Onweer didn’t seem thrilled about the man approaching, especially when she was so close to ask Brian some important questions about his abilities. Then again, after she gave the newcomer a long look, she decided that he was probably better trusted than not. It wasn’t just about the odds of an escape succeeding: three were less likely to disappear unnoticed, but more likely to overpower the remaining four should it come to it. But she was also tired of being on edge. It had only been a few minutes since she’d realised they were set up but it already felt like forever. Onweer had been running, eluding and tricking CMAS for years now and even a moment longer was excruciating and threatening to send her into a panic. She’d lost it during the attack, almost displayed too much skill, but now it was over and she should relax. Save the worry for when it’s actually needed. She leaned back on the tree and used it to massage her shoulders slightly before finally addressing Cecil.

“Come, join us. We’re deciding on the best method of suicide.” She smirked, taking a sip of water. “On the one side we have our beloved cunning Council, on the other – the fierce Divers, and yet on a third one – simply No-Man’s-Land in all its charm and glory. Which would you pick?” Humour was a good way of dealing, she thought. After all, it was incredibly ironic that after being on the run for so long she was now cornered like a mouse and nobody even realised it yet. They were all in the same boat; they’d all received a death sentence irrespective of their sins.

“We should probably arm up in either case. Collect whatever we can from the fallen and discuss our strengths and weaknesses if we’re to survive this.” She continued more sombrely. “And you should both tell me if you have any knowledge whatsoever about how to undo a silencing.” She looked at each in turn. The question seemed more pressing now than ever before.

"So the choice is die for treason, die for loyalty, or die in abandonment." He wasn't chiding, just musing tiredly. He sat down, putting his gun on the ground(though it was connected to his satchel and couldn't go far from him without taking the strap off). He was still trembling a little, and he crossed his arms tightly as if it were from cold.

"How did this," he spoke haltingly now, "Happen. They, did you know, or did you hear them say, they didn't want to kill us. Only stop us. Why do we hate them?"

"Do we hate them, really?" Onweer raised an eyebrow at Cecil. "I think we're--they're just jealous. Everyone on the "right side" of the law, everyone restricted by the rules of our states. They think the Divers are sitting on a pile of gold, literal or metaphorical." She paused for a moment, looking up at the leafless branches of the tree.

"I used to be a Diver, you know, and a model citizen of Hyznia before that. I think both the system and the rebels are just as bad, just as stubborn. It should be our job to bridge their differences and make them work together towards progress. At least that’s what I thought our role was.” She looked at Cecil and Brian in turn. “What have you been told about this project, actually? How did they present it to you?”

Jenso nodded at Alvios in return. "Alright. Oh, I'm sorry! I should introduce myself. I'm Jenso." He said to Luke, Alvios and Par as Alvios's face was filled with worry. He frowned and turned to Par who spoke to him. Par seemed to have a lot of respect for Luke and Alvios. Of course, so did Jenso, but he didn't trust them that much. But at least he felt safe enough to know that none of the Divers would do anything to him, unless he did or said something stupid. He felt bad for Par in a way. He seemed so devoted to aid the two famous Divers, while being unaware that they were hiding things from him.

"Well Par...It sure was exciting, to say the least." Jenso responded. "We managed to defeat them and made them surrender, and then a giant snake attacked. We beat it as well, and then Luke received Laura's psychic message which informed him of the attacking CMAS troops. So we hurried back here and left the Junkers behind. And uh...I'd say they were just following orders. They didn't seem like murderous types at all." Jenso said. He decided to leave out the part about working together with the Junkers to take the snake down, not wanting to anger Par more or make the situation even more confusing.

He paused for a moment after this, shocked after Par's comment to hang the Junkers he had met before if he ever saw them again. "...I know you're angry and frustrated, dude. I am too. They MAY have known about the attack, I don't know..but you need to relax. Trying to kill them on sight immediately when they aren't even doing anything yet wouldn't make us any better then the CMAS scum we just defeated here. Killing them out of self- defence is a different story..Though personally I'd like to prevent as many casualties as possible."

It seemed that many shared Par's opinion however, wanting to charge straight at Arcadia in order to have their revenge. But Jenso certainly wasn't in the position to do anything about it. He hoped that Luke and Alvios would remain reasonable on the matter, and calm everyone down. War was something that he certainly wanted to avoid, but it seemed obvious that it was already too late at this point.

