Prologue:
Written Odeth 3, 313:
It begins in fire.
The city is aflame around me, and the clock tower burns like a torch, obscuring the face of the moon.
Yet no one seems to notice, or care. In the town square, I am surrounded by all of the usual suspects.
Whatever language they are speaking, I cannot understand it.
The fountain is cracked and bubbles forth red blood, but one of my little cousins still perches upon its rim, giggling.
I hear the cries of a distant battle, and walk down Noble Way to seek it. The buildings are all in ruin, and two Human siblings run amok, burning and smashing all before them. His name is Terror, and her name is Madness.
But they know not what they do. Behind and above them stands another, clad in robes of gold, and his name is Power.
About him is a crowd of admirers, and as I stare at them he sees me. He holds out his hand, and for a moment he looks like my father. I press through the crowd, and reach through the thronging masses to touch his fingertips.
His hands are soaked in blood.
Suddenly horrified, I stagger back. I wipe my hand upon a handkerchief, but the blood will not come off.
It stains the gem in my palm red.
The crowd turns angry. They mock me, they shout and claw at me. I see some of them bear burning firebrands, and I flee.
I run out the gate, and it closes behind me with a loud boom. Suddenly, all is quiet. The city seems silent: peaceful, or dead.
A glow on the eastern horizon tells me that the sun is about to rise. I walk towards it.
Then I am in among the forest. Everything seems still, and dark, and the way is unfamiliar to me. I wander through the trees for what seems like hours, as the hues of the sunrise slowly spread.
Suddenly, a single lightning bolt rends the sky, and strikes a tall tree near me. The force knocks me to the ground, and the tree catches fire instantly, as if it were dead wood. In a moment, the whole forest is ablaze. I try to cry out, but the red fire blinds me, and black smoke chokes me. There is no way out.
It ends in fire.
It is just a dream, like any other.
Lucianar Lintharnas
Foreword:
The burning of Treehaven is an event that will be remembered for centuries, and will be immortalized in legend. The people responsible, and those who fought against them, will be praised and reviled in story and song for generations to come.
My own part was not so great. Yet there are few who had occasion to witness and understand as much of the events that preceded that fateful night. This, then, is not my story, but rather the story of those events: of how Treehaven came to be burned, and why.
LL
Chapter 1: Emjedah and Treehaven
It is only recently that the city-state of Emjedah came to prominence. Indeed, as recently as the year 300, the name is not one that most Spurians would have recognized.
The history of the city, though brief, is an interesting one. The early colony faced many trials: most dramatic among them, without a doubt, were the depredations of the Imperial Dragon Tchalatri’a. But I will leave a study of Emjedah's history to other texts or other scholars.
Suffice it to say this: Emjedah is a mining colony, founded by Lord Grandeur after difficulties on the Isle caused the loss of his wife and home. It is still a small city, but has access to rare minerals that make its few merchants quite profitable. It is also a city that was, until recently, dominated by Frontacians. Finally, it is one of the few states in Aradath that practices (and indeed, promotes) the practice of slavery.
As the events of my tale begin, Emjedah was still a colonial city, very much run as the personal prefecture of Lord Grandeur. It had not yet made an effort to attract newcomers, nor to expand its Council to include them.
Treehaven was founded by Fir Elves who had escaped an attack by Sanene in their homeland, and started a new life in the Caersech. The city was built in the trees themselves, and narrow bridges formed their "streets", leading from one tree to the next. It was a better-known city than Emjedah, but equally clannish. Its residents mostly kept to the forest, and few people visited except to purchase their special crafts: fine bows, arrows, and skins. When the troubles with Emjedah began, Treehaven was not a very organized city, and did not have official meetings, or even a clear governmental structure.
Along with Humans, Fir Elves made up most of the slaves of Emjedah. Naturally, many of these slaves were acquired from the forest by brigands and other slavers. This was a growing point of contention between Treehaven and Emjedah for years, and was only exacerbated by the fact that Emjedah's ambitious projects (most notably the Grandeur Tradeway) often resulted in the destruction of large areas of forestland.
By the time I first visited Emjedah, the two cities had had no official contact, but some residents of Treehaven already considered Emjedah to be directly responsible for the capture of Firian slaves, and acted accordingly.
Profile: Callik
No tale of these events would be complete without mention of the Fir Elf Callik. Though plainly mad, and long driven by a lust for violence, he has nonetheless come to represent many of the residents of Treehaven. He considers himself a defender of the forest and has claimed to have frequent personal conversation with the goddess of the woods, but he bears the mark of the Unknown.
