The room has a tense feeling to it, like the air itself was too thick. Qrow had been in uncomfortable situations before, he had even been stuck in a holding cell a few times, but he would choose a holding cell over sitting at this table. Of everything Qrow could have expected from this meeting, awkward silence was nowhere near the top of the list. These were the most powerful people in the world, some of the people in this room could shatter a mountain with their strength or can cast spells that shake the earth, and yet in each other's presence they are just silent.
"Enough of this," Qrow said under his breath, rolling his eyes. He waved his hand under the table where no one could see making a rune in the air. The rune glowed dimly and flared for a moment. In the ancient language the rune meant 'darkness'. Qrow watched as a shadow grew from the rune for a moment, but then it was dissipated a moment later. Qrow raised an eyebrow and tried again but the same result occurred. Qrow began to grow in frustration when he felt his father put a large hand on his shoulder and lean down to him.
"Magic does not work here," he whispered to Qrow while still looking forward, "look around the room." Qrow observed the room, the larged cracked glass ceiling above him, the murals along the walls depicting the different countries including his home, and as he looked he began to notice the runes that adorned the room. They are small, but numerous, covering the entire room.
"The runes are imbued with a counterspell. It goes around the entire island," Qrow's father, Enguvil Rashom, said with a small chuckle.
"Great," Qrow says while shrugging off his fathers hand, "then can someone please say something soon, I am getting to the point where I might just stand up and leave." Qrow said this quietly but his eyes darted around the room at the same time. Years on the streets taught Qrow to stay alert at all times. While he had never met most of the people in this room, he had done his research on each of them, assessing who was going to be a threat and who could be of use:
Rijin of Midoku, a large goliath adorned in high seas armor, his tattoos showing against his ashen white skin, his ears pierced from top to bottom, his long black hair tied up in a top knot; Qrow had seen a few Goliath's in his life so he knew of their size and strength but seeing one of his reputation was new for Qrow, especially if he was anything like his father. Qrow deemed him a threat.
Garus Hayward, lead singer of the band Un Direct, and the heir to Limgren. Qrow knew all about him. His trashy music, his flamboyant wings, everything about him screamed ego and narcissism. Qrow heard his music periodically throughout Fearsh, it was often used by different groups that sought for peace between Limgren and Fearsh. Qrow regarded it more so as noise than art. Garus was not deemed a threat.
Prometheus of Xerxes, Captain of the desert winds. He was the biggest mystery to Qrow of them all. He was handsome, his features were famous among the nations especially the women who swooned over rulers. Seeing him in person Qrow mainly thought he looked tired, and incredibly bored; they shared that in common. However Prometheus is from Xerxes which means they are desert nomads with little innovation or magic. Qrow thought he could be of use.
Then there was Varithorn of Niepe. Qrow knew nothing about him or Niepe. Niepe kept things very close to the vest as far as their country and even their features. The Niepeans at the table were all shrouded in black cloaks, they did not let their features be discerned by the rest of the nations. Varithorn was definitely a threat.
Lastly, there is Lia of the Court of Sunflowers in Penzamen. As Qrow looked at her he had a hard time forming together a coherent thought. She has elvish features like him but she is of a different breed. She has long blonde hair and piercing emerald eyes. Someone about her gave off the feeling of innocence and warmth but Qrow could tell there was also a level of intimidation he could not place. He wondered if the innocence was simply a plow for something deeper. He would need to get to understand her better to decide if she was going to be a threat or of use to him.
Qrow continued to observe the different groups but his thought process was broken by his father standing up. In comparison to almost everyone else at the table, the Enguvil was basically a monolith. If they made a stone statue of him it still would not do his chiseled features justice. The Enguvil stood at ten feet tall, had arms the size of Qrow's whole body, and wielded a massive battle axe so withered by extreme force that it looked as if the cold rolled steel was made of crackled stone. Though the Enguvil was close to 300 years old, Rashom had kept his strength and prowess over the years. The only man on the planet who is considered his equal is the Sentinel of Midoku, everyone else had to rely on other means to reach his level of ability and combat power. However Qrow always found his fathers most daunting feature was his timidity and kindness, it infuriated Qrow beyond anything he could believe. This man was a mountain that could easily rule any room he entered and instead he moved more towards being good natured and forgiving; he was weak, or at least that is how Qrow saw him.
