The Rift

As Ryze settled, Skarner started off away from the chasm. After five meters, he turned around and charged forth faster than a racing stallion. Right at the edge of the chasm, Skarner leapt from the side with the summoners and landed on the opposite wall, legs first with a echoing crash. Dust and graveled stone cascaded down into the rift. Skarner growled as he began the ascent, trying to build momentum while fighting gravity and his own mass.

The climbing started slow, but he steadily gained speed and reached the surface at his normal speed. They approached the green robed man and Skarner was about to approach and physically lock down, but the man was too arrogant and the air around him was....wrong.... Some manner of magic appeared afoot.

"Human, this is the land of the Brackern, and you have come unbidden. State your purpose or leave." Skarner said with a growl, not paying any attention to whether Ryze had survived the leap or had stayed on his back or had gotten off on the surface. Skarner had never let anyone ride him and as such, these thoughts were not naturally occurring to him at this moment.

Ryze barely managed to hold on to Skarner, who was rushing like a frenzied horse. As Skarner climbed, Ryze slipped on his exterior and barely managed to catch the tail, holding on it, quickly climbing up as Skarner returned to leveled ground. As action packed as the short ride was, he couldn't help but feel the rather large amount of magic rushed towards the figure. He took off from Skarner as they arrived and immediately felt that any interruption of the process would be a very bad idea.

"Stranger, you're trespassing in Brackern land. Identify yourself immediately and state the cause of your intervention. As much as I do not find it smart to interrupt you, it can also not go unnoticed. I also do not think that my Brackern ally here would let anyone just walk into here and interfere with the already delicate magical foundations here."

He then said, more quietly, to Skarner. "I do not think it will be smart to stop the channel. It can yield dangerous results."

Daegorath withheld the urge to chuckle as he pretended to not be able to hear the two investigators' discussion. His hearing, alongside his other senses, were far sharper than any normal human. Daegorath smiled slightly. Such were the perks of being an apex predator.

However, the thought of the Brackern thinking that Daegorath was the cause? Not only was it preposterous, but also completely unfounded. Especially now that the Brackern knew he was not human.

Once the two were finished with their brief conversation, Daegorath responded to Ryze's question, smiling slightly as he spoke. "Very well, if you do insist. I am Daegorath, and it is a pleasure to meet the both of you. My purpose here...Could probably be best explained as damage control. You need not fear, Brackern and Magus, for I mean no harm to this place....In fact, further harm is what I wish to prevent." He replied somewhat cryptically, answering their questions without truly resolving their need for information, as Daegorath was not one to reveal such information to them until the time is right.

Daegorath nodded slowly as he listened to Ryze's words, otherwise remaining still while he continued the cleansing ritual. He could hardly blame 'Skarner' for his opinions, regardless of how unfounded and illogical they may be. But, if the greater good must be waylaid but briefly to prevent a catastrophe, then so be it.

Daegorath uttered a light sigh of annoyance before he made his reply to Ryze. "Very well...It is, indeed, unfortunate that the cleansing ritual must be cancelled so very soon after it's commencement... but I would much rather have my work delayed than centuries of progress within this land reversed in an act of irrational mistrust." The humanoid furrowed his brow in concentration as the flow of residual magic into his aura slowly came to a halt, although his aura itself still seemed to crackle with the energy he had consumed.

Satisfied that the spell was fully cancelled, Daegorath stood and turned to face both Ryze and Skarner. "As you can see, Skarner of the Brackern, I have complied with your request. I present myself as no threat to you, nor your companions. I am, however, curious as to what brings you to this most desolate - and dangerous - land, a place which, but until recently, has gone untouched by the works of sentient folk for quite some time." In the dragon's memory, 'Recent' was long enough to have included the settlement of Kalamanda and the subsequent opening of the Rift itself....a slight oversight on his behalf, but one which could easily be brushed aside as a lapse in memory, should the need arise.

Recently? How odd.  Either this being is very old, or he is quite uninformed.  The former seemed far more likely than the latter he decided.

Ryze was just about to answer the questions posed and inquire about what magical technique the strange being had been using when Skarner came forward and began making demands. The mage could only lower his head and wince.