I personally never paid much attention to Callik, though I did take personal offense when he sought to place a "bounty" on all Frontacians. Of course, hardly any resident of the Spur in those times could be unfamiliar with his nearly random and apparently suicidal assaults on citizens in Town Square.
In many ways, of course, his warnings were correct. Emjedah was buying Firian slaves taken from the Forest, even if they did not take them directly. It is plain that Emjedah could (and eventually did) do great harm to Treehaven itself. Sadly, Callik's efforts did little to advance his cause in the eyes of the common citizenry. He even went so far as to attack a Secian when her words offended him.
There are those who claim that Callik's prophecies were self-fulfilling: that Emjedah would not have chosen to burn Treehaven if not for his depredations. I will let the record speak for itself.
Chapter 2: The Frontacian Embassy
There have been many important Frontacians in the history of Aradath, but the Spur has never seen an organized group of my race working together. Before Emjedah came into prominence, an effort was made to rectify this situation. The chief impetus for this effort came from Alya Kesper.
To emphasize the peaceful intentions of this group, it was named the Frontacian Embassy. Its stated purpose was to promote harmony among the Frontacian people of the region, and between Frontacians and others.
During its formation, the principals involved in the Embassy were Landoo Astroligone, Alya and myself. Originally, Landoo was elected as Ambassador, Alya as his Aide, and myself as Treasurer. But, in time, Alya and Landoo began arguing on a regular basis, eventually resulting in him physically assaulting her on more than one occasion. In disgust, the Frontacian community eventually decided to hold new elections. I was chosen as Ambassador, and in a bitterly argued election, Alya was chosen to be Treasurer.
By that point, the Spurian government had already made it clear that they had little intention of supporting the Embassy. Though we offered to build the Embassy with our own funds, and to offer instruction to the populace in the ways of magick, the government was very slow in responding. When they did finally send us a representative, they chose a Psycian. Although I am sure he is an effective administrator, the choice sent an obvious message: that the Embassy was not welcome in the Spur.
It was at this point that Emjedah offered to house the Embassy. Some notable members of the Frontacian community then went to meet with Ralin and Ulric there, where Ralin formally offered that Emjedah would construct a building for the Embassy, and also offer it a seat on the Council of Emjedah. Guaire spoke against the idea quite forcefully, but everyone else was in favor of it. Despite some reservations on my part, I agreed.
I had little desire to reside in Emjedah myself, however, and Alya already had a warm relationship with Ralin and Lord Timor. So I offered her the council seat, with the intention that I would continue to act as the Ambassador, and the Embassy’s representative in the Spur.
Profile: Alya
Alya Kesper is a figure who will doubtless be long remembered by those on both sides of the Emjedah conflict. In her youth, she was a warrior, but she has since given up the sword for the study of magick, and is now a very skilled mage of the Air. I have heard her referred to, on more than one occasion, as “the Witch of Emjedah”. Certainly, her reputation is widespread, though usually a poor one.
It is no secret that Alya and I were romantically involved for some time – a relationship that has often been used by various parties to castigate one or the other of us. Because of our long friendship, I feel I know her better than almost anyone in these realms. She is a figure full of contradictions. She has an argumentative temperament, but distaste for personal violence. She can be quite charming, and is devoted to those things she cares about, but has often had fallings out even with those who were formerly her close companions.
Above all, Alya has dedicated herself to one dream: the restoration of the glory of Frontacia. It is that quest that led her to Emjedah.
Chapter 3: The Temple of Rinanni
In addition to my title as Frontacian Ambassador, I had also been selected as the Weaver of Light, the High Mage of the Spurian temple of Rinanni. Throughout all these events, and the ones that followed, I was in close contact with Prelate Tygerlili, who was at that time the leader of our temple.
It was our belief that war between the Spur and Emjedah was an ever-growing threat. That war was one we greatly desired to avoid, and it seemed only natural that the devotees of Rinanni do their best to avert it. Towards that end, we discussed the possibility of having a regular voice in the government of Emjedah.
I had already been present at some of their council meetings. They had just begun a policy of offering seats to each temple, if that temple would contribute at least five members to the militia. The temples of Sa and Taath both fulfilled this requirement. The Saians chose Anvil as their representative. The Taathians had had a lengthy dispute over the matter, for this was just after the point when Kyntavis had his final falling out with the rest of the Taathian community. As a result, Foom ended up being their choice.
