Quoted By:
“…So that is what is happening, in summary? A shame that every plan isn’t coming together, but the progress is tolerable. One can only control so much.”
“Mm, yes. Though some people do have quite the control over the world.”
“Indeed.”
“Not in a material sense, however.”
“Oh? Elaborate. I believe I know what you speak of, but we haven’t the chance to engage in philosophy since you’ve been gone, and the old men have a habit of being too well dug in to their own admittedly worldly minds. Inflexible.”
“I wonder if you are lacking in flexibility yourself? We’ll see. You recall well the theory of the Noosphere. Much like the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, all parts of the world upon which we walk. While other spheres are the matter, such is the spirit of our planet, Ganze, do you concur?”
“The spirit? You speak with Mask too much. It is information, history, the how to our what, not our why.”
“Denying the Presence does not make it more a part of our world, you know. Try to ignore it when making up our world and you end up with a dead rock, or would you believe different?”
“To demand it is different from denial. If we do not leave it where it lays, we tempt the doom of the past.”
“If you believe that doom was truly caused by inquisition, and that it was sated by ignorance.”
“Ignorance in the form of arrogance. The assumption that a scrap of knowledge gives one ineffable wisdom of all things.”
“You think me arrogant?”
“We <span class="mu-i">are</span> arrogant. I only think that the direction you point yours leads to the Maelstroms.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. In any case, I have heard of another seeking out this power- and perhaps, even if you remain entrenched in the known, it might be foolish to at least not scout out the possibilities…for ourselves, but also for potential enemies…”
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They were here.
You couldn’t see them, but you could feel them. Knew their presence. The <span class="mu-i">wrongness</span> of their kind and their creations, and those who followed them. That feeling was one of the few things you had a certainty about. Besides that, <span class="mu-i">they</span> were enigmatic- they took what they wanted, when they wished, and thought themselves entirely justified in doing whatever they would, since they saw themselves as <span class="mu-i">above</span> mere normal humans like yourself. They scrubbed out gentle spirits and hoarded treasures, and were not above threats and violence. Oftentimes, it was for the best to do as they asked, because despite all your adventuring, they had been graciously rare to encounter.
The adventurer called Andrej needed no introduction, you hoped. Though these people isolated themselves by choice, until you had something they wanted.
