Beyond the Trail of the Giant

In camp, some days after leaving the valley of chaos and cold.

“I’ve a thought… what if we don’t have to kill the giant to get the sword? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for killing the giant, but it seems like there is a lot of other things going on, and the longer this takes, the more… strange things get. Maybe we should try to deal with the swords first.

“The giant is our goal because of the Twice Broken Sword, be believe it is in the fort, right?

He looks at all his companions.

“Raff is… concerned about the Twice Broken Sword, but the Chaos Blade is not, correct?

He looks at Alexis.

“We know Earycka has more access to the inner workings of the fort that we do…”

He looks around at every one and pauses to see see if at least Alexis and Red are following his line of thinking…

“We are deal-makers after all…”

Before We Leave This Tent…

As the group is still recovering from Leer’s poison and talking about possible courses of action.

“We will leave Raff and Earika to their fight. The Sword Chaotic has a sort of gravity that I wish to move away from. Perhaps in a few years things will be different and I will have the opportunity to study it at the Collegium, but for now we will focus on other things.”

Alexis then moves to the tent flap and looks around, presumably to make sure nobody is obviously eaves-dropping. He then moves back into the tent and addresses Telosh in an even tone “You lied and deceived me when you cast that spell when I wasn’t looking. You waited for my attention to be elsewhere, and you purposely used my magic against my will. In hindsight I now realize you had been waiting for such an opportunity, possible for some time now. For an opportunity when I would have a working you could try to mimic and when I would be distracted. Pure deceit. Premeditated, and an utter betrayal of my trust in showing you anything of magic.”

Alexis seems slightly sad as he starts his next sentence “And now I can’t use magic around you, because I know you are always watching. Biding your time playing the role of a loyal companion, but actually deceiving me. Duping me into showing you magic but without the rigor, the skill, or the control.”

Waiting for Earicka

Waiting in the darkness with Raff and the last few followers, Alexis turns to Telosh.

“If you’d taken the sword, you might be far enough away by now that Earicka would have a hard time finding you. Or you might be in the spot where Raff is. Still happy you didn’t take the sword?” Alexis gives Telosh a wink.

Before Alexis goes back to keeping an ear out, his eyes linger for a moment on the red gem in the Sword Chaotic. This face softens a little, and then his head continues the turn back to the front of the mine.

A Tale of The Land

About a week after Barra has defeated Utiog, Alexis is waiting for Gus as he returns from his morning shit.

“And what a fine day this has started out to be. Before I go back to my studies, I was hoping you might tell me a little something about your new ‘magics’. We have been talking about the gods a lot recently, and I would be curious to know where your ‘magics’ come from.”

“Before you try and bullshit me, play dumb, and stonewall me, I have a reason for my question: if Earyka targets your ‘god’, I want to know it; it’s important.”

Alexis stands in front of Gus awaiting his answer.

Killing gods?

Sometime during the two weeks after Utiog was destroyed, the group is in the old Inn of the River Village for a meal. Alexis addresses Telosh.

“While I admit there was some intellectual interest in the idea of killing all the gods, you seemed particularly interested in the idea. Do you still that strongly?”