Naturally, the Rinannian temple could not offer even one member for the militia of Emjedah. Further, much of our temple was wary of having any formal presence in the city at all. However, Tygerlili was seeking to expand Rinanni's influence over Treehaven and Emjedah, and as part of that effort she asked me to do what I could in Grandeur’s city.
Emjedah was still making an effort to gain allies, and therefore they sought to be inclusive. I am far from certain that they would have offered Rinanni a seat on the council, but I believe that with the support of the Embassy and the Saian temple, such an effort would eventually have been successful. Regardless, we were having extensive discussions within the temple of Rinanni about the idea of building a shrine in Emjedah, to see to the needs of the sick and infirm. Many opposed the idea originally, but over time a large part of the congregation started to feel that such efforts would be a necessary part of our duty to help those in need.
Meanwhile, there were ever-increasing conflicts between the residents of Emjedah, and those of the Spur and Treehaven. My own efforts to support peace through official channels were going nowhere. I petitioned the Spurian council to send a formal ambassador to Emjedah, to discuss ways to resolve their differences. The motion was summarily voted down with little discussion, however, with only Malthus (for temple Rinanni) and Rev (for Odarous) in support. Perhaps not coincidentally, they were the two with whom I had spoken before the meeting.
Regardless, it was clear that the government was not going to work hard towards establishing peace, so I continued to work towards getting Emjedahian approval of an official presence for the temple of Rinanni. Then, however, I received a visitation from a messenger of Rinanni. So far as I know, this is the only time the goddess has sent me a vision. It warned of dire consequences if a Rinannian temple were built in Emjedah, and so I left my efforts by the wayside.
We did, however, continue our more conventional diplomatic entreaties. Alya and I arranged a visit from the Rinannian delegation to Emjedah. Tygerlili, Rafe, Sebastian and Ocinaiya all came along. We were due to meet with Lord Timor, but he did not attend, and instead we spoke with Ralin.
Ralin is usually quite skilled with his words, and the conversation was a pleasant one. My companions were still wary, of course, but they believed that there was some hope for peaceful resolution of our differences. Sadly, it was not to be so.
Profile: Tygerlili
Tygerlili Flowerclaw, Curate, Prelate and then Confessor of Rinanni, is the holiest women I have ever met. She has an impressive grace, and carries with her an aura of peace that clearly marks her as a servant of the goddess.
The Frontacian word for those of another race literally means “lesser”. Yet, in the service of Rinanni, Tygerlili far surpasses me. I do not consider myself especially devout, but for those who wish to be, I can think of no better role model.
Tygerlili has left our temple, to see to other duties in Rathan and beyond. Her wisdom is greatly missed.
Chapter 4: Moving to Emjedah
I had come to the decision that there was nothing I could accomplish in the Spur towards the goal of furthering peace. Further, I had a distaste for many figures involved in the administration of the Spur: of course, I was hardly alone in that opinion.
And so, I decided to tackle the problem from the other end. I had good relations with Alya, Timor and Ralin, and most of the rest of the Emjedah Council treated me with respect. So, I went before them to express my opinion that they needed to have an Ambassador who would not be outcast in other cities, and that I should be that Ambassador.
Those present at that meeting were Timor, Ralin, Ulric and Changeman. Together, they formed a bare majority of the Council at that time. All present agreed to vote for me as Ambassador, provided of course that I became a citizen of Emjedah.
That night, I closed out my accounts in the Spurian banks, and rented a room at the Crossed Picks Inn in Emjedah. The next time I saw Alya, I asked her to give me citizenship papers.
From the first, Foom raised violent objections to my representation of Emjedah. Naturally enough, she was concerned that I might actually represent the city in a way that would lead towards peace, rather than the wanton violence she so much prefers. However, while Ulric and Changeman were hardly my supporters, she never found anyone to stand behind her efforts to replace me.
Throughout my stay in Emjedah, though, Foom and Alya busied themselves with fighting each other, and Foom often sought to involve me in that conflict. I remember one occasion on which she referred to me in a public scroll as Alya’s “Spurian Rinannian lover”.
However, while this squabble may have cost them both a little cachet in the political scene, it did not have much impact beyond that.
Profile: Timor
Timor is the only living heir of Lord Grandeur, ruler of Emjedah. Since his father has oft been occupied on the Isle, it has long fallen to Timor to manage affairs in the city – a duty for which he rarely seems eager.
