INTRODUCTION

The Holy Celestine Empire was a proud patron of scholarship,
particularly that which was thought either to have practical value for
the crown or to be particularly prestigious. These two goals intersected
in several fields including the study of foreign cultures. Such
research had practical value insofar as it helped the empire to
establish trade relationships and to plan its conquests, while also
serving to give imperial officials a reputation for daring exploration.

Olasha of Paavik wrote a number of reports on foreign cultures which
have been translated out of their original Merian and compiled in this
book. Although the reports were sufficient to bring Olasha to the
attention of the court and to secure imperial patronage for her future
works they also attracted the scorn of several other leading scholars
of her era. She was widely accused of falsifying her reports by several
noted researchers, including Librarian Selle of the Celestine Library
and the famed historian the Volanone Loa, both of whom were her
contemporaries. Olasha's works were nevertheless extremely popular both
at court and among the general populace of the empire, and her accounts
were widely accepted as factual among those without extensive education.

In light of her controversial reputation as an ethnographer it would be
imprudent for the modern historian to accept her descriptions of ancient
cultures as accurate. None of her accounts have been verified by any
archaeological or paleographic resources. However, her work is not
entirely without value. It can be taken as an accurate representation of
that which was believe to be true by a significant portion of the
citizenry of the early Celestine Empire, and a testament to the progress
which was made in imperial scholarship over the course of the Empire's
existence.

The original copy of her work from which this book was translated was
recovered from the private archives of the Hallifaxian Clandestine
Service, which possesses fragmentary documents predating the Taint Wars.
Approximately eighty percent of the original manuscript remained
legible. Those entries which were damaged beyond comprehension have not
been included in this translation, although several further entries did
survive in an extremely fragmented state. Those who wish to view the
original document are at liberty to contact the Hallifaxian Historical
Ministry.

-----------------

OLASHA OF PAAVIK

In light of Olasha's reputation as a scholar it is necessary to provide
those details of her life which are known that the reader might be able
to judge her motives and statements for themselves. The information
concerning her is regrettably scarce, although her fame was sufficient
to preserve more details of her life than is usual for ancient scholars.

Olasha of Paavik lived during the earliest days of the Holy Celestine
Empire, being born at approximately the same time as the empire was
founded. Despite her title, the location of her birth remains in
question. The majority of sources written after her death place her
birth in the village of Paavik as her name implies. Her contemporary,
Librarian Selle of Celest, instead claimed that she was born into a
family of wandering merchants with no fixed home. If his account is
true, her title would be an invention of later historians who wished to
associate one of the more famous krokani of antiquity with that race's
most famous settlement.

Regardless of her origins, it is clear that Olasha received a reasonably
advanced education, as proven by her literary skill and her fluency in
the merian language. This education was sufficient for her to secure
employment as a scribe in the Celestine Library, which provided her with
an opportunity to pursue advanced studies in philosophy and literature.
She was eventually promoted and assigned to the library's department of
acquisitions and it was while she held that office that she wrote her
reports.

Her reports came to the attention of the emperor, who chose to patronize
her work. This was sufficient to ensure that the majority of the
imperial court read her work, which in turn secured her reputation as a
scholar, both for excellence of style and for questionable information.

She died suddenly at the age of fifty-seven. She was widely believed to
have been poisoned, although no culprit was ever discovered. Many later
historians accuse Librarian Selle of having arranged her death, either
due to his jealousy of her favored position at court or as a service to
scholarship.

--------------------------

THE RIVER PEOPLE

Making the pilgrimage to the holy mountain, I encountered a most
peculiar tribe of men who lived along the raging Toronada. I say that
they are a tribe of men for they are entirely without women, preferring
to adopt orphaned boys from the people with whom they trade. They
disregard all race in these affairs, for it is their custom to mingle
freely with the shards of all of the dead gods. It is those gods that
they worship, not for the hope of any blessing but rather because they
hold their ancestors to be more sacred than any other being. These dead
gods are honored at night in secret rites, few of which can be seen by
those who do not worship according to their ways. During my time among
these people I begged for the pleasure of watching such a rite and they
indulged my request before I took my leave of them. When they pray, each
takes a lock of his hair and drops it into the Toronada while chanting
the name of the one who adopted him, the one who adopted his adoptor,
and so forth as far as the names are known. Having reached the beginning
of their ancestry they then sing a song in praise of the god who
splintered into their race.

Their other customs are as strange and improper as their prayers. They
live on rafts which they guide up and down the Toranada, fishing and
trading as their hearts desire without any regard for the choices of
their fellows. They come together as a nation only on the first day of
each months, giving that time over to the discussion of common matters.
All present are given leave to speak their minds and none among them
are accorded the right to command any other, for all of their choices
are binding only upon those who consent to keep the common customs.
Those who refuse to obey their common laws are ignored by others of this
barbarous tribe, but are not made to suffer any other pains. The worst
of these laws which any man might break is to set foot upon dry land,
for the unchanging earth is forbidden to all among them, lest they fall
under the power of some other nation. Not even in death do they forsake
that custom, preferring to take knives to their dead and cut them into
small shreds so that they may be fed to scavenging fish.

