[Clarion] Careful what you wish for...

[Tarot]

"I know little of the Ethaefal, truth be told," Mashaen answered, taking notice that Voss had switched to first names. He guessed this was the way of the living, their existences short enough to make them want to skip the slow trust-building part. Clarion, though, he should have known better, if he really had so many lives under his belt that he could actually remember. "At least, not as much as I would like. Our isolation has not helped us collected too much of this valuable post-Valterrian lore."

"I am unable to leave these walls, myself," he explained, calmly, as if he were talking about someone else, "as part of the, shall we say, cosmic contract I entered a few centuries ago. I agreed to keep Sahova running like clockwork until such a time when Alahea would rule the world. As you can imagine, the odds of my task coming to a close in the near future are quite slim, Mr. Voss." Mashaen's fingers laced together mechanismically, like a golem's. "I do know what was in my agents' reports when they met the occasional Ethaefal. Your existence is a theoretical impossibility, meaning our theory is all wrong. The true boundaries of life and death... the layers of existence... that which separates men and gods... there is so much we cannot begin to fathom."

"I have not slept in a long, long time either, and I suspect the lack of release in dreams that undermines some of my subordinates' sanity. Like Zhull. Drainira, will you summarize things for Mr. Voss?"

"Of course, Father," The Supervisor's voice rang helpfully, "Master Ryod Zhull. Born 82 years before the Valterrian, he was in the first batch of the ARMED project - Advanced Rapid Metalife Extraction and Deployment - basically, the mass production of stable Nuit leading to what is present day Sahova. Due to the risks of the experimental procedure, the first batch was mostly comprised of elderly or seriously ill subjects... people who had little to lose. Indeed, success rate was very low and most of the subjects died within months."

"Master Zhull is the last remaining Nuit from that group, but it seems that the flaws within the procedure have finally corrupted his mind. His latest trip to the mainland - when I suppose he had the letter delivered to you, Mr. Voss - was not authorized by the Archwizard. He has not left the Testing Grounds north of the citadel ever since. It is a small wood where Sahovans put their creations to the test. I have no control over that place, which makes it very dangerous."