Dialogue with Taranis

My name is Blue River Frond and I am from Charikian. We are people watchers and we are scribes. Every being in all time and space has a place and a purpose and to that end we record the words they speak, for posterity…and for insight into the past. Please call me Blue and read my dialogues:

TARANIS

(A dialogue recorded on abandoned Mon Unon before the Guardians embarked upon The Game.)

Blue: We should begin with who you are, should we not? Many know your name, but we are now speaking to those who do not. Tell us a little about yourself.

Taranis: I don’t enjoy talking about myself. I’d rather discuss the role of the Guardians.

Blue: And we’ll get to that. Perhaps talking about yourself will reveal the Guardians also.

Taranis: Well, I guess you could say I was chosen to lead…

Blue: Let’s not be coy, my lord. You are Taranis, Lord of the Guardians, and there are those who call you Lord of the Deities.

Taranis: The latter is pure misconception…or misguided perception.

Blue: Humankind, I believe, refers to you as Lord of the Deities.

Taranis: Not humankind in general. Only on Valaris.

Blue: Why?

Taranis: Millennia ago a creature known as Drasso attempted to conquer Valaris, with the help of his mother…

Blue: Infinity, right?

Taranis: Yes, Infinity was Drasso’s mother, and caught between the two of them Valaris was about to succumb. We’re talking poisoned air and absolute annihilation of the population. The Guardians stepped in and because we were seen as fantastical as Drasso and Infinity were, well, Valarians came to regard us as gods. Deities.

Blue: And you led them.

Taranis: Something like that.

Blue: We hear there are temples and churches dedicated to the worship of Taranis.

Taranis: Not my doing.

Blue: How did you become leader of the Guardians? You are, after all, a human, and humans cannot be said to have the ability to do what you have.

Taranis: I guess my humanity during the time of Drasso aided us to victory. I was able to use the kind of strategy humans could identify with. It is a truth we would not have won had it not been for the people of Valaris gifting us their support. Many paid for it with their lives. My colleagues in the Dome saw the time of humankind had arrived in the universe…and chose me as leader.

Blue: A human Immortal. How is that possible?

Taranis: Anything is possible if you want it enough. I do not care to discuss my longevity further.

Blue: The Dome you refer to is the gathering place for the Guardians. Would you care to describe it for us?

Taranis: It’s a dome.

Blue: It’s more than that.

Taranis: It’s made of crystal and obsidian and travels through the ages due to inherent magic, but it is still a dome.

Blue: In vacuum.

Taranis: The vacuum protects it, yes.

Blue: We hear you are married.

Taranis: Was. My personal life isn’t the issue here.

Blue: My lord, female readers like to…

Taranis: My heart is spoken for, and that is as much as I’m prepared to reveal.

Blue: Who is she?

Taranis: This interview will end now…

Blue: Very well, no more of that. Where do you call home, my lord?

Taranis: I consider myself nomadic. Duties to the Dome do not allow for much personal space.

Blue: My sources tell me you have a home on Thisseldrum, but Thisseldrum isn’t the place of your birth.

Taranis: No one is born to Thisseldrum.

Blue: So we hear. It is a world for the wealthy, a chosen destination for those with the means to live there. It follows thus…

Taranis: I am not a wealthy man. I simply require privacy.

Blue: Your status granted you the right to residence.

Taranis: Yes. How did you discover this? Not even the Guardians know where I call home and I would prefer to keep it that way.

Blue: I doubt a Guardian will read the transcript of this dialogue, my lord. Your secret is safe. Where were you born? It must have been a human world.

Taranis: It doesn’t matter where I was born. What matters right now is that the Guardians face a new threat.

Blue: The dara-witch Infinity has a new game to play, we hear.

Taranis: Indeed, and the Guardians will step in once more. We are the protectors.

Blue: And the universe is aware of that and many appreciate you for your calling, but many more wonder how it is Infinity has gone unpunished for so long. Will you finish it this time?

Taranis: The witch is slippery. Our hope is to negate her.

Blue: Where will you do so? Which field of battle has she chosen this time?

Taranis: Valaris. Again.

Blue: It smacks of revenge.

Taranis: It is.

Blue: Valaris. Where humankind already regards you as a deity. That could work in your favour.

Taranis: I am inclined to think it will disadvantage us. Our appearance as gods to the rescue could spread the kind of fear we shall be hard-pressed to function within. It is better, this time, to remain as anonymous as possible. Do not make this public knowledge.

Blue: All transcripts have to be vetted. This one won’t be filed for at least another year. Now, if I may ask: what about you, the man Taranis?

Taranis: I don’t follow.

Blue: What do you do for fun? What do you read, if you read? Where do you go to relax, if it isn’t Thisseldrum? Tell us about yourself.

Taranis: I read histories, mostly, and I enjoy fishing in isolated places. Relaxation is relative, but when it can be found I usually chose green worlds where fish teem in the rivers. I’m a simple man, really.

Blue: Does she accompany you on your fishing trips?

Taranis: No.

Blue: Would you like her to?

Taranis: This interview is over.

Blue: My lord…

Taranis: I have duties.

(The dialogue come to an abrupt halt at this point, but there is a further interview recorded with Taranis, not yet vetted.)