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Holmes: Laura looks at Isadora who has just very earnestly approached her with a notion of convincing the Andarans to join the quest. "I think that my association with them caused much pain for all here, and it should be my duty to approach them. Who else?" she says shrugging.
Isadora: "I'm glad you agree," Isadora says with the smiling intensity she has perfected over the past months. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't think it was important, and that you were the best person for it."
Holmes: "But what do I tell them?" says Laura. "What could convince them to help?"
Isadora: "What's their current situation? Let's start there."
Holmes: "They're in hiding, of course," she says. "I can't be sure, but I think that they're trying to pick a new leader. I think they might select Elahra."
Isadora: Isadora's eyes go a bit distant as she thinks. "Sebastian had some connection with her. And... before she went after Okhfels, she had a Rhiani man--Shahnsa, I think. What happened to him?"
Holmes: "He's still amongst the tribe," Laura responds. "Why?"
Isadora: "He might be helpful, if he still has some connection with Elahra--or wants to. What about the woman herself, then? Is she as crazy as Zoora, or is that an advanced priestess thing?"
Isadora: "I'll talk to Fahd to find out what the group's status with the Rhiani is. They're not really under my authority, but I might be able to lend some weight for them in a Rhiani judgment."
Holmes: "Ehlara is disgraced, banished from the Rhiani, of course," she says. "After she bore false witness against Sebastian."
Holmes: She seems about to mist up.
Isadora squeezes Laura's shoulder briefly. "But he saw something in her, or he wouldn't have intervened. And, really, problems with the Rhiani only help. The group will either need support, if they're going to back Elahra anyway, or they'll have to choose a safer leader."
Holmes: Laura squints not sure what Isadora is proposing.
Isadora smiles briefly. "Sorry--I'm talking about too many angles at once. I need you to approach the group and let them know that I'm more interested in having them as friends than enemies, and I want to know where they stand on the quest. That question should polarize them enough to identify a leader, and then we can work more specifically on how to approach that leader, whether it's Elahra or someone else."
Holmes: "I understand," she says. "I'll go at once."
Isadora: "Thank you," Isadora says, looking at her directly. "The colony won't survive without help from people like you."

Idris is creeping towards the source of the light.
Holmes: Nurek follows Idris into the white light, his dread seeming to be more intense, perhaps having to do with knowing what exists here from his previous visit.
Idris: I crawl forward on finger-tips and toes, listening intently
Idris: what do I hear?
Idris: Idris, the twin swords moved from side-scabbards to an X-scabbard across his back, crawls forward towards the light, listening intently.
Holmes: Idris sees that the little he's moved has made the white light erupt all around him. Not in a violent way, but surprising nonetheless. The trees here are suddenly far, far shorter, not much taller than he is. But this doesn't matter to visibility, because there is no sky...just a dim whiteness above.
Idris comes up to a low crouch, looking towards the center. He gestures to Nurek to move up close.
Holmes: Nurek moves over. "If you had not guessed," Nurek whispers, "we have crossed. And now we are in some danger as the way back is never the same as the way in. If I understand it."
Idris nods. "Then we go in."
Idris continues to move, looking for the center of the light.
Holmes: Nurek tilts his head to the left in a gesture of tacit acquiescence.
Holmes: Ahead, Idris sees a figure in black, and Nurek notes him seeing this man. "That's Narbin," he whispers. Somehow, despite the place seeming near silent - the only sound a tiny breeze that seems to blow every direction - Idris feels that this sound will not travel here. In fact everything seems blunted somehow.
Idris nods. "Woud you slaughter him? Or are there questions we must ask?"
Holmes: "Questions," says Nurek.
Idris: the blades whisper out of their sheaths.
