"I'm sure Evanathe will explain everything about her magic when the situation's less hectic," James preempts Taimi. "Now, I believe I had a history lesson to teach. From the start... the world is being threatened by dragons. There used to be six, but we killed one of them recently. They're powerful enough to be threatening to destroy us all. Mordremoth, the jungle dragon, is the one responsible for the attack on the airships. And sylvari," he gestures in the general direction the Pact Marshal walked to, "are a race that awakened from a tree twenty-six years ago who, it turns out, were meant to have been Mordremoth's minions. Now he's awakened, and is exerting mental pressure on all of them."

"Ooh, dragons. Evil dragons are, uh, less cool but then that means you get to kill them so maybe it balances out? I've always wanted to be a dragonslayer." She hums a brief riff under her breath. "Too bad about the sylvari, though. Is there a way to fix them?"

"Our current best guess is killing Mordremoth," James says cheerfully. "We don't yet know how to do it, though, since the strategy that did it for Zhaitan, well," he gestures around at the wreckage, "has evidently failed, if not as badly as it could have. And on a more immediate note, I am... looking for someone who has stolen an artefact that Mordremoth seems to be very interested in, so I very much would like to prevent him from getting it."

"Well, now you have me. I'm a strategy all by myself." Flutter flutter.

He laughs. "You'll probably help, but we're not certain Mordremoth has an actual body, now."

"That would make things a little complicated."

"It would. On the other hand you will be very helpful in finding the sylvari who stole the artefact. If you're willing to help, of course."

"Ooh, yes!"

"-Uh, is the Marshal going to be okay though? He's my summoner so I should make sure he stays safe."

"He should be fine, he's a very capable man."

"What happens if he's not, though?"

"If he dies, I get sent back."

"Oh. And can we fetch you back?"

"Maybe? If you draw a summoning circle and it works again. I'd never heard of anyone getting summoned to a place like this before and circles aren't that hard to draw, so I dunno if this time was just a random fluke or whatever."

"Circle? Was he drawing circles? That's not very good for fights."

"I, uh, didn't get a very good look at what exactly he was doing. There was a lot going on."

James nods. "Well, we'll need to regroup, now. Do you need anything to stay comfortable?"

"If you have any food, that'd be nice. I'm pretty sure I've missed lunch by now."

"We should have some. Camp rations, I'm afraid, but it's nutritionally balanced."

"Nutritional balance! Exciting!"

He laughs. "I'll show you to our camps."

Onwards.

Flutter flutter.

There are various hastily but sturdily constructed structures arranged between cliffwalls a bit farther to the east. Metal balconies sticking out of rock with grating stairs leading up to them serve as makeshift war rooms, and tents line the walls for supplies and housing.

James leads Evanathe to a particularly large tent, followed by Taimi (who returned to her golem) and Braham, and once inside there is a food court of sorts, with various tables and benches spread around. There are some people there already—humans, asura, sylvari, norn, and some big horned felines share the space and a meal.

This place just gets stranger and stranger. No, actually the plant people are probably still the strangest. The horny cats are at least made of meat like she's used to people being. This place continues at approximately the same level of strange.

Anyway. What's the dining etiquette? Is it serve yourself or what?

The others are serving themselves, so probably that. The food is alienish but still recognisably edible.