Iron Stars - *Daira frowns.*

2:21 PM

Eisheru stays towards the edge of the gathering. He knows that their time in this strange place is limited and he is not one to stand in the way of others merriment. He surveys the scene before him and his eyes lock onto Daira. Inside of @Dai's mind comes the sound of rolling waves and the smell of salt spray of an unseen ocean. It is not a threatening sensation, but a welcoming one. She has the sensation that there is someone waiting for her just at the edge of her mind's consciousness waiting to be let in.

Her consciousness was dragged into her mind. While the T. Urkey metaspace area felt like the real life, just somewhere else. This here felt different. The sound, the smell, it transported her somewhere else. White sands, turquoise water, a gentle breeze, and peace. There was a call for her. A silent call. It was more a feeling. It was coming from the water. If she was just walking over there, she would find out what this all meant. Maybe. Just walking to the water. Just a few meters through the sand. Something in her mind was tucking at her. Something in her didn't want her to go to the water. It was strange. Why would something in her try to stop her? The few meters turn to hundreds of meters. The warm white sand turns to almost quicksand as she tries to reach the water. It takes lots of effort but at one point her feet finally touch the water and she calls out toward the horizon. " Hello? Hello? Is somebody there?" She was back in T. Urkey land, no time passed, the connection established. "Hello?"

"Please forgive my intrusion, Daira of Heras, but I desired a more private conversation," Eisheru Tidecaller's voice fills her psyche. It is in front of her and behind and all around. There is a feeling of warmth that pervades the telepathic connection. A sensation that Daira likely knows intimately. The inner fire of duty and purpose that keeps a lonely person from freezing on a frigid winter night. "Thank you for allowing me this space so that we may converse." A Merlon with bright red hair and cerulean scales appears on the white sand beach that Daira has imagined. Not in the ragged and torn clothing that he wore in the strange place of T.Urkey, but richly dyed robes of crimson, sapphire and gold. There are adornments that Daira would not recognize that go along with the bespoke outfit. "My name is Eisheru, Tidecaller of Terezinho." His lips do not move but still his voice fills the space. It is a calm sound, reminiscent of a placid lake. "It has been quite some time since I have been given the opportunity to converse with a follower of Ognyens." (edited)

Eisheru? As in THE Eisheru?? The emotions are a twirl of excitement, curiosity, reservedness, fear. The unknown ahead, but more than wanted to finally connect with another living piece of the Prophetess past. Finally the excitement takes the better of her. And if Eisheru never before felt a Tsunami of words rolling toward him and drowning him, then this was a first. Her words and thoughts layering atop each other. "Who was the last? The Prophetess? Daitrij? She was your friend right? Like you and her were friends, right? You are mentioned in the diaries, in reports, lots of things. She thought highly of you. How was she? You where on Rana too right? Oh, tell me everything! She doesn't talk about you when she contacts me. To focused on the future. Tell me more about her, please!"

Like someone born to and of the sea, Eisheru flows with the tidal wave of emotion and words. A quiet juxtaposition to the fiery and loquacious Daira, he is a calm and unflappable presence in the shared mindscape. Eisheru waits for Daira to finish her barrage of questions, "I doubt I am the only Eisheru, but likely the only one who knew the First Paragon." "The First Paragon... Daitrij was indeed a friend. A bright and fiery personality that helped shape our region of space. She brought the light of Ognyena wherever she went-..."There is a pregnant pause as Eisheru considers the barrage of questions. "What are some things that you talk about with Daitrij? Does she contact you often?"

The Tsunami of thoughts loosens its intensity as Daira thinks about how to respond. There is no lying in her response, it must feel genuine to Eisheru. But nonetheless, the thinking, the way this next statements is delivered, it must feel like something was left out. Especially with all the news about Daira and what she has done on Heras. She doesn't talk too often to me, no. At times more, at times less. Currently, not so much. I mean, I don't know if that is accurate, because it is not like I could compare that to someone else who talks to the gods. But I still hear her voice here and there. And for our talks, she has given me tasks, and I fulfil them. It is not like talking. I receive. And then I send, through what I do, prayer and so on. So funny. I know every Ognyena prayer by heart. I still believe in her. But the Prophetess, that she contacted me, and gave me her vision too, it fills me with purpose. The universe will be a better place. If people would just listen to me more.