(After being left hanging?) Jäger overheard a wounded animal wailing from the semi-circle nearby and decided to investigate. Upon arrival, it was to his surprise that it was actually a man, one on bended knee and in wooden covering. Jäger had read about theatrics in the temple libraries, but he had never witnessed the arts nor could he recall which particular scene these two actors were reenacting. Curious, the lightning monk supported a lowered chin upon his thumb and nodded in silence as the scene progressed. His pointed finger scraped against the top of his lip. Jäger did not quite understand the culture of the fine arts, but he did find it entertaining at times. Though, it evaded Jäger as to why an improvisational troupe decided to perform for free, as he could not find any sort of collection jar about. However, upon further inspection of the man's uniform...a CMAS insignia...

He wasn't...it couldn't be...

...Was he normally this flamboyant?

From the look on the woman's demeanor, he wouldn't be for much longer. Jäger crossed his arms and smirked; he easily recognized her as Ilian with her tattoos and dark leather armor, and a veteran of Ilian at that. This would be over quickly.

Brian turned to Cecil with a fleeting aura of fear, relived to know that Yvette hadn't snuck into their conversation unbeknownst to him. It was a stupid thought, Onweer would've noticed her long before she could get within earshot, anyways. No, it was just Cecil, the sniper who'd helped fend off the Xena serpant several minutes ago. If not for him, the snake might've had the initiative it needed to devour everyone in the ATV before Onweer had a chance to enact her plan. Without saying anything, Brian nodded, looking to Onweer for guidance on whether or not it was safe to accept Cecil into their circle. He huffed a short breath of relief as she addressed Cecil in jest, signaling that it was safe to continue speaking about the treachery they'd gone through. At the mention of silencing though, Brian reeled back slightly, his surprise barely noticeable, but evident to the observant eye. Was she really silenced? Brian thought her fatigue to be a side effect of some sort of magical poison, or a symptom of arcanic cancer. Was it even possible for someone to walk around half silenced?

Whatever. Admittedly, at the mention of suicide, Brian was put in an extremely uncomfortable position. He didn't show it, but remained silent as the talk of death slowly faded into the back of his mind, almost missing Onweer's last question. "My knowledge of project Scattered-Shades is minimal. Joshua is the only one who knows all the details. Well, him and the previous head of Project S-S, Sulfrax Lauchlin," He stated, crossing his legs together tightly. "and from what I know, silences are irreversible. If there's any way to circumvent one, nobody in the CMAS knows how. Either that, or they refuse to share. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a reversal ritual, honestly."



Luke grunted in annoyance when Alvios mentioned strategy. He'd always been able to plot through all opposing forced with his renowned speed and power. He was hard-pressed to agree with Alvios though, this issue went a lot higher than a small army of low-ranking CMAS scrubs. This was a direct threat from that pompous, over-dressed wizard, Sydney. Luke clenched his teeth angrily, but managed to suppress his frustration, and keep his focus on what Alvios was trying to tell him. At the mention of Tinon, Luke turned towards the Diver HQ and glared at Tinon's bedroom window. "Yea, we've go quite a bit to talk about with that asshole," Luke grunted quietly. As Par started talking though, he turned back to him with an almost equal amount of distrust and venom in his eyes.

"Look, kid, I appreciate the offer or whatever, but we've got this covered," He turned to Alvios dominantly as if to dissuade him from interjecting, "Just me, Alvios, Larua, and Tinon. If you really wanna help, stick around the paradise and clean up a little," With that, he pulled Alvios away by one arm, towards the Diver's HQ, leaving Jenso and Par alone to think over the battle's aftermath.

"You're too nice to these kids sometimes, Al. I don't think they get exactly where all of this is headed, yet," Luke told Alvios, quietly, "Especially if there's somebody here relaying information to that moth-ball, Sydney. We need to keep the whole 'traitor' business to ourselves. It might be a good idea to keep Tinon in the dark, too. Our suspicions aint exactly gunna fix anything unless we can pick someone outta' the crowd without a shadow of a doubt." Surprisingly enough, Luke wasn't a victim to his own stupidity when there was a whole lot more than his ego at stake.



Haley Corisan stepped into the semi-circle with an unbearably powerful aura of 'what the fuck do you think you're doing you little shit' about her as she approached Nicholas. She glared at him from behind, before looking over the Junkers that half-surrounded her. Haley wasn't here as a commander, but she was tasked with keeping these former-Divers in line if they acted out a little too colorfully. Jonathan followed close behind her with a happy smile and bright eyes, as if he were looking forward to this adventure more than anything in the world, completely contrasting his fellow CMAS officer. Haley turned to him and rolled her eyes before addressing the troupe of Junkers nearby.

