Watching the two younglings brought Osira a sense of joy, even if it was because Ezra was offering up some form of courtesy in keeping his distance. "Your kin must all be predators, I'm assuming," he said with a lighthearted chuckle. "Most of our kind live in mixed groups, Ezra. Predator and prey kelahati live alongside each other." A thoughtful stroke of his beard. "Or perhaps that's only the norm for my home..." His gaze drifted skyward as he pondered. Such a diverse world they lived in!
Pulled from his thoughts by their questions, the egret stretched his wings and folded them again. "For Akeme's sake, I'll start from the beginning with what I know. Take it with a grain of salt; I hear most of my news by word of mouth as I travel, so the information may be exaggerated at best and false at worst..." He crossed his arms and stroked his beard again.
"The human oracle was the first to die. They found the shrine burned to ashes with the acolytes surrounding the oracle, who had his ribs splayed oven like wings. I heard all were burned to death..." Osira paused. "Though from what I've heard the shrine has been quickly rebuilt, likely to appease Jackroth, if he truly was the one who caused the fire in the first place.
The wolf queen was the next to die. If I'm correct she was their last royal with no heir, meaning that her death has wiped out the line. It's hard to get this one straight, since the wolves of Katakarthia live isolated lives away from the angels, but according to mermaid sources the queen drowned well away from water." Osira's expression soured as his thoughts turned to the next oracle's death, making the lines of age more visible on his face.
"The third oracle's death was the most public of all," Osira began, his voice dropping low. "She was an eastern dragon who enjoyed traveling, according to the man traveling with her. They'd reached Prerio and he'd gone to sleep, only to awaken and find her gone. Well imagine his shock when he found her body in the city square, draped over the fountain with debris everywhere." He shook his head, clearly feeling great sympathy for the oracle's friend. "The city square was full the night she died. They say she wandered in looking quite ill, and when approached she told them all to get back before transforming into a great serpent of a dragon and opening her maw in a silent scream. Apparently a twister erupted from her mouth, and she was suspended in the air as she died, only to collapse into the fountain and surrounding square after she'd passed on. No one wanted to touch her body, afraid of the god's wrath. I don't know if she was eventually buried or not, but... if the oracles are being killed by their elements it may mean they've turned on us. At least that's what I've been hearing whispered through taverns." The man had broken out into a cold sweat, which he only noticed when he ran a hand through his hair only for it to come back wet.
"Worse yet are the rumors of the dead walking among us... of tears opening in the air and... and things walking through that aren't quite alive and not quite dead, either..." This time Osira leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and sighed with the weight of the world on his shoulders. "I've been too much of a coward to go see if such a rift has opened back in the original location of my village. A plague swept through and killed many of my people, and the thought of seeing my kin among these... creatures... unsettles me."
Pulled from his thoughts by their questions, the egret stretched his wings and folded them again. "For Akeme's sake, I'll start from the beginning with what I know. Take it with a grain of salt; I hear most of my news by word of mouth as I travel, so the information may be exaggerated at best and false at worst..." He crossed his arms and stroked his beard again.
"The human oracle was the first to die. They found the shrine burned to ashes with the acolytes surrounding the oracle, who had his ribs splayed oven like wings. I heard all were burned to death..." Osira paused. "Though from what I've heard the shrine has been quickly rebuilt, likely to appease Jackroth, if he truly was the one who caused the fire in the first place.
The wolf queen was the next to die. If I'm correct she was their last royal with no heir, meaning that her death has wiped out the line. It's hard to get this one straight, since the wolves of Katakarthia live isolated lives away from the angels, but according to mermaid sources the queen drowned well away from water." Osira's expression soured as his thoughts turned to the next oracle's death, making the lines of age more visible on his face.
"The third oracle's death was the most public of all," Osira began, his voice dropping low. "She was an eastern dragon who enjoyed traveling, according to the man traveling with her. They'd reached Prerio and he'd gone to sleep, only to awaken and find her gone. Well imagine his shock when he found her body in the city square, draped over the fountain with debris everywhere." He shook his head, clearly feeling great sympathy for the oracle's friend. "The city square was full the night she died. They say she wandered in looking quite ill, and when approached she told them all to get back before transforming into a great serpent of a dragon and opening her maw in a silent scream. Apparently a twister erupted from her mouth, and she was suspended in the air as she died, only to collapse into the fountain and surrounding square after she'd passed on. No one wanted to touch her body, afraid of the god's wrath. I don't know if she was eventually buried or not, but... if the oracles are being killed by their elements it may mean they've turned on us. At least that's what I've been hearing whispered through taverns." The man had broken out into a cold sweat, which he only noticed when he ran a hand through his hair only for it to come back wet.
"Worse yet are the rumors of the dead walking among us... of tears opening in the air and... and things walking through that aren't quite alive and not quite dead, either..." This time Osira leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and sighed with the weight of the world on his shoulders. "I've been too much of a coward to go see if such a rift has opened back in the original location of my village. A plague swept through and killed many of my people, and the thought of seeing my kin among these... creatures... unsettles me."
