[glancing down at his hand, Zhongli smiles faintly at the touch. it's easy to get lost in the memory of it, in the reality of all he's had to do. but... the questions are becoming harder to answer, for more than one reason.]

They seemed to show us the reverence one would expect of a deity, yes. I suspect they had been observing us for some time before making the decision to descend. But... no, not of our contracts. Were that the case, then there would probably only be one, perhaps two - I am the purveyor of contracts, after all. Others do not place such value upon these agreements.

[brows furrowing, he shakes his head.]

As to what the Master Cores are... I have no answer for you. Rukkhadevata may, but while I have knowledge of the works of mechanical genius brought about by some of our own kind, I have only a passing understanding of Renan technology in its full breadth. Were I to guess, I think they were a way to surreptitiously begin to siphon our astral energy for their own purposes - the reason for which I can only guess wildly at.

Nevertheless, it is something that is attuned to Dahna's astral signature. With each one being tuned to the direct elements, were someone to find a way to tap into its full power, it's not impossible that it could even deny a deity like myself access to the wellspring of our astral energy.