Greko sits and listens with his eyes closed, listening and waiting. He sense Violet in over her head and hears the worried tones in her voice. He pats the seat next to him, still his eyes closed, and calls her over "Violet my dear, come sit next to old Greko and keep him entertained by answering an old lizard's questions...Come, come....First let me say thank you for your bravery in these difficult times. Greko knows it is not easy being thrust into such a difficult situation. Why this one time when Greko was your age, Greko was in the Faron woods, checking on things as the new Green Wizard of the realm, a role Greko held until Greko died not long ago, but anyway, Greko was thurst into a situation that was difficult, goblins attacking fey, fey attacking goblins....to make a long story short, Greko decided to aid the fey and became friends with them. Greko has visited their courts and learned a few tricks from them. Just know that you are amongst friends and can ask whatever you wish to better understand the circumstances we are in. You've proven yourself a friend and trusted companion to us, so please do not hesitate to ask...Old Greko will do what he can to answer all your questions, but first tell Greko about yourself....You have an affinity for magics, how did you come to learn?"

     "Triforce of Wisdom then?" Judal asks when the captain explains the no-go for sailing to Celestia.  He then looks to Malenia and vaugely nods his agreement to her assessment that it's the next goal.

Nodding along, Seeming as though their path was set. "We need it, and as you said. It would deny our enemies the chance to take it for themselves." Touching her own Dragonhdie belt to produce the same effect as Rum. Malenia's eyes follow the second ship, watching it carefully for any sign that it may not be what it appears. 

"Stasoyla.....Might I have a word with you in private when you find a moment?" 

Violet smiles gratefully at Grekko and sits next to him.

"My magic? I think it's just part of who I am," she says thoughtfully. "My father is an aberration, a creature known as a beholder. He actually dreamed me into existence by accident... yes, that's something beholders can do. My father always had a weird obsession with humans, and somehow that lead to him dreaming about a human/beholder hybrid creature. So... that's where I come from. I'm obviously not a real beholder... but I do have that same aberrant power in my soul, and that lets me shape reality, if that makes any sense..."

She pauses a moment, and looks at the old wizard with a shy smile.

"So... um... what is going on around here? I have no idea what anyone is talking about with the Triforce... the Auryn... please tell me, Grekko... what did I just become a part of?"

Lady Kaede walks back out on the main deck, and glides (as royalty does...) towards her new friend Violet.  Quietly interrupting Violet's and Greko's conversation, she chimes in with "...I've been with this group of adventurers for a couple months, my adorable friend Violet-kun, and I still don't have a clue what the Triforce, Auryn, and all this other mystical gibberish is about as well!" She then chuckles an endearing laugh, mostly at herself and her confusion.

You all notice that Kaede is definitely more lady-like now, having been graciously attended to by the outstanding Thea.  Her cuts are mostly healed, with only a few minor bumps and bruises apparent on her hands.  Most everything else has been either healed up or covered in makeup.

Rum listens with interest to the conversation going on about the Triforce and Auryn. When he first turned up at the Ivory Tower he was clueless to all these things as well, and truth be told other than now knowing they are powerful items that are the key to pushing back the forces of evil, he didn't really know a whole lot about them.

"Friend Greko likely knows the details, but the short answer is they are hope. In a world that is being torn apart and thrust into darkness and nothingness, they are a glimmer of light. That is how I see it anyway. Which is the same as how I see all of us", he says quietly, still side eyeing Atoh Kahn a little.

"Even those of us who think it all mystical gibberish and just wish to fight for their people, or who have only just stumbled into this strange world in such crisis. As long as we persevere, hope remains".

As Lady Kaede and Thea are busy beautifying the wounded warrior and the others chat, Stasolya pulls the Princess Zelda aside to have a whispered conversation. But it is a short one, and she leaves the Princess with a bit of a worried glance at her before returning her attention to the discussion at hand as Thea and Lady Kaede return. The centaur smiles to see Lady Kaede looking so much improved. "Truly you have a healing touch," she says to Thea.