Idris creeps towards him, and will put a blade to his neck if he gets close enough
Holmes: Before Narbin knows what's going on, Idris has the knife in place, and Nurek is behind him to back him up. Narbin shows no sign of trying to resist, and even little surprise (though it's obvious he was taken completely unawares). "Hello, gentelmen." he says nonchalantly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Idris looks mutely at Nurek
Idris: 'ask'
Holmes: Nurek raises his eyebrows, as though he had expected Idris to talk. But he ventures, "Where's Pallos, Narbin? Why are you here?"
Holmes: "Pallos was slain by beings from the wood," he relates easily. "I tried to flee north, but they cut me off, and I was forced to evade them this way. I've been stuck here for quite a while."
Holmes: "Is the knife really neccessary, Nurek?" he asks. "And who is this?"
Idris: very softly: "I do not believe you. Place your hands behind your back ... and hold *very* still."
Holmes: "Hands behind...?" he looks surprised. "What's this all about?"
Idris: "The pristess will determine the truth of your words. For now: I trust you more dead than breathing. It is your choice."
Holmes: Nurek rolls his eyes, as he puts his hands behind his back. "Priestess?"
Idris increases the pressure with the knife.
Holmes: "Hey, I'm complying, you ruffian," Narbin says. "You suspect me of something, obviously...what is it? You think I had something to do with Pallos' death?"
Idris binds his wrists with a strip of leather and excellent knots.
Holmes: As he does so, Idris notes that there is a spatter of dried blood almost invisible across the back of one of Narbin's black leather bracers. Right where a killing strike might leave evidence, and where somebody might miss it.
Idris: "No. I do *not* believe you. However, the Pristess will decide your fate ... unless you decide it first, for yourself. Get up."
Idris hauls him to his feet.
Idris turns to Nurek: "So how do we leave?"
Holmes: Narbin's expression changes, "We don't. Though I can."
Holmes: A devilish look comes across his face.
Idris nods. "Very well. Then we will try this way."
Idris looks at Nurek--"further in. Instead of back the way we came."
Holmes: Nurek laughs, "You can't escape, you're prisoners of the lord of this realm. If you want out, you'll have to deal with me."
Idris: "I do not think you are the lord of this realm--but if you are favored then perhaps the lord will rather you live."
Holmes: hack last nurek to narbin
Idris: "We go."
Idris yanks him and starts off, towards the center of the wood.
Holmes: "He will rather I live, yes, as I've done him numerous favors. In fact, I'm sure he's sending agents right now to meet me," rants Narbin, his eyes getting wild. "And you do not want to meet his agents."
Holmes: "I'd be willing to make you a deal, however."
Idris: "You may deal with the Pristess."
Idris looks at Nurek, though, to see if he thinks we are in suicidal danger.
Holmes: Nurek, for his part seems calm. But Idris can sense that this is simply the veneer on a warrior who has seen a lot. Beneath, he can feel Nurek looking about for something he dreads. Nurek notes Idris looking and whispers to him again, "There are spider...men...things here. And, worse, floating....things...huge."
Holmes: Obviously Nurek is finding it hard to describe the things he's seen.
Idris nods
Idris: softly: "trails? Might we climb a tree for directions? I do not believe his wild stories about being friends with the lord of this place ... but if he is ..."
Holmes: Nurek relates, "There is only one trail here, a black road that leads to an altar of smoke and fire. Which itself is a gate to the realm of said dark lord's fortress. There are no trees higher than these. And..."
Holmes: He pauses thinking.
Holmes: "If Narbin has been working for this dark lord, this sorcerer, it would explain a great many problems we've had in the camp," he says. "Narbin has been knowledgable about all of the plans."
Holmes: Narbin looks at the two of them. "Well? What are you muttering about over there?"
Idris: "Very well then."
Idris turns to Narbin "You have seen the black altar? The burning altar?"
Idris waits for a response
Holmes: Suddenly a tear in space opens up before Idris, Through it he can see what looks like some underground chamber, and a figure escapes through it. As Artanis arrives, he recalls what the spirits have told him. He owes them for this escape, this delivery to allies. And that not paying this debt will mean pain.
