Rylock in agreement to Riune's words. It was always good to have a passion for something. It gave life some spice and joy when times are tough. His passion for his craft had been what kept him pushing forward when it seemed all others had given up. His passions had been what got him where he was now and it had been what had allowed him to craft what he did. If he had not had this joy for his work, Rylock was certain that he would have ended up were he had.

Returning to his more quiet self, he sought to give Riune a chance to speak considering how long he had rambled. "Might you have a passion of your own? I spoke for a long while. Might you have something you wish to speak of?" Rylock asked with a sweeping gesture of his wing. The steel on his feathers clinking with each movement. The sound annoyed Rylock to an extent. Quickly, he preened his feathers, moving them into place and replacing the ones he had removed. Once finished, his wings no longer made such sounds when he moved them. The clinking and clanging silenced to a mere whisper.

"I s'pose I'm passionate about helpin' those wot need help, if I've got a passion fer anythin'. It does an old riverdog's heart good t'see a smile put on a face, when there's so much sadness already in the world."

Rylock nodded, agreeing with her words. Though the reason for the smile was different, it always brought him joy to see his clients smiling happily over their new buy. He remembered seeing the Mark of the Goddess of Mercy and Justice on Riune earlier, the two matched nicely. It always did one good to smile.

"If ye wanted to know ‘bout me work, though, I can answer any questions ye might ‘ave, if yer curious about i."

Rylock perked up a little. Unlike most nobles, he was quite interested in the lives of the common folk. It was something that had been somewhat forbidden by the nobles, interacting with commoners. Despite it, or perhaps because of it, Rylock grew an interest in their lives. "Have you ever found something unexpected while fishing?" the raptor asked, thinking of all the things a noble could have dropped in the ocean when traveling by sea. "Have you ever had to defend yourself from anything? I hear the most dangerous thing in the sea is a shark." Rylock had never seen a shark. He had traveled by sea to get from continent to continent but it had been by boat. He had never entered the water, mostly because he would never be able to get out without help. He wanted to know about the world he couldn't see for himself, the world he could never touch.

Rylock listened intently to Riune's words. Her stories fascinated him. His family were all warriors but he had never been to an actual battle where his life had been on the line. And yet, Riune, who was not a part of the military, had fought more life or death battles than he had ever dreamed of having. Watching as she displayed each of her scars, Rylock wondered at how she was able to withstand the immense pain that must have come with them. "I cannot help but admire your bravery, Riune. To think that you face such trials and yet you still continue to do your work. You must have a lot of mental foritude to be able to withstand the pain those scars came with. I cannot say I have ever faced the same or would be capable of doing." If it had been him, he likely wouldn't have been able to keep working after getting injured so much. Then again, that statement might be false considering how many scrapes and bruises he had obtained form his own profession, though none were worthy enough to leave scars.

Rylock pondered for a bit, thinking of the sea creatures he had heard of. He landed on one that he found quite interesting, "Have you ever encountered a jellyfish? Those creatures more air than flesh with a harsh sting to them." The idea of jellyfish greatly interested him but he knew not where he could get a closer look. If he could see but one creature of the sea, he would wish to see the jellyfish. A thought came to him then of the supposed largest creature in the ocean and the world. "Might you have ever seen a blue whale? They are supposedly the largest animal out there, bigger than elephants. With that size, I imagine them to be quite slow."

Rylock considered what Rune had to say about pain. He had met a few back when he was training to be a military officer who thought that to be hurt in battle was a great honor. Rylock had always frowned and shivered whenever they had spoken of it. To value pain to such a level, seemed bizarre to him. He supposed that some could consider it as a medal of honor but Rylock never could. It was just another trait of his that put him apart from his family.

Rylock listened with amazement to Rune's seemingly endless knowledge of the sea and its creatures. He had only generally known what a jellyfish was like, he had no idea that they could kill. Despite the vast amount of information he had come to know in his studies, it seemed that it was still best to experience first hand at times rather than just readings words off a page. It was not something he could ever experience first-hand, after all, most birds don't do so well with water. The information made Rylock decide to mark off a trip to the ocean for another time. He wouldn't be going swimming anytime soon that was for sure.

