My life would have been much better if I had known someone like Zarka growing up. She cares about everyone here, no matter their station. She has even told me that if I prove myself, I might be accepted here someday. I think that is something I want.
You have no idea how much restraint it requires to listen to tales of peoples and places I knew, yet {not} correct her. She's close, I shall grant her that. Often startlingly so, in certain details or sequences of events, but the spirit of what happened thousands of years ago, the {essence} of that life... it has been embellished. Yet other times, the stories convey only a pale shadow, and the true magnificence is lost. Or is it my memories that have drifted with time? I suppose we shall never know, because those days are gone, never to return... all that I once loved has been dust hundreds of years longer than you have even been alive.
I have heard that you {rejected} the life of a tale-woman. Please don't hold bitterness against Zarka for her role. She holds all the wisdom and knowledge of the Ardura, and the stories of many other akharas as well. Our traditions helped us survive as these lands turned to dust over the generations, and in many ways, that lush beauty still exists for us through her words.
Zarka holds all the wisdom and knowledge of the Ardura, and the stories of many other akharas as well. Our traditions helped us survive as these lands turned to dust over the generations, and in many ways, that lush beauty still exists for us through her words. Especially now the gods have returned to Wraeclast, we know that our beliefs have power. Perhaps we can bring back those verdant forests and gleaming rivers, if only we have enough faith in a leader strong enough to make it real.