Idris , shocked, draws his blades (but does not strike)
Idris: "What sorcery is this?"
Holmes: Nurek says, "That's the spirit world beyond. We could escape that way!"
Idris: "And return from it to the camp?"
Idris says hastily
Artanis stands up, looking around, completely bewildered.
Holmes: "Perhaps," says Nurek, "Perhaps. I know my way about the spirit world somewhat better than here...though I have no fetch to lead me."
Artanis: "Well met gentlemen..." Talking to Nurek: "I think I've seen you somewhere recently... at the camp?"
Idris sheaths one blade and grabs Narbin, ready to move. "You recognize this man?"
Idris: (asked to Nurek)
Holmes: "Yes, this elf has been about the colony of late. Though I do not know his motives. He is an elf, after all," Nurek answers.
Artanis: "I discourage you from going to whence I came from, it is but a cell, a deadly trap from which I was released at great price."
Idris: To Artanis: "We are in the white wood--perhaps trapped here. This man has murdered his companion. Can we escape through your portal?"
Idris ... nods. "I see the answer is 'no.'"
Idris: "Then you have not escaped much, it seems."
Artanis: "So... this is the White Wood of which everyone is so afraid... it does not look quite as bad as they would have it..."
Idris: "Apparently it is filled with monsters and the map would look like a knot. I am told there is no simple way back ..."
Idris: "and the lord of the wood, perhaps, looks favorably upon this murderer. It is ... worse than it seems."
Artanis doesn't seem to be impressed, or rather, he doesn't realize.
Artanis: "Oh by the way, my name is Artanis Aeldarund �?ƒ«, son of Yanaa �?ƒ¯ra Aeldarund �?ƒ«, noble of Sel-Kai."
Idris nods. Once. "Atranis it is then. I am Idris."
Smerf: Narbin stands boredly, "Are you finished babbling yet? Not that I'm really in a hurry, mind..."
Idris ignores him
Artanis: "Yes, let us get on our ways."
Idris: To Artanis: "Are you a sorcerer?"
Artanis: "No, not at all. I am a warrior."
Idris: "Mmm. Very well then. Can you track?"
Artanis: "Track? No, I am a leader of men, not of paths!" Artanis laughs happily.
Idris nods.
Idris: "Then we are hoping for luck."
Idris is now known as marco
Artanis: "Yes..." he replies absent-mindedly. In truth, he is still deeply shaken by the revelation in the cell. With all his being, he fights against it, hoping that with enough conviction, this will all be revealed as just a bad dream.
Artanis: Somewhere deep inside himself, he knows that his ancestors spoke the truth. He dreads this even more as it means that he will also need to accomplish the mission they gave him.
Artanis: He is grateful for the interruption provided by the roar.
Holmes: A creature of amazing color, considering the color-sucking whiteness of this place, sears across the space from it's current position, bearing down upon them all. It is some elongated blob colored in rainbow streaks along it's length, and it's huge. Narbin, terrified screams,"Your tear in space summoned this thing! It will annihilate us all!"
Holmes: As it nears, Artanis notes that the thing itself is tearing space up. As it bears down on Nurek and Idris, nearest to it, the rips in the universe are close to Artanis. It would be easy to leave everyone here and escape to...somewhere else. But where? Unlikely that the others could follow.
Artanis: "Yes. I offer you my apologies."
Artanis sings a melody of the winds, so that they might carry the foul being far away.
Holmes: The music of his voice seems to fall lifelessly.
Artanis: As the monstrous rainbow approaches, Artanis sings ever stronger, hoping against all evidence that the winds still obey his command.
Holmes: The whiteness seems to suck the music up completely. The winds here obey no natural laws.
Holmes: Idris and Nurek become an amazing blur of weaponry, each very talented fighters in their own styles - Nurek with much shorter blades but not much less effective for it. For the moment they seem to hold the thing off, their slashes spilling color all about. But It doesn't seem that it can last long.
