“What are you doing here?” Vahlok hissed as he reached for his blade.
“I could ask the same of you,” Tempo replied, reaching for her pistol. “Poaching again, are you?”
“Coming from the queen of the poachers, considering what I’ve heard about you!” Vahlok spat, only to quickly change his tone. A young, somewhat panvok-y being appeared, the leader of the race that Vahlok had come to propose to. Their appearance though was also somewhat Temthan, so no wonder Tempo had come along to try and convert them as well. But at the same time? Something was amiss.
“I see you two have met?” the being asked. According to Vahlok’s sources, the race in question were called Vrekans. A distant relative of the Vohra, with talons, feathered parts, a hooked beak and an unusual headpiece, like a simple, large horn coming off the back of their skulls. This one was wearing bone armour encrusted with gems, coupled with silk cloth, wearing a large crown/helmet combo. “I apologise for scheduling your little… talks at the same time, but I wanted to hear both sides of your, uh, arguments? Especially since this is all at a very short notice.”
Vahlok bowed slightly, in respect to the being. “Thank you, King Ver, for seeing us.” Tempo muttered a thank you as well, but something about her seemed off. The Vrekan King led the pair of them into a conference room and pulled out some chairs for them to sit down, before sitting down himself. Accompanying King Ver were two other beings, a heavily armoured Vrekan and one only wearing clothes, not armour.
“I hope you do not mind these two being here. My advisor and my guard. They will not be troubling us.”
“It’s fine,” Tempo smiled slightly. “We understand your need for protection.”
King Ver nodded, as a Vrekan came in holding a tray with several glasses on it. They placed the tray on the table and poured five glasses of water, then left. “Before we begin, would you two like anything to eat or drink?”
“No, thank you,” the two representatives replied in unison.
“Very well. I would like it if Vahlok here could start first. I am… slightly more familiar with what he has to offer. Afterwards, Tempo, you may say your part. And then I shall ask you both some questions before sending you on your way. Understand?”
Two nods.
“Good!”
Vahlok stood up and placed a hologram projector on the conference table in front of King Ver. On it appeared an image of some sort of Deitic, a couple of Vohra and some sort of Temthan working together.
“I am here to represent the Acolytes of Stasis. We believe that, via cooperation between Deitics and Mortal beings, we can bring perfection and immortality to this universe. By pledging ourselves to Immortality itself, Stasis will bless us with the ability to make genuine change, to bring salvation to all, no matter who they are, and to bring an end to the constant forward flow of time and negative change.”
The Vrekans all seemed somewhat unimpressed.
“Is that it?” King Ver asked.
“There is more, if you…”
“You… just… Alright. Thank you, Vahlok. Tempo, what do you have to offer?”
Vahlok sat down, taking back his hologram projector and trying to hide his disappointment, and Tempo stood up. She didn’t seem to have anything fancy on her.
“I represent the Disciples of the Whenvern. While our desire to create a perfect universe is similar to that of the Acolytes, we believe that by pledging ourselves to the Whenvern, the Lord of Time, by putting our faith in him, we can learn to be able to control time ourselves, to free ourselves from the-”
The two Vrekans either side of King Ver tutted.
“Please, you two. I know you both hate the ideas of religions, but..”
“My Lord,” the clothed one complained. “This is a massive waste of our time. We do not like religions, they have nearly destroyed us in the past, and these two are no more than chocolate teapot salesmen.”
“That is rather rude!” Vahlok growled. “We didn’t have to come all this way!”
King Ver though just shrugged. “Vonial is kinda right though. In what way can this benefit us? The Vrekans are peaceful, we have escaped our war-torn ways. We are at harmony with the other races that live alongside us. Life may be somewhat hard for the Vrekans, but we struggle together, working towards our own future. Your religions only threaten to tear us apart again… One second…”
This time, the armoured one interrupted. But discreetly.
“A what now? Is it harming anyone?”
“No, your Highness. Just watching.”
“As long as it is not harming anyone. After all, this will be released to the public later on. Not like everyvok won’t see this anyway. Plus, this meeting bores me.”
“Very well. Just so you know, we also have our meeting with the High General soon…” the armoured Vrekan sighed. King Ver turned his attention back to his two visitors.
“I apologise for the interruptions. But I am afraid to say, I am simply not interested in anything you and your religions have to offer. Perhaps it might be wise to come back later, when you both have more to offer and I am not so busy, yes?”
The Vrekan King stood up, as did his two advisors. He walked round to Vahlok and Tempo, tapping them both on the shoulder.
“Thank you for coming, have a safe trip home. And don’t worry about whatever it was my Myst Prime here was muttering about. Anything Cycle-related, we believe to be symbols of good luck.”
Vahlok and Tempo glanced at each other, thanked King Ver, bowed, then swiftly left, not really wanting to stick around and see what the Vrekan was talking about.
Once the beings were gone, Ver sat back down and smiled.
“Kellian?” the Vrekan King asked.
“Yes, my Lord?”
“Were you serious about that Veth thing?”
“Yes, ser. We only caught a glimpse of it on our security cameras. As if it was informing us it was there.”
Ver leaned back in his seat. “Interesting… Well, I can only assume it is on our side. After all, if Time and Stasis have representatives, the Cycle probably has some too…”