Joryn - 18

## Paranoia

Were I to be given the power to kill or spare Leopold, I don't know which choice I'd make. He could be an invaluable ally, but he could also be a terrible enemy. He's a Lyth, disowned or not, and has personally admitted that he sees humans as an inferior species. Not disposing of him, were I to have the chance, may eventually result in being disposed of myself.

I fear that I'm growing paranoid. It's crippling. I don't know what to think nor who to trust. I continue to search for answers and reflect upon my findings, but they inevitably raise more questions and concerns than seem to be resolved.

I initially tried to avoid being swept up in the conflict as my mother might have done, but that yielded little fruit and rarely spared me from much danger—nor can it help me evade the growing Lyth influence forever. Later attempting to plunge in, coincidentally like my father, has revealed the complexity and delicacy of the situation. Choosing to serve the Vanguard doesn't necessarily help me to reach my goals. I need strong allies that I can trust; those who have ambitions that are compatible with mine.

I think I've come to better understand my parents. Their weaknesses and fallacies both have virtue. Both found peace; one through subjectively evading conflict and the other through naïvely embracing it. I've found that neither of their methods suits me, for I find no peace in either.

## Private Interview

Leopold, like me, appears to be genuinely confused. He questions his origin and history. According to him, the Lyth claim that the humans invaded their world. This world. With the help of Dia, the Aingeal nearly wiped them out in an attempt at mass genocide. Instead, the Lyth managed to go into hiding and have been quietly biding their time while they prepare to exterminate, not enslave, humanity. Their first step is to eliminate magic.

The oldest Lyth still alive has allegedly been around since just before the occurrence of the Wound. Due to him and many other old Lyth, it seems that a deep and eternal hatred has formed for humanity, much as how we're predisposed to hate Lyth. Leopold differs from them. Not just because he possesses magic and is therefore incompatible with their religion, but because he has come to believe that they're just as dogmatic as many of us humans. Some of the younger Lyth may be open-minded, but Leopold seems to believe that he stands alone. In fact, it wasn't until later in his rule of Asher's Island that he began to see humans as more than just cattle. He's presumably the first to feel that way about us.

I asked Leopold why he took volunteers to the volcano. Part of it was to put up a religious pretense with the Keepers, but the main purpose was to "try" the volunteers. He was searching for those with the gift and, to help unlock it, put them through various dangerous exercises that might draw it out. Sarai instinctively discovered her power and was the only one to survive the experience. The others presumably had no secret affinity for magic.

Even with a recently softened view of humans, Leopold has no intention to work with the Vanguard. He may be an outcast and enemy of his brothers, but he still has no interest in replacing one extreme view for another. Instead, he wants to travel beyond the Scar and organize a new faction that's more tolerant of both species. I considered the prospect of joining him, but I'm not ready to step through that door just yet. I don't want to abandon my friends nor do I want to allow the Lyth to systematically eradicate those with the gift. The Vanguard, as single-minded as its members may be, seems to be a necessary ally in this struggle.

A few other interesting topics came up during my conversation with Leopold. He confirmed that he stole the gift from Cromm, cleared Kaelib's name from being his willing agent, and mentioned that the assassinated emperor, Avareth, and his brother, Agareth, visited the island a couple hundred years before they were even born.

I don't know what to think about Avareth and Agareth's visit to the island. I remember Amaron stating that the island was a "nexus in time." Is this what he meant? That people could visit it outside of time? Leopold suggested that Asher was drawn to the island. Or, more specifically, that he somehow calculated where the nexus was and created the island to research it. Who knows what he managed to uncover.

Curious to know if Leopold were also "marked" by the island as Sarai believed, I asked him if he were able to control his dreams. His response was fascinating. All Lyth learn to control their dreams from a young age, but he admitted that he has been plagued with inexplicable ones since his time on the island. He had thought them to be a curse from Asher.

## Opening the Door

I asked Leopold many questions and he appeared to be very open with me. Of course, I never got too deep on any of my questions. Not knowing what else to ask, I finished with "what advice, warnings, or questions do you have for me?"

I don't understand why Leopold thought this relevant, but he explained that the Lyth may only take the forms of what they've studied. He then clarified by saying they could perhaps become what may not be manifested in nature, but it must make sense. They couldn't become fantastical creatures, for example, unless following rules that were already well understood.

Leopold also warned me that the Lyth are far better poised to manipulate politics and the masses than are the Vanguard. That, he explained, would allow them to take any advantage of ours and turn it against us, much as they did with the trap that involved Leopold. Otherwise, the Lyth don't seem overly concerned or even threatened by the Vanguard.

Nonetheless, Leopold complimented us on killing a Lyth and validated my suspicion by saying that he was the first to die in the last century. He even appeared to accept my opposition to the Lyth so long as they intend hostility towards humanity.

Understandably curious about my accomplices, Leopold asked me if any of them would be willing to work with a Lyth. I responded that I didn't want to speak for them, nor betray their confidence, but I believed that some would have difficulty with personal prejudices and others might not. I gave no recommendations or names.

## Bloody Evening

We've found ourselves in two more skirmishes with soldiers since fleeing from the burning inn; one at the Painted Duck and another at the docks. Many pawns have died tonight. I take no delight in the bloodshed. I realize that they're just being manipulated. I wish that we knew of a better way to escape the city.

Kaelib's son, Varris, is still with us. Vera rescued him from slavery and has been closely protecting him since. Unfortunately, the child has been exposed to a great deal of danger and was recently struck with an arrow. He didn't take it well. Even now he continues to scream as if he were being mercilessly tortured.

We had an opportunity to rid ourselves of the child. We met a man who knows Kaelib, or at least is employed by one who does, and was sent to retrieve his son. Vera didn't approve. I found it a little peculiar that the man was able to find us. Actually, I find it quite disturbing. Kaelib may not be a spy of Leopold, but he's acting in concert with someone who has access to sensitive information about us; the same information that the Lyth used to make criminal charges against us.

I may not have trusted the man sent to find Varris, but I think it might have been better to roll the dice. Now Varris is tied to our fate, which is arguably much worse than what it might have otherwise been.

We didn't find Arimus or any of the others at the school. I hope that they managed to escape before the soldiers came. I also hope that they managed to get out of the city with minimal conflict. From what I understand, most of the school's elite are with us.

Leopold departed after helping us with the soldiers at the Painted Duck. Just before leaving with his blackguard, he turned to me and said "Remember our conversation."