Artanis: "Sirs! This being is too powerful!" Artanis cries. "Follow me through the monster's wake, we will escape to another plane!"
Artanis dives headfirst through the nearest ripwave through reality, hoping that this will not delay him too much to save Lana.
Holmes: As he leaps through, it's obvious that the others will never be able to follow. The holes in space close up too quickly, and open again to other places. They'd have to have all leapt at once. As Artanis looks up at the world in which he's now arrived, he notes that it seems to be made of metal, a red metal. And he feels very light. Looking down a tunnel, he sees something white blocking the view out of it very far away.
Holmes: Suddenly it all snaps into place. He's on Charon, and looking at the soon to be Aligned Orhan.
Holmes: Which means that the demon coming to him must be the servant of some dark god, he realizes looking behind him.

Holmes: Okhfels wakes up surrounded by several Rhiani that, after a moment, he realizes are Blue Bears. "Will those ropes hold him? I've heard he can lift boulders the size of your horse, Arnaltu," says one of them.
Holmes: He recalls that somebody hit him in the back of the head as he was retrieving something from one of the storage pits near the colony perimeter.
Okhfels: Okhfels shakes his head and groans.
Holmes: "His spirit returns to him," says the one previously identified as Arnaltu, who doesn't seem to be worrying about the ropes.
Holmes: "There's more holding this one than mere rope," he says. "The strength of Cay binds him as well."
Okhfels: Okhfels tests his bonds anyways.
Okhfels: "Why aren't I dead?" Okhfels asks. He's getting really tired of being confused.
Holmes: Indeed, Arnaltu's words seem true, these ropes seem quite strong as he strains against them.
Holmes: "You're not dead, because you've done nothing to merit that, quite," he replies. "But I do think I could get the elders to banish you, perhaps."
Okhfels: Okhfels starts to speak, but stops himself before saying anything he'd regret.
Holmes: "The Crossing Moons Tribe is about to make a great mistake in foregoing the natural way of wandering the plain," he explains to Okhfels. "I would make a deal with you, man of the mountains."
Okhfels: Okhfels squirms in his bonds again. "I don't have much choice. Talk."
Holmes: "If you promise to go back to the camp and convince them to depart from the lake, I will forget the injuries you've done to our tribe," he says.
Okhfels: "Injuries? You're mad."
Holmes: "Again, it would not be fair for us to slay you, when you were just doing your job and killed our warriors," he says, his long horseman's braid flapping somewhat in the wind. "But surely you don't expect that, having captured you, we'd let you go without recompense."
Holmes: "By Cay, that wouldn't be honest of us."
Okhfels: "What!? We were out looking for Goblins when YOU ambushed US. You want 'recompense' for defending ourselves?"
Holmes: "Yes," he replies matter of factly.
Okhfels: "You can't be lying, so you must be mad. Are you a wizard?"
Holmes: "There is one other option," Arnaltu looks back over his shoulder. As he does so, a familiar troll looms up over the Rhiani.
Okhfels: Okhfels groans with that sound that men make when they get the answer to the "Things can't get much worse, can they?" question.
Holmes: "Our friend here has agreed to help us with something important, should you be willing to give him his drum back," Arnaltu relates.
Okhfels: "HIS drum?"
Holmes: "He says you took it from him," Arnaltu says. "Does he lie?
Holmes: "
Okhfels: From Okhfels' tone you might not think that he's got the short end of the stick in this conversation. "That drum was made in Teth! And besides... it's not mine to give."
Holmes: "Then you'll go back and try to convince the colony people to stop trying to make pets of the Crossing Moons?"
Okhfels: Okhfels coughs derisively. "The colony people will be lucky if the Crossing Moons don't make Rhiani of THEM."
Holmes: Arnaltu shrugs, indicating that this is not his concern.
Okhfels: "Why do you care?"