Eisheru is unreadable beyond the calm almost detached demeanor despite his engagement in the conversation. "It is a concept many are not able to grasp, 'talking' with metaphysical entities. When I listen to the tides, it is a constant thing. Like concentrating on a heartbeat. The message is there if one is able to understand the small nuances between a rolling wave and a crashing one. So Daitrij, not Ognyena, would reach out to you directly? Call your name and ask for your service directly?" (Edit) "What tasks does she give you? What are her expectations?" (edited)

There is another long pause. The following answer is even more hesitant. If it was from the longer thinking process or some other talk in her head, remains unknown to Eisheru. "Daitrij, yes. She sounds like her. But it is not like I have seen her face or anything. More like the voice echoing and resonating in my mind, and that feeling. Not that I like, touched her before, but it feels like I imagine it would feel. And I did hear her say my name before, yes, but it is not always like that. But when I hear her, than that would mean that she was calling me specifically, right? Yes, that is what it means! I had various tasks and I guess I met the expectations.... Um, so how was she? As a friend."

As Daira collects her thoughts, Eisheru is as patient as the Tide knowing that it will rise and fall once again. There is no sense of urgency or rush being conveyed through their telepathic connection, "Prior to the end... Daitrij was a light in a dark room. Always doing whatever was possible to avoid using the point of her spear. A thunderous personality when it came to our debates in the halls of Galatea. I am convinced she was a Merlon in a previous life." "She thoroughly enjoyed giving out nicknames. I am reasonably confident she had one for every person she met. And I think most importantly she knew how to disagree and create change within her sphere of influence all without resorting to violence. Of course she was a skilled combatant in her own right, but she prioritized non-violence wherever possible."

This time, the answer comes rather quickly. Nicknames? Oh I guess she never wrote them in her diaries, maybe because that was super personal to her. As for non-violence, I read a lot, she really was wonderful when it came to that. Tell me, was she ever betrayed by someone? I guess not, I mean, who would, but was she?"

(Overall Edit for clarity) The answer comes just as quickly as the question, "While nothing stands out specifically, I find it hard to believe that she was never betrayed in her life. I would imagine she felt betrayed by Cyrus the Pretender. She followed him out of known space to Heras. Then for him to do as he did?" "Then again later as a head of state in a time of widespread turmoil and disunity? I am sure one group or another has betrayed her in that capacity. Is there something specific you are inquiring about?" (edited)

Turmoil can be felt, and a tugging of sorts, like ebb and flood fighting against each other, unsure which direction things should go. "Mhmm, yeah you must be right. That must be it. Or her trying to defend me. And no, definitely nothing specific, just general, yes. You were part of this war against the Still Lady. I don't understand the specifics, but always wondered, how does one go to Rana? I never found it on my maps. And I thought I might bring some flowers there, or build some shrine, in her memory, you know?"

"There is conflict within you, Daira of Artema, I can feel that you have questions that you are not asking..." Eisheru states in a matter of fact way. Nothing accusatory behind his placid words. "... The Still Lady... what a dark time for our collective history. A perverse torturer who reveled in a sick understanding of 'beauty'. I am glad I was never forced to make a decision between protecting my family and worshipping a false idol such as her." "DaItrij is not on Rana. Her ashes are on Heras and her spirit lives on through others that carry the light of Ognyena to the dark corners of this universe... She would not want idols built in her image."

"You think she wouldn't want idols to be built in her image? And yes there are questions I am not openly asking. I wonder. Why do you even do this? The asking questions I mean. I was, still am, super happy to connect with someone of the Prophetess past. But she was so, positive, emotional. fiery, everything. And I think she didn't describe you as a monotonous kind of Person. Talking to you feels a bit like a lecture by the Paragons. They also always thought that they know it better." There it is, the first glance at Daira's conflict with the Paragons, and her never actually being sure what the Prophetess would want and what not.

"It is not often to hear someone worship the late Herald. Reverence? Certainly." "My intention is not to lecture, for that I apologize. There is nothing I can do to change the timbre of my voice. Herald Daitrij was all those things and so much more." Eisheru looks over towards Daira and weighs his options, "I am certain of few things in this life, Daira, but I know for certain Daitrij did not seek apotheosis." The connection between their two minds begins to fray as the magic from T. Urkey's conjuring seems to unravel, "There is... Shadow... clings like a cloak... Find me. Thepolo" Is all Eisheru manages to get out before the connection severs. Once again Daira is alone in her own mind. (edited)

The connection fizzles away as her hold to the realm of T. Urkey comes to an end. Alone in her mind again she thinks. "What a strange guy. And they were friends? What is this Thepolo anyway? A restaurant? And why do his retelling of how she was, not align wth what I feel?"