[b]Xyden / Leith[/b]

Xyden listened to the humans introduction. He seemed unphased by Xydens appearance or manner, something that seemed uncommon among humans. That on its own immediately made Xyden respect him more than most Surface Dwellers. "I am known as... Xyden." To the best of his knowledge, it was custom among humans to exchange names upon meeting. He did find it strange that the human would speak of knowing the Naga as he did though. Few people knew of the Ocean Naga, and that did not surprise him, but after his encounter with Marya, he was wondering quite a bit about what other Naga might've survived. Hydromancy forgotten for the moment, he instead focused on this new potential source of information.

"I did not know of Naga anywhere... other than the depths of the Ocean. Tell me what you know... of the other Naga." Xyden asked probingly. He doubted he'd get quite as much as he'd like from this human, but any information was good at this point.

Leith sighed at the question. "I don't know much about the Naga, just from stories I heard as child. All I know is that the ones that I've heard of look like they're half snake, half human. The illustrations I've seen aren't exactly..." he paused as he searched for the correct word. "Becoming, to put it nicely." He chuckled. 

"Actually, you're the first Naga I've ever talked to, and until today, I'd never even saw one. Esyire's for that matter, too." Leith shook his head as he took a sip from his cup. "This has been quite a day for me, and it's just the first one."

It was a shame that this Leith Land Strider didn't know more of the other Naga. He'd have to find someone else to ask, but he didn't know where to start, so he simply left that subject for now. His head and shoulder fins twitched slightly with his disappointment, but he shrugged it off. "Most humans... seem to fear speaking to me... You are the first brave enough. Tell me... What do you know of... Hydromancy?" Xyden cut to the chase, largely uncarring for the Land Striders observations about what he hadn't seen until now. He was still unconfidant even of the word, and he hoped it wouldn't show too much.

Leith leaned back in his chair as he thought about what he knew about Hydromancy. "Again, most of this is through stories, but I've heard of and experienced more with Hydromancy than I have with Naga. I've heard that water isn't the only thing we can manipulate. But I haven't tried with anything other than water because I don't know what'll happen if I try. I know what I can do with water, and until I get some training, I don't want to experience what I did when I tried moving too much water. From what I heard, Hydromancers can control blo-" he paused for a second as he fought down the urge to gag.

Leith frowned. He wasn't sure why that had happened, but he had the feeling that if he tried saying it again, he would have the same problem. He decided to change the subject. 

"As for your earlier comment. You gave me no reason to fear you. Sure, you look intimidating, but looking intimidating shouldn't be what causes people to fear. The actions behind the look should generate the fear. Unfortunately, most people don't think that way, and you've probably seen what fear can do to some people."

A shiver ran down Xydens spine at the thought of using his power to control substances other than water. From the human's reaction, it seemed he also found the idea somewhat disturbing. On the one hand he found it strange that anyone would consider controlling anything other than water when there was so much of it around. On the other, it was repulsive and sickening to use anything else as a weapon or utility. People should be more civilised than that. Still, he nodded respectfully at the description given. It was useful information.

He did, however, have words on the subject of fear. "Being dominated fear... is the domain of lesser beings... animals. Thinking beings do not allow themselves to be ruled.... by emotion. You are stongest... when your mind is calm." It was the wisdom of the Naga, taught to them by their Goddess. He doubted the human would be able to follow it once the situation became murky though. Even some Naga had trouble with it, much less a mere Surface Dweller.

Leith listened to the Naga's thoughts on fear. It made sense, and while Leith didn't quite agree with some of it, it was good advice. He looked over at the head table and smiled when he got an Idea. 

"How about we have a friendly wager? Nothing big like money. Just like... a favor. Within limits, of course, but it'll help pass the time. What do you say?"
Xyden was confused by that. He didn't know what a wager was. He wondered if it was a human custom of some sort, though, to him, the time seemed to passing just fine without help. "What... Is a wager?" He asked, curious to find out about this new custom the human expected him to participate in.

