Quartz: I’m not even sure if you should be here. Some might call you a secondary character in Tales of the Navel: The Shadow Forest. Others might call you the villain.
Dyvian: Why, thank you. Such confusion is delightful. (He smiles, spreading his fingers and resting his chin upon them to regard Quartz.) I do enjoy keeping people guessing.
Quartz: Right. If I’ve got you here, I might as well interview Bloody Oriana.
Dyvian: (allowing his smile to sober into something more serious) That sounds like an excellent idea.
Quartz: What??!! (He splutters for a moment, gazing at Dyvian in pure outrage.)
Dyvian: You’ve made Oriana your personal demon, Quartz. By bringing her here, questioning and confronting her, you’ll see she’s a character just like all the rest of us. Having her at your mercy at Secondary Characters Speak Out would give you a chance to lay your fears to rest.
Quartz: I’m *not* afraid of her!! (He stands up to glower in all of his stubby height at his seated guest.)
Dyvian: (with maddening reason) Why are you shouting?
Quartz: Because I’m furious, no outraged at the very suggestion! Me, afraid of that inept witch who can’t even retract her own curses? She’s a petty, irresponsible selfish excuse for a witch and a queen! Why would anyone be afraid of her, let alone me?
Dyvian: Because she had a hold over your precious Fairest’s heart, even when she was far away. Because she took away the human girl you came to regard as your own daughter, took her away somewhere, so all that remained was an empty shell of what she’d been. (All traces of amusement disappear from his face.) She had power of the worst sort, the power to steal away someone dear to you, even if she no longer wields it. (All traces of amusement disappear from his face.) You’re fortunate she no longer has that power.
Quartz: At last you’re returning to the point, which is you. I’m supposed to be interviewing you, remember?
Dyvian: Don’t worry, my dear Quartz. (He bends his lips into an alluring smile of sharp white teeth.) I haven’t forgotten.
Quartz: Don’t call me “my dear”. You sound too much like Nimmie Nott. (He starts to mutter.) That is if Nimmie Nott were tall, handsome, had hair like it was filled with moonlight, and dressed in dark colors which make it gleam all the more brightly…(His nose turns red)
Nimmie Nott (from behind the red curtain) Not again! First Sokrat, now this strange lord from another series? Quartz, you faithless lecher!
Quartz: Ahem, I meant to say if Nimmie Nott were tall. Too tall. (He scowls and blushes.) Why am I making excuses?
Dyvian: I am honoured. (He inclines his head towards Quartz and Nimmie Nott with stately grace.) As the Voice of Seraphix, I try to express my deity’s desires…and desirability.
Quartz: And you’re what exactly? Your god’s high priest?
Dyvian: Something like that. We Followers of Seraphix are still pouring our faither, prayer, and energy into our deity, raising Them from being a godling to pure god.
Quartz: The difference between a godling and a pure god being?
Dyvian: Power. Whether Seraphix can manifest and work Their miracles in reality and within how many degrees of reality.
Quartz: Sounds complicated. (He scratches his beard.)
Dyvian: You have no idea. (Some of weariness, shadows of care appear under the Voice of Seraphix’s eyes.)
Quartz: Probably not. Only your plans aren’t going as smooth as you’d like, eh?
Dyvian: Do plans ever go as smoothly as we’d like? (He spreads his hands in a rueful admission of fallacy.)
Quartz: I suppose not. You, however, are losing something very precious in the collapse of your plans. (Something almost like sympathy crosses the dwarf’s broad features.) This is why you said you understood what it was like to lose my Fairest to that witch.
Dyvian: It’s not particularly inaccurate to call my nephew a witch. (This time it’s Dyvian’s turn to scowl.)
Quartz: Meaning Damian Ashelocke. (He scowls right along with Dyvian.) It was a surprise to find out he was your nephew.
Dyvian: Not to me. The real revelation was that Duessa Ashelocke was only my sister by marriage before she ever created the Gardens of Arachne.
Quartz: That’s a change of spelling. Didn’t the scribbler used to call them the Gardens of Arachnia?
Dyvian: (spreading his hands) Just another one of our creatrix’s whims.
Quartz: Eh, we’re getting distracted from the topic at hand. You’re related to what? This Duessa’s husband?
Dyvian: Stefan Ashelocke, yes. It was he who summoned the mists from the Shadow Forest to surround his realm, creating our land, the land of Mystere before Duessa ever shaped the Gardens of Arachne, creating its arachnocracy.
Quartz: This is some sort of ruling class of lady spiders. Only they’re human-looking women with up to eight arms, eight eyes, and fangs, right?
Dyvian: (smiling a dark smile) I do admire Duessa. She created a haven for women, a land of beautiful gardens filled with beautiful boys for their personal power and enjoyment.
Quartz: How did she do that?
Dyvian: By making a deal with Arachne, the Spider. In order that women would no longer fall prey to monstrous men, women would become monsters themselves. They’d offer a sacrifice, a portion of their prey’s essence to Arachne as they fed.
Quartz: This prey you speak of, aren’t they those what d’ye call them? Marriage Feasts? (He shudders.) Bloody creepy if you ask me.
Dyvian: Really? (He sounds genuinely surprised.) I thought they were an elegant way for monsters to feed and to feed their monstrous god. Not that it can’t be improved on.
Quartz: I’m surprised to hear you say this. Weren’t you one of these Marriage Feasts?
Dyvian: Yes and I found the experience to be quite pleasurable. Not to mention enlightening.
Quartz: Your bride completely drained your life force, sharing it with the Spider and the other ladies! She left you nothing but a statue! How exactly was that enlightening?
Dyvian: My statue had a shadow. There are ways for a shadow to find more life energy, especially if that shadow can slip through a crack into the Shadow Forest. (He offers Quartz another dark smile.) Yes, there are ways to feed myself…and my little Leiwell.
Quartz: Right. Well, that’s quite enough for now. (He tries not to shudder.) Don’t want to spoil the story after all.
Dyvian: Quite true. Thank you. It was very kind of you to invite me. (He’s now all courtesy and graciousness.) Do consider my suggestion of having Oriana here. It will be a trial for you, but one which shall make you stronger.
Quartz: (He looks away.) I’ll think about it…
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