She smiles still broader at Rum's words about hope, words that echo what she has striven to do through the whole battle of the darkening of Hyboria. "There are things which no darkness and no Nothing can touch, and our hope, our faith, and our perseverance in doing the right thing, no one and nothing can separate us from those things unless we let them! Thank you, Rum. I think that Hyboria and the Childlike Empress, crumbling and under attack though they may be, have brought us all here together for a purpose which will not be thwarted."

"Let the Triforce of Wisdom be our next goal, then," Stasolya says, in agreement with the others, and nods to Malenia. "Of course... let us speak here before we get underway."

Lady Kaede quietly adds “My father used to tell my brothers and I … Only hope can give rise to the emotion we call despair. But it is nearly impossible for a man to try to live without hope, so I guess that leaves Man no choice but to walk around with despair as his companion.”

She then pulls out a glimmering sword with an unparalleled beauty and craftsmanship rarely (if ever) seen in this material plane, and honorably presents it to Greko.

”Master Greko-san. I liberated this beautiful weapon from the enemy forge. I believe they have created it from that equipment you acquired from them as well. Might you use your powerful magics to help me identify it? Perhaps I can use it to inspire hope in those who have no hope to carry them forward?”

Greko smiles at his friends and turns back to Violet "Let me start from the beginning" Greko begins to tell Violet about his birth, progressing through his life story right up until he gets to the Auryn "So you see Greko was chosen from the realm to defend good from evil. Gannon was working with the dark lord himself, and the heroes of the realm were selected to stop him, however, that does not explain how the Dawn Guard were chosen...no one knows that mystery. A few of us here were at the very first meeting, each group was tasked with a different objective. The Twilight Embers were formed to get the alicorn from Blix or the Darklord himself. You see the forces of evil seeminly were working together.....The first this has happened as long as I can remember.....Vader, Ganon, The Dark Lord, and others were all trying to set this land into darkness elminating good and light.....We,  Yam the Dwarf, Tuto the Gnome, Greko the Green, Ro Aleron the False Knight, Lelith Iathrana, and Rumble of Hunger were chosen to reclaim the alicorn.....We boarded this here ship and set off only to be attacked rather quickly by Bullywugs. They were easily dispatched....as the crew were inspired by Greko's bravery. This is when Greko learned of the Dawn Guard's inability to accomplish anything meaningful. They sent a message over the Auryn that was garbled and made little sense and then vanished....We later learned they were killing circus entertainers and burning down a goblin orphanage disregarding the task they were meant to accomplish, but Greko digresses.....We arrived in Cloveresse to resupply for our long voyage sailing 23 days. Yam did not accompany us feeling she was too old for this endeavor, Greko believes she did not have it in her. Greko is older. We sailed and landed in Zora's Domain where we quickly came upon devestation, death, destruction......it was a sad scene, sad indeed.....We did not have much time to react as Ganon's forces lay waiting. We easily defeated them led by Greko's careful planning. This is were we met our first ally Oten who was helping the Zora fight against Ganon's forces. From there we went to the Great Deku Tree where the beginning of the end for the Twlight Emebrs. Ganon had corrupted the tree stealing what he needed for his devoius plans. Behind was left a book that corrupted Ro's soul, and the dark lord twisted Lelith's mind....Greko was too wrapped up in solving mysteries that he did not notice the change in them...Greko blames himself...." Greko pauses and looks out over the water before restarting the conversation "Perhaps Lady Kaede or Rum would like to continue from where we met Lady Kaede...." Greko gets up, taking the sword from Lady Kaede and begins to identify the sword for her

During Greko's tale, Rum had wandered away more than once. He in fact spent some time up in the crow's nest, or even balanced on one of the arms that jutted from the top of the mast. He in fact just returns to hear Greko tell of Ro's obsession and Lelith's succumbing to the Lord of Darkness.

