"You need not say it, Drake, I could hear your mind screaming your gratitude from the Occulus," Drae laughed as he clapped the draconian lightly on the shoulder. Magnus chuckled and looked at his friend.

"He isn't exaggerating, I promise you," he laughed. "Lord Drae can hear the thoughts of anyone on Tar Eisalae's threshold. I watched him fly out of here so fast once when Lord Naota came to asked for help with obtaining something from people in Kurayo, and Lord Naota hadn't even made it in the door yet. His thoughts were THAT loud." 

The God rolled his eyes at the recollection. "Would have been a lot easier a venture if Naota had told me what he wanted from the beginning. Wouldn't have needed to go to Kurayo at all if he had mentioned he wanted that book…" he muttered. "Anyhow, food. I'm ravenous. Good thing I had the larder stocked recently, too. I'm sure our draconian friend here has worked up quite the appetite," Drae grinned wolfishly. 

"You really need to work on your bear grin," Magnus commented. "Smiling like a wolf is misleading."

"Bears are harder to find. People expect wolves. I like that element of surprise," Drae returned. 

Drake followed the two as they spoke, listening intently.  It seemed as though even the Gods had their own issues to deal with.  Not that the vibrant pink hair that Lord Drae had wasn't enough to provide proof.  I wonder how long it'll be like that, Drake thought.  As they finished, Drake noted that Magnus had said something about a bear grin versus a wolf grin.

"Er…might I ask what Magnus meant by the grins?" Drake questioned.  "I know you're a deity, but past that, you look fairly….er…normal."  He looked the God over once more, just to be sure.  I mean, to be fair, I look fairly normal too when I'm not half on fire and sporting dragon claws….  He thought about that for a moment longer.  Dragon claws were going to take some getting used to, even after all of the training.  

"Is it possible to get stuck?" he asked aloud, more questioning himself than anyone in particular.  I can't imagine trying to do menial tasks with those claws….

Drae chuckled. "When he means wolfish grin, he means a smile that might be hungry or cunning, or even predatory," he explained. "It's really just a poke at my ursanthropy," he said to clarify. "A wolfish grin does not suit me simply because I am a bear, not a wolf. I am one of three bear gods right now. My blood brothers are Lokir, and Zanar."

"Lord Drae has an interesting way of displaying his ursanthropy compared to the others," Magnus said. "He follows Parvpora more in the cycle than Canelux, and his is more a physical manifestation," Magnus stated.

"It's true. While I do feel the monthly pull of Canelux, my bear nature waxes and wanes with Parvpora. During ignius and venti, I grow in bulk like a bear would getting ready for a glaciem and terra of hibernation. The bear is strongest during Hebheka, the time of year when both Parvpora and Canelux are full. This is the same for all those afflicted with Lycanthropy," Drae said as he, Magnus and Drake entered the temple's larders and kitchens. Drae waved a hand and stools scooted up behind Drake and Magnus and himself. Magnus immediately sat down comfortably on his stool. 

"What do you mean, 'get stuck'?" the spirit inquired of Drake while Drae went about waving his hand and using his powers to manipulate food and drink to fly around the kitchens to fall on the wooden island they all sat around. Wine for the Keeper, tea for the Librarian, and ale for the draconian, while various food stuffs piled up onto platters for them to eat at their leisure. 

Drake listened to the explanation with earnest, taking in the information like a sponge.  There were so many things that Drake still had to learn about the world, and based on what Drae was explaining, there were many different races and abilities in addition.  As they walked into the kitchen and Drae summoned the stools with magic, Drake was caught off guard, falling hard on the stool, and groaning in the process.  I really should pay more attention….

"Oh, I mean," Drake started, holding out his hand.  With a bit of focus, flames engulfed his hand, and shifted it back into a claw.  "Once it changes, I can feel a draw of energy, but…"  He closed his eyes, and the flames came back, dispersing his claw.  "It takes focus to shift to and from.  Is it…possible to get stuck in a draconic form if it requires too much focus or energy?"  He realized mid-sentence though, that Lord Drae and Magnus potentially wouldn't know.  Each situation was unique, and from Lord Drae's lecture on how his ursine qualities showed, it was different even for similar 'species.' 

"I guess, I'm just worried about turning into a dragon and not being able to change back," Drake said.  "I can feel it, now…the power sleeping.  But if all of it woke up…I don;t know what would happen."   
 

"The simple answer to that question is it would depend on the situation," Drae answered. "There are countless factors that could come in to play, but potentially, yes, there is the chance of being stuck in this dragon form for a time. I have seen it happen to a lot of first time shifters. There was a time when my son Rohan spent more time in animal form than he did in human form as a child. Mostly because it was more fun for him, but the first couple times he couldn't figure out how to turn back. Granted he was an infant back then," Drae explained. "However, if you were to take this full dragon form here in Parvpora, the chances of getting stuck would be significantly greater if you were in an area that falls prey to a Void Storm. At that point there would literally be no mana in the land for you to draw energy from to turn back, and depending on how severe the Void Storm is, you could end up remaining in that form for some time," the Keeper explained. 

"However, chances are, if you practice the shift, you should be able to at least keep your mind and mental faculties about you. Your magic is not tethered to a lesser dragon, but to a true ancient draconic line, and they were very powerful and very intelligent," he added after a moment of thought. "So, I don't think you would need to be afraid of going on a pillaging spree if that is what you are afraid of. Not unless you wanted to, in which case if I were to recommend a place, I'd say Varaz or Kometeia, where no one lives but there are plenty of spoils to be had should you want them," he said with a chuckle. "I'd rather not see a friend hunted down."

