Interview with a D'jinn Part 3

"So.. do you think you can teach me that glyph trick?"

Sul sat there quietly, watching me the air seemingly charged with static. The Dijin's unblinking stare unnerving as time ticked on, seeming to have slowed to a crawl.  Sul finally spoke in a low whisper. "No. Not as you are now at least. Your mind cannot understand the senses that would be opened to you if I were to teach you how all at once, over time yes. All at once would be... damaging...I believe that is the correct term."

"Ok, a topic for another time then...So Japan, have you ever been there?"

"No, my travels never took me further east than Istanbul, and before I gained the chance to do so the midnight war began."

"That keeps coming up, but I have a different question in mind right now. What do you first remember of the world?...what civilization did you see first?"

"The first civilization I encountered.....I did not see their rise, I had not been born by that time, however I saw their fall. The Minoan civilization in the Mediterranean. Their decline was slow, the culture was shattered time and time again by earthquake and volcanic eruption, Mount Thera, I believe they called it. By the end of it all there were more Mycenaean Grecians than Minoan Grecians, though the Mycenaens adopted the culture and language they did not improve upon it and it became less diverse group of people as a result."


"And after the Minoans?"


"After living among the minoans and watching their slow decline I travelled to the north and west across a small straight to an island nation to observe and live among the Drwy. I found the difference between the two people...refreshing."

"The who?" I arched an eyebrow, trying to figure out what Sul had just said.

"The Drwy... it's hard to describe them, they were pale of skin like yourself, however we never fully understood how or why, but they had attuned themselves with the energies of the world like we had, though to a lesser extent. Some could speak to the trees and animals and even take on the forms of some of the creatures inhabiting the islands, while others could reshape the land itself. In concert with each other they could divert water and raise stone hills from boggy soft land it was quite startling really, compared to the very few people capable of this among the Minoans, the Dryw by their last breaths could be almost as adept as a young D'jinn."

"....It sounds like you're describing the Druids of myth and fable rather than the religion that exists today..."

"Druids... that is a term similar to what the scholars of the Roman republic called them, though there were many fewer Drwy by that time than there were when I initially met them. The rest of the world arrived and changed them, took them away from nature as some of the elders said."

By this point I began to realize what time it was, That I had spent most of the day speaking with Sul, and that I had missed two classes. After a few moments of contemplation I shrugged and sat there quietly contemplating over what my next question should be.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know about the Dryw?"

"What separates them from Dryads?.... Beings who are more plant than human, simmilar in power you have described, but tied to the health of the forest, say a group of people logged the entire forest, this would leave the Dryad dead or extremely weak..have you encountered anything like this?"

"What you are describing would be some of the eldest and most powerful Dryw. They tie their health and vitality to a shrug, tree or other plan or multiples of the same to gain mastery over a particular element of nature. Usually they chose a young tree to maximize their vitality. In doing so though they can only range as far as the nearest stream from the tree, or trees they had chosen, and over time they would change. Being less human as you put it, and more like the plant they have tied their essence to. If it were an oak, their bones would grow more pliable and stronger, with their skin, thicker and more barklike. Eventually their hair would begin to leaf out with the natural cycle. Some Dryw chose to take on a half form between deer and human, or horse and human human for mobility and speed. I believe the Romans called them Centuars...or perhaps it was Saytr's..."

Sul trailed off as it seemed to be in thought for a time before I spoke again.

"We've been talking for most of the day, I need o get some food and rest, if it wouldn't be a problem, we could stop here for today and we can resume the interview tomorrow or the next day if that's not a problem?"

The D'jinn sat there quietly before nodding as though remembering that my species had odd rudimentary needs like food and sleep. "That is acceptable, I will remain here until you complete the duration of your first wish and decide on your second and third."

I nodded and went about scraping together something to eat for dinner, suddenly quite hungry, having completely forgotten to eat, and that I had two more wishes waiting in the wings.

Interview with a D'jinn Part 2

"What was the midnight war?" Sul paused and sat there for a time before finally speaking. "...It was a dark and terrible time for D'jinn, I would not speak of it so lightly, perhaps later after I tell you my own tale..perhaps not at all..."

"Fair enough....Ok so, D'jinn are more or less long lived, beings formed off energy.. am I correct in this so far?" the D'jinn nodded and I continued, "D'jinn tend to stick to themselves and nature but some of your kind have been involved in the founding of our most earliest civilizations, as well as acted as our early gods and spirits." Sul nodded once more. "So, tell me about yourself Sul."

"I am a D'jinn, as I have explained... I'm not sure what else to say."

"Well, let's start at the beginning, where and when were you born?"

"How long has it been since the unification of Roma?"

"The Republic, Empire or Eruscans?"

"The Republic, and their own word was Etruscian, Eruscan was what the Romans called them, though they were all romans after they were annexxed."

"To answer your question, roughly two thousand five hundred years, when was the War in relation to this?"

"Between the fall of Babylonia to Mursalis of Hatti and the transition of the Roman Republic to the Empire."

As Sul spoke I continued to write this all down before I interrupted as it paused, "So.. the war was close to fifteen hundred years long, is that right?" The Djinn gave me the slightest of nods before I continued. "now that we have a general timeline, where and when would you say you were born... is born even the right terminology?"

"Born is correct, as it takes two Djinn to create a new third Djinn, I won't go into detail and simply let your mind wonder." The Djinn snickered before continuing, "I was born after what was referred to as the great floods on the southern continent of Al'antia, while many groups described this events as the anger of the gods, and punishment for vices it was rather the result of several things. Fire, or rather stone and metal rained from the sky across the world impacted the oceans and changed the balance of the natural world. At that time the Djinn and Angels were opposed about what to do. Both groups had seen the threat coming, however the angels refused to interfere, while the Djinn wanted to intervene, as a compromise we chose members of your species to be warned and make their best attempts at riding out the impending destruction. Considering you are here to ask me questions is proof enough our efforts were not in vain."

I rapidly scrawled my notes, holding up a hand to indicate I wanted Sul to stop there for the time being. "Ok, that was a lot of information that I need to properly make sense of it all...Al'antia, southern continent, could this be what has been referred to as Atlantis in Greek writings?" Sul nodded holding up a glowing set of glyphs again to correct my pronunciation, "Grecian, got it.... So the "great floods".. makes sense most cultures have a flood myth, makes sense it was a natural disaster of some kind, however our scholars though it several separate events."

"It was. The comet initially impacted luna and broke apart and over the course of several hundred years the larger pieces became trapped by the world's g'vity and was pulled in most of them impacting the oceans and resulting in massive displacement of water." I arched and eyebrow at the word Sul had used. "G'vity, the force that keeps your feet on the ground."

"We call it Gravity."

"Duly noted....where was I?"

"Comet chunks splashing down and causing Tsunami's."

The Djinn sat there quietly staring at me. "..Soo...nah..me?" I nodded, drawing out a basic sketch of a Tsunami and the spelling. "Ah, yes....where is that term from?"

"Japan, to the far East...it's actually closer if you go to the west though. An island nation, also known as the land of the rising sun. East of China....do you think you can teach me that glyph trick you've been using? It might make it easier to communicate and translate ideas and words a bit more clearly."

The Djinn sat there silently watching me for a time.