The Monastery of Pious Poverty

Neva transformed as well, her human firm settling into stride next to Va'nei's elfin form.

"They are monks, and we are guardians if nature, surely they will be willing to negotiate with us."

Neva kept quiet as well, standing with her arms crossed behind Fol-lu. A silent supporter of his quest.

The old man stares at them with his near sightless eyes, confused until Fol-lu speaks. A look of horror draws across the old man's face and he gasps, sputters, and coughs. It takes him a moment to recover and when he does he shakes his head.

"I know not how you came across the name of that item. I know not why you want it. But I beg you reconsider your course noble dragons. The beggar's eye is unholy, in the wrong hands it could cause such sorrow and hardship that the world itself would weep. Our order has guarded it for generations, keeping it's evil from the world. We cannot hand it over, I am sorry."

Fol-lu would turn his palms upwards holding his hands out in a diplomatic manner, 

"I can assure you our hands are not the wrong ones. With me now are the very guardians of these lands, guardians who have protected all for periods of time that transcend generations."

Fol-lu would let his hands fall to his sides then, before speaking again, "It is suprenely important we get that artifcat, and I do think we would be much more effective at protecting it. So why not give it to us, for the sake of the lands that you seek to protect by withholding from us but in the end leave more vulnerable?"

The old monk shakes his head at Fol-lu's entreaty.

"My order has held this sacred charge for over four hundred years. Well, I do not doubt your power, we will not give up the beggar's tear willingly. We can't fight you, but we aren't going to hand it over either. I am sorry."

The old man is trying to put on a strong front, but there is a slight tremble in his body. He fears the dragons, not for what they can do to him but for what they might do to his fellow monks.

Fol-lu frowned slightly, pausing briefly in his train of thought when the Monk refused to hand over the beggar's eye. It was then he realized the moral ramifications for this task, and his previous one. Perhaps now that morality was staring him right in the face, in the form of these monks who were nothing but pure-hearted, is why he realized it finally. He had been blinded by his own quest to retrieve the Dragon's Tear that he had perhaps doomed so many in the process, and still would doom even more should he steal the beggar's eye and give it to Basacial.

Va'nei's words seemed to fall on deaf ears for the moment, as an internal battle clearly raged on within Fol-lu. He had already gotten this far, and his goal was right in front of him. So should he throw away his morals, which were quite worthless to anyone else as it was, and take the final step? 

The monks begin to file out of their halls, to return to their work. They still seem a bit tense but determined to go about business as usual. They were dedicated to their faith and would remain firm. Though they wouldn't attack the dragons they would hinder them, doors would be closed to them, no questions would be answered about the location of the tear.

A cruel voice sounds in Fol-lu's ear, and only Fol-lu's ear. "You know I don't usually take an active interest in these things, but I had a feeling your conscious would rear its head. Remember if you fail you die. Oh, and if you think perhaps your aggressive little friend might have an idea well... I won't get into all the reasons that won't work. It is sufficient to say that if you three return to my office without the eye, it won't just be you that dies. Have fun."