He had hoped that an amicable understanding could be reached. The prospect of studying the rift, as well as what exactly had been going on moments before was a most enticing one for the thorn mage.  Much to his dismay however, it seemed that the territorial nature of the Brakern would not allow either one to happen any time soon.

“Perhaps…”  the quiet words of the mage were meant only for Skarner, his voice remaining so low as to not be overheard by any normal human ears. “…you could see fit to give him your leave if we only knew more.” he pleaded quietly, though his eyes flickered over to Daegorath at frequent intervals. “If he can indeed cleanse this place as he claims, then is it not worth our time to at least attempt some kind of understanding?” Although his whispered words spoke of peace, the growing aura of power within the being gave Ryze reason enough to be cautious.  

The sizzle of magic in the strange man's aura had set the thorn mage's blood racing.  At that moment it was clear to Ryze that if this being should decide to attack, they would be outmatched.  It would be better then, if the Brackern was angry at him for revealing too much than for him to start a fight they could not win.  Ryze shut his eyes for a moment and then without waiting for leave to do so, he gave an answer.

 “I am here conducting research on the strange energy that has encompassed this place.  My Brakern friend has kindly agreed to give me his leave to do so and act as my escort.”  He explained as best he could to Daegorath, careful to avoid any mention of the caravan or the others present. “My goal is to attempt to understand what is happening and perhaps devise a way to help.  To be quite honest, it seems to me that we are all on the same side.”

Skarner was not amused with Ryze's action. He wanted the beast gone from his lands, but here Ryze was trying to get the creature to STAY. Ryze was letting his curiosity get the better of him. Dangerously so.

"If you two wish to discuss magic, then do so later. I do not have time for idle chatter. Every second I stand here, the greater the chance someone attempts to harm my kin or something within the Rift causes destruction and death in this sad land.

Ryze, I have already stated my own distrust of this beast. I am not going to allow him to stay, regardless of his true intentions or your feelings on the matter. Do you allow unknown men to cast unknown magics on your lands in front of you? My kind has suffered enough from those who had nothing to do with us.

As for you, Beast. If your intentions were so pure, you should have sought me out before casting your magics. Now, you have only caused my own anger, due to your own arrogance. I am the protector of my lands. None other share that responsibility. Maybe if you can convince the mage to trust you, we will speak later, but I have promises to fulfill now." Skarner had a slight edge of aggression to his voice, but he tempered that with a willingness to hear the beast out...later. The summoners were in the Rift and Skarner didn't want to be too far away for long in case of natural or magical hazards within.

Daegorath sighed, reaching up to gently massage his temples with his right hand as his frustration reached it's peak. It was so tempting to simply crush the insect where it stood...He truly did not know who he was dealing with. All the better that it remained that way. The dragon could not help but shake his head and release a frustrated, yet resigned, chuckle. "Perhaps, O Last Son of the Brackern, I would have sought you out if you would have advertised your existence more sufficiently. Up to this point, I had assumed that the Brackern were asleep or dead - And my memory of your kin was better because of it. You sully what your people have left behind through your obstinate and petulant actions. Perhaps you may serve as a better ambassador for your kind if you were to be less hostile toward any and all who do not tremble before you as serfs before a tyrant king, answering to your beck and call and requiring your permission to as much as breathe the poisoned air where your kin's home once stood, before they retreated underground to whatever fate befell them. In my desire that this not end in conflict - particularly since you cannot be persuaded otherwise - I will leave. Good day, Skarner, Child of the Crystals. I do not believe that we will meet again, at least not anytime soon....And if we do, I hope that you will have pondered my words in the interim. I am finished here."

Daegorath turned his back upon the mewling quim who dared call itself Brackern, but did respond to Ryze's remarks before he took his leave. "I am afraid that no mage amongst men would be able to survive the ritual, for it draws the taint into ones' self to be cleansed by the body...But I would be glad to discuss such matters of the arcane under... better circumstances." Daegorath looked over the scrap of paper, committing the text inscribed upon it's surface to memory before fully turning back toward the way he came and walking off toward the horizon, his back turned upon Skarner as he strode off.