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[Chevaleresse]

"Oh, he only impersonated the rightful heir and performed a coup to take the throne of Alvada using false relics, the process of which may doom the world," Gawen said dryly.

[Solymr]

: Oh dear. Does that mean Captain Ethan is...?

: The rightful heir to the Kingdom of Alvada? Affirmative. And the-

: Could you please wait here for a moment? I need to confirm this really quickly with someone.

The man got up from his seat hurriedly and walked through a side wall. Carmen loudly sighed, eye beginning to twitch. A few minutes later, the man reappeared from an entirely different wall.

: I've just received the news, and your story checks out. The two Nariuses, the two sets of Royal Treasures... Once again I must deeply apologize, the Tower has a strict policy of non-interference. Seeing how this is a very serious case of interference, that man can consider himself... exiled.

The crew could feel the weight of their bodies gradually return to normal as the man bowed to them and sat down on his seat again.

: There's still the issue of dooming the world, and I don't believe exile solves that.

: Of course. But seeing as we have much to discuss, I should properly introduce myself beforehand. I am Xos, Archmage of the Tower that bears my name. Now, where to begin?

[Powder Miner]

The series of events that unrolled pretty much the moment that the crew of the Blackbones entered the upper levels of the Tower of Xos (a process that, despite all of the travel and walking Fer had done by now, still managed to slightly wind him - that was a LOT of stairs) was rapidly overwhelming - and especially alarming when Fer experienced what he could only describe as an "anti-magic field" of some sort, one that he could instinctually feel.

And then, of course, there was what the strange mage said - a statement that shot Fer's eyebrows up to his hairline.
:The Xos the Wise? There's no denying that you are a powerful mage -this magic field I'm experiencing right now is something wholly new to me- but by that claim, you would be more than two hundred and fifty years old."

[Solymr]

Xos nodded.

: Indeed, I believe my three century anniversary is around this decade.

[Powder Miner]

Fer opened his mouth, closed his mouth, and then opened it, and then closed it again, casting a somewhat bewildered look at the rest of the crew for some sort of direction before he seemed to find his footing.
:"O... kay..."
:"If that's the case... in the days when you were setting up the tower... was it something about the time period that motivated you to set it up? What was it like when you didn't receive buy-in from older Alvadan mage families like the Jassos?"

At some point during the asking of these questions, one of his battered old notebooks and a quill practically materialized into his hands; he was kind of testing "Xos" by seeing if and by how much the older (and possibly much older) mage's knowledge exceeded his own, but if he actually was telling the truth, this was invaluable testimony.

[Solymr]

: The struggles the Jassos had gone through were actually one of the reasons I decided to set up this tower. At first it wasn't even meant to be such a grand enterprise, it started as a temporary retreat away from the Iron Fist... Something like the House of Scholars, perhaps, but I didn't expect or demand support from any specific families, precisely because of the non-interference principle I based the Tower on. But as time passed, its popularity with researchers grew so much that they started asking for permanent residence, and the rest is history.

[Powder Miner]

Fer dutifully jotted down what he was hearing, under the heading of "Xos?", a timeline being plotted out on the left of the page. He stopped for a brief moment at a certain point of the timeline, jotting his quill's side against the page a couple of times as he raced to try to remember the relevant dates. These were very relevant years for any mage particularly well-versed in history, but...
:"A retreat from the Ironfist... well, I suppose that would predate the Tower phase of things. You must have been... pretty young when that first started."

Sort of a funny thing to say if his claims really were true.

[Praefectus Screptum]

"...I cannot say I expected to see you around. Safe to assume you found yourself a way to cheat death."

[Gaterhyme]

"Three hundred years is very old," Lavinia said as if to help Fer out with the comparison.

She seemed to be sizing the archmage up, though less inclined to try to fight him with her bare hands compared to a few moments earlier.

[Solymr]

: Indeed. I grew up during those times of repression, and some might say I had a hand in Xaver Jr.'s succession ploy... But the Tower and it's non-interference policy weren't established then yet, so it's a moot point.

: Anyways, mine is an unnatural lifespan, and yet there is someone out there even older than I am. As it happens, your dear Captain's lookalike is well over four hundred years old.

: You can't be serious. And please never say the words "dear Captain" ever again.

: I assure you I am. He was already unnaturally old when I met him in these very woods, practically a wild man who barely remembered his own name. The problem is, such methods to extend one's lifespan require a sacrifice. I lost my freedom, and he seems to have lost his sanity, more deeply than I thought at first.

[Chevaleresse]

"What names has this man gone by previously? He has to have seen Captain Valle before."

[Solymr]

: I couldn't tell you off the top of my head the full list of names he's taken trying to find his own identity, but I can tell you the first one, the one he reliably responded to. When I first met him, all he could tell me about himself was that he was named Atan.

[Powder Miner]

Fer scribbled down more notes in the "Xos?" section and frowned a little - well, it all still potentially checked out, but it still wasn't strict confirmation. Maybe he wasn't getting strict confirmation or disconfirmation, though. He would just have to accept that for now - he turned the page, and started a new heading: "Atan?/Narius?".
:"Atan... I've heard that name."
:"Atan... Atan... right. I remember, now. It was during the attack on the House of Scholars."
:"Some of the false scholars there were talking about worshipping a god called "Atan" - I recall church-affiliated members of our own crew," he glanced at Amberly, "as well as somebody I know within the House of Scholars both mentioning that "Atan" wasn't a real Old God and that that was confusing behavior."

Fer put a hand to his head.
:"_{I swear, though, if this ends up having to do with my brother's theory anyway...}"

[Sirus]

Amberly was having a rather overwhelming day. First the sheer scope of the tower, then the treasures of the tome sellers, then the many (far too many) stairs, the magic and history on display, and now this?

For perhaps the first time, the nun was struck by just how far she had traveled from her convent.

: "That's correct. There is no mention of an "Atan" in the holy books, nor in any of the texts I know of. If this Atan was ever considered an Old God of some description, it would be something apocryphal that even the House of Scholars weren't aware of. Unfortunately, we haven't found any clues except for the one you just gave us."

[Praefectus Screptum]

"Truly peculiar...to think there are folks out there able to live for so long."
"Ah, Atan...That was a troublesome day indeed. It does make me wonder if this man didn't use his long lifespan to create a twisted religion based on himself."
"A man with few memories and being able to live for so long can be a volatile mix, after all."