(Scars do not appear to be cause of death –shock ... - Bad Request

on me, she spoke sharply, but not angrily, "Do you need something?"
"I apologize," I bowed my head slightly, "I couldn't help but overhear what
you and your friend were discussing. It sounded interesting."
She pursed her lips, "He's not my friend, he's my cousin. He was just telling
me that this isn't the center of the multiverse, despite it being located smack
in the middle of the Outlands, despite it being the focal point of portals from
all over the cosmos -- there isn't a known place with more -- despite all the
quarreling gods do over it, despite the sheer variety and concentration of
power that accumulates here. There is no place like this in the cosmos, and
he's telling me it's nothing special? Ha!"
"That's an interesting perspective. Perhaps you both have elements of
truth?"
She brushed the idea off with a wave of her hand, "Perhaps you're correct,
but I find that such relativism is often beyond me. Either the place is
important, or it is not. Paradox may fuel the planes, but there must be sense
to it somehow."
The man shook his head, his hair beginning to surrender to age at the edges
of his scalp. He spoke in a staccato voice, rapping out each word distinctly
and clearly "Forgive her, cutter. My cousin," he stressed the word, as if to
emphasize that he had no choice in his acquaintance, "has recently come
here from her backwater prime world. My uncle, a renowned wizard,
brought her here to expand her horizons. She labors under the delusion that
this is the center of the multiverse, and she thinks it's somehow important.
Since I've lived here my whole life, I know otherwise -- it's a place the
powers and planeborn overlook, just as humans overlook the squirrels in
their city parks. It's not important, and the sooner humans come to realize
they're not important, the better off they'll be." He ran a hand through his
thinning hair, "Cilaen Irontoes. Before you ask, I got the name because my
idiot brother dropped a fifty-pound stone on my feet and crushed my toes.
Now I have iron toes. All right?"
The woman raised an eyebrow and looked to me, "I'm Kiarus. Kiarus
Thorntongue. I'm afraid I must endure Cilaen's presence because my uncle
doesn't want me wandering the Hive on my own. He doesn't seem to think
I'm competent, though he may be right. I don't know this city or this plane
very well. I'm not from here. I'm from the Prime."
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