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[Chevaleresse]

". . . I have to say, this is not what I expected." He was certain there was more to this man than it appeared - after all, he was in this place - but he couldn't quite decide what to make of it. In lieu of such a choice, he fell back on his manners.
"Ociel Galeas. I suspect that most of my questions are shared with the others."

[Caellath]

"Hey there. If ya're Rundum, was this place named after ya or the opposite? Spilling blood for coin doesn't make one a history buff."

[Solymr]

: The Gates of Rundum, huh? This has been closed off for a long time, more than any human could live for according to what I've learned. Either you're not human or time doesn't pass in here, but that still doesn't explain anything.

: I'm Seraphim, I'm a Dullahan, I want to know what's going on here, and what relation it has to why my kind has suffered so much.

[Praefectus Screptum]

"Please, if you managed to get this far you know all too well I am no human. You saw this place, and I am sure you saw plenty before getting here, no human being would be able to survive in this environment without going insane. As a matter of fact-Any sort of creature, as I am sure they would lose their sanity living on their own."
"No bowing? Kneeling? It seems my name lost its effect, after all. And did they name this PRISON after myself? My, my...So they remove my name from history but still go as far as naming this place after me."
"I am Rundum, the first god. Betrayed and imprisoned, but I suppose if nobody remembers about my name, they did a good job at hiding the story behind Rundum-the lands named after me."

"There is actual treasure, right? It's not a cock and bull story?"

"Ah, of course. Gold is still what drives others to fight and work, but fear not...I intend to attend to any desires as long as the key is given to me. It is that simple, really."

[Solymr]

: A prison... Much like Oblivion for most non humans. That wouldn't have been enough for you? Is this some Super Oblivion?

: If you're the reason why the Gates are locked... might you be... the source of magic? What is the story behind you anyways?

[Praefectus Screptum]

"I am a god, of course a normal prison wouldn't restrain me properly. This place saps my energy and prevents me from reaching enough power to just break through the gates or ascend from my physical form."
"And I am the reason this place -exists-. This oh so magnificent 'Gates of Rundum' is nothing more than a prison, I suppose comparing me to a genie, while unfortunate is fitting. The least I can do to the ones freeing me is granting them whatever their desire before I go back to my rightful place."
"I have been locked here for countless years, so I have no idea what is this 'source of magic' talk you are hinting at. Magic always have been a thing in these lands, and if the fountain was dried, it wasn't because of me. That is the doing of those who are outside this place, as for these gates? Not man-made, at all."
"Curious now, aren't we? This is a very long story for sure, so I will give others time to answer shorter questions before we delve into this. But I have been restrained here before any of you existed, so I was not involved on any sort of recent incidents, assuming this 'source of magic' talk is related to something that happened recently."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"I didn't expect to meet one God on this adventure, let alone multiple. Is there anything you want us to call you?"

[Chevaleresse]

Ociel frowned slightly. Something about the story seemed off.
"The other gods are not fond of you, I take it. One has to wonder why."

[Praefectus Screptum]

"Rundum is fine. It is my name, after all...It just doesn't carry as much power as it used to."
"Ah yes, my older siblings. I would imagine they kept everything away from the mortals."
"Very well then, I suppose it is better for me to explain how this started."
"At first there was only a single god watching over this continent; as they never needed a name due to avoiding direct content with mortals I will just refer to them as 'Alpha', as the first one."
"At first they simply watched over the continent without any sort of interference, but due to the lack of progress down here...They thought assistance could be necessary to make life more pleasant and comfortable. At the same time, the lack of other figures to interact with them made them reach this decision; create other gods. And so they did, with each god at first carrying an important function to assist the creatures. Even if they were created by Alpha, they were capable of thinking for themselves, and having personalities...Which did make this balance they so desire fail."
"Gods were actively helping mortals, being visible to them...consequently religions were formed, and this encouraged wars between groups-And eventually between gods due to different beliefs and their activities clashing. Death against life, justice against freedom and so on. Needless to say Alpha attempted to stop them, and create a decree to force them to only assist from above...Which still wasn't enough to stop them as the gods only used other methods to reach their objectives, and well...A much more bold action was taken."
"Alpha created me, a perfect copy of themselves, while that did weaken them and made us share the same amount of power, this was the way to control the other gods. And it did work! Or at least it felt like it did for a while. Alpha requested me to descend for a while, with the objective of helping the wanderers who were trying to claim this land now known as Rundum, as it was proving to be too hostile and treacherous for them to safely create a community. During the little time I spent there, they did create a cult...And well, now you know why this land is named after me-I helped them to create their first town."
"Turns out the other gods weren't very pleased about Alpha giving me permission to provide direct assistance...And well, they rebelled against us and with their united power created this prison to lock us in. During the fight Alpha was gravely wounded, and as this prison prevent us from ascending...They perished here. I am the only one, just biding my time and hoping to be set free again and hopefully make things right."

[Solymr]

: The first but also the last god. That explains... well, not much. The other gods are currently fighting each other, and one of them that we know of is trying to kill every living being, and there's still a lot of questions left.

: I think the most important one is, how will you make things right?

[SeriousConcentrate]

"If nothing else, hopefully he can put an end to all the skeletons and their plan. Set Terrania right, y'know?"

[Praefectus Screptum]

"The plan is very simple, actually; once you provide me with the key, I will ambush each one of them. As they are probably too distracted fighting each other, it will be easy to take them down alone and absorb them back."
"And of course I will try to do my best to fix the damage they caused to the mortals. That does include getting rid of these skeletons you speak of."

[Solymr]

: There is one thing about that, if I may explain.

: Apparently, the first time the Gates were found by mortals, there was a war and some particular humans decided to wipe other species out. Dullahans, crystalloids, weavers... Any intelligent or magic capable creature they could find, they banished to Oblivion. The ones they didn't reach went into hiding and lost their power, or went dormant like I did... Until recently, when the pieces of the key were found.

Seraphim produced the fabled Key he got back from Eversor.

: The humans that did that are the skeletons of now, and one of them actually got through the Gates, but crossing the sea was a different matter. At first, seeing all the wild magic here, I thought they did something here to interrupt the flow of magic for their own reasons. If that wasn't it... it might have been their excessive usage of Oblivion. I'm not sure, but it doesn't seem to matter now.

: All of us have been banished to Oblivion as well. Managed to fight our way out of it, but all the others weren't so lucky... Is there anything you can do to help them? And the Watcher mentioned our souls were tainted just by being present in Oblivion... can you save us from that as well?

[Praefectus Screptum]

"Ah! Banish, you say? Hmm...that could explain the lack of magic around, if I had to guess the seal had the secondary and perhaps unexpected effect of sapping away energy from this continent..."
Rundum's lost his posture the moment he saw the key, twitching and restraining himself from just taking it. And while that surprise was all too noticeable, he adjusted his posture again and moved a hand under his chin pondering.
"It is clear the key itself carries a lot of potential, perhaps the seal was already on its limit, so with the key pieces releasing more energy it is very possible that the seal might break as it will still attempt to drain this extra energy being released by the key....Assuming it didn't happen already."
"Oh my, oh my. Things surely have been chaotic out there, but fear not-I do intend to handle it all, and that does include curing those who were tainted by the Oblivion. All I need is the key, and we can move out, you adventurers did your part, but the next step will be a fight between gods."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"So... this is it, then."

Kat looked down. The quest was all but over; all that was left was to free Rundum and see what happened.

"And what about us?"