Sasan Kingdom

[Apollymi]

This man seemed to know exactly what to say to soothe the Knight Queen's current feelings. At his full height he stood massively over her own stature but this wasn't something which bothered the woman. His apology was enough to smooth things over in her mind and obviously she didn't intend to fight any further. His introduction made her brows draw together, obviously she was aware of the other kingdoms and their placement but the idea that they were sending people into other countries just to capture dungeons was completely foreign to her. Of course, as he went on to explain what he and his trouble making friend were doing here. She sighed then standing straight she introduced herself as it was only proper. "I am the Knight Queen Evangelia Nicolaides. As for a dungeon..." her uncovered eye travelled over the young man named Sakurai as she explained this situation swiftly. "There isn't one here, this place you call a Dungeon was our Holy Pillar and mine by Divine Right and I claimed it three years ago. If that is all your trip here was wasted." the woman said clearly hoping to avoid any unnecessary strife since the young man had been nothing but polite since they started their exchange.

[Bloodedge]

"Evangelia Nicolaides, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said with another, gentler bow to the woman. "Ryo, your help in looking for the Dungeon in our absence is appreciated. Keiko is waiting for you on the ship." These words Keiichi spoke to the black-haired male made the latter shiver for unknown reasons, but he understood that there was no point in arguing with the man before him. "Right. I'll be on my way then," he said. Once he was out of the way, Keiichi returned his attention to the Knight Queen. "Holy Pillar, you say? Ah, yes... I forget that the Sasan people are people of faith. Please forgive my ignorance, but if the Knight Queen would permit it, I would love to receive her enlightenment on the subject of this... Holy Pillar."

[Apollymi]

The Knight Queen looked upon these two people and as the boy known as Ryo was apparently sent away for whatever reason, more questions were asked. It was rather interesting to this woman how this man was so startlingly different from the young man who came before him. His expressed interest in gaining enlightenment and the fact that he hadn't made a cross word against her since his arrival made it much easier to converse with this person. "As a people we do not turn away those who seek enlightenment." she mentioned only to continue on the specifics of the Holy Pillar. "Our texts state that the Holy Pillar will only appear in times of great change. And only those worthy of God's Favor will be capable of wielding the power found within. Does this clarify things for you?" she said wondering if this explanation would make sense to someone who wasn't from the area. Apparently these Dungeons didn't simply appear here, and if that was the case, then there were many who would be considered worthy and thus some edits to the way the texts were translated would have to be put into place.

[Bloodedge]

"I see," he replied. Much like the man before him, Keiichi made the connection between this religion's take on Dungeons, and the world at large's existing knowledge about them. "That does give me a bit of understanding, yes. Though, if it pleases the knights, I would like to request a private audience with the Knight Queen to further discuss and compare all of your ideals with those of the pagans. I don't mean to sway your beliefs, but instead to understand the reason behind them as deeply as possible."

[Apollymi]

After a few seconds the man seemed to understand what was being stated by this woman. It was quite relieving, especially in light of the conversation she'd tried to have earlier with the boy known as Sakurai. What she didn't expect though, was the request for a private audience to help this young man further understand the workings and explanations of the Dogma which lead her country. Though this would be quite unusual, a private conversation between two people seeking to gain knowledge would be much better than a large scale spectacle which would cause her faithful to question their place in this world. "I can allow this. It is better than all other options. Join us in the Great Hall at your leisure, you'll be allowed to enter." she said with a quick nod. To the remaining Knights who stood at attention waiting for her next movements she said a final sentence. "Keiichi of the Nijimura clan is an Apostle seeking knowledge... welcome him as such." she said as she began walking towards the place she'd intended to go in the first place. "The Knight Queen's Will is God's Will. We welcome the Apostle Keiichi." the chant of Knights would follow as the procession carried on thereafter.

[Bloodedge]

"Very well then." As their current conversation came to a close, Keiichi left the main street and made his way toward this Great Hall of which the Knight Queen spoke. Once there, he would enter and stand in wait for the arrival of one Evangelia Nicolaides. Inside, he couldn't help himself from noticing a large monolith. The interesting thing about this structure was that its inscriptions were written in the language of Torran, something typically unheard of outside of Dungeons and ancient study. "Hmm..."

[Apollymi]

Whatever the procession had intended to do, by the time the Knight Queen returned to the Great Hall she was no longer in the company of dozens of Knights. No, now it was simply this woman alone who returned and entered the Hall. She had the utmost grace while moving with no emotion showing across her face. But she found his musing around the Monolith to be interesting and as such she decided to start up their conversation anew. "Can you read it?" she asked, in general she expected the answer to this question to be no. As it wasn't a language most people could read. In fact it was one of many lost to the ages.

[Bloodedge]

The arrival of the Knight Queen came in the amount of time he expected following his own entrance. What he did not expect, was her asking him if he could read the monolith in front of him. "Of course. This is the core of your faith, isn't it? It links directly to the stories I was told by the Djinn, and that Magi. Your people are descended from that man's followers..."