The Enguvil was quiet for a moment as he thought of what to say, he had never been the best at speaking in front of unfamiliar groups of people. He took a large breath and got ready to speak but another voice piped up first.
"Spit it out Rashom," said the woman sitting at the head of the Limgren section, "we do not have all day to wait for a single word." She said this with a smirk on her face and put her legs up on the table. Qrow looked at her with disdain, even though he had never met her there was no way he did not know her, she is the Skutsamling. Qrow gripped his knee tight with anger. The Enguvil must have been able to sense Qrow's frustration because very quickly a massive hand rested on Qrow's shoulder. Qrow looked up to see his fathers stormy gray eyes looking at him intently. Rashom simply shook his head, telling Qrow to stand down.
"All of us are busy individuals, I thank each and every one of you for taking time to meet here at this sacred isle. Instead of wasting all of our time with pleasantries, I will get…" The Enguvil started but was interrupted once again.
"Rashom you have already wasted our time," The Skutsamling said while chuckling, "say what you want so we may all leave and continue on with the destruction of each other's cultures," the Skutsamling snapped and a young servant came over with a goblet filled with what Qrow could only assume was wine.
"Diana I hear you…" the Enguvil tried to regain control but was interrupted once again.
"Diana would you quell your racket?" Qrow looked for the source of the voice and followed it back to Rijin, the Sentinel of Midoku. He sat there with a hand on his massive sword that laid beside him, his eyes fixed on the Skutsamling. "Save your petty squabbles for your homeland. Is your goal for this meeting to end? Then let the Enguvil say his piece and be done with it. There is no need for your pointed comments," The Sentinel's gaze did not stray from Diana's eyes. Diana smirked, she saw the Sentinel's gaze as a challenge, one that she gladly accepted.
"Choose someone else to try and conquer Rijin, we have enough oppression to deal with as it is. How about Niepe? No one really gives a shit about them why not take over their land?" Diana did not back down, she spoke with a forthrightness that commanded respect even against a man like the Sentinel. Everyone seemed tense and uncomfortable besides Garus. Qrow observed Garus rolling his eyes at the Skutsamling's words as he continued to tune his lute.
"There is no need for bickering," Rashom interjected, trying to defuse the situation, "we are all here for a reason. I do not believe that all of our issues can be solved over a single conversation. I cannot forgive Limgren for the countless lives lost over border disputes in the same way that Penzamen cannot forgive Midoku for countless years of enslavement. I do not intend for us to heal at this meeting but I do intend for us to fight the common enemy."
"The common enemy?" the Dauntless of Xerxes spoke up. Qrow looked at them inquisitively. He had heard many stories about the Dauntless and their strength but seeing them for the first time they simply looked like old Nyvind, the days of glory had clearly left them. To Qrow, they looked more like nobles than they did warriors, the type who expected respect rather than earned it through dominance. "What common enemy do you speak of? Has Haes Reth returned? Has the world started to end? The only common threat I see here is Midoku so if you are suggesting an invasion I say we make it swift," the Dauntless gave more pointed words at the Midoken's. The Sentinel simply raised his goblet to the Dauntless in jest.
"Midoku is not the enemy. We have all had something taken from us," Rashom said slamming his fist on the table. The table shook a bit from the force. "We are all seeped in lies and secrecy. We spy and we bicker in an endless cold war trying to gain the upperhand of dominance and someone has now used it to their advantage," Rashom leaned back from the table a bit. Qrow intently observed his father. They had talked a little about the meeting to come but even Qrow was in the dark of his fathers intentions. "I will break down the wall that no one else is willing to overcome if it means that this world might be spared." Rashom turned to Qrow and held out his hand. He spoke softly to him.
