More than just a few steps after the walking conversation about Ath, Telosh slides up next to Alexis again.
“Hunger. When I connected with the Dark Third, I felt a deep, bottomless hunger. That could be Undeath, it could be Crows, and it could be the ArruNoroth. The undead hunger for the living. Crows are always hungry for food. Dragons are always hungry for gold and power.”
Telosh pauses.
“What is Ath hungry for? I am hungry for recognition, praise… trust.”
Telosh grows very quite, even his steps are softer.
Alexis raises as eyebrow at the last bit.
“As I understand it, the three aspect of the…” Alexis seems to grasp for the correct word “… summoning are the ever-hungering darkness, the Arru-Noroth, and whatever the last ‘dark power’ is.
My working theory is that the undead that just rose up (and that we should have buried days ago)” Alexis is clearly unhappy with himself about this “came from the ever-hungering darkness and/or the Old Thing that was ‘jarred loose’. Perhaps they are one-and-the-same, although this seems unlikely and my hypothesis is that the Old Thing ‘jarred loose’ is what I keep feeling, rather what we both keep feeling, further down the mine.”
After a moment of reflection Alexis continues. “Your… ” that same grasping for the correct word, or perhaps avoiding the wrong words “… summoned… err… Nell is a creation, presumably, outside the Old Thing that was ‘jarred loose’. The four components to… ‘Nell’ are the three from the… summoning pit and yourself. You supplied the desire and the” Alexis is clearly gesturing to the arm in the dark “fuel. The dark powers you called upon added their own influence from their side. And then you… shaped all these things into something that didn’t simply fizzle or produce the same reality where we now exist, but with your corpse added to those that attacked us earlier tonight.”
“But I haven’t exactly answered your question, and the answer is: I don’t know. Most budding wizards don’t come to training with a pull towards Ath. And those that might (but could almost certainly never name it) would be taught an affinity towards a different ‘god’; a replacement. Kolar seems to be the closest person who might, might, be able to help you with your question. Although I suspect you want a priest with a little less shine about him.”
“What we both sense deeper in the mines is a dragon.
At first Telosh is very certain, but then keeps talking, and grows less certain with each word.
“The earthquake… the ArruNorroth… Ancient… of interest to you…”
“A dragon could make sense, but it would have to be a very old one. The thing I felt hints of, that we felt hints of, didn’t feel like my other encounters with dragons. But when they get older they get more powerful. Some say this power is simply a greater connection to the ‘dragon god’, which we now know is called the Arru-Noroth.”
“I can see why the Arru-Noroth would want me, perhaps. And surely the undead would be a tool for the dark dragon god, but it seems like a dragon would be a more appropriate tool. And there’s one off to the east. From what I gather, not that far into the grasslands… at least not as the dragon flies.”