Some Ancient Call That I've Answered Before

The stranger was free with his compliments - a fact that was not lost on Pyrrhic. His ego wasn't in the best of places currently. Normally he would have taken the compliments with a sort of smug indifference - after all, as a god incarnate he deserved such things - but in his sorry state he couldn't help but latch onto the words. They were reaffirming in a way. He deserved them and even a complete stranger, a mortal he'd never met, recognized his importance without so much as a formal introduction to set the stage. That had to mean something, right?

"You have quite the silver tongue, Koloskivi Roux," he observed, acknowledging the handful of compliments that had been cast his way in their short conversation. Pyrrhic certainly wasn't complaining. The corners of his mouth rose slightly as he went on to say, "And it is a pleasure to meet you." Who could resist a charmer?

His smile faltered as Koloskivi asked if he was Abraxas. What did he mean he had similar markings to Abraxas? Surely he didn't mean God! No way this mortal had laid eyes on Pyrrhic's predecessor when neither Pyrrhic, the current Emperor, or his father, or presumably his father's father had not. Surely not.

Recovering quickly and seamlessly adopting a relaxed expression, Pyrrhic replied, "You are correct, I am." He decided to see if he could tease more information out of Koloskivi so he then adopted a curious expression and asked, "What do you know of Abraxas?" Phrased that way he would hopefully learn the truth without leading Koloskivi into a particular answer; either the man would begin to speak of God or he would - hopefully - launch into a recounting of an encounter with one of Pyrrhic's many relatives.