The Collector strode in slowly, cradling the strange statue (once again covered carefully in black cloth, as though he feared what it might see if he did not). He moved with odd caution, crimson eyes cutting over the location.
The altar, he could tell at once, had been
carved from the ground around it, leaving a sort of hollow and a flat-topped stone of approximately the right size jutting up to the level of the untouched ground that ringed the place.
"A fascinating choice," he murmured, gaze flicking up to the nearby arena.
"And its proximity to the bloodletting is... oddly suitable."
He strode forward, carefully lifting the
statue and settling it even more gingerly atop the center of the altar in terms of left-to-right, and the back of it rather than the front. Then--quickly, as though he feared what it might do--the Collector swept back, taking the black cloth with him.
He studied it for a moment.
"...Excellent. I think it accepts its new home. Well--of course it does; or we would be in ashes, by now." Then he stepped forward again, right hand extending, unfurling to reveal the topaz Mossie had given him in Canis. This he pressed to the statue's forehead--and a sharp flash of light erupted around it, coursing around the statue and pulsing, for a moment. A low, growling hiss seemed to emanate from it, like ominous white noise.
He stepped back, and only gradually did this sound fade. The stone was held up before his face, examined, and then tucked away. The Collector then looked to Mossie.
"It is activated. The stone was enough--and there is enough power left for my use. Give it... I would say, several hours to fully awaken before you try to use it. As for the Conduit-... Remember its title, The Shadow. Know that it considers itself a god. Treat it with respect, and remember--it may be called upon only with the blood of the dying. That being said..."
His eyes cut to the statue.
"Once you have built a rapport and proven yourself worthy, merely a touch of it, a question whispered aloud with the proper title and respect, may grant you simple answers. But do not press that too far," he warned.
"That is something an old cult would do for... advice, for example, and not forbidden knowledge. For that, you will need to spill blood. Ahh--and do not ever unchain it. No matter how much it demands you do. The results would be... catastrophic." The Collector shrugged, and then swept into a bow.
"I believe that renders our transaction complete--unless, of course, you bore any questions..?"
