The Contract [Private, Jaquise]

[Tarot]

The feeling when Jaquise's blood touched the circle was peculiar. There was a connection of sorts, as if the diagram had become, in a way, a part of himself. When energy swirled around the edges, the man could perceive it with an awareness totally missing from the first experience. He could read the balance of energy going in and out - if the circle ever threatened to weaken or collapse, Jaquise knew he would feel it well in advance.

The portal flickered a little more this time, betraying his lack of skill, but still formed regularly, opening a glowing mirror-like doorway on the floor. After a minute or so of waiting, something began to approach the divide, stopping short of reaching the barrier. The shape was somewhat confused, but it appeared to be spherical, smooth and a cobalt shade of blue.

"Greetings, wizard," it said slowly. The voice seemed more familiar (no pun intended) with Mizahar and its inhabitants than the first one, but just about as emotionless. "My name is Zagarek. I have been awaiting this opportunity for a long time. I suppose you will want to… interview me now, as your kind usually does?" It went silent and waited for the Summoner to speak his mind. If nothing else, this one's comprehension skills seemed up to par.

[Jaquise Emittere]

The feeling of a connection surprised Jaq for a moment. Jaq was able to perceive the balance of energy in way not available to him when he spoke to the shadow. It wasn't until a new voice punctured the empty room that Jaq was able to bring his focus away from the energy and toward the creature in the center of the diagram. The spherical, cobalt blue shape spoke in a much finer manner then the other creature had. He spoke of an interview as well. This creature was at least well informed. It would make things simpler.

"One can never be to careful with the working of magics, especially those such as this, don't you agree?" Jaq paused for a moment to allow the being on the other side a chance to answer then continued.

"I seek to forge a pact with a partner with a strong will and cunning, one who is willing to speak out against me when the time calls for it, but who also knows when arguments such as that can get us both killed. Do you think those descriptions do you justice? If so, how well do you think you can you differentiate between the two situations?"

[Tarot]

The orb from Fyrden flickered for an instant, as if betraying the fact that it was thinking. As for the voice, it gave no hint of a gender or age; if perhaps some Familiars had a sex, this one did not seem one of them. After a few seconds of pondering, Zagarek summoned a reply for Jaquise. "Interesting, that you already foresee disagreements at critical junctions of your existence. My... sibling, I suppose that is the word you might use, is pledged to a man not unlike you. They open a portal every now and then, and talk to me for a while. If you find my knowledge more advanced than the norm, it is probably because I had many conversations with them. Admittedly, though, they have not opened a channel in some time now."

Zagarek's voice was slow and methodical, and the orb throbbed a little, shrinking and expanding as it spoke. Of course, this did not prevent Roghon's own familiar from scoffing at this Darkfacer, as well. Zagarek did not seem to even notice the blob's presence on this side of the portal.

"If you are surrounded by angry men with sticks, and you say fight, we fight even though I would rather run. I will enumerate your wounds after the battle going into annoying detail, and mention that I told you so. That is, I suppose, an acceptable form of disagreement. I am not overly opinionated, myself. I would just ask that you help me find my spawn-sibling when you have time. At the very least, I would like to know if it still lives or Dira has claimed it together with its pledge-lord."

[Jaquise Emittere]

For a moment Jaq was silent, as if pondering what was said. The moment passed when his chuckling grew loud enough to here. It was a colder then regular laughter, more restrained. Most likely showing simple amusement instead of humor."'I told you so' huh?" The chuckling continued for a second or two more before Jaq moved to stop himself with a cough.

"I apologize for that." The slight smile on my face made the words seem more a thing of courtesy then words of any real regret. "The words reminded me of a mercenary friend I once had. He often took the time to point out all my mistakes I made. Probably wouldn't have survived this long without it. As to my question, I not only foresee disagreement, I hope for it. A partner who mirrors my thoughts or simply accedes to my will is of little use to me. They may bring some power along with them, which is another thing I must ask you of, but a simple reminder of how to avoid such a fight would be a great deal more useful to me."

Jaq stopped for a moment and thought of the rest that had been mentioned, absently rubbing a scar he had on his chin. "If I chose to bond with you rest assured I would be more then willing to aid you. That being said I would also need to know more about your sibling, or at least about the one he bonded with. Another question before hand though. Less important then the first, as I said earlier, but still an bit of info I must consider when making my decision. I've been told beings from your world have unique abilities attributed to them. Do you have any such ability?

[Tarot]

Zagarek's reply was quicker this time. "What you call abilities is just our way of being. It is not that we can do things; we are things. I belong to the family of those attuned to ice, also called Irylid. I can withstand any drop in temperature without consequences. Just do not drop me into a fire and I will be fine. Our true asset, however, lies in our perception. We see everything that reflects in the ice of our bodies."

After a moment's pause, Zagarek continued. "You are currently in a building near a large body of water," it said. Not an easy conclusion to reach from the other side of a portal, especially with the only openings being glass panels on the roof, from which one could see a window in a taller warehouse that actually reflected the ocean.

"Is there anything else?" the would-be Familiar asked in a lower tone of voice.