A brutal attack by the San Rylek and some Arachnians had rendered Timor lame before I ever came to Emjedah. This physical frailty only contributed to the impression that his character gives: a man who is ill prepared for the fate he has been given. Although a talented mage, he lacks the confidence and arrogance of his father, and thus does not keep a tight hand on the reins of Emjedah.
It was considered common wisdom that Timor was enamored of Alya. I shall not comment on such gossip.
Chapter 5: The Dragon
An Imperial Dragon by the name of Tchalatri’a lived in a network of caves near Emjedah for many years. Some years before I arrived in the town, it was visited by an Usil woman named Moraith, and her Arachnian companion. The two were professional essence hunters, and with the acquiescence of Lord Grandeur, they sought to put an end to Tchalatri’a.
Their effort was a dismal failure, and the dragon's vengeance resulted in significant damage to the early colony. Little more was said or thought about them until 314, when they returned to Emjedah – not long after I moved there.
I never learned the name of Moraith’s companion, but I gather it was a Taathian alchemist, who did the primary work in preparation of dragons’ remains. The woman herself is an Elindalian and a warrior, with armor and sword of drathain, and a shield made from dragon scales.
When Moraith arrived in town, she offered a deal to the rulers and soldiers of Emjedah: a joint expedition against the dragon, with the body going to the hunters and any treasure going to Emjedah. Many were suspicious of her, especially because of the colony’s past experience with the hunters, but eventually their desire for profit and their general dislike of Dragonkind triumphed.
The expedition itself encountered numerous difficulties. Naturally, I did not accompany them, but I waited at the Crossed Picks while they went up the mountainside.
The first problem was that there were no Arachnians present. The alchemist apparently does not do such work itself, and none of Emjedah’s few Arachnian residents chose to attend on the night in question.
Second, the dragon had a magical barrier on the entrance to its cave. Ralin had been supposed to attend, but he did not make it either. With some effort, however, the expedition was able to penetrate the barrier.
They then found themselves in a dark and difficult maze of tunnels. Through all this, I had been receiving occasional updates from Alya on the winds, but at this point she fell silent.
Some minutes passed, and then Alya contacted me to let me know that she had fallen in battle. At her request, I went to buy her things from the House of the Dead. By the time I got back, it was clear that the expedition had failed.
Zog, Captain of the Emjedah militia, had been devoured whole by the beast. The other adventurers had all fallen or fled.
The matter was far from done, however, for then the dragon came to Emjedah with blood in its eyes.
I will say this: the beast was an impressive sight. A massive white imperial dragon, at least sixty feet in length, it unleashed massive blasts of lightning and ice at us. It was not content to simply stay in one place and fight the defenders of the city, however. Instead, it flew back and forth across the city rapidly, setting fire to everything it could.
This included the destruction of the Crossed Picks Inn and, far more important, the slave compound. Sadly, we had no water mages, and Ulric was hardly in the mood to spare his warriors to put out fires.
Having suffered enough wounds from the catapults and ballistae of the town, the dragon retreated back to its lair. The warriors of the town followed, and this time I accompanied them.
The caves were indeed difficult to navigate, and some of our number fell down crevices more than once. However, eventually most of us found our way to the heart of the creature’s lair.
It was waiting for us there. It was plain that it had been seriously injured, and more it seemed somehow tired. I think it knew that its end had come, but, it told us, “you will all be coming with me.”
In the end, it was incorrect. The dragon took an incredible amount of punishment, but there were too many attacking it, and it was unable to fly. Moraith wielded some wand that kept it from departing. It injured most of us, but none fatally.
I can’t say I regret the beast’s death, but nonetheless I found something very sad about the carcass of this once-mighty creature. While the others looked to divide up the treasure, I left the cave. I waited for them there, looking out across the tree-covered valley at the icy peaks.
When Alya came back, I walked he back to the city. Lord Timor was there, and those present began to discuss the battle, and what would follow after.
For my part, I left the crowd, and went to the slave compound – a place I had rarely chosen to visit before. What I found there was a sight that I will never forget. The heat had been so great that even the metal of the gate was melted and bent. Within, there was nothing but death and ash. The smell of charred flesh was overpowering.
I have nothing else to say about the events of that night, except that one item that was found in the dragon’s hoard was a staff of the Arch-magi, which Diegan traded to Alya. Those staves were later to be considered of some significance.