"Well, after that we travelled to Hyrule Castle, coming across a hoard of undead along the way. They were about to over run a ranch and things didn't go well there, despite our best efforts. After that we met Lady Kaede battling one of Ganon's guardians. She joined us in infiltrating the castle, but it was all an ambush anyway. It went very badly wrong, and was the end of the Twilight Embers", he says and looks out into the distance.

"Perhaps that is enough story telling for one day", he adds sadly.

Thinking back to what Stasolya had said before, he voices a thought, "There is a new Empress out there somewhere, right?".

With blushing cheeks, Thea paused a little too long like a deer caught in lights, again. She had big vibrant violet eyes. Her skin was light, yet in the sun it was pearl like, and in the moonlight it shimmered like starlight. Her hair was a strawberry blonde and upon her forehead was a single iridescent unicorn horn. Thea blinks. She then tiptoes with quick steps to catch up to the graceful Lady Kaede, finding herself too gravitating towards the calm and chill elder, an old wise wizard who calls himself Grekko. Her pointed ears twitch, entirely guilty of eavesdropping on the personal stories, focusing on those more while passively paying attention to those discussing other matters at hand.

Tucked next to Lady Kaede, purple eyes totally guilty of peeking over and staring at the one named Violet. Thea tried really hard not too, but she's never seen any one like her. She was incredibly unique. She found her cute, and sweet. Her hands find her cheeks. Hearing Stasola's kind words, they break her out of her eavesdropping and a coo escapes her lips. Thea sways a bit before she straightens her posture and smiles her way, dipping her head in thanks for the praise. She was happy to do it.

Even Thea knew it was time to settle in for a long story when Grekko begins with 'Let me start from the beginning'. She continues to listen and intake information.

      "Has nothing gone right on this entire journey for any of us?" Judal wonders aloud after hearing of the slaughter of circus performers, the corruption of trees, books corrupting souls and ambushes ending teams.  "Has anything been accomplished besides failure?"

     Judal paced uneasily as he overheard the story and shook his head often.  Judal is of a size and build of a typical human knight if a bit less brawny than one would usually expect.  His features are clasically handsome and perhaps too unweathered to be what one expects of a knight but his words and his intentions ring with truth and honesty.  He wears half plate armor which seems lighter and more flexible than most, and definitely well tended to. (Mithral, if one would recognize such.) His clothes otherwise are well tailored and of the best materials one could ask for when not living the comfortable life.  He carries the longsword and shield of a knight, both glint in a way that seems to indicate these are not a simple knight's tools.  He has several daggers located strategically about himself but the one that stands out is strapped to his chest above his heart with the hilt down so it could be easily grabbed by his sword hand but it also looks almost more decorative than like it is wielded... ever.  The only rough item about his person is Judal's cloak.  It is a dark cloak that appears to have been fastened from the pelt of one or more beasts of some kind.  The quick assumption would be a dark wolf or such but if one knows their animals and looks closely they can determine it is more hound but too close of an inspection can give some people a the shivers.  Otherwise the cloak has been adorned by a series of nice but unspectacular brooches which circle it from one side of the clasp around to the other...  Perhaps the most unique thing is the large tooth strapped to his back, a souvenir from his time watching the creature battle Godzilla.  ((Rough approximation of main look in spoiler...))

     "We need to start having victories, my friends.  Decisive, victories.  We need to stop fretting about the past, about crumbled AURYN's or missed opportunities.  We need to look to the future and to our next task and accomplish deeds that matter, that inspire and which lead us forth to greater, more important victories the next day."  Judal goes on like this for a bit, his words less on specifics than broad generalities yet they are eloquent and inspiring none the less.  His words are such that any using this time to rest shortly find themselves regaining extra reserves and energy (extra 1d6 to any using hit dice to heal) and if any in the range of his voice were charmed or frightened then surely hearing Judal go on would give them an advantage in overcoming such...  

     "We do not fight just for ourselves... Nor just for the people... We fight for light and goodness itself!" Judal finishes rousingly...  Then looks around at everyone and smiles self consciously, clears his throat, and then steps back a few steps.  "You know, we just have to do what we can," he adds with far less charm and grace, suddenly a bit self conscious.

