abraxasnet | To Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus.

[Of course he answers promptly. Surely, being contacted in this manner must pertain to something urgent enough to not wait until they're home... right?]

𝐻𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑜, 𝐸𝓁𝒾𝒹𝒾𝒷𝓊𝓈.

𝑀𝒶𝓎 𝐼 𝒶𝓈𝓀 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃 𝒮𝑜𝓁𝓋𝓊𝓃𝓃? 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓉 𝓈𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝒸𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓇 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑒𝓃𝒿𝑜𝓎𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒. 𝒫𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝒸𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓇𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝒶𝓌𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓃𝑜 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈, 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒, 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶𝓈 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝓁𝑜𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈- 𝑜𝓇 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓃𝑜𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓁𝑔𝒾𝒸 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇'𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓇𝓎.

𝒩𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝑒𝓃𝒿𝑜𝓎𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒜𝓂𝒶𝓊𝓇𝑜𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇, 𝓎𝑒𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝑜𝓌𝓃 [Reduced.] 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂.

It need not be within Solvunn. I've been asked what our people would consider 'fun'. I thought I might ask you both directly for an accurate response. I do not believe it needs to be restricted to Abraxas alone though I suspect the one I'm speaking with to be of mortalkind.

[ Which isn't bad, it's just that they tend to have a different perspective from those with a lot of power and near-unlimited lifespans. ]

[Ah.]

𝒜𝒽, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝒻𝒶𝓇 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓁𝑒𝓇 𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓃𝓈𝓌𝑒𝓇.

𝐼 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒. 𝒮𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝒻𝑜𝓃𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒. 𝒜𝓈𝓈𝓊𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓇, 𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓃.

𝒜𝓉 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓉, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓂𝓎 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇.

Your perspective is ever welcome, Hythlodaeus. I will pass this on.

[ For a moment this seems like it might be the end of the conversation. A few minutes pass before another message is sent. ]

Over the millennia, I had forgotten those who were dear to me. Now that I remember, I regret choosing not to view the memories we had stored of who I was. Who the others dear to me were. While little after the Sundering was enjoyable, perhaps knowing would have helped.

[Ah. The constellation crystals...]

𝒫𝑒𝓇𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓈. 𝒪𝓇 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓂𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓀𝒶𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝒹𝒾𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒸𝒾𝓇𝒸𝓊𝓂𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈.

𝐼𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒶𝓈 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝑒𝓃𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂, 𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝓊𝓃𝓈𝓅𝑜𝓀𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝓇 𝒹𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓊𝓃𝒹𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝓇𝓎𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓁 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝓊𝓇𝓉.

...𝒜𝓃𝒹, 𝒾𝒻 𝐼 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝑜𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝒾𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝓃𝑜 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒾𝓋𝒶𝓉𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒹𝓊𝓉𝓎. 𝒩𝑜𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝓃𝑒.

They would have been painful, yes. But more painful was the idea that I would simply lose them again.

[ Such was one of the prices of being Lord Zodiark's heart. ]

Perhaps it would not have changed anything. Perhaps we could have lived on in a different way.

But still, I thank you for your words of comfort.

𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒.

[Well. That's certainly an ending to a conversation... and one, while he wants to steer the direction of, appears to have ended on quite a sad note.

But there is something he can offer. While hardly helping the situation, perhaps it can take Elidibus' mind off it for a few hours...]

𝐵𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓎, 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓂𝓊𝓈𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝓅𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝓊𝓃. 𝒜𝓈 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝒸𝑒𝓇𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒸𝑒𝒾𝓋𝑒𝒹, 𝑔𝓇𝑜𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈- 𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝒸𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓁𝓎, 𝒷𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝒲𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒿𝑜𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝑒? 𝒲𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝒹𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓃𝓊𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝑒𝓁𝓊𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝓊𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝓇, 𝐼 𝒹𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒'𝓈 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇.

[The offer, when made, is given some thought. Elidibus had long watched mortals and, perhaps better than Hythlodaeus, understood why they found joy in working with their hands beyond the need to simply sustain themselves.

Academically speaking, anyway. And fleeting moments of respect for those who did their very best within their limitations. ]

I would. If nothing more it would serve to pass the time. I find myself feeling as if I have too much to spare, of late.

[One world and three nations is by leaps and bounds fewer responsibilities than he has been accustomed to in millennia.

But not because he's interested in mortals and their whimsy really. It would be nice to know more of Hythlodaeus. He will not say that.]

𝐼𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝑜?

[Whether it is said or not, the feeling is mutual.

They were linked once, of course- yet interaction was hardly part of the somewhat fleeting affair. It was more the complete surrender of themselves, to join a far greater whole. Their selves were simply not part of it. Not to mention that circumstances had meant that Elidibus had not been at all inclined to cease his duty in death- exiting rather quickly, all considered.]

𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓋𝒾𝓈𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓀𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝑜𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒸𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹𝑒𝒹. 𝒜𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓅𝒶𝓇𝑒, 𝐼 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃𝑜𝑜𝓃 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝓊𝒾𝓉𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒.

[The mornings Elidibus spends telling stories to the children. The afternoons are largely free. ]

I will be home in the afternoon then. Pray let me know if there is aught I can acquire.

[Which he will be assured to pick up on the way back to help.]

In general, it would be activities one undertakes not for the sake of duty or obligation, but merely for the sake of enjoyment. Though I will grant that such opportunities may not be the most obvious in Solvunn.

[Which is not to say that those living in the settlements don't still manage! But he imagines that opportunities might be ... more obvious, within the other factions.]

As for myself, I have always had something of a fondness for theater. Though there is also the simple enjoyment of time spent in the company of one's friends.

[Even, yes, when said friends are often incorrigible at best.]

Ah yes. I recall your penchant for theater.

As to the general, I did not mean the general definition. But what our people might have once enjoyed. My memories now allow me to answer with some authority. But it would be nice to have yours and Hythlodaeus's perspectives on the matter as well.

I would not consider myself to truly be an expert in what our people had enjoyed. Though certainly, the Halls of Rhetoric saw enough use that I do not believe it would been inaccurate to say that there were a number who enjoyed friendly debate. Nor would poetry and art have been unknown, among those activities our people undertook for leisure.

[ The Hall of Rhetoric. Ah yes, Amaurot. There is a delay in Elidibus's answer while he takes a moment to process some of the memories Emet-Selch's answer invokes. ]

I enjoyed reading. And...stories. I wondered when I, too, might embark on an adventure, though my duty oft prevented it.

[ The uninvited offer of what Elidibus in turn how found 'fun' is left at that. ]

Thank you Emet-Selch. I think between yours and Hythlodaeus' answers, I can respond appropriately.

[Given that he is no stranger to a simple word or action recalling once-forgotten memories to mind, he's more than willing to give Elidibus what time he should need.]

The burden of duty was one that often made adventure difficult.

[And though he might have answered Azem's call, when it had come... those had hardly been the grand, sweeping adventures he suspects Elidibus had longed for.]

Still, I am glad to have been of assistance.

To Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus.

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