Profile: Foom
Early in the history of Emjedah’s council, it seemed possible that Kyntavis would become the chief representative of Taath in Emjedah. However, his megalomania would not allow him to place himself under anyone or anything, and eventually he left the city to found his own temple.
Foom was ready to step into the gap he left. Long a foe of the leaders of the Spur, she found in Emjedah exactly what she wanted to pursue her political agenda. She also saw the potential for advancing her religious agenda, but only so long as Emjedah was hated by, and in constant strife with, its neighbors.
Naturally, this put us in near-constant opposition. This much I will say for Foom: she serves her god with great dedication.
Chapter 6: Negotiations
Through these many months, there had been increasingly frequent battles between Treehaven and Emjedah. Never outright war, nor did those on either side act with official sanction. Nevertheless, it was an obvious source of increasing tension. Callik and his cohorts would often attack Emjedah, seeking to free slaves, destroy property or assassinate her leaders. Less frequently, but with greater cruelty, Taathians from Emjedah or the apple grove would go to Treehaven and wreak havoc.
It was obvious that the situation could not continue: either it must stop, or it would inevitably build until the two sides were at open war. I considered it my obligation to see that the latter did not come to pass.
As a representative of Treehaven, Kithrael had made an offer to Emjedah: Treehaven would buy all of the city’s Firian slaves, and in return Emjedah would promise to never again enslave a Fir Elf. I met with him to begin the process of negotiation, and found him quite amenable to cordial discussion. He obviously thought the original price I asked was too high, but offered to take it to Treehaven's council... of which he was soon to be a member.
The process of negotiations with Treehaven was to face several difficulties. One of the greatest was simply that the Treehaven council only met every four Spurian weeks, and did not perhaps give the matter the great priority that I might have asked.
Of course, another chief obstacle was the fact that so few on either side desired peace. There were many in Treehaven who preferred Callik’s plans, and some in Emjedah who were philosophically opposed to peace.
Nonetheless, I believe that it might have been possible to find a price that Kithrael could have convinced Treehaven to offer, and that I could have “sold” to a majority of the Emjedah council. Sadly, our discussions took too long to resolve, as each offer I made to Kithrael would have to go back to the council of Treehaven, and was not always assured of swift resolution there. If their council had picked someone who had the simple authority to negotiate a final price with me, it is barely conceivable that we might have been able to avert the coming catastrophe.
Profile: Kithrael
I have been greatly impressed by Kithrael in all my dealings with him. He is obviously quite young, and sometimes a bit too brash and lacking in self-confidence. Yet he has an impressive wisdom, and a strong heart.
It was obvious to me that Kithrael is completely devoted to my lady’s sister, Elindale. He always pushed for peace ahead of vengeance, and I will ever be grateful for his efforts.
Chapter 7: Burning
In the end, it may not have mattered. I still think that I could have gotten Alya, Renalk and Timor to support a good enough peace deal with Treehaven, but I could be mistaken. In hindsight, it is clear that even when I was chosen as Ambassador, the leaders of Emjedah were laying plans to burn the forest city.
On the night in question, I had been staying in a tavern near the Spur. From there, I gated to Rinanni’s temple in Treehaven, in hopes of finding Kithrael to see if he had any news about his council’s reaction to my latest offer. Unbeknownst to me, he had already delivered a refusal to the council of Emjedah.
Finding that he was not around, I traveled to Emjedah. There I found Alya. She had recently been cured of an affliction that had been plaguing her, but her good cheer was tempered by obvious unease. She told me that a mission had been planned, and I should perhaps not be in the city that night.
When I said that I was planning to travel to Treehaven anyway, to try to catch Kithrael at their meeting, she begged me not to go.
Before I got a chance to speak to her further about this, Ralin and Renalk arrived. They were apparently traveling to Treehaven: indeed, Kithrael and Verbaniah were supposed to be coming to escort them there. At this point, it was obvious to me that Ralin was planning some action that would raise the ire of the forest city, but I did not yet realize the depths to which he would sink.
In the end, Kithrael did not attend, apparently having been called away. Verbaniah was instead accompanied by Tygerlili, who was escorted by Rafe and Clawntaka. It seemed Ralin had agreed to return the druid’s tome that had been stolen from the forest earlier, and the escort was to bring him to meet with the leaders of Treehaven and give them back the book.
Alya, Renalk and Sarithiya all accompanied Ralin on his expedition. It seemed clear to me that they planned some kind of treachery, but I had no idea what. In the end, I decided to remain in Emjedah - an unfortunate mistake, though I doubt I could have done anything to change what happened.
