Sura, again, didn't answer the question. "A common foe?" He said, curious.

"Order, Logic, Empires.. an Empire," said the man. "A secret - a conclave. The Conclave and it's Inner Circle of," he spat with disgust, "Odin. That is our common foe. Even now, as we speak, they rally against you in your Holy City."

"It has reached my ears that they do come for Tushmuthut. Sura paused. He was fairly certain that he was talking to Odin, but he did not say anything on the matter. If this man is Odin, however, having him as an ally would be nothing but beneficial. "So, you must know of my hatred of the Conclave to come to me for... assistance? Is that what you want? Why do you have a vendetta against the Conclave?"

"They have perverted everything I once stood for," said the stranger. "Or, perhaps.. they have purified it. It matters little. I cannot stand for it. I can return to you the Forbidden Oasis - and Surannah - for a single service. You remember the time, don't you..? It is late. We must act quickly."

At the word 'Surannah' Sura felt an alien twitch of guilt, and of longing. But as to what the word meant, he was unsure, riddled by the loss of his memory.

Sura pushed back whatever memory was attempting to surface for the time being. "I do not require any reward if my service will bring about the fall of the Conclave."

"Ah," said the man, his old eyes twinkling. "Forgive me. I did not expect one - such as yourself - to work willingly.. without pay."

Sura's eyes narrowed. "Such as myself? And who is it you think i am?"

"You are Sura Al'Amun of the Cursed Desert," said the old man, barely hiding a smirk. "In another life - on another world - you are, and were, and will be Sura Al'Amun of the Forbidden Oasis, Lord of Tushmuthut. You will always be the Lord of Tushmuthut, Sura, even now, in your lowest form. It belongs to you. You remember, of course, your first death in this form..?"

"There is no room in my desert for an Oasis." Sura rasped viciously. "I am, and forever will be, Sura Al'Amun of the Desert." The subject seemed be a touchy one. "And my first death in this form? I deserved it fully."

"Yes. You were there to inherit the Holy City of Tushmuthut, but you neglected to bring your key and your right to such a claim," said the mysterious man. "And yet I see you still do not hold the Scepter. Why is this, Sura? Do you not hold an interest in Tushmuthut?"

Sura was taken aback by this - he, by right, owns Tushmuthut? Finding the scepter just moved up in priority. "I did not know... that the scepter was the key to the city. I'm still piecing together the memories from my old life. Its behind some sort of field... anything that gets too close is blasted by lightning. I spose i have not thought of a way past it, ive been too focused on other tasks."

"Ah, yes," said the man in grey. "The electric-field. The Sura I remember would not have been hampered by that. I can show you how to bypass the fence in return for assistance and cooperation in fighting our mutual enemy. You will need the Scepter if you are to succeed."

He sighed.

"It has been a long while, Sura. Bear no grudge, but.. not so long ago I would have happily castrated myself before working with the Cult of Osiris-Ra. We were the deadliest of enemies.. and yet.. there is more at stake, here."

"You have my assistance, like i said before." Sura began. Sura hadn't given much thought to the field but wasnt going to argue with having the sceptor handed over to him so easily. "Show me how to bypass the field then."

Sura then added, "What exactly is at stake?"

"The reign of Order forever over Chaos, of unthinking, unfeeling law over everything we once stood for," he said. "The death of magic and the rise of thinking machines that cannot be distinguished from life. Imagine it, Sura. Imagine the death this would bring to our World-Tree."

They began walking towards the Tomb of Thunder.

"Mmm." He said agreeingly. "Its an undesirable future, that is for sure." Sura had avoided the question but decided to ask as they drew closer to the tomb. "Who are you, exactly?"

"I am the wanderer in grey," he said, as the heat fell from above. "I am the father of order and the death of chaos. And yet.. a father must strike his own son, murder the evil he has created. Destroy his creation. Have you not guessed it?"

He laughed.

"I am Odin."

Sura had guessed. And he was right. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be right or wrong in this case. "Ah yes. I am humbled, i spose?". He kepted walking, hoping to arrive soon.

Sura felt a word of power throw itself down through Sura's own mind; it was a word of creation.

And in the beginning, God said..

A world had been born.

Odin continued to laugh. "Humbled? I have trouble believing that, young zealot," he said. "Our kind has been at war for centuries - millennia, perhaps. And, if I do.." He smiled. "Creation. You did not tell me you were interested in Geotonomancy, Sura."

"I have nothing personal against you or your beliefs, Odin. I merely fight for mine." Sura was surprised Odin felt that. Although, he is Odin... "Never much fancied the hassle of Geotonomancy. I did always like the results, however." Sura laughed to himself.

"Ah, heh, yes," said Odin. "As did I. It requires the deftest of minds, the most skilled craftsmanship, the most brilliant of imaginations.." He smiled. "It is in this way that the microcosm truly reflects the macrocosm; we, the first children of Yggdrasil, mimic imperfectly her firstborn art.. and create worlds. So much can be done with such a thing."

(Are we there yet?)

Sura remained silent, calmly walking through the sand. He looked up to the sky but was not greeted by the sun, but the night sky. The machine that is blocking the suns still operates...

The cave crackled in front of them. Metal bars around the rim unleashed strange electric energies that clashed amongst themselves quietly, invisibly. It was a strange name, the Tomb of Thunder - there was almost no thunder at all.

"I must warn you," said the man in grey. "You will have to face the corpse.. of my friend. When the cave is opened, he will strike. He is dead but.. empowered. Do you still wish to continue?"

Sura rose sand around him, forming a shield instantly if he needed it. He also created an illusion of himself, assuming a corpse not to know the difference. He then aligned several sand spikes behind the illusion, any attack on the illusion would result in impalement.

"Yes." Sura said simply.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:05, Wed 04 Aug 2010.

Odin smiled, and the electrical field went down. Silence was replaced with silence, but the cave did not stir. Whatever was held within the cave - whatever remained of the once-proud Thor - did not move. High above, the sun beat down upon them.

"Be careful," said Odin. "He will not be.. happy."

Sura made another illusion, and sent it inside the cave, hoping to stir him from his hiding place.