"There will be more time to make friends on the roads, boys and girls! I suggest you get to your assigned ATV's lest Sydney has a field day with us all, haha!" Haley spoke loudly with an oddly welcoming tone. Despite her aggressive disposition, she was a rather friendly woman, who looked to earn the approval of her peers, rather than expect it. Rightfully so, as she wasn't actually ranked any higher than the others on this mission. He position of power came solely from her connection with Joshua as a CMAS veteran. Johnathan nodded quietly behind her, waving at miss Lunaweave before heading past the group of Junkers, and towards the 3 Z-ATV's that waited at the far exit, all being driven by experienced Machinists, who were the real authorities outside the walls. Nobody knew who they were just yet, but they were given strict orders to obey their commands, under the threat of strict punishment if they refused. "That means you too, mister 'Drama Knife'," Haley quipped, mocking his titled with a smirk.

Cecil looked at Onweer in sudden surprise. "That's not really, I didn't, it's not what I thought at all. The way that I understood it, our mission didn't have much at all to do with Divers. They were to be looked at as a possible hazard. I never had an opinion about them until coming out here, actually." He suddenly jumped backwards in the conversation, having not properly thought about the thing Onweer had brought up until now, "Oh, uh, yeah, that silencing thing. I don't know that much about it, sorry. But I could take a look at any academic notes on the subject back at the university -- I worked at a University before, by the way -- or I could examine you. You're obviously not totally Silenced, I thought it was supposed to completely neutralize your magic abilities. It might be worth looking into, if there's such a thing as a partial or incomplete, my knowledge on the subject is inadequate."

He switched subjects again. "Why did the S-S's leadership change? Who is Sulfrax?"

Paradise 'Par' Rapids - Diver's Paradise

Luke's gaze brought fear to Par, making him realize just how far he'd gone. The Diver-Merchant-Machinist bowed his head, before saying:

"All right, I and Jenso will clean up." Jenso's words were reasonable, but it was Luke who brought Par back to sanity, clearing the latter's head. He would forever be grateful for that. The Machinist then looked at the Martial Artist, before saying:

"I hope this doesn't sound selfish, but I'd like us to go to my shop first, not because it's my shop, but because it contains - or should contain - Magitech equipment that can be used for a more effective cleanup, Plus, I sort of left a placard saying that all weapons from there are free as long as the attack lasts, and the attack is over now."

"Then after that, let's see if we can organize some other Divers for cleanup duty."

"You might initially call it a wasteland, Master Lauchlin, you are indeed correct there is more to it than most people hiding behind magicked barriers may think. I'll agree to talk out there. However, make no mistake, Master, that it is certainly not my land." It was called No Man's Land for wise reasons. Everyone feared the unknown. Rem had started to fear some of the knowledge he had unearthed. It was dangerous to be alone out there. Even his first few trips he had never been alone. After a couple of incidents however he had started to learn how better to fare the unknown. "Though I adore it, I do my best never to underestimate it. It is how I yet walk before you unmarred by my journeys."

Rem started slowly toward the staircase inside the nearby tower so that the two would be able to keep track of one another. "Right outside the barrier there won't be any danger. The animals are more intelligent than most would give them credit. Certainly different from domesticated breeds I assure you. There's nothing to hunt there and it is dangerous to them. Just stay away from the mud. Sullying your feet is a gentle thought to what generally lurks in this area."

Though Sulfrax Lauchlin had his rumors, Rem would trust the man to act politely in private. Archmage or no this man knew about artificial arcane nodes and very possibly their true nature. A trade of information would be very profitable. Let us see what you want, Sulfrax.

Drama Knife was his name, duly noted. Jäger took a mental note as he saluted to Haley and Jonathan in respect, even if they did not outrank him. Feet closed together and metal gauntlet slamming into his chest. "We'll rendezvous rapidly," Jäger would retort, fully aware of the world of marks they would be in given Sydney was displeased. Quick to the ATV, spick and span. Gauntlets shined and holy tome secured. Jäger saw to it that no stragglers lingered about at the South Gate before heading over to the ATVs himself. Minimal collateral, at all costs. Duty was discipline. Discipline was strength.