[Apollymi]

"It is." she said about this tablet being a the core of their faith. Beyond this point it seemed that this man had knowledge of this stone's teachings from outside sources. This was a bit stunning to her, because she didn't assume most would even bother learning such things. "We are followers of that man, and worship him as God as all of our predecessors did. It is different though, I've never heard those words before, Magi... and Djinn. And that man's name." she said looking over the stone which told the story of a man who basically became God while not mentioning his name. "Has always been lost. But if you can read this, you don't really need my help to understand its teachings." said the pink haired woman. This man was an anomaly amongst her people, but she was accepting of him, because of his curiosity.

[Bloodedge]

"Magi are known as Sorcerers of Creation who appear when there are anomalies in the world which threaten the balance of fate. They cause these Dungeons, or Holy Pillars as you know them, to appear in this world. This, here," he said, pointing to one specific passage on the monolith. "The flow of destiny here is known as the Rukh. Magi are loved by the Rukh, and can use the world's Rukh freely, unlike any other magician. Magi are also known as the selectors of kings. In addition to raising these Dungeons, they find people like us and guide us to the Necropolis within, where the Dungeon's treasure room is located. I'm sure you've figured out the rest. Inside the treasure room is only a single piece of metal which, when touched, awakens all the other pieces... as well as the Djinn who will share their power with the conqueror of the Dungeon."

[Apollymi]

The flow of destiny was at least something familiar to the Knight Queen. She'd spent ages studying this tablet but it had always felt as if it was missing information and apparently it was, rather important bits about the smaller details of how Dungeon's functioned and how Kings were chosen. Such a thing felt odd to her though, because she'd never met such a stranger and also had been alone when she claimed the Holy Pillar. "I see, so the Holy Pillar was raised by one of these Sorcerer's of Creation... but I never met such a person." said the woman, the entirety of the country was rather Xenophobic and anyone seen to be doing anything remotely related to the unexplainable would have immediately come to her attention. "So, the of details of our dogma were lost, but the gist of it remains in tact... there is nothing in this that is a direct challenge to all that we know. There is still a divine right to rule... it is simply determined by what is inside the Pillar..." she stated her general understanding and combination of the added information with the Monolith's teachings. There was a great deal of relief in the Knight Queen, it was quite a good moment to know that her beliefs didn't have to fall with the addition of this new information.

[Bloodedge]

"It is very possible to capture a Dungeon without the presence of a Magi. In fact, the Magi I know has been raising them on a whim, and we've been trying to find him while tracing the line of Dungeons that appeared after he left." Keiichi continued to read the slab in front of him, picking out every little detail that could be of importance in his cross-referencing. It was interesting how this religion came to be, and though he could not personally agree with worshiping the 'original king' as it were, he could accept the reason behind said worship. "It seems to be all a matter of perception. Though I am agnostic on the matter, I can see why the Great King is worshiped as God. These accomplishments go beyond even my ability to fathom his power."

[Apollymi]

"On a whim?" she questioned though it was mostly rhetorical. She could see how a person could have simply passed through this country raising the dungeon without suspicion especially if that person had access to the magic of creation. She didn't really understand that as a whole, but she imagined whoever that person was, he would have been quite a powerful being and thus respected by the Knights because of it. Beyond this point she was now curious as to why this man was looking for this individual if he'd already found what he was looking for. "Why do you search for this Magi?" she asked purely out of her own curiosity. The Monolith which told of the divine powers of the God they worshiped, told a story which had been passed around their people for generations. It was the very basis of their dogma and much to the Knight Queen's surprise, it didn't conflict with the outside world as much as they'd thought it had for previous generations, it was simply for them told in a different perspective. If nothing else, this solidified her belief while giving her the ability to make decisions which her people could also agree with.

[Bloodedge]

"Indeed. For a Magi, he was a very strange child. However, he is good for what he does. Two Dungeons were raised in Kina the day he met me. I captured one, but for the sake of being the power of the Kingdom, I seek more Dungeons by king's order." With these words spoken, Keiichi turned to face the Knight Queen once more. As he did, a glowing magic circle appeared on his chest plate. A separate circle appeared simultaneously at the center of his katana's blade, shining through the sheath. "If I may ask, what Djinn have you come to possess?"

[Apollymi]

"Oh..." the Knight Queen figured this man to be one of the Dungeon Capturers, but she didn't know that the Magi who'd raised dungeons was a child. It seemed like a great deal of responsibility to place upon a young one, but fate was the master of everyone apparently. As they moved along, she noted that he had at least two different markings which made it obvious that he'd captured at least two dungeons. "If you only captured one, why do you have two?" she asked of the young man again a point of pure curiosity. She also found it odd that anyone capable of capturing one or more Djinn would do so at the will of someone else, but she wasn't one to question any one's beliefs. If he chose to follow another she figured he must have a really good reason.

When asked which Djinn she possessed the woman reached up for the hairpin which glowed with similar magical circle. "Vinea." she said of the female Djinn she'd found at the center of the Holy Pillar. It was quite an interesting being though she'd only ever conversed with the Djinn the one time in the Dungeon.