Soul Reaver sighs and stops walking as Thisias and Tamrissa direct their questions at him. He hesitates before turning around. It seem that they will take a forced break, though Soul Reaver dimly percieves a sense of urgency.

Soul Reaver flashes a glance at Thisias. His expression is humourless.

"His name is Stavarus. Many millenia ago, I was a mortal. In those days, I worked as a mercenary for those causes I deemed to be acceptably just. Stavarus was an employer of mine for some time.

Stavarus was a Daemon Hunter, and he employed me to aid him. I respected him, and he respected me, but I would not ever have called him 'friend'... he was too... difficult an individual to make friendship possible.

Stavarus was very dedicted to his Daemon Slaying, but was eventually killed by a Shadowlord. I saw him die before my very eyes - there is no way he could have survived."

Soul Reaver shakes his head before continuing.

"From what I remember of him, Stavarus was a tall, slim man, in his mid thirties. He had grey eyes and very light brown hair... almost blonde. However, his old body was destroyed, and there is no guarantee that his new form look the same as his old one... we can only hope that his body-image has been maintained.

He was never really a magic-user. How he has learned to travel to other worlds is beyond my knowledge."

Soul Reaver's face darkens.

"As for the vision you received...

I have been seeing visions of that kind for some time now. Before I arrived in the Umbra, I travelled to the world of Dynaria. There I stumbled upon a battle, where I slew an evil Sorcerer. I felt strangely drawn to him... when I made contact with his mind, I beheld a vision very much like the one you all saw. Since then, I am randomly overcome with similar visions, and I often behold those threads all around us.

I know that the vision is symbolic... there is no physical web as such. However, everything in it stands for something... and I fear to think what that spider is.

Most of you will not know of this... of all of us here, only Asaki and Peterson were present when it occurred... but I have been targeted by that creature before. I was with the Marines before coming to the Umbra. Some of you, excluding Tamrissa, may remember that on arriving in the Umbra, I had lost my left hand, and was heavily wounded.

It was because I was taken forcefully from the Marine station by that creature. It spent some time finding ways to..."

Soul Reaver falters for a moment... but forces himself to continue.

"...to torment me. I eventually escaped its prison - the escape is what cost me my hand and caused my injuries.

Unfortunately, I never saw or sensed the creature directly. I feel it was purposely hiding itself from me. I only know that it was that spider that we saw."

Soul Reaver shrugs.

"I cannot tell you any more. I hope that by finding Stavarus, we will get the answers that we seek."

Soul Reaver then falls silent. He seems about to urge the others to get moving when he hears numerous footsteps, apparently from behind a copse of trees.

Soul Reaver reaches for Blooddrinker's handle and turns to face the direction of the sound...

Soul Reaver follows Koshima warily. Though he is on his guard, he is willing to follow, as he is constantly aware of Stavarus' trail ahead of them. It seems that he too travelled this way. The trail leads ahead, to the fine kingdom.

On entering through the gates, Soul Reaver realises that he is apparently travelling with someone of some standing in this world. Good. Perhaps she will be able to help them find Stavarus.

As Soul Reaver walks through the marketplace, he looks around with a slight smile on his face. The hustle and bustle of the city reminds him slightly of his old homeworld, back in another, mortal life.

However, Soul Reaver's sense of nostalgia is suddenly shattered as he feels a momentary pounding pressure in his chest. He staggers to the side, holding himself up against one of the nearby sandstone walls. He coughs... blood stains his lips and runs down the side of his chin. Yet the pain fades almost instantly. He wipes the blood from his mouth, his expression grim.

I suspected something like this might happen... curses...