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[bird_brain]

[Aubri looks pensive: ear tufts flat against his head, gaze piercing, posture not quite relaxed. He speaks slowly, deliberately softening his accent for the sake of this message.]

Not so very long ago in my world, two great mages fell into war. Ma'ar grew to love power too much. Urtho was the only mage who could even think to stand against him.

[Aubri taps the ground next to the locket. The tap tap tap of his talons is dimly heard until he speaks again.] Ma'ar polluted magic. He poured every evil he possessed into his creations. Our troops were decimated. In the end, Urtho's only defense was to build a weapon as great and terrible as Ma'ar could conceive. I do not know if Urtho knew how great the consequences would be.

I helped deliver that weapon. [Okay, no. Not really, but he was there when Skandranon delivered it. But those are details and he'd rather not get into those... because then he'd have to talk about getting caught and abducted and that's just not fun talk.] It was a terrible price to pay for our lives.

[But he would do it again, if it meant saving the lives of so many people.] The magic corrupted the land and all the creatures in it. We could live there no longer. The storms would have killed us, if the creatures twisted by magic did not first.

[A pause.] Be careful out there, my friends.

Comments

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[boutant]

Are you okay?

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[bird_brain]

I have been thinking.

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[boutant]

So... not okay?

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[bird_brain]

It's hard not to be reminded of home.

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[boutant]

In general, or because of the battle?

[digophelia]

[ He is a welcomed face more than he knows after the Jabberwock. After all, it was a gryphon that helped her slay it, it wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the gryphon. Alice gives a joyful grasp of her locket. ]

Aubri! I am so happy to see you!

[bird_brain]

[His beak gapes in a grin.] Hello, my friend. I am glad to see you.

[digophelia]

I as well! Are your hurt at all?

[bird_brain]

No, no. I am well. What of you, child? I've missed you.

[detoxifying]

[ Under different circumstances, Cullen might have had much more to say. Had the individual in question been a human, he might have made a remark about Ferelden and the lands that had yet to recover form the Blight. But they weren't. They were a...

He stares, memorized by the sight of a creature that hadn't existed for some four hundred years. ]

Maker.

[ Then again, if there could be a talking lion and a talking dragon, why not a talking griffon?

Wonders truly never ceased. ]

[bird_brain]

[Aubri blinks at the locket and its a beat before he answers.]

No. Aubri.

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[detoxifying]

[ Oh. Well... ]

It's... an expression.

[ And Maker, now he's talking to a griffon. On a magic locket. Just when he thinks he's starting to see what this world has to offer, it once again surprises him. ]

Forgive me, I had not thought to see a griffon.

[ Let alone a talking one. ]

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[bird_brain]

[Aubri's ear tufts swivel forward.]

I know. I have seen your reaction before. If you have questions, now is the time to ask.

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[fulminants]

[ is that a talking bird...? ]

What happened to that mage? Urtho?

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[bird_brain]

He was poisoned by Ma'ar. He held onto life long enough to help us make our escape.

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[fulminants]

[ ...Oh. ]

Wow, that sucks; sorry to hear that, buddy. What about this Ma'ar guy?

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[bird_brain]

He was killed in the explosion. [It was in the way he straightened, in the way his eyes narrowed that spoke to something predatory.] We set off the bomb nearly at his feet.

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[bythewaves]

Again and again the story repeats, hm?

[ Arwen is gone and Maglor is paler again, quiet and tired and sad ]

You would think that people would learn. Are you well, Master Aubri?

[bird_brain]

We never learn.

[A pause.] How are you faring?

[bythewaves]

No, tis sad but true. Men in general seem quite bad at that, although they are hardly the only ones who do so.

[ A quiet smile and he lifts his hand for Aubri to see ]

Not well. [ He admits ] With Arwen gone tis only Muscovy, Aragorn and amil who tie my spirit to my body. And amil forebodes that we are soon to be parted. One way or another, I do not have long left.

[bird_brain]

Oh, Maglor. [Aubri's ear tufts droop.] You break my heart, my friend.

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[chivalrist]

[ she is drawn at first by the sight of him, because she is not familiar with such creatures and what appears to be a talking bird is worth a stare, at least, but her attention lingers with the story.

she sighs, the sound soft and brief, shaking her head. ]

Great power is a wasting sickness at least half the time.

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[bird_brain]

I have never heard it put that way before, but I can agree, I think.

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[chivalrist]

It's unfortunate, that it seems common. [ still, she considers - ] You were doing what you had to do though, do you think?

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[bird_brain]

It seemed the only thing we had left to do. I do not think that I would change it, had I to do it over again.