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To her eyes, reapers were pitch-black swordfish with a silvery glow and beady eyes alight with tiny white flames. Ozolos, however, did not entirely conform to that look. Rather than black, he was more of a dark gray, and his eyes shone a little more brightly than others.

Why that might’ve been, she still had no earthly idea, nor had anyone else she’d asked about it. The most reasonable explanation she’d gotten was that the slightly altered appearance was a byproduct of reapers with particularly strange personalities. A natural phenomenon observed throughout history.

She felt like there had to be more to it than just that, but at the same time, it did seem appropriate for her reaper in particular.

The reapers here, however, were also special. Maybe not in appearance like Ozolos, but by reputation, because this place was the Wandering Island of Faridel, home of the reaper enclave known as the Old Wardens. And she knew there was yet far more to be seen here, squirreled away in tunnels or behind illusory walls in giant boulders--and probably plenty of other hiding places that she still hadn’t learned about.

She’d been trying her damnedest to learn more about the history of the Wandering Island whenever she could, but information about it was preciously rare, and trying to get the Wardens to talk about it was like trying to get water from a stone.

The most she’d been able to learn had come from the Prime Archivers in Luugh. She’d been fortunate enough to be given a mission near there a couple years ago and had decided not to waste the opportunity.

There were many mythic tales of this place, such as the one of its origin. Supposedly, the Island was carved out of the small Luughian continent by a great sea turtle, who took the land upon its back in order to rescue the native population from a monstrous horde of invaders that was soon to arrive.

Of course, these days, it was easy enough to see from the air that there was no giant turtle beneath the island. And while its wandering nature was still somewhat mysterious, there were plenty of scientific explanations for it, such as buoyant algae along the underside of the island and large pockets of gas being trapped underground.

Took a bit of the mystique away, perhaps, but on the whole, she preferred science to legend.