Z-ATV-1: Head of the action, first in the fray. More impressive in person. Jäger was a termite that stood beside an elephant. Jäger stared up at the behemoth of a mechanism, mental fortitude only keeping his jaw from dropping. It was magnificent. Jäger's entire home temple in Saiga could fit inside of this metallic beast. If it were this impressive sessile, Jäger contemplated the possibilities of what it was capable of when moving and in combat. He would have to ask a machinist, if they weren't busy. Jäger shook his head. He needed to focus: this mission was the greatest he'd been sent on in the CMAS. Leaving the city was a privilege and an honor; he would do his affiliation proud. Taking a deep breath in, the lightning monk tread carefully onto the loading platform into the maw of the mechanical monster.

Jenso frowned as Luke walked off with Alvios. It seemed that he wouldn't be able find any important information any time soon. He could follow them and try to listen in on the conversation, but it seemed far too dangerous. The four Divers were certainly no idiots, and would notice what he attempted to do rather quickly. He turned to Par. "Sure! And uh...you can just call me Jenso, if you want. I'd prefer that, actually." Jenso responded to Par, heading over to his shop with him.

He knocked the placard over immediately, as to avoid any Divers from taking any more things. He began to pick up the dead bodies of the CMAS troops nearby, and threw them onto a pile. Whenever he would pick up a Diver's body however, he would do so respectfully and with care, to avoid upsetting any of the surviving Divers. He would line their bodies up on the ground a bit further away from the shop, putting them down gently. He made sure to clean up any debris that fell from the ceiling earlier during the fight, piling all of it against one of the cave walls out of people's way. He thought about many things as he did so.

This was his chance to get away, if he chose too. But he wouldn't be able to achieve much on his own. He wanted to end the war with the CMAS and Divers. If there was one, at least. That part still seemed uncertain. He turned to Par. "Hey...a few questions. Didn't you ever wonder, how Luke and the other three knew where Survey Group Alpha...yknow, those Junkers we ambushed.. would pass through? And when? And if that's group 'Alpha'...That means there are more groups, right? Don't you think it's suspicious that they know all that?" He asked. He was unsure how Par would respond. There was a good chance that the man would respond in a negative way, but Jenso really needed to trust someone at this point.

Paradise 'Par' Rapids - Diver's Paradise

"Here we go!" said Par taking out a strange-looking hammer with circuits and wires strapped to it. "The Sonic Hammer." He then pressed a button on the shaft, then touched a piece of rubble with the hammerhead, causing it to crumble into dust.

"I also have a few more explosives and a detonator; those should help in clearing derbis. There are also ordinary, non-sonic shovels in case we need to, you know, bury our comrades." Par then noticed that Jenso had something to say, and so, heard him out.

"They did?" spoke the 19-year old boy. "Well," he said, "it's simple; they have contacts, perhaps even a spy, in the CMAS. But said spy didn't save Diver's Paradise, so he or she could have been a double agent." He then looked at Jenso.

"Espionage and stuff are not things discussed in Diver's Paradise outside of spy novels. That's a weakness. We don't know enough about the CMAS, while they seem to know a heck of a lot about us." Another look at Jenso.

"Funny, even now, I still sympathize, somewhat, with the people in the Quadra-Powers' themselves. The CMAS keeps them ignorant like livestock, and they're filling up their pens."

The woman grimaced as she saw the subtle shock on Brian’s features. It was sort of a sore topic and she regretted having brought it up – if anything it was embarrassing to admit, on top of bringing back some painful memories. She should give up asking; the responses were always negative or vague and never really did much to give her hope at all. She really wanted not to go any further with the topic and carry on about CMAS instead, disregard Cecil’s suggestion and pretend she wasn’t really that interested. If her life didn’t hang in the balance, she might have had that luxury. “Any help would be welcome…” she muttered, blushing a bit despite herself and then looked up, happy to move on with the discussion.

She looked at Brian, eyebrows arched. “Sulfrax is the one who came up with the project?” A small scoff escaped her. “The danger level was just turned up to ten. However bad things seemed until now, expect them to get much worse in the future. And did you say “was”? Has he been kicked out or something?”

Turning to Cecil briefly, she explained. “He’s a wild card, insanely knowledgable and insanely unpredictable. People look up to him wherever he goes but they harbor more fear for him than respect, and with good reason. Nobody truly knows what he’s thinking or where he’s going in his ambitions.”

Jenso stared at Par in surprise as he turned a piece of rubble into dust with the strange looking hammer. "Wow! Cool!" He shouted, heading over to the shop as he grabbed one of his own. He put the hammerhead against the pile of CMAS corpses that he had made, and reduced it to ashes. He began to turn pieces of rubble into dirt, ignoring the line of dead Divers that he made earlier. He certainly didn't want to turn those into ashes as it would be a great act of disrespect. Or at least, Jenso saw it that way. He didn't exactly want to bury them himself either, he felt that he didn't have the right to do so.