Drake listened once more to the wise words that Lord Drae held for him.  In his time in Tar Eisalae, he had definitely learned more than he could ever have hoped to anywhere else from just the information he gleaned from both Magnus and the deity.  And the fact that he was welcome to stay made things that much more amazing.  However, he did realize that he couldn't stay forever, even if offered.  The fact is, I could lose a lifetime to this place, and I'd still never reach my goal.  I should probably limit myself…

"I would hate to be hunted down as well.  It would definitely cause issues for what I have to do," Drake said, diving in to the food and ale for a moment, relishing the taste.  "Again, I do appreciate everything.  I know the invitation is open, but I don't think I should stay here for too long.  I think a few weeks at most is what I should limit myself to.  Enough time to adjust to this new form, and then I should be off."  To Zets'ki.  Will I find her there, I wonder?  

"So, if I could ask…how did you two meet?  I mean, I know that becoming a god is complicated, but to become the keeper of something like this Library…How does one fall into that role?  This was more of Drake's curiosity peeking through.  Everything about Tar Eisalae was a magical mystery to the young draconian, and the ore he learned, the more fascinated he grew about the mass potential that magic held.  So far, he had only ever seen magic used in combat, but to realize that it had non-combat uses surprised him. 

"We met only recently actually," Drae answered. "Magnus only came into my employ less than a year ago, after a rather long incarceration of undeath in the desert ruins of Asyut," he explained. Magnus chuckled to himself softly. 

"I was more mummy than man at that time, but I still had hold of my intelligent faculties thank the Gods for that," he explained. "I happened upon Lord Drae's son-in-law in Asyut. He was in a really bad way, thanks to a fallen pillar. Crushed his legs and pelvis. He had massive internal bleeding and several wounds that had been cursed with severe mummy rot. I didn't have the power or energy to save him completely, but I was able to repair the worst of the damage enough for him to take his true form and fly us out of that cursed city before it was swallowed up by the sands again," Magnus told Drake. 

"After that, Magnus came to stay with Angela and I to heal. The extent of the mummy rot was incredible, it was amazing to note that he hadn't been corrupted entirely," Drae added. "But time is a great healer, and now here he stands before you as a nearly completely whole man again. We got talking and he mentioned that he had been a scholar and was well-traveled and had spent time in libraries in both Canelux and Parvpora, even before the Parvpora World Tree fell. That was enough for me to offer him a position here while he recovered." 

“It sounds like you have been through quite the ordeal,” Drake said, looking to Magnus with a new sense of awe. It almost felt wrong to complain to the old sea spirit at this point. Anything that Drake could have experienced or ever would experience couldn’t begin to live up to what he had lived through.

“Well, I’m glad I met you when I did, then,” the draconian said with a smile. “Otherwise none of this would have happened.” He wondered briefly if there was any other person capable of pulling out his magic like that. God or no, perhaps there were others who were trained in the art. Nowhere near the capacity of Lord Drae, for sure, but what would the odds have been of one helping Drake?

“Fate,” Drake muttered. There was that word again. Was the meeting of Magnus and Drake a twist of fate? Or was it orchestrated by some higher power like the Gods? He shook the questions. He was going to end up losing focus in the conversation and come off rude.

“Well, nothing truly exciting has happened to me, past these dreams and the obvious,” he said. “It would seem my life has been fairly boring up until now. But, I guess I can’t complain too much. From what I understand, boring isn’t always the worst.” He took a sip from the cup in front of him. “The food is delicious,” Drake said after a moment.

"Boring is mundane, but mundane often means safe," Drae replied with a shrug. "At this point, I am pretty certain that half the world would trade safe and mundane for all the hardships they've had, especially at the hand of my fellow Gods," he said grimly. "It's a bit of a double edge sword for me…" 

He smiled when Drake complimented the food. "I should hope so. A lot of it has kept from when my wife Angela was the Goddess of Earth. The Awakening Gardens stocked most if not all the Temple larders because the food never spoils. Or didn't at least. Now we have to bring it in from the farms, since Angela's domain shifted not too long ago. By the Voice, that was an ordeal. I ended up sheltering the entirety of her clergy here in the Library for the duration of the building of Elysium. It was noisy and crowded. Though, it made me respect her champion Serci a bit more," he chuckled. Drae looked sideways at Drake a moment. 

"None of the current deities hold sway over Fate or Destiny, Drake. However, centuries ago it was held by a Caneluxian deity by the name of Frey LeSilve. Tar Eisalae should have documents on him if Fate is something that causes a bone of contention in you…" he said, his eyes flashing slightly. "Magnus can assist you if you have any real questions. He's longer lived than even most Sularians."

Drake wasn't sure how to process the information, so he stayed quiet for a moment while he thought about how to respond.  It wasn't that Fate was stuck in his mind persay, but he felt as though there were forces at work that left him with little choice but to accept what was given.

Deity or not, there was definitely some cosmic force that felt the need to correct Drake's course should he stray from it's path.  And it all pointed to that woman.

“No,” he replied finally.  “I don't think I really need to research it.” He sighed, taking a sip from his cup.  “I mean…learning about the history wouldn't be a bad thing, but I don't think understanding it's history is going to change much.”

“Still…if it's all right with you, I might spend some time browsing the library when we're finished here.  I'm curious about what I might find.” If fate really wants to push me in a particular direction…maybe I'll find something of use.