Hector settled into his chair, his mismatched eyes taking on a distant look. "Fine, let me tell you the whole truth about Raxus's rise to power," he began, his voice taking on a storyteller's cadence. "You see, when we first arrived in this accursed place, we all struggled. Our magical abilities, our very life force - what we call Qi - began to deplete over time."
Zafron's brow furrowed. "Qi? Depleting?"
[My lord,] Calista chimed in, [want me to run a quick scan?]
'Yes,' Zafron thought, 'check if what he's saying is true.'
After a moment, Calista responded. [Well, I can't exactly quantify your Qi - it's pure energy in its finest form. But based on the data I've collected since we arrived, I can say with certainty that you're releasing more Qi into the atmosphere than you're absorbing.]