Jenso smiled as Par responded in a calm way to his questions. Everything he said was something Jenso already knew or suspected, but it was nice to talk to someone else about it. Par ended up acting much more reasonable then Jenso had expected, and he felt as if a heavy burden fell off his shoulders. Talking to someone else about this really helped. "Yeah, they probably have a spy. I think I know who. When we defeated the snake, Luke ended up talking rather casually to Yvette Eridal, one of the people with the Junkers. When one of the other Junkers questioned him about it, he ended up acting rather suspicious and concerned, so..." Jenso said, pausing for a moment.

"I'm not sure if she IS a spy or double agent, but Luke acting like that was odd. Also...due to Luke being out there to ambush those Junkers, Diver's paradise could have been taken down. It seems that someone wanted Luke to be gone long enough for the CMAS troops to kill everyone here. Tinon wanted Alvios to leave right before the attack too...so it's no wonder he's being suspected for treason." Jenso added, turning to Par with a serious look.

"I agree, I doubt that any of the people in the Quadra- Powers would approve of what's happened here. Y'know, the attempt of CMAS to commit mass genocide. Those people are not to blame, CMAS is. What we need to do is get to the ones at the top. The ones in charge of CMAS." Jenso finished, and continued clearing debris and CMAS corpses with the hammer while using his other free hand to grab Diver bodies and line them up.

"Why does everyone have to want so much," Cecil lamented wearily. "All of this overreaching is killing people. Sulfrax has his mystery ambitions, CMAS sends us out to die for land, and the Divers come out to keep us from it." He didn't have the energy to bounce from idea to idea anymore, and his speech actually slowed down to that of a more normal person because of it.

"I feel used."

Paradise 'Par' Rapids - Diver's Paradise

"Indeed," spoke Par. "This...Yvette, we might want to get in contact with her, as well as find out what her true allegiances are. As for Tinion, I don't want to believe that Luke's brother in law could be guilty of such betrayal, but there are many ways to coerce people. I just don't know what would get a Diver to serve the CMAS, although if it is Tinion, it might have something to do with Laura. Forgive me for this speculation, but maybe she's suffering from Arcanic Cancer and only the CMAS knows the cure? Again, just speculation."

"And, yes, a decapitation strike against those at the top would be useful. Problem, though, is that we two aren't strong enough to do it, and it's going to be hard to get the higher-ups on board with the idea.

Brian gave Onweer a curt nod and spun his head towards the ATV for a moment, to check for Yvette or Kenny, or even Karida. "Sulfrax was removed from his position for reasons that Sydney has not divulged to the public. Many chalk it up to his inappropriate behavior, others say he's killed his allied scientists in the past. Whatever it was didn't trickle down the chain of command, but I do know that he returned to his home nation of Hyznia short after being discharged. That much is certain," Brian explained. "Regardless, the CMAS clearly had no more use of his knowledge or skills for project S-S. They wouldn't have the gall to kill off such a renowned Arch-mage, assuming there is some level of corruption within the head council. That would stir unrest in the government, no doubt. The CMAS are considered peace-keepers, not cold blooded murdered. I'd believed that, but if they had some hand in this whole thing... No, that's not possible. There's no way the CMAS could have manipulated Luke into attacking us if they wanted us dead. Unless they're working with him, but then why would they kill us off? It just.. Ahg!" Brian clenched his head irritably and lurched forwards.

"It doesn't make any sense! There's not enough information! If only we had contact with somebody who had a direct link with the head council, an arch-mage or a governor.." Brian looked at Cecil and sighed. "Without knowledge, we may as well be hollow puppets."



"We will NOT be going further!" Kenny grunted, pushing Yvette aside as he made his way towards the engine. "I'll barely be able to get this thing running again, if I'm lucky!" Yvette grabbed him by the back of his collar and spun him around to face her.

"We have no choice, Kenny. As your commanding officer, my order is law. Disobeying it means imprisonment, or death. You know that," She said sternly. "We can't go back yet. Not yet."

Jenso nodded at Par. He had a good point. "Well...we could go talk to Yvette. I still know where they are...but they might have moved on by now. It takes about an hour to get there, so we may be too late by then. And I don't know if the other Junkers would enjoy seeing us again." He said, gazing over at the southern entrance where he and Luke came through earlier. "We COULD take our chances and go there...or wait for the four Divers to talk it out." He said. As Par brought up the theory of Laura possibly having Arcanis Cancer, he frowned. "That sounds pretty far-fetched...but not impossible. It would explain Tinon's actions if he really is a traitor."