Rylock frowned at Riune's sudden stillness, it seemed his question had touched on a sadder point in her life. The story seemed to dull the excitement of meeting one of the world's largest animals. Even so, it must have been a wonder to see it even if it was during a storm. Rylock brightened when Riune smiled though. It was not good to be sad, not good at all. Though he did rarely, he sometimes would help his companions deal with their demons. Rylock hoped that for Riune, he could help her find a silver lining or make the sadness that seemed to cling ever so happier. Rylock nodded solemnly, "It is good that she was able to save them. Even if she wasn't able to save all of them, it's good enough that she managed to save some." Rylock wanted to keep Riune from falling back into the sadness from earlier, at this point though, he was unsure what to say next. Glancing around, he looked to Riune wondering if she had anything she wanted to say.

The dangers of the sea were something that Rylock was closely associated with. He figured the dangers to be just as plentiful as those found on land. Whenever he traveled, he would always cross the ocean several times in his journey. The crossing only ever occurred in a boat though and so the dangers of the sea were all but nullified except for storms that is.

Rylock's slightly drifting mind was called to attention at Riune's question. "The other cities out there," Rylock mused quietly. Taking a moment to think, he considered what he knew of them. The last time he had visited areas outside of Chemdri and Khariva Plains was about a season or so ago. "The situation may have changed a little since I was there about a season or so ago but the city of Evryll is currently under the rule of King Auryn's eldest. It is filled with many of King Auryn's knights. The city of Tenidyr is currently ruled by King Auryn's youngest. It is a lovely port city and a fair place to do trade. Though Parthaan is currently in a state of tension with civil war constantly looming on the horizon. Both cities thrum with a quiet pressure as if awaiting for the moment when everything starts to move. By now, something may have even happened and the silent pressure may be broken. With the threat of war abiding land, I am wondering if I should cut the place from my trip next time."

Tapping his talons on his seat, he considered the other cities. "Though slavery is not common here, it is still prominent even if in an unseen way. Here on Atheraan, we are one of the leader in the slave trade. In the city of Rynidaan, The climate is harsh and the place is built into the mountains. Many different sorts come and go there. It is clear to see why it is known as a place of creativity and beauty. Despite slaves being abundant in the area, the city resonates with a sense of kindness and care. Kriose is also quite the renovative place. It is the center of commerce for the Kingdom of Kriose and is a fine place to do trade, though it is tough at times competing with the other traders. Many slaves populate the place and causes it have a great deal of tension. The city thrums with fear and dissension. I feel it is balanced precariously on a tipping point. Something just might happen in the coming times." Rylock's ideas of slavery were quite vague. He didn't think it a good thing but he didn't consider it a bad thing either. He was very much indifferent to the idea and that consideration was reflected in his talk. His family had never dabbled in slavery but they were acquainted with some folk who did. As such, he had been around slavery for a time and eventually became numb to it for better or for worse.

Rylock listened to Riune speak of the succession war with slight surprise. He had never thought of succession as such a thing. He had become used to conflicts stemming from succession disagreements. It was commonplace for him but considering that he was of nobility, it was as expected. Riune, though, wasn't a part of nobility, to her, it must be bizarre that animals would fight over such a thing. Rylock tried to keep this in mind as he responded, "It is not so simple as that," Rylock spoke with care, watching his words. "Animals don't just fight over the right of succession for no reason. When the previous head leaves no trace as to who they wish their successor to be, most all tend to take a side, many times completely ignoring whether their choice wishes to rule or not. Each of these sides truly believes their chosen will be the best ruler and thus fight for their chosen with utmost pride. With strong belief comes equally strong stubbornness and that stubbornness means they are unlikely to hear others and so find the easiest choice to get their way is to take up sword and shield and fight." At least, that was how Rylock understood succession wars to arise from. Succession had always been clear in his family, the eldest, Rishi, would succeed as head after his father's passing. That was clear to everyone in the family. The only other choice was Idrite and he didn't have the ability to be head and realized that. There would be no conflict on succession in his family.

Rylock watched the solemn look stretch across the otter's face at the mention of slavery. It seemed Riune disapproved of slavery, Rylock could not say the same. He was detached and distant from the going-ons of the world. Perhaps it would be best if he wasn't but that was just his way. Even to such things as the arena, he was indifferent. He knew that it was unlikely that the combatants were actually volunteers but it didn't matter to him. He had become numb to battle due to being from a military family. He had no feelings for it, thought it just another event. He made it a policy though never to sell to them, it was bad for his reputation but also because he couldn't accept senseless killing. If he didn't sell them anything that could kill then that was one less source of weaponry they would have.

Rylock nodded, "tension is good to have. Without it we would be in a morally grey area. It is what gives us our right and wrong."