"Qrow give me the dagger if you please," there was a softness to his eyes, a warmth of empathy and overwhelming sadness. Qrow looked at those eyes with disdain, he knew what was coming.
"You really intend to tell them? All of them?" Qrow said loudly coming up from his seat, "Even the bitch who allowed him to die? Have you gone mad?" Qrow continued to grow in anger at his fathers actions. Rashom simply smiled.
"Please son," He kept his hand outstretched. Qrow knew he could not refuse. He reached to his side and unsheathed a black dagger, stained with tinges of blood. Qrow held it for a moment before clenching the blade and throwing it to the middle of the table in anger. Everyone's eyes fixated on the object. A flash of anger went across Rashom's face from the defiance of his son, but it quickly passed.
Rashom addressed the congregation, "does anyone know the make of this dagger?"
They continued to look at the dagger, some of the groups whispered to each other. Qrow could tell they were talking about it but could not discern what they were saying about it. Finally, the King of Niepe reached out and grabbed the dagger. He mulled it over in his hands, the dark gloves he wore to not show any of his skin reflected with the black blade.
"This knife," the king said, "is not of any make I have seen before," the king of Niepe got lost in the dagger. To Qrow it seemed that the king forgot the meeting was going on the longer he looked at the dagger. The king held the dagger by the hilt, turning it again and again. Then, he did something that shocked Qrow as well as everyone else in the room. The King laid the dagger down and brought up his sleeve a little bit to reveal a bit of his arm. His arm looked like any other humanoid creature's arm, but the distinct difference was the number of runes that had been burned into his skin. Qrow looked at them in disgust. He had known that the people of Niepe were sorcerers who relied on their own innate magic, but never knew their method for drawing the magic out.
The king stuck out his hand over the dagger and spoke, "Rehieth Sin" . As he said the words, one of the larger runes that was etched onto his arm began to glow. At first it was a bright white color but then it became a dark black. After a brief moment it dissipated and nothing in the room seemed to have changed. Qrow let a small grin come across his face.
"This is awkward," Qrow spoke up, everyone took their eyes off the king of Niepe and moved them to Qrow. "Magic is not able to be used in this room. So, I do not know what kind of spell you were hoping to cast but it doesn't seem to be effective here." The king looked up from the dagger towards Qrow. Qrow could not see his eyes but he could tell he was looking at him. Qrow gazed into his black hood that held a deep void of nothingness, as if the man he was looking at had no being at all. The king chuckled a little and another rune on his arm flared to life, this time the rune was a light blue color. The King wristed his wrist upward and as he did so, the dagger followed. It floated up into the air and began to dematerialize. Bits and pieces of it began to be consumed by what seemed to be nothing. Qrow was astonished, his smugness disappeared. After a moment the dagger began to reform itself until it was in its proper form once more.
"Miqueli, what can you tell us about it?" Rashom asked, ignoring Qrow's outburst and looking towards the king of Niepe.
"Well the dagger is made of obsidian, but its properties have been enhanced magically," Miqueli moved his hand across the dagger and three different magic circles appeared above it. "Obsidian is not known for its durability, that is why it has an alteration spell on it but it is incredibly advanced," Miqueli pointed to the brown magic circle above the blade.
"Advanced in what way?" Rijin, the Sentinel, asked.
"Most alteration spells, as I am sure you know, enhance objects to make it stronger or change certain properties of a blade or object. This spell has changed the makeup of the blade itself. It is surely made of obsidian but it has been changed to resemble the same properties as steel," Miqueli answered.
"Why would someone want to do that?" Rashom asked, "why not just use a steel dagger?"
"Obsidian is a special element. Steel is stronger, but Obsidian is far sharper. Also steel is often very temperamental. Enchantments on steel weigh on the metal, warping it. If you want to have two or more enchantments on an object; more likely than not it will break before the enchantments actually have a chance to take hold. Obsidian is one of the rare minerals that holds multiple enchantments without breaking, if you wanted to have multiple spells on a knife obsidian would be the best readily available resource," Miqueli answered.