Leith smiled at the question, then frowned as he tried to figure out how to explain it. When he figured it out, He went to a nearby empty table and grabbed three empty cups and a vine of grapes from it. He went back to the table and placed his aquired items on the table. He looked at Xyden and started explaining what a wager was.

"A wager can be seen as a game of sorts," he said as he took a grape off the vine and covered it with one of the cups. He then put the other two cups on either side of the cup with the grape. "It can be between two people, or many." He started to slowly move the cups around and made it so that the cups were mixed up. "But before the wager can take place, there has to be a cost. Be it money, food, or whatever. The winner will get something, and the loser will lose something. As you can probably assume, not many people like to make large wagers. Mainly because they might lose, or, depending on the game, it was fixed for them not to win. In this example there is a winner, and there is a loser, but because this is an example, we don't need to have something to give the winner." Leith gestured to the cups. 

"Pick a cup."

Xyden watched with curiosity as the human retrieved some grapes and three cups and began explaining, placing a grape under one of the cups. He followed the grapes cup carefully as it was moved around the table. It was not unlike watching a small bottom dwelling fish move rapidly from rock to rock to avoid detection. His tongue flicked out to taste the air, but with the many strong smelling foods around he couldn't detect a single grape that way. That was unfortunate. He kept his eye on the cup as the Leith Land Strider finished explaining. It seemed this custom was meant to revolve around chance, something Xyden, and indeed all Ocean Naga, were not fond of. Taking chances in the depths usually got you killed.

This time though, his hunters reflexes seemed to be proving true. He reached out and picked up the left hand cup. Under it was the grape. He looked back at the human then and spoke "I... Understand. What is the... Wager... you wish to make with me?" He was uncertain as to wether he would accept whatever the human said, but he couldn't decide without knowing.

Leith smiled. "The wager will be this," he said as he pointed towards the head table. "We pick who we think will do the Hydromancy demonstration, easy enough. In this wager, we can both lose, which will mean that neither of us will have to pay. As I said before, would a favour, within limits, be an acceptible trade off to the winner?"

Xyden looked at him with slight concern at the mention of a favour. He didn't like the idea of being beholden to anyone here on the surface, particularly for something so vague as a favour. He did have many of the gold circles the surface dwellers valued though. To him, all the staff looked much the same - none of them looked able to swim. How could any of them understand how to control water if they could not be enveloped by it first? He would be guessing in this, but the reward of having the human beholden to him was possibly useful. "I will play this game. If I win... I will take your favour... If you win... I will give you... coins. I have many."

Leith nodded at the Naga's terms. It didn't really matter to him what was wagered. He just wanted to have some fun. "Alright, I guess we have a deal." He held his hand out to the Naga. 

Xyden looked down at the offered hand in confusion. Was this another human custom? It seemed there was much he did not understand about the Surface Dwellers. Then he turned away to examine the front table, the one with the teachers. He looked at each in turn. The Short one was not the Hydromancy teacher, he knew that, because she was the Rune Master. He doubted any of the winged creatures could be masters of water. That left the armoured dark one and several humans and some more short beings, these ones much slighter than the ones he'd seen before. Small things generally were able to swim easier, less to weigh them down and stop the water. Maybe that one was the best choice then. "That one." He said, pointing to the Snow Elf woman at the teachers table.

Leith chuckled silently to himself as he brought his arm back. He watched as Xyden made his decision, nodding and making a mental note to himself. He looked at the head table and tried to see who could have what ability. He looked at the intimidating looking man with hair that made is seem that he had been struck by lightning and shook his head. That wasn't the Hydromancer. Leith had no clue who the Hydromaner was, so he just made a guess. 

"I'll say it's that guy," Leith said as he pointed to the youngest looking man at the table. He looked back at Xyden and smiled. "And now we wait."