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As he listened to the man before him, Sveiand took the scroll tentatively – Knowledge was a fickle thing. He skimmed through the scrawled message, skipping the inane chatter that Iva knew he found droll. Yet the main content of the note was intriguing. A divine assembly was sure to be interesting, if not a complete disaster. He tried to envisage the multitude of powerful being gathered in one place, each with contrasting domains, raw primal power and conflicting personalities. There were those in open antagonism, some with unbridled powers and, it was rumoured, new gods of the civilising world that may show their faces. He did not want to be part of the petty squabbles but worried by recent events, he did not want to fade into history either. Even if he stood in a chilled corner of the library and watched it would still be more interesting than his past few decades of existence. And anyway, recent events needed to be discussed. 

The embodiment of winter turned to the figure shivering before him, lips pursing slightly as he thought about how best to reply. The man was cold and fearful of the beast that Svei had just guardedly received. Yet… there was something about him. Those golden eyes. The lack of tribal markings to identify himself as one of the North. His bizarre story. No human of the Northern Crown would come hunting this far north, nothing lived here. Nor would they think that they could regain their bearings after wandering too far into the blizzard of Niflheim but prey to the only resident for sanctuary. 

Sveiand’s guard rose at the uncertainty of the identity of the man before him. But his curiosity was peaked. His mind flashed back to the mortals he had left sleeping in his palace, and could not stop the thought that this unusual figure would give him a better companionship that he had found in his long life thus far. The decision crystallised in his mind. 

[color=6ecff6][i][b]“You do not need to ask Azhriel for mercy,” [/b][/i][/color] he smiled with benevolence, lifting the man’s head up by a chilling touch to his chin. [color=6ecff6][i][b]“I will grant you both safe passage.” [/b][/i][/color]The cold immediately lessened around the man? Mortal? Demigod? Construct? And at a glance, the bat-like messenger shivered. A thick pale pelt erupted from its crown, cascading down its body. That would make it more comfortable, and remind his sibling of his power. The blizzard parted in a clear corridor toward the shoreline in the near distance, yet continued to howl in tumult on all other sides. If the man did not know before that he was a god, it was obvious now. He turned to both figures [color=6ecff6][i][b]“Come, lest you lose your way again.”[/b][/i][/color] As Sveiand strode quickly away across the ice, the blizzard started to close in again behind him. Both Iva’s messenger and the curious stranger would need to stay close to avoid being swallowed by his meteorological defences again. 

He thought he sense a turbulent surge in power from the direction of the stranger as he started the journey but put it down to the portal of Naswaru he sensed opening with his first creation for Niflheim. He couldn’t wait for this gathering to end and him be able to meet his first pet! When they reached the shoreline, he would give the traveller a choice. He smiled at the crisp snow crunching beneath his boots. This was going to be an interesting journey especially if he offered an alternative way of travelling…