Entirely uncertain of what was to come, I set myself in a spot where I could see the gate of Emjedah, but was not easily spotted in turn. There I waited. All was quiet for some time, though Ulric and many others had a quick meeting in the watchtower and then went out the gate.
Suddenly, Ralin walked up the road, accompanied by Guaire and Clutter. As they approached, a giant ball of fire flew into the sky and then away.
As it happened, the three stopped to talk a short distance away from me, though none seemed to see me.
Looking up at the fading trail of fire, Ralin said, “There goes one.”
“You had to betray them, didn’t you,” Guaire replied.
“You two should consider yourself lucky,” Ralin responded calmly, “for you’re not going to burn with the rest of them.”
“With your warmages and followers, as well,” Guaire pointed out, but Ralin shrugged without concern.
I still did not entirely realize what had happened. Ralin had returned without any of those who had gone with him. Instead, he came back with a known enemy of Emjedah, speaking about treachery. I assumed that he had betrayed the city itself.
As I thought upon this, he walked out the gate. I hastily followed him down the path, to where Ulric and the militia were waiting. There I accused him of treachery. Trinnity threw a web on him when I did, but soon let it dissolve.
Foom denounced me, and I shrugged and transported myself back to the guild in Emjedah.
There I found Dugors, a Leuian of Sa who had taken up residence in the city for some time, at the request of his temple. I explained to him that Ralin was responsible for the fires he was seeing, and that most of the militia were on the trail.
Together we walked back to them, and Dugors asked what was happening. Ralin finally explained that he had used the lore he gleaned from the druids' tome to cast a spell which lowered Elindale’s protections of the forest. The catapults were now bombarding the trees to set them aflame.
Eventually, Alya and Sarithiya returned. They explained that Guaire had followed Ralin through his gate, and somehow prevented the rest of them from doing so.
It seemed apparent that Treehaven was in chaos, for what seemed like an eternity went by while the catapults continued to fire, and no sign of a counter-attack came. Meanwhile, Dugors and I pulled Alya and Renalk aside and angrily challenged them about the purpose of the attack.
They seemed to feel that this was in the service of all Emjedah, and not just the Taathians. Needless to say, neither Dugors nor I agreed. Dugors told Renalk that he was departing as I said my goodbyes to Alya.
She said that it was an action the council had sanctioned, that these were times of war. But I would not, will not, accept that treachery and wanton destruction should ever be the ways of the High Race.
After a time, there was nothing more to say. I cast a gate that took me back to the Spur.
The clock tower struck midnight.
Profile: Ralin
Ralin is a tremendously skilled mage, who has dedicated himself to the pursuit of power and magickal knowledge above all else. In many ways, he is what I think of when I think of the worship of Sa.
Which is why I bear Rinanni’s mark.
Ralin does not care for compassion, or honor, or truth, nor even such vices as avarice and pleasure. I once thought him a reasonable man, but I came to understand that he is simply an uncaring one. I believe he is the most responsible for Treehaven’s burning: not just because he cast the necessary spells, but also because he was a driving force behind it.
I don’t think he encouraged the attack because he hated or feared Treehaven. Simply because it was a spell that had never been cast before, and he was the one who would cast it.
He often reminds me of my father.
Afterword:
I have opted for brevity over detail in my description of events. Perhaps in some future year I shall endeavor to write at greater length about all that happened. For now, I believe the preceding summation will suffice.
My own role, as I have said, was a small one. In the days after Treehaven burned, I was exiled from both Treehaven and the Spur. Since I would not return to Emjedah, I found myself living in cheap roadside taverns for some months. Fortunately for me, both of those exiles were eventually lifted.
I am sad to say that in many ways the attack on Treehaven seems to have been a success. The city is rebuilding with surprising speed, and I do not think it will be permanently weakened by the assault. But it seems that the citizens of Treehaven rarely strike out at Emjedah any more, so in that way Timor got what he desired.
The citizens of Emjedah are now unwelcome in most of Aradath, so the followers of Taath, also, got what they desired.
I cannot say that I regret my actions in regards to Emjedah, though I very much regret my failings. I am blessed with a perpetually optimistic spirit, so I still believe that Emjedah will one day become part of the community of our world, and cast aside its more wasteful and destructive ways. However, I now fear that that day will be long in coming.
PLAY NOW 
ORLD 
FFECTING 
VENTS