doings of the other dragonflights."

Finn didn't sit back in his chair. He found it difficult to fully relax in the presence of a dragon; a part of him was ever aware that they were a predator and he did not wish to be prey. But he allowed Alikhandrian time to process what he had shared.

"I would be honored to share in your kill, dominus," he said. Finn would eat it cooked, seared, or raw as the dragon preferred. He trusted it was fresh enough a kill to be eaten raw; if not, there were healers to calm rebellious bowels. "And I thank you for feeding the Prædium Solunarii."

The servi would respond to the draconic will in this, and stood ready to take that command.

But Finn couldn't help as though he were reenacting the meeting with Innogen, going further into peril as Derevæcia had not approached him and he could not retreat from this one. For the dignity of the Umbrian crown and the imperium he held from Zalkyriax and the Luxian Regent, he could not retreat even from an angry dragon. It did require knowing manipulation of his own symphony to keep the rhythm of it—and his heartbeat—steady as a powerful timpani.

He looked up, unfazed. Fear showed in blue eyes, but he didn't waver.

"I have no relationship with her. I gather her true name in her homeland is Imogen, but the Orkhan here have difficulty wrapping their vocal apparatus around it." He didn't flash his teeth at that. "We met after I sparred with an Orkhan berserker, where I sought both to increase my martial prowess and prove the strength of Solunarium before the warriors of Raxen. She invited me to join the berserker Karmordi in a test, and I agreed. Karmordi has been of use to me. He survived his challenge, and she asked me to bring my lute and play the following day, and that is the day I have related to you. She seems to know what the common folk of Drathera know about me. I didn't plunder her symphony for more lest the 'Witch' prove canny to that Craft. She knows I am here seeking the annexation of Ecith, so it would seem the Senate has been transparent about their deliberations.

"Aside from her various and sundry adventures in Ecith, which I have since had related to me," and here he gave a summary of those, which were apparently more than common knowledge among the commoners of Ecith, "I gather she is a member of a Zaichæri coven. I do not know them well, but based on what I do know, I would guess she is a Sunsinger. The warrior-witches who wield Arcas' dawnfire on their pact weapons. I have only once been to the Brass City on orders from my order. I can request more information. The envoy to Zaichæri came from the Golden Guard, but Silver Sentinels accompanied him."

Finn paused, then, "Without greater context, the which I hoped you might reveal, I do not yet know what her scheme in Karnor means. She summoned Derevæcia to Drathera, which angered her, whether merely for being summoned or for more subtle reasons. Together, Innogen hopes to wake Derevæcia's mother, who it would seem lies in torpor somewhere in Karnor. I do not know the name of her mother or her history. Perhaps she means to overthrow the Zaichæri government. Perhaps not. I lack enough information to do more than conjecture."

The subtlest Command at the servus sent him to have a jungle tartare prepared with suitable accompaniment. The Prædium's chef was a bit of an artist, too.

"I haven't yet the imperium to prevent a free citizen from leaving Drathera, especially one counted a hero by the people. Her visit here was meant to be brief and she is gone. However, as Vicis would have it, she was well-suited to a task I set her to, and so I expect to have word from her ere long. She even insisted she could get me into Zaichær along with... well, a retinue. I have been once on Sentinel business. All this will, of course, be reported to the Custodes Deorum, and should Phocion Vigilia require it of me, I will go to Zaichær for more intelligence."

Matters in Drathera were delicate, of course, but not so delicate as they had been when he first arrived. When he knew Arvælyn would not spend the night entire in conference with various counselors, he would go home to sleep. On occasion, he visited the Citadel, either to report directly, answer supplemental questions, or spend some time with Syrena, who remained an asset and still devoted to him for being her savior, the first person she laid eyes on after her long dream.

"Presumably, you have the means to send word back to the Crownwyrm when you have words to relate. If you hear anything possibly relevant to this issue, I would appreciate you share it with me. Innogen and Derevæcia gave no indication their business would return to this continent, but even if it doesn't affect this mission, it might vex our lieges with regard to other missions. I will, of course, keep you informed of whatever I find."

For all that dragons were functionally immortal, they were often quite short. Despite his temporary imperium, he did not dismiss the dragon. Out of respect, he waited to see if Alikhandrian had any other parting shots. He didn't want to waste the dragon's time. Perhaps he required a nap after feeding.

"My single venture into Zaichær did not allow me to follow up on a personal question—whether my grandmother, a mysterious woman was, by all accounts, a witch, was connected to the witches of the Brass City. It seemed the sort of unexpected event that other bards have called the will of fate, that I met a Zaichæri witch not in Zaichær, but in Drathera. On another continent, on another mission. But she used my music to manipulate the ironborn lady, leaving an implied debt. So, I used to both to satisfy my personal curiosity as well to leave a hook in her.

"It is possible that my Lord God pulled the strings of fate in this regard, but while there is the possibility I might gain Power, it would seem to me that self-knowledge is not the path He would choose for me to gain Power. But I know His mind only imperfectly, I admit. The Dragon Goddess of Fate is higher on a Pyramid of which I can barely fathom than is my Lord God or our sovereign Crownwyrm.

"I merely wondered if this were Her will or the vagaries of chance."

Whether he could have managed Innogen in Orkhan territory, he didn't know. Whether it would have served his cause to even try, he didn't know either. Likely the other Orkhan would not take kindly to him wielding imperium as if his title were præfectus rather than legatus.

"She is powerful. The extent of her power, I do not know. I witnessed a great show of power to teach a young, ambitions Orkhan berserker a lesson. One of my Sentinels, a sembler, observed as well. Whether she has the power to challenge a dragon, she did challenge Derevæcia with impunity. The dragon was not pleased to be summoned, but kept her violent feelings in check in order to speak to Innogen.

"No doubt the witches of Zaichær use mystique as weapon and shield, but they are purported to be powerful. But yes, she has returned home or, at least, left Drathera. If she contacts me, you and the Crownwyrm will know of it."

"You are likely correct," he allowed. "Perhaps it is a function of my smaller life and shorter lifespan that I seek as much understanding of the world around me and the world beyond that which I cannot perceive except in the slightest of epiphanies. Sitting at the feet of Deus Aværys, marrying into the family of the Crownwyrm, I cannot help but wonder at the Pyramids they exist upon.

"As for blasphemies, the Divine Twins have evolved during their incarceration. While Aværys would not allow Arcas to offer me his dawnfire, his views on many things skew toward my way of thinking as opposed to some of the hardliners among those born and bred in Solunarium. But I should mark my words better; I still have to exist in their world."

After a pause, "I can only imagine your frustrations here, and I do not wish to add to them. It is certainly never my intention to arouse the ire of a dragon." He grinned even if the humor didn't land with the dragon. When a dragon, even in a mortal seeming, smiled, he was often reminded of predators in the wild who bared their teeth in seeming smiles as a means to warn off other creatures.

"The question of the witch was the matter that required your counsel, but I value your time and would not want you to feel it wasted over my luncheon. Please feel free to stay if you wish, or depart as it please you."

At mention of luncheon, servi appeared at the door and he could smell the barely seared flesh from under the silver cloche. Dragons were a marvel, but he certainly didn't understand them fully. He wanted to, both because he had once been a boy who dreamed of dragons, and because his husband and in-laws were various degrees of draconic.

As he had said, he wanted to understand the world in which he lived.