"So, when you asked if I come from an epoch-tribe...?" Noone probed. The soft-voiced woman merely smiled.
"Because of the isolation of your people, we had assumed that you were part of a yet-discovered epoch tribe… however after hearing your story, I am much less certain." She sighed.
"A cornerstone of every tribe is their devotion to their false-gods who protect them. But, apart from your ancestor which you mentioned, it seems your people had no form of religion as such." The wizened voice spoke up, speaking for everyone present.
Noone nodded, but in his own mind many thoughts were quickly being processed. "If we aren't an epoch tribe from the last era, then what were we?" Noone thought. "Did we really miss an entire era? Or were we protected after the end of the last era, but before this one…?" The more Noone thought, the more his head began to throb. Noone had no concept of the time scale they were working with, and he didn't know enough about early Tapestry to say for sure… but from what he could tell there were only two possibilities…
Either Tapestry was created as a response to the bloody feuds of the last era… Or it is far older than even the last era and missed over it entirely. Noone couldn't help but frown at both possibilities.
"And then there's also the fact that no one we have ever sent out to scout the surface world ever came back." Noone thought silently, biting his lip. "Why would that be… Should I ask them? No… if they hadn't mentioned it by now, they probably don't know. What about asking them to help me find Adria?" Noone considered this, but eventually decided against it as well, whether or not she was still alive he didn't know, but if she was, he would find her eventually.
"What happens if I choose to meet with this Elize?" Noone asked.
"Well… we would prefer you don't as we have no gauge of her power or control. However, we can't stop you either. Perhaps, just informing you of the situation is enough to throw her control off balance even if you do come under her grasp." The wizened voice considered his words for a while before speaking.
Of course, they could physically stop him right now, they could even kill him on the spot if they desired, but their own diviners had warned them against such an action.
Noone frowned. The more he heard about these diviners, the less he liked what he heard. Noone wouldn't be so presumptuous to say he understood such things, but how could messing with things such as the future ever turn out well.
"I miss Liter…" Noone thought silently, a sigh forming in his heart. Noone had always looked up to Liter's ability to reason out abstract notions like this. Liter was blessed with the laws of knowledge, after all.
"Alright." Noone finally said. "I only have one more thing then." Everyone looked on in silence, curious as to what the last question of this young man would be.
"The beings who attacked the nearby epoch-tribe, was that the diviner – Elize – as well? And if so, why? And what is being done about it?" Noone spoke smoothly and quickly. Ever since his run-in with the epoch-tribe a year ago, Noone had been curious about this. He wasn't sure if it was relevant to anything, but he couldn't help but feel there was something missing to the story.
The table broke out into subtle murmurs.
The wizened voice let out a bitter scowl. "Truth be told Noone, this whole situation has been quite a headache for us." He shook his head. "Truth be told, we can find no connection between the attack, and Elize. And believe me we have checked. But from everything we have been able to find out, it seems that the attack was organized and led by a rogue high-level evocation caster. The only problem is we still have no idea as to who or why. We don't know if they were just stirring up trouble or had a secondary goal in mind. We haven't even been able to find anything about this caster except that she is a female." The old voice sighed. "We have our suspicions. But no evidence."
Noone nodded in understanding, he didn't believe they would lie about this after everything they had already shared.
"As far as what we are doing, we are working on negotiations with the tribe, but they are tenuous at best for the moment."
Noone's thoughts moved like a snake in grass, darting between different scenarios. "Was it just a coincidence that they were attacked at the same time I was approaching the surface?" Noone thought. "If it wasn't, then it almost certainly had to do with this 'Elize' person."
Everything that has happened to Noone since falling to the bottom of the cliff had become a blur of one out-of-his-control event after the next. Noone had never been able to shake the feeling that there was always hands pulling the strings what which he could not see.
But now, for the first time, Noone was able to almost see where these designs came from.
Suddenly, Noone's heart went cold and his expression froze. A rogue thought passed through his mind which he only managed to catch by the tail...
"If this diviner could see and influence the future… then… my home!" Memories of Tapestry in ruins surged through him like a tidal wave of renewed emotions, the bones of everyone he ever knew, now graves in a cavern at the end of the world.
"Elize…" Noone whispered the name to himself, cementing the name in his thoughts. Whether or not she had actually played a hand in the murder of his people, Noone didn't care. For the first time he had a lead.
"I. Need. To. Get. Stronger." Noone admonished himself. His hands closed tightly into fists, knuckles turning white under the immense pressure.
Noone's change in demeanor did not go unnoticed by the others around the table. Especially Alaviv who could almost feel the shift in Noone's energy. Noone quickly hid it, deciding that there was nothing he could do about it right now.
If anything, Noone was able to rely on these mages as allies who have a similar enemy, but he knew that they didn't care about him beyond that, no matter how nice they might seem.
"Well." Alaviv spoke calmly, standing in his chair he clapped his hands together drawing everyone's attention. "If that's all for today, Noone and I have some irons in the fire which requires our attention."
A nod of agreement came from the wizened old man at the other end of the table who waved them off.
Noone and Alaviv both left the way they came. Before exiting through the door, Noone turned around and gave a casual wave to the table and swiftly exited after. Despite the lighthearted gesture though, his heart was still heavy.