[ That coldness is something he's used to, though it doesn't bother him at all. He thinks for a moment, before saying: ]

I don't think there's any "pulling strings." I feel like a lot of this is chaotic and haphazard. I wish I could say I chose the people that came through those doors, but I didn't.

[ Casual, frank observation from the past few weeks, and everything that's happened in the past few hours. ]

"They" are the previous sage's wizards. The oldest ones. It sounded like they had a feeling something bad was going to happen, but... [ Here, he scoffs quietly. ] They're gone now, and they can't help us.