"Oh? And why is that? It looks as though the three-headed dragon came out on top."

Perhaps looks were, in this case, deceiving. With a huff, the aerkai continued in a neutral tone: "The two-headed one reminds me of my people. Violent. Cruel. Needlessly so. Makes me glad I did not grow up with them." Even so, Frey found over the years he had inherited some of their better known negative traits all the same, which included but were not limited to: a curious taste for blood he could at times barely keep under control; a selfish streak a mile wide; and a lust for power carefully tucked away in the far reaches of his soul but always there, always lingering, burning deep.

He would not allow himself to be defined by the characteristics intrinsic to his race, however. He had made up his mind on that a long time ago.

"I had a dragon as a friend, once. He was more like the three-headed one."

Finally, they reached the end of the corridor. A large, circular room awaited, braziers on the walls lit up in every which colour. A marble altar, plain in make, awaited in the middle of the room.

''Dragons, dragons dragons dragons…'' He muttered under his breath. He had gotten bored by now and was looking at the floor, desperate for something to make this interesting again. He heard say something about the three-headed dragon, but he chose to ignore him. His staring at the floor eventually led to his bumping into something smooth. He didn't care very much and was walking away when he realized what it was. It was those-those somethings. The things they sacrificed his only real friend other than Qilash with. They sacrificed her to some cruel, greedy god. He thought from certain evidence that the god didn't exist and it was just some cruel wizard toying with poor, gullible people. This wizard sounded fun.''Hey'' He hollered ''LeSilve!''. ''What is that marble thing called?''

"Mmm?"

Glancing from the walls of the circular room to his company, the mage shrugged. "It's called an altar. Typically they are used as the focus for many a ritual, and are oft more specifically involved in making sacrifices or offerings to a deity." Frey frowned behind his mask. "Some deities prefer simple fare. Tokens of good will, promises of good intentions. Others prefer the ol' blood sacrifices, maidens of pure spirit, et cetera." He snorted derisively. Greedy bastards, the lot of them.

Circling the marble altar, the aerkai could but shake his head. "Why did you wish to know? …Haaave you mayhaps had dealings with these before?"

Just a guess.

'' Some idiotic religious people sacrificed my girlfriend Inza to some cruel god. I killed the lot of them!'' Xetera failed to stifle his wicked laughter. ''So, anyways, what are we doing here? Lookin' for gold, treasure, what? Personally, I would like weapons. Bloody ones.'' He looked at the altar and noticed that it had similar inscriptions to the one Inza was killed on. Remembering Inza made something happen to Xetera that hadn't happened in years. He cried. And cried. And cried. ''What god do you think this is for?'' He could barely contain the tears. 

He inhaled quietly through his nose. Exhaled. "I'm sorry for your loss." He could relate to the loss of a loved one. He could relate to overzealous religious fanatics making a mess of things. Crossing his arms lightly over his chest, he stared coldly at the altar, seeking some distraction or another from pervasive thoughts. Xetera, thankfully, obliged. Frey glanced over. "Don't know what you're here for, but I came looking for clues. Treasure would be a bonus, however."

But then, something curious happened. A twitch of surprise registered across the aerkai's features as Xetera began to cry. Silently, Frey reached up and removed his mask, latching it onto his belt for safekeeping. His companion had shown vulnerability - it was only fair he do the same. But at Xetera's question, he could merely shake his head.

"The markings are unfamiliar to me, I'm afraid, which leads me to believe they honour an older deity, perhaps beyond most mortals' memories." A pause, then, another breath. "If you like, however…" The aerkai had removed his backpack and was carefully picking through it. "I can copy these down on paper for you, might make it easier to do some research on them at a later time." He did not like mysteries to go unsolved.