Holmes: "That's my business," he says. Okhfels knows that this is Rhiani code for "I won't lie, and I don't want you to know."
Okhfels: "Kill me and you'll have the undying enmity of nearly everyone there. Tell me... and we might be able to talk."
Holmes: Behind him, the troll shaman begins to sniff the air over his head as if trying to smell Okhfels. The action seems inexplicably trollish.
Holmes: "Oh? 'Nearly everyone there?', I somehow think that's exaggerated. In any case, I don't intend to kill you," he says. "Of course, if you were to challenge somebody here...then if you died it would be your own fault..."
Okhfels: "I'm not going to fight your troll. I'm not as stupid as I look."
Holmes: "You're not leaving us much choice, large one," he says. "If we force you to leave, do you even have somewhere to go?"
Okhfels: "No... which is why I'd just come right back. You don't want to make me an enemy."
Holmes: "If you were banished - an outlaw - and then returned, then we would be within our rights to kill you, you know," he says a frown on his face. "Which we would."
Okhfels: "Do you know who Isadora is? Maybe not everyone at the colony would mourn me... but enough to make you regret killing me. If you are going to exile me, best kill me now, so you have more of a head start."
Okhfels: "You won't tell me why you want the Crossing Moons to move along. Fine. That's your secret to keep. But we can't just sit here threatening each other."
Okhfels: "So either do what you're going to do, or let me go. I have a date to keep."
Holmes: Arnaltu looks on the edge of rage. "We do not want to become corrupted by these new ways!" he shouts as if this explains everything.
Okhfels: "Noone's asking you to."
Okhfels: "Are you worried that the same thing will happen to them, as happened to Sherezak?"
Holmes: Arnaltu look at Okhfels wondering if he knows something that Arnaltu does not. "No. I'm worried that the Crossing Moons will corrupt us. When we come to the lake."
Okhfels: "Whether the Crossing Moons stay or not, the Colony folk will be staying. Don't you want them gone, too?"
Holmes: "We assumed that if the Rhiani don't stay, the colony will have to leave. They can't support themselves," he says as though it is fact.
Okhfels: "That is not so."
Okhfels: "They have the means to support themselves. I made sure of that."
Holmes: Arnaltu frowns with doubt. Okhfels knows that he doesn't think that this is a lie, but rather than Arnaltu doubts Okhfels' preparations will last. "I don't think you'd weather the goblins, nor even accomplish whatever madness you're attempting tomorrow.
Okhfels: "Well if that's so, then why not just leave us alone, for the Goblins to sort out? If we fail tomorrow, then we'll either leave or the Goblins will get us."
Okhfels: "In either case your problem is solved."
Holmes: He shakes his head. "No, if the Crossing Moons help, you may well succeed. And then they are corrupted. And then when it is our turn at the lake, we will have to deal with you all!"
Okhfels: "Why do you say corrupted? Is it just that they are changing their way of life? Were the Riani in Sherezak corrupt?
Holmes: "Yes, of course they were!" says Arnaltu. "Spending a few weeks at a watering hole is one thing, but never to move again on the plain? What will become of the horses? They can't survive that?"
Holmes: "The horseflesh of those from Sherezak was pitiful."
Okhfels: "So you're saying that any people who do not move from place to place, are corrupt."
Holmes: "Rhiani who do not move from place to place are corrupt," he corrects. "It is in defiance of the prophets of Cay!"
Okhfels: "The Teth and the Riani are the same people. In ancient times, they lived together on the banks of Green Lake. So I ask you again... are you saying that the Teth are corrupt?"
Holmes: "You are aware that if this is a lie that your life is forfeit? I give you another chance. Maybe you mispoke?" he asks.
Okhfels: "I have been living with Riani long enough to know the customs. I know what I have learned from the ruins by the lake, and from the island that has come up from under it. We are coming full circle, making right what was made wrong long ago."
Okhfels: "The corruption doesn't come from settling down, it comes from the White Wood, and once we complete the quest, we will be protected from that."
