Politics & A Spider

Gorum was never a man for politics, it simply wasn't his area of expertise. The relaxed, yet passive aggressive atmosphere of such social situations was simply not something he could settle into. That wasn't to say he didn't participate in politics, he had to as both a Brave of Ugdual and as a warrior of unfathomable strength. Infact, he was an extremely important man in politics, simply because he could rival the might of any country's army all by himself. But after enough times of showing up in blood caked armor, weapon always in hand, he wasn't often invited to parties and celebrations anymore.

Despite that, he now was stood in the biggest ballroom he had ever seen, deep underground with plenty of unsightly figures and high-ranking officials chatting it up as if it were a family reunion of peasants. Quite the jarring sight to say the least.

"Master Gorum, welcome to 'The Meeting Place'. Don't worry about manners or appearances in this room, it was made for the expressed purpose of social honesty." said the lead emissary.

Gorum looked around the room, ignoring the words of the emissary as he scanned the room for more familiar faces, and unfamiliar ones that stood out. Among familiar faces Gorum spotted not only the Saintess, but also The Barbarian King of Mordaya, The Honored Speaker of the dragon continent, as well as prime ministers from several other kingdoms and empires. Unlike the familiar faces where many stood out, only two unfamiliar ones made a mark on Gorum.

First was a freakishly tall humanoid figure with gray, wrinkled skin and a face like sin that looked drained of all emotion. Standing at least 4 kuart tall, thin and sinew-y with limbs at least 2 kuart long., eyes missing from the sockets and jaw slack as they stood by a table of food. Several robed figures stood around their feet, politely speaking to the tall humanoid.

Second was an even larger monstrosity, a spider type monster with legs as long and thick as ironwood trees, a smooth purple carapace with sharp spines all along its surface and a size that rivaled a fledgling dragon. Most off putting of all was the slightly slumped over top half of a woman sitting on the main section the spiders' body, just above its peering red eyes and devastatingly large, drool caked mandibles.

Judging by their presence and magical energy, Gorum guessed that they were Omens. Although the taller of the two didn't notice Gorum, the spider did. Moving its massive body through the crowd (Or more accurately, above the crowd) and stood before Gorum. After a moment of silence, a sultry and mature womans voice rung out, speaking to Gorum in quite the polite fashion.

"Gorum, what a pleasure to meet you. I had heard you were coming but for you to actually be here...simply splendid." The Spider said as the woman's upper half that was atop the spider made strange and jerky, puppet like movements to match the words being said.

However, Gorum knew the trick. Although the woman atop the spider appeared as if it was speaking, his advanced hearing could tell the voice came not from her mouth, but rather from the maw of the spider itself. It was plain to see they were not an Arachne, but rather a spider type monster that grafted the upper half of a comatose woman to their body. Most people would find such a revelation to be heinous, but not Gorum. He was no stranger to those who wished to be something different from what they originally are.

"Yes, well, I was curious. Your invitation spoke to me in a way, so I felt I had to attempt contact. It's all very...surprising." Gorum said, trying to recall the flowery way one is meant to speak in formal situations such as ballrooms,

"Oh, that's lovely to hear, truly. We were afraid that you would ignore our courtesies and simply start a full scale battle the moment you entered the ballroom. Your reputation as a serious man with loyalties to the Ugdual royal family was quite deterring to us, you see..."

Gorum paused for a moment and thought about what to say back. After all he couldn't outright say that he was still loyal to the royal family, and that he was only here to satisfy his curiosity, gather information, and then wreck the place and all of the attending members. As he boiled over in his head what to say next, Gorum's thoughts were interrupted.

"No matter, dispel it from your mind. I'm sure you're conflicted enough about all that already. Instead, have you given thought to our organizations offer? For you to become the fourth and final omen?" The Spider said, the glittering red, all seeing eyes of the beast all staring directly at Gorum, awaiting an answer.

"I've given it thought, but I've not reached a decision yet." Gorum said, staring right back at the spider, unintimidated despite the creature's menacing appearance.

It was in Gorum's best interests not to commit right away, first he must gather information. Normally he would just slaughter them, no matter doubtful their words made him. But this was different, he was in a secret meeting place of a terroristic, rebellious organization, in a room full of high-ranking individuals. He just couldn't go wild here like he would anywhere else.

"I see...that's unfortunate, but there's no reason to be hasty, take your time. Enjoy the party, socialize. It's a much better place for conversation than the battlefield, you know?" The Spider said, chuckling softly as the woman half of the creature put the end of its hand over their mouth as if to mimic covering up laughter. The empty, glazed over eyes of the woman going a bit lazy as they slumped over once more.

"Ah yes, before you begin to socialize though, I should introduce myself. I am Damia. 2nd Omen, also known as 'The Rotted Omen'. It's been a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The Spider bowed with its whole body, then returning off to somewhere else in the ballroom.

Gorum huffed quietly, looking around the room and wondering who exactly he should talk to first.