Greko who had moved away to examine the sword turns back around and begins to say "This sword is....." (those that are perceptive would see or paying any attention to Greko)

As Greko's demeanour and posture change, Rum looks across to his friend, noticing also the change in the colour of his eyes as he examines the sword. When Greko moves towards Violet, Rum moves faster to interpose himself between them.

"Friend Greko, you are not yourself. I am afraid I cannot let you keep the sword", he says and whips out a hand trying to knock the sword from his friend's grasp.

Ever the watchful Jedi, No sooner had she moved with the Centaur to have a word in private did her keen eyes fall onto the visage of Greko swinging a blade towards the one they referred to as....Violet? "Blast it all....If its not one thing, It's another." Pressing of the toes of her dominant foot, she rushes towards Greko just as Rum moves to interpose himself. In the flurry of motion, A blur of crimson blasted Greko square in the jaw with a HARD punch. 

Unarmed Strike: 24 to Hit. 
Damage: 9 Bludgeoning Damage

Spending a Ki point for Stunning strike: Greko has to succeed on a DC 19 CON saving throw or be Stunned until the end of my next turn. 

Standing next to Greko, staring down at him. Her visage turning grim as she clenched her prosthetic hand. "Knock it off." 

Violet gasps as the blade swings past her... but with her numerous eyes she's able to see the attack coming before it's too late! She dodges out of the way...

And in the blink of an eye the wizard is disarmed and then punched in the face by... um... someone. She doesn't know who everyone is yet. Violet decides to end the madness before anything else happens.

"I... I think the sword is cursed!" she exclaims, noting how Greko's eyes turned red before he attacked her. "Everyone... please... please don't hurt him! And maybe don't touch that sword... I really don't want to get decapitated..."

As the sword drops from Greko's numbed hands, Rum watches the bright red colouration fade from his eyes. But just as he starts to relax a fist appears and cracks his friend's jaw, showing the telltale signs of the lizardfolk's ki being manipulated as the strike connects.

"The sword was the real enemy, not friend Greko", he says as his gaze turns to Melania, "He was back to normal the moment it left his grasp".

He stands over the sword stopping anyone from retrieving it, "Let's see what he has to say when he comes round, but right now Violet is right, no-one touches the sword or friend Greko".

The few moments Thea looked away to listen to Judal, all chaos broke loose. The old wizard lashed out at Violet with some sword. She found herself relieved that the feeble wizard's strength wasn't enough to wield it accurately, and even if he managed to make purchase with the oversized letter opener, it at most would have been a festering paper cut. She exhales a breath when Violet speaks up to clarify the situation.

     Judal dons his shield and has his hand upon his own sword in the blink of an eye as the curious Greko grows even curiouser.  The one called Violet does appear more monstrous than not, Abomination not a kind but not an incorrect appellation to Judal's mind.  If she had not been amongst those that had been considered friends by his own companions...  Then again, how well does he know even them?

     Greko is laid out as quickly as he had turned hostile, trustworthy or not these others were quick.  Judal had a flash of a thought of drawing against this one called Rum who was defending (perhaps?) the Abomination but Malenia also turned on the one called Greko and that left Judal unsure of who, if any, was in the right here. 

     Cursed? Judal wonders at the words of Violet.  But can one trust the words of an Abomination?  Could not such have their own agenda in deflection and obfuscation?  And Rum, their defender, so quick to agree and back up the accusation while seemingly claiming the weapon for their own by standing above it.  This all seems...  off.  Who was right here?  Who wrong?  Was there such things here?

     A fog appears in the area heavily obscuring the area...

      "Everyone calm the hell down and someone explain all this please!" Judal calls out with the blade held above the waters.

As soon as the fog starts to appear, Rum puts his foot down on the blade, his senses other than sight alert for foul play as his vision becomes obscured.

(OOC: need DM judgement on this)