Okhfels: "And that is no lie."
Holmes: Arnaltu looks skeptical still. "Mayhap you misread these signs," he tells Okfhels. Then his expression changes. "And even if all this is true, what happens to our watering rights. The law is that only one tribe can be at a place at one time!"
Okhfels: "Now we are getting somewhere. These are questions I cannot answer... not alone. If you untie me, we can sit down, you can tell me what worries you, and I will bring your questions back to Isadora."
Holmes: Okhfels notes that the rest of the Rhiani warriors here are listening to the conversation as though much rides on it.
Holmes: "Why should she listen?" he asks. "What part of her plan are we?"
Okhfels: "We have many enemies on the plains. Goblins are only one. To make one enemy into a friend would make things much easier."
Okhfels: "You are worried about your people. We all are."
Holmes: "I'm as worried about corruption as I am about goblins. Goblins I can run down on the high plain. They cannot catch us there. Here we would be trapped," he says.
Okhfels: "My people, up in the mountains... they are losing their war with the Goblins. It is my hope that I can make a new home for them here, where they originally came from, united with some of their long-ago brothers. So you see... I can't back down."
Holmes: Okhfels can see the man is conflicted about many things. The moonlight fro Orhan reflects off of his chegain with an erie glow.
Okhfels: "Come back with me, and meet with the elders of the Crossing Moons, and with Isadora. I'll tell you what... if you come with me, I'll talk with my men about letting you take Garaumbadaour back with you, if you promise to do it honor."
Holmes: The proud warrior still doesn't look at all convinced. But in the end he says, "I'll keep you to your word, should we be convinced. But I do not say that we will be convinced. Just that we will listen."
Holmes: He waves his hands, and the ropes behind Okhfels slacken a bit.
Okhfels: Okhfels refrains from snapping them. He knows how much work it is to make them. He offers the ropes to be untied.
Holmes: One of the men obliges him, and Arnaltu then moves his hand in the direction of the colony as if to ask Okhfels to lead the way.
Okhfels: Okhfels nods his head in respect, and proudly leads on.
Okhfels: *
Okhfels: *
Okhfels: *
Isadora has spent most of the day away from her tent, but she keeps returning to it as a home base, so she's at her desk scribbling on a piece of paper when Okhfels and the Rhiani arrive.
Okhfels: Okhfels foregoes knocking on the tentpost and just sticks his head in the flap. "Isadora? I have some folks here to talk to you. Blue bears."
Isadora: A brief look of confusion passes over Isadora's face. "Weren't they trying to kill you? Bring them in."
Okhfels: Okhfels holds the tent flap open for Arnaltu and the rest, and then follows them in. "Turns out they just wanted a chat. They're worried about what all this means for them."
Isadora: "Well, that makes plenty of us," Isadora says briskly, rising to nod to the newcomers. "I'm Isadora--not that you don't know that, but it's the closest we have to a proper introduction"
Idris is now known as marco
Okhfels: "This one's Arnaltu."
Okhfels: Okhfels goes to stand in front of the wine-chest, to forestall Isadora from offering any. He suspects it would be a bad idea.
Isadora: In fact, Isadora was about to, but she glances sideways at Okhfels and changes her mind. Instead, she says to Arnaltu, "Why don't you tell me what's going on?"
Holmes: "We have rights here," says Arnaltu. "To water for six weeks during the fourth Orhan pass of the year."
Holmes: "If there is a permanent population here..."
Isadora: "Forgive my outsider's ignorance, but the colonies only border a small part of the lake. Do we ruin the whole?"
Holmes: "The law says that only one tribe can be at a place like this at a time. This is wisdom from the prophets of Cay," he says.
Okhfels: "If the quest is a success, I imagine we would be moving to the north end of the lake," Okhfels offers. It has been something he has been harping on, lately.
