The Palace of the Zyox

You find yourselves all quietly awaiting to be spoken to. You know that you have been called to fufill a task for the Zyox Nazryn Ovexios himself. You do not know if it will actually be he who speaks to you, but something tells you that whatever he needs, is of upmost urgency and he would not have pulled you away from what you were doing unless otherwise.

The room is round, and dome-shaped, like a rotunda. There is one large black marble table in the center, with purple veins of stone dancing across the table top like lightning. There are several chairs, but almost all of them are not filled. Those that are filled, seat yourself, and a tall man.

The tall man is a Dawnblade by the name of Natas Uxator, a quiet well-known figure among the Nexin populace. He is sitting towards the back end of the room at one heads of the table. He seems calm, yet his face is stern and silent. He doesn't show any emotion or sign of why he was called, but the rest of the group believe it will not be for a petty fool's errand.

However tall, your immense figure outshadows him by a near full foot. You are Naberius Kyros, a soft-spoken, possibly shy mass of muscle who is as stubborn as they come when it comes to asking for help or working with others. However, all Nexin know their place and show respect to their own, especially when it is a Zyox. You were training with other Nexin in a nearby Arena, where captured Ogres were being used as exposable training dummies in a combat training sesssion. You are a bit frusterated about being pulled away and not being able to celebrate the victory, though you patiently wait to hear what you have been called to do. You sit in a large stone chair, seemingly made just for one of your size. There is another chair like yours three chairs to your right, and several other smaller chairs around the rest of the table.

The rest of the room is dimly lit, a single large arched entrance is closed by a large wooden door. You both have already taken in your surroundings by now, for you've been waiting for about fifteen minutes. Though as patience wore down, and the silent tension grew, heavy footsteps were heard coming slowly down the hallway.

Naberius sits quietly in his oversized chair, waiting for orders with his massive arms on the armrests. He scans Natas quickly, having heard of him but never really meeting him. However uninterested in meeting another Nexin, he had a feeling he would be stuck with this one for quite the while. If they were only two here, and the task at hand would probably be most important, it must mean they'd have to work together, right? Naberius sighed and shook his head. He hated having to accomplish a task with another being.

As he heard the footsteps coming from the hall, he set his massive iron maul aside and waited to see what form of formality Natas would present to whoever walked in, and do the same.

The heavy footsteps grew closer, and the look on Natas' face grew a bit more tense. His jaw locked and his muscled jawline seemed to flex and fan out, like that of a male bird trying to boast. However this was not the case. He averted his eyes to the door, his eyes like an intense burning gaze, though filled with a subtle happiness as he awaited the presence of such a great Nexin entity.

The foot steps stopped, and the door swung open with great ease under the strength of the man's great hand. Zyox Nazryn Ovexios, one of the largest and strongest Nexin Overlord's ever to have lived entered the room, making the large doorway seem like a mouse hole as he turrned half-sideways just to enter. He gave a respectful nod to both of the men as he took his first steps in.

Natas stood up immedietly and formally placed one arm behind his back, the other in front of him, and he half-bowed, keeping his eyes on Nazryn's face. As was one of the traditions when being face to face with such a respectful leader. Natas did not speak, he dared not insult the man by immedietly asking questions. He knew that if they were summoned here, it was for a good reason, and that Nazryn Ovexios would tell them as soon as he wanted to.

As Zyox Nazryn Ovexios walked in, Naberius gazed in wonder. -This- is what he wanted to become. A great Nexin of even greater power, standing so tall and so wide. He is one of the few to outdo him in size, and he does so by very much. His chair was much bigger than Naberius', created for Nazryn himself. As Natas gave the polite stand to the Zyox, so did Naberius in all his might, denied by Nazryn's.

He awaited politely for the great Nexin to speak.

Nazryn nodded, signally the two his acknowledgement of their sign of respect. He stood there is a thick and menacing looking wall of armor, his large red eyes looked like suns hidden in a dark cave that was his thick horned helmet. He stepped past Naberius and Natas both, circling the table so that he was by his chair, which face both of the two Nexin in the room. He looked at Natas, then to Naberious, and he removed his hulking helmet, revealing a cruel face scarred by centuries of wars. However, his smile made his presence welcoming. He raised his hands up to his chest and motioned of the two to sit. "Set your formalities aside. We have buisness to attend to." He said, getting straight to the point.

Natas did so, still nodding as an acknowledgement instead of speaking. He licked his dry lips and sat down in his far smaller chair compared to the other two men. Natas had his massive red-hued flamberge whose hilt was embedded with two large rubies sitting on top of the table in front of him. He had his hands casually resting on the arms of his marble chair.