He was wondering exactly what Alvios and Luke would have said by now, while continueing to clean up the place. He made sure to focus his efforts around Par's shop first, and then began to go further from there. "Yeah, I agree. We can't do anything against those at the top of CMAS with just the two of us...we're going to need help, from people whom we can trust. I just hope we can trust Luke, Alvios and Laura at least. I guess we'll find out what they decide to do soon enough."

Cecil shook his head. "If he were working with them, he wouldn't have, that is, only if the goal were our deaths, he just stopped fighting. Peace came really easily, and he said from the first he didn't want to hurt us." He threw his hands up. "That doesn't add up from any angle. It was manipulation or coincidence.

Alvios frowned at Luke, but nodded in agreement, only sparing a passing glance backwards at the abandoned Jenso and Par. "We won't be able to keep it in the dark forever, Luke. The older ones are going to realize quickly that this place doesn't just get 'discovered'. We have to keep trust and stability among the other Divers, too. We don't need any sort of discord. If anything, we need the others to band together and get ready for Sydney's next move... or get ready to hit at CMAS before they hit at us again. I'm nice to the kids because they're gonna be the ones willing to fight for us." He sighed, and looked up towards Tinon's room as they made their way towards Diver's HQ.

Alvios' eyes narrowed a bit once they had gotten some distance from the other Divers, and he began to speak with an uncharacteristic low growl in his voice. "That fucking wizard Sydney attacked our home. Our refuge. Our Paradise. Luke..." Alvios paused in his tracks for a moment, drawing his sword in a flash and striking the ground to his side, accidentally leaving a small crater a few feet wide on impact. "When we fix this place up and smoke out that traitor, do me a favor and stand back. I want to sharpen my sword on their bones."

Alvios wasn't impulsive or overemotional. Even as he was more carefree around Luke, he was always the calm to his storm, and the reason behind his passion. Sydney and everyone with him had crossed the line of his infinite patience though, and there would be hell to pay.



Sulfrax followed Rem at a rather leisurely pace. For a man of his standing in his own city, he didn't seem too intent on making consistent impressions, and walked with sagging shoulders and dragged feet, as though he was always tired. He glanced around occasionally, and mumbled incoherently to himself, but said nothing directly to the other mage as they arrived at the southern gate. None hesitated in opening it for the two of them as they crossed the threshold from Hyznia to No-man's Land.

The Archmage's gaze wandered immediately as they stepped outside, and without missing a beat as they crossed the barrier that kept foreign beings from entering the nation, he began speaking to Rem again. "A wasteland indeed. Why anyone would bother exploring out here, let alone surviving, is a mystery to me. One that I have many answers for. Regardless, I have need of you, or maybe just desire." Sulfrax turned his focus to Rem now, facing him fully, gesturing at the expanse beyond. "There are many people in CMAS who want to know what's out here. I, personally, have never cared. My focus is the Arcane, the energy we have within ourselves and the energy drawn from the natural nodes beneath the Four Nations. One doesn't need to chase whatever dreams are out here when one can be creative with what they have."

Sulfrax's silvery eyes closed, and his gaze dropped towards his feet, thinking. "Two things are born from the unknown: theories and myths. Theories can be answered with time, but myths can only be answered with experiences. The latter can be born from the wildest, most depraved parts of the imagination, without rhyme nor reason, often just lies to feed some inner need. Oh, I'm trailing off." Sulfrax cleared his throat, and looked up at Rem fully again.

"I have suspicions that someone is out here chasing a myth. A myth that I know nothing about, cannot give a name, and have no evidence to support. Obviously, I do not care, but I have an irking notion that it could be a theory to them. A theory that, if proven, could affect all of Arcadia or more, and not in a positive manner. I am pushed to find something that might not exist before they do." Sulfrax paused, and looked at Rem curiously, tilting his head slightly, like a bird. "So I ask of you, what out here could shift the balance of power within the Four Nations? Regardless of whether or not it actually exists."

So, the renowned Archmage had dragged Rem out of Hyznia to ask him about every single possible rumor regarding No-Man's Land, only narrowed down to the most fantastic ones. Which didn't exactly narrow it down at all. There was perhaps a slim chance that Sulfrax didn't understand that No-Man's Land was fucking gigantic and had too many rumors to list. Which wouldn't make sense, but then again, neither did he sometimes.