Isadora: "But how does the law mark tribes?" Isadora asks, tilting her head. "If the markings we've found in the ruins are true, your people and the Tethians have a common history here. In the halls of the ancestors, there is only one tribe."
Holmes: Arnaltu considers this for a moment, "I do not think that, even if true, that a common ancestry makes us one tribe today. But, having said this, it is not without precedence for a new tribe to be formed. Sometimes from the parts of others."
Okhfels: "And when that happens... how do they figure out the watering rights?
Holmes: "Well, I suppose we could choose either, but, in effect, we'd be choosing both and more," he ponders. "With the losses to both tribes, this wouldn't be out of line in terms of size...I don't think...there are some refugees here...we'd have to count to see if it exceeded the sacred number."
Isadora: "So," Isadora says, leaning forward with a gleam in her eye, "you're saying that if you were a part of the building work, it'd be all right?"
Holmes: Something alters in Arnaltu suddenly and he shakes his pensive mood, "You see, this is what I was speaking of! You'd have us never ride the plains again! What life has that Rhiani who is not purified by the dry air of the deep plain?"
Isadora: "I have absolutely no interest in keeping you from the plains. Why is it that some cannot ride, and others stay, but all share a name?"
Holmes: "This is how Sherezak began. There is the promise to ride out every year. But fewer and fewer do. Until nobody does. If all do not ride out, then eventually none will," he says with a stubborn tone.
Okhfels: Okhfels asks, "Are there people who live in the plains, who are not Riani?"
Okhfels: Okhfels has that look of someone who is taking one step at a time towards a point.
Holmes: "No," says the warrior. And then he reconsiders, "In the desert beyond the plains there are the Synshari beings, and upon the Charn Plateau, there are the raider beings. And the Lugro and Murlog in the mountains. And the elves of Lys far to the south. But on the plain proper, alone the Rhiani ride."
Okhfels: "What about the Vajaari?"
Holmes: Arnaltu's face becomes a scowl. "They are not people, and we will erase their invasion some day. For now they are far to the south."
Okhfels: "Ah, so anyone who is not Rhiani is an invader, who must be destroyed. Like my people, who are wandering here, lost and alone, after having been driven from their lands by the goblins."
Okhfels: "That is what I hear you say."
Holmes: "The Vajaari do not wander here, they come by killing," he says. "Are you asking me if our law prevents anyone else from being here?"
Okhfels: "That is a good way to put it."
Holmes: "Some of our laws give us certain rights...but none exclude anyone else," he says.
Holmes: "Especially if they worship Cay."
Okhfels: "Would you say, that in a way, someone who puts aside the Rhiani ways, is no longer a Rhiani?"
Okhfels: "We are making a new people here," Okhfels continues...
Okhfels: "All who stay here will change."
Holmes: He frowns not understanding, "And what will we become? What's wrong with the Rhiani way?"
Okhfels: "What will YOU become? I do not know. That is for you to decide. I know that we, those who choose to stay here, will become something new."
Okhfels: "Something that does not yet have a name. But that will come in time."
Holmes: "So you ask us to give up who we are to join you, not knowing what we are to become? Or you ask us to give up our rights here? These are our choices?" he asks in a quiet voice.
Okhfels: "No, no, I do not ask you to join us."
Okhfels: "There is no reason for the Blue Bear Rhiani to stop being Rhiani. Just those who choose to stay here."
Okhfels: "They have already decided to do something new."
Okhfels: "If we succeed, and make something new, then you will have a strong friend and Green Lake will be a safer place for you. If we fail, and we are destroyed, like Sherezak, then you will have evidence that your ways are best."'
Holmes: Arnaltu raises his head up and looks down at these people through slit eyes - are they prompting him to hubris? Or does his faith, his people's faith in Cay mean that they won't fail Him?
Holmes: "Then that is as it will be," he says. "You may keep your drum - mayhap if you fail with the spirits, then we'll find it left behind when your people are gone."
Okhfels: Okhfels nods.

Shadow World

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