"What do the other enchantments do," A new voice to the left of Qrow said. Qrow looked over and recognized the speaker as Adonis, the leader of the blessing of Life and the head speaker for the people of Penzamen. "You mentioned that there were other enchantments. As far as we know magic is dispelled when someone enters the center isle, how is this dagger able to hold on to its spells?"
"That is where the dagger gets the most interesting," Miqueli answered, "Rashom you had your own mages examine this dagger?"
Rashom nodded his head, "I did. But they had trouble even casting 'identify' on the dagger."
"That is because of the second enchantment. The second enchantment sets the dagger apart from our plane, meaning that while it exists here in our plane it is identified as being from somewhere else in the cosmos," Miqueli said this and everyone at the table was puzzled including Qrow. Everyone at the table seemed to want to ask the same question but no one was willing to actually speak up.
"Umm…" a small voice said, "why would someone want the dagger to seem like it is from another plane?" Lia looked sheepish as she asked, Qrow smiled a little. Even though she asked in a shy manner, Qrow thought she had a lot of courage to ask in the first place. Instead of Miqueli answering, another voice spoke up first. A man standing next to Lia put his hand on her head and laughed.
"Oh Lia. It is classic that a Cleric would not know how magic works," the man said. Lia smacked the hand off her head and gave the man a look. For some reason this agitated Qrow.
"When someone is in another plane they must learn the magic that is distinct to that plane, meaning spells that are not from the same dimension have no effect on it. Making the dagger have the distinction of another plane of existence means that the dagger is no longer able to be affected by magic on that plane. It makes the dagger almost indestructible from a magical standpoint," the man answered. Qrow was unaware that someone so wise in understanding magic and magical principles existed in Penzamen. The man looked at everyone around the table and smiled.
"Oh my apologies!" the man said with a large smile, "My name is Fuju, archmage in the school of demolition, official arcane advisor to the Court of Sunflowers." Qrow did not like him. There was something about him that annoyed Qrow. Maybe it was his smile or the way he did not seem nervous in a room filled with the most powerful people in the world. Whatever it was Qrow immediately could tell that this 'Fuju' was a threat.
"So the dagger has been enhanced physically, it has been protected magically, but why? What is the point of the third enchantment?" The Sentinel asked.
"Well I am embarrassed to admit this but if I had to guess, none of us know am I correct?" Fuju said. He looked towards the people of Niepe, they shook their heads in agreement. "The third enchantment is not a spell I recognize even as an archmage. If I examined it I might be able to tell you what it is but that is only if I had time with the dagger."
"Which Rashom is not going to let happen," The Sentinel looked towards the Enguvil, "Why show us this dagger Rashom?"
All eyes were on Fearsh now. Qrow swallowed hard, the attention was daunting. He preferred the shadows. He and his father had a conversation about the meeting and what he was planning to discuss. Needless to say, Qrow was not a fan of his fathers idea. Qrow sank a little deeper into his seat, trying not to be noticed next to his father.
"The reason I show you this dagger is the reason I have called this meeting: someone is coming after all of us," Rashom said, everyone looking around, "I did not happen upon this object nor was I looking for it. It was given to me…lodged in the heart of my heir, Haldrin."
The room was silent. Other than the obvious reason for the ominous news, there was also the surprise as well. It was one of the reasons Qrow did not want his father to tell everyone about the death of Haldrin. It was no secret that the countries of Hize did not like each other, none of them tended to be the sharing type. Information was leverage and leverage could be used in a number of ways especially during a cold war. The death of a high noble, or even worse the heir to the country, is a point of weakness. It admits that your country is without a future, and a country without a future can be manipulated and taken over. For the Enguvil of Fearsh to openly admit to his heir being killed is basically an open invitation for invasion. Miqueli the king of Niepe was the first to break the silence.
