"From what the Sneak Thief was willing to divulge when he was alive, that first meeting between himself and the Leviathan marked a series of annoyances and regrets." Keeper Vairia chuckled at the quote, no one else did and he quickly moved on.
"Besides that, the Sneak Thief claimed that the Leviathan spoke to him that night, which, for the record, is not a rare occurrence. The Leviathan is ancient, yes, but They are still considered an infant god in the grand scheme of things. They are prone to interfering with us mortals for Their own amusement from time to time… That being said, it was what the Sneak Thief claimed they spoke of that has intrigued the Keepers for the past few centuries."
Keeper Vairia gestured to the inscription he had drawn earlier.
"The Leviathan's Boon is granted to only those who the Leviathan finds interesting, what exactly qualifies as interesting has been largely left up to debate. We have records of the Leviathan offering a simple baker a Boon, we have records of the Leviathan offering a Lord a Boon… Both people went on to incite mass change within Morely, but there have been people who have done little to nothing with their Boons so we hesitate to cite 'Potential to create change' as a factor of what makes a person interesting in the eyes of the Leviathan…"
Keeper Vairia paused to catch his breath, which was then that Garrett realized he had forgotten to breathe as well.
"For those of you who haven't guessed, the Leviathan informed the Sneak Thief that They found him very intriguing… Where most people would grovel or begin begging for the Leviathan's favor, the Sneak Thief was far less impressed with the god, which, given that the Sneak Thief had lost an eye mere hours ago, was understandable.
According to the Sneak Thief, he was a breath of fresh air to the Leviathan, something new and exciting. The Leviathan apparently offered his Boon to the Sneak Thief then and there, and the Sneak Thief rejected the Leviathan's offer, again solidifying himself as a person of intrigue for the young god."
Keeper Vairia paused once more to finish his tea, looking down into his empty mug sadly before setting it down beside him.
"Despite being rejected by the Sneak Thief, the Leviathan still offered the Sneak Thief assistance in his coming endeavors, which the Sneak Thief was originally going to reject again, until the Leviathan informed him of what would occur should Life and Death succeed and their ritual bear fruit.
When the Leviathan offered the Sneak Thief guidance once again, the Sneak Thief accepted the god's aid."
Keeper Vairia glanced towards the clock and huffed, Garrett didn't need to look to know that their time was running thin for the day.
"And before anyone asks why the Leviathan seemed to be against Life and Death's ploy to return the world to a natural state, They weren't, even if the ritual succeeded, the Primordial Sea would remain, the Leviathan would remain, what made the Leviathan play an active role in the failure of the ritual was nothing shy of boredom."
A loud droning bell chimed from the tall clock at the back of the room, the que for most of the class to flee the dusty boredom of history, but eight students remained, Garrett of course included.
"What class do you all have next?" Was Keeper Vairia's next question.
After he was solidly reassured that none of the remaining students had anything important to do for the rest of the day, he invited them closer as he took a seat on his desk as he continued his lecture.
"After the Sneak Thief's escape from the tomb, with the Leviathan's backing, he set out to confront Life and Death. Unfortunately, much of his adventure he refused to share, all he was willing to divulge to the Keepers of olde was that he sought the help from the Hammerites, specifically, from a Hammerite known as Karras.
Karras was a rather interesting character, considered a prophet among his Hammerite peers, he would go onto splinter from the Hammerites to create his own sect known as the Mechanists. However, according to the Sneak Thief, Karrus' innovations and prophecies that he claimed were brought to him by the Master Builder himself, were in fact visions from the Leviathan.
And, no, Karras was not a Marked individual, though he was someone the Leviathan considered interesting enough to keep a steady eye on."
The remaining students all sat around the Keeper before them, clinging onto every word he said.
"The Leviathan had the foresight to… Lets say, inspire Karrus to create something. A mechanical eye, built to look as real as yours or mine and function like a falcon. And when the time came for the Sneak Thief to seek aid from the Hammerites, Karrus' creation was complete.
With the mechanical eye in hand, the Sneak Thief ventured into the Pagan Forest to confront Life and Death."
Keeper Vairia looked over the students before him.
"The most we know about what occurred that day is this… Firstly, the Sneak Thief prevented the ritual from coming to fruition by swapping the mechanical eye with his own.
Secondly, the Sneak Thief earned himself both the ire of the Pagans and the endearment of the Leviathan…
And thirdly… The Sneak Thief received the Boon of the Leviathan in the form of a new eye, an eye made of ice, forged from the very waters of the Primordial Sea."
Keeper Vairia looked over his shoulder to the symbol on the chalkboard.
"Like the marked before him, the Sneak Thief was gifted with strange abilities and talents from the Leviathan, many of which most would kill or die for…"
Keeper Vairia sighed heavily as he hopped off his desk, stretching with a content groan before he offered his remaining students a smile.
"Well, I think that's enough for today." Which earned him a series of boos from his students which he laughed off with a wave of his hand.