Nazryn waited for Naberius to sit and then followed suite just after. He scooted his hulking chair back with ease and looked over the two men again. His eyes seemingly not as brightly lit now that they wern't inside such a dark and secluded wall of metal that he called a helmet. They were much softer now, and his attitude still seemed serious. "I have called you both here, knowing that what I ask, no matter what it will be, it will be done quickly and effeciently." He said in a stern tone.

As he walked across the table and sat down, Naberius studied the Zyox. From the outside he simply seemed like a menacing bulk of brute force and death. Then he took off his helmet and smiled a warm smile. This puzzled Naberius. A scarred face twisting into a warm smile, how could this be? Perhaps his welcoming presence helped him get where he is, as Zyox? This would be something to ponder upon in the coming days..

As the fitting voice of the man beast told him to sit down, he obeyed. As Naberius listened further he realized that the matter at hand was of utmost importance. He knew that he would be doing a great deed soon, asked for by the Zyox, and that to prove himself towards the great Nexin, he would have to do it exactly as told, quickly and cleanly. He nodded as told this, and listened on.

Nazryn continued, "I will make this meeting short. You have both waited long enough to see me." The beast of a man said in a stern voice as he got down to buisness. "There is an Overlord running amuck in the slums of Narsis. The main problem is that this was once a loyal servant of mine. He goes by the name Norrynak Jaxator. This is completely unlike him, and I fear there is foul play at hand." He says, still not quite sure what could cause a noble servant to turn on his own people and disobey orders. He then leaned forward slightly and rested his chin in one of his massive hands.

Natas looked over at Naberius and nodded his head, taking in the situation. "So we are to subdue him and find out who or what is making him disregard your order, Zyox?" He asked. He then looked over to Naberius and smirked. "I assure you we are up for the task, right Naberius?"

He sighed as his first realization of imminent teamwork grew obviously right. However, he did not want to disappoint the Zyox. He rather wanted to take his place. The frown became a smile as Naberius nodded in acceptance of the task set before him and spoke for the first time in his booming voice, almost as impressive as Nazryn's, "We are."

Natas looked from Naberius to Nayzrn and nodded his dark head. "We are." He repeated afterwards.

Nazryn took the two's quick and loud responses as a great sign for things to come. His scarred face smiled once more, but it was quickly hidden by his helmet being place right back over his massive head. "Well then, all buisness has been settled." He said scooting his massive chair back a little. He then stood and pointed towards the door and spoke with his booming voice.

"Bring him to me when you 'subdue' him." He quietly said. "And I'll see to it you'll be rewarded handsomely."

Naberius stands and bows before the Zyox as he leaves. He proceeds to give a good, hard look to Natas for a few seconds and picks up his mace without altering his gaze. He then walks towards the door Nazryn pointed to, and walks out.

He then began to wonder whether he should still be as cold as he is towards everyone else. As he was asking himself earlier, could the Zyox's... charm have contributed to getting him where he is today? Maybe. However, Naberius very well liked that he had no real friends. He has always made it this way. He dislikes people. His profession is to kill them, not talk to them.

Natas returned the gaze, but a small mysterious and toothy grin was aimed towards Naberius' way. Natas was certainly not a people person either, but he knew when to make conversation, and when to keep his mouth shut and stick to buisness. He foresaw this job being one of those times where the only time he's going to get a word out of the big Overlord was when he got into it with the other Overlord when he bludgeoned him with his mace and let out a warcry. He nodded his thanks to Nazryn and quickly followed after Naberious, grabbing his large flamberge and heaving it over his right shoulder.

He caught up to Naberious and kept a respectable distance to the brute's side. "I understand you do not like speaking with others. I also understand you probably do not care to say anything to me as well. I am not too fond of working with others outside of my profession either." Natas said calmly as they walked through the corridors of the Palace on their way out. "Though I am sure you know just as well as I do, that the Zyox would not have asked us to take this task if it did not require two great beings such as ourselves." He said, a serious look about his face as he pushed open a door for them that led to the entrance of the Palace. Massive windows made of a stained glass portrayed a blurred aura of multi-colored lights bouncing off of the black and purple marble floor in the domed palace entrance.

Naberius half-listened to Natas as he kept thinking. While they walked down towards the palace exit he asked, "Where do we start?" aware that he was ignoring some obvious comments said by his... comrade.

Natas winced slightly, sensing some of which if not most of what he had said was ignored. However he stayed dutiful and kept his mind on the topic at hand. "Ah, right. Yes." As they exited the Palace of the Zyox, he squinted his eyes to re-adjust to the some what brighter surroundings. He looked towards the south, and took a right turn. "This way, Naberious. The slums are to the South. We have a lot of ground to cover, but we should still stick together. I doubt this man will be any easy task if Nazryn has assigned both of us to take him down."

Not necessarily liking the idea of sticking with Natas, Naberius agreed with a nod. As he followed his comrade towards the slums he said, "Can't be that difficult." with a low chuckle.