[Jaquise Emittere]

Jaq's eyebrow shot up at the last bit and looked around the room to see if there was anyway he could have been able to guess such a thing. When nothing sprung to mind Jaq turned back to the portal. Impressive. Jaq looked to Roghon to see if the being was speaking the truth or if Jaq had simply missed something.

When he turned back to the portal Jaq thought for a moment about what he should ask the being. It seemed he already got what he needed, doubtless he forgot a few thing but for the life of him he couldn't remember. The being in the portal said it would fight when told, so it wouldn' be a lliability. It had also said that it would point out to Jaq what he had done wrong, which meant itmight be an aassest. Its nature was quite interesting, and could perhaps be compunded by Jaq's up and coming choice about what ellement he should pursue next.

"No more questions of your nature. I do have a few about your sibiling though. As I mentioned earlier, I would assist you in finding him should I choose you, but I would like to know more before agreeing to such that might be to difficult for me to fullfill. You also mentioned that he was bonded to a man like me. Is that a physical similarity or perhaps one you noted with our personalities? And do you remember the name of the man? Either of the two might help me pin down what region there in, though my lack of knowldge on the subject it will probably be limited to what side of the world there on.

[Tarot]

Zagarek did not have any trouble responding to Jaquise's next inquiry. "My spawn-sibling is called Keragaz. We were born in the very same instant. We Irylid live on the dark side of Fyrden; we slowly absorb ice from the environment and grow in size throughout the years. You would call that 'aging', though we prefer the term 'accretion'. When we grow too large, we fracture and split into different new beings. This means the Irylid parent ceases to exist, and its spawn take its place. In our case, we were the only two. We are almost identical; a human would normally be unable to tell us apart."

"In practice, I am larger than Keragaz as it bonded earlier on. The accretion process stops once we leave Fyrden, unless we are exposed to extremely low temperatures for extended periods of time - the spans you would call 'years'. Keragaz bonded to a man called Marek, darker of skin than you are. He bore marks of divinity on his hands. He came from the deserts, but I doubt he took Keragaz there, or he might not have chosen an ice-based companion. He always spoke of quests given to him by his god. He called himself a man of strong opinions, and Keragaz often disagreed with him. Mostly disagreed with the quests; seemed irrational to it. Marek accepted them unquestioningly with no thought given to the dangers they presented. He is also scarred in the face, which makes him similar to you in a way."

The Irylid rolled on its axis, casting a pale shine. "Keragaz and I are pieces of the same whole. I would be able to detect its presence if we were close enough." After that it went silent. The portal began to flicker, paying the price for Jaquise's lack of familiarity with Summoning. It would not last much longer.

[Jaquise Emittere]

Jaquise took in the words and thought them through carefully. One of the few things Jaq had always tried to do was stay out of the business of the gods. Gods had gods as enemies, and most gods had mortal servants. To put oneself in the sights of a god was to inherit an entire order as an enemy, not to mention the near all powerful entity itself gunning for you. Despite the flickering of the portal Jaq thought carefully for a few seconds more. If he rushed into a situation where he would piss off one god for helping another gods warrior it would make limit his freedom. However this familiar offered a great deal. Intelligence, power, and keen observational skills. Eventually a combat effectiveness to matchi Jaq's own as evidenced by Raziel, Sergane's familiar.

The portal flickered once more, and the connection in Jaq's mind wavered. He didn't have much time left. "Alright. I am willing to make a pact with you if you would like to become what they call a familiar. What must be done so that we may become partners?"

[Tarot]

"My intent is yours," Zagarek answered, "I am ready to establish the bond as soon as you are."

Roghon moved for the first time in a while. Nuit could easily make themselves forgotten as they did not have to breathe or indeed move a muscle for days on end. "Good, let's get this party started. You need to sign a contract with the Ukalas as your witness. It will be written in your blood, the truest part of you." Roghon produced a sharp knife from his robes and walked up to Jaquise, grabbing his left hand.

"This is going to hurt," the Nuit warned him. He began to carve lines on the palm of his hand, forming a glyph of sorts. "Nader-abase lareq, nader-roza qarat, nader-sutla madjat," he spoke in the ancient tongue - shared life calls upon us, shared death awaits us, shared scope defines us. The knife drew a circle divided into four parts. It was the simplistic figure that many young children drew when they first picked up a pencil.

"Hold your hand out over the portal with the palm facing down, and try to… loosen it with your mind. Relax your control to let the creature pass and touch your bleeding hand. Needless to say, don't stick anything in the portal or it'll turn into an icicle." Roghon's Familiar whimpered, obviously unhappy that a Darkfacer was getting the job.

[Jaquise Emittere]

Jaquise winced at the pain but otherwise remained still. When Roghon was done with the glyphing, Jaq followed the instructions given to him. Holding his hand over the portal, as close he dare go while still remaining steady, Jaq calmed his mind and focused on the feeling of the connection. Slowly, for any other way might just close the portal, Jaq loosened his mental grip on the power, allowing more freedom to the creature within the portal. Given it was his first summoning he wasn't even sure he was doing it right until he felt a shift in the connection, a change int he flow of power. Jaq opened his eyes in surprise and looked to the portal at Zagarek.