"And the blessing of Amat? Has there been a confirmation of where it will go?" Miqueli asked. This was the question Qrow was dreading the most. Every country in Hize has what is called "a blessing" a sort of power that resides within the ruler of the country. Each one is strong and is one of the main ways that they are able to defend their country. For Fearsh, the blessing of Amat which flows through the Enguvil allows for the people to tame powerful beasts that roam freely throughout the land. When someone attacks Fearsh they are not just attacking the people, but also all of the beast in the land as well. Without the blessing of Amat, the beast would no longer have the ability to tame monsters, greatly weakening their ability to defend themselves and drastically changing their way of life.
"As of this moment, Qrow is my heir. He will be the next Enguvil. But we are still unsure if the blessing of Amat is going to pass on to him," Rashom admitted. The different groups processed this news but Limgren and its delegates were the only one who seemed to be happy with this news, openly smiling before the congregation. It infuriated Qrow. He knew it was probably a good thing he could not use magic at the moment because he would use it to snuff out Limgren for their insolence.
"But that is not what I am here to discuss. I know that all of you at this table are wondering why I would tell you this. Why would I openly admit that we are in a weakened state and could possibly lose our blessing? It is because I suspect that I am not the only one who has had an attack on their heir as of late," Rashom said. Eyes darted around the room. Everyone was looking for someone else to speak up. When Rashom and Qrow had talked Rashom was counting on Adonis to admit that he was sick but Adonis was not the one to speak up.
"My heir is missing," the Sentinel, Rijin, spoke up first. There were a few audible gasps in the room not so much from the information but mainly from the one giving it. "She was kidnapped and we have not seen her since." Qrow could not help but smile in astonishment. It was just one thing after another that his brain had trouble comprehending, he never in a million years would have suspected that the Sentinel of all people would be the first to speak up.
"Wow I was not expecting that but because of that nugget of truth I feel much more comfortable admitting that I am in fact sick and dying. As far as my clerics and physicians have been able to tell me, I have some sort of curse that has been cast on me. This means that the blessing of Sol is also at risk currently, but there are good signs to say that Lia will inherit it," Adonis looked at Lia. Qrow examined Lia, trying to discern her hidden thoughts although they were not too hidden: she was pissed.
The Dauntless was the next to speak, "My heir…" he started to say but was tugged on by his wife. Qrow could not discern what she said to him but it clearly made the Dauntless angry.
"I will say what I must as I am the ruler of Xerxes!" his anger flared. Magma, like red magic, showed through cracks in his earthen skin, "do not question my rule!" The Dauntless shook off his frustration.
"My daughter and heir were killed in a brutal accident. We suspect there may have been foul play. With what you have told us, it is almost assured that it was," the Dauntless said.
"Did anyone find anything at the scene where these things happened?" Rashom asked, "did anyone find a dagger or some sort of object?"
"We found obsidian, the stone the dagger is made out of, around the area where Meryn was murdered," The Dauntless answered. "We did not think anything of it at the time, but now that I think about it obsidian is not commonly found within Xerxes…we do not know how it got there."
"Obsidian could be a marker of whoever this group is," Miqueli spoke up.
"Well," Adonis spoke up, "it is not that I found something like obsidian, I had never actually seen the stuff before today, but after I started to deteriorate something appeared on me and began to grow." Adonis stood and turned around lifting his shirt. Qrow leaned in to see. On Qrows back, close to the center of his spine, was a small black crack that diverged to create two black lines that met together to form a smile. A shiver ran down Qrow's spine, a very real sense of terror and dread came over him. Qrow knew he had seen that smile before. For a moment Qrow saw it in his head, clear as day, the all black smile that appeared in the empty void in his dreams.
Qrow scooted away quickly in fear. The heaviness of the chair made a loud noise as the chair was thrust backwards gathering the attention of everyone in the room.
"An Obsidian Smile…" Qrow said out loud. All eyes now rested on him.