Wise people would have nothing to do with those who dwell upon the river
were it not for their great wealth and the joy which they take in trade.
Many things which are thought to be trifles on land are great luxuries
to those who cannot take their leave of a river, and they will gladly
pay a great price for such petty treasures. They can offer great wealth
to those who would bargain with them, for the golden dust of the
Toranada is theirs for the taking and the bounty of that river is so
vast that they will part with fistfuls of gold without any hesitation.
They gladly do so to acquire cloth, which the river cannot provide for
them, and also metal tools, for they can build no forges upon their
wooden rafts. They value other goods in the same manner as other men,
save for books which they hold in contempt, preferring to trust in their
memory and the voices of their peers over ink and paper.

War is not entirely displeasing to those who dwell upon the Toranada,
for it is only circumstance that separates a trader from a pirate. Those
who do not keep their customs are outlaws in their eyes, and although
the greater part of their people prefers peace and trade to war and
death, there are others who favor brigandage. Even the most peaceful of
their number will fight those who they fear will force them to kneel and

accept laws contrary to their own. When their spirits are roused for
battle they fight with javelins and long knives, often forsaking the
protection of a shield in order to bear a weapon in each of their hands.
Armor is unknown among them, for they fear death by drowning under its
weight far more than they fear the quick death that is brought by an
arrow or a blade. They fight fiercely, for it is not possible for any
among them to flee away from the river without breaking their laws, and
thus they hold retreat to be an impossibility. Pursuit of their foes is
likewise impossible so long as their escape is made over dry land, and
so there is little to fear in dealing with them for any who can run
faster than the river people can throw a javelin.

It would be unfair of me to say that the river people are entirely
without virtue, for they have their own sort of valor, honor, and
honesty. Nevertheless their customs are savage and unseemly, and so one
must take care not to speak imprudently in their presence, lest their
wrath overwhelm their hospitality. Such are the people of the river, a
strange breed of men.

----------------------

THE SOUTHERN LOBOSHIGARU

Stories are told of Loboshi's shards, those savage creatures who are the
terror of all those who would dwell in peace. It is said that none can
calm their fury and that none escape from death when their blood runs
hot. I found myself wondering if there was any shred of truth to these
stories and so I made the journey south into the mountains in search of
the dreaded loboshigaru. I found them only with great difficulty, for
they have no fixed settlements and build no houses. It was only through
great fortune that I was able to encounter any of their number, a
travelling group of perhaps fifty or sixty people. They regarded me as a
threat at first, and several among them argued that I should be put to
death on the spot. Fearing for my life, I made a gift of all the wealth
which I had upon my person, and in doing so I bought their friendship
and my safety. They consented to accept me as their guest for several
weeks, so long as I was willing to travel with them and live according
to their customs for as long as I remained in their company. I did so
gladly, giving me an excellent opportunity to learn of their ways.

The loboshigaru of the southern mountains have no princes, preferring to
be ruled by the strongest rather than those who are of honorable birth.
Their chiefs rule only for as long as they can conquer all challengers
in single combat, which they fight with great clubs studded with stone.
These combats need not be lethal, for there is truth in the stories of
their healing powers and the loboshigaru can recover from nearly any
wound as long as even a scrap of life remains within their battered
bodies. Challenges are therefore treated more as sports than as serious
matters, and while I was with the loboshigaru a duel was fought nearly
every day. The stories of their ferocity in battle do not do them
justice, for they are far mightier than any poet has ever said. They
exalt in combat, beating their chests and howling at the sky as they
strike out at any around them. Their rage ends only when they can
neither see nor smell any enemy, or else when their poets call for
silence and recite their verses. The poets, alone among their race, seem
to feel no fury. All of their associates look to them for advice and
comfort, and in truth it is they who lead their kind rather than those
who have claimed the chiefdom through the strength in their arms.

They live lives of poverty, for few men will trade with them. That is to
the loss of both parties, for although the loboshigaru must endure the
poverty that comes with their solitude, all other nations must go
without their crafts. They carve wood with miraculous skill, surpassing
even the greatest artisans of other nations. They do not work with wood
alone, but also in bone which they take not only from wild beasts but
also from their honored dead. What they cannot use from the corpses of
their fellows is left for the crows and vultures, for they practice no
burial rites.

Their only luxury is a certain plant which they procure by force from
those who live in the desert. This plant is thrown upon their campfires,
giving a sweet smell to the smoke and bringing strange visions to all
those who inhale it. The loboshigaru take great pleasure in this herb,
although it makes fools of all those who partake of it. Its harm far
exceeds that of wine, for while the drunkard is rendered foolish he is
also left so clumsy that he can scarcely move to destroy himself,
whereas those who breathe in the intoxicating fumes are left with full
control of their bodies. Their wrath vanishes while they are in this
intoxicated state, as does nearly all of their intellect. They lay upon
the ground, reaching into the air to grasp at things which only they can
see, or else argue with voices which only they can hear. These voices
and visions sometimes fill them with terror and it is in those times
which the full danger of the herb is made apparent. In their terror they
reach for their weapons and charge to meet their imagined foe in battle
and they do so with the full force of their wondrous strength. Friends
are often mistaken for foes in this state, and so many are killed by
violence without malice.

Such people are of no importance. They themselves have stories of
northern kin who live differently, and if those tales are true there be
some hope for their race to achieve fame through virtue and greatness. I
suspect that these tales are lies, either the wishful thinking of those
who know their own weakness or else conceived under the influence of
their beloved herb. I fear their wrath, as do all those who have seen
it, but even more than that I pity them for their wasted lives.

-----------------

THE FOREST DWARVES

It is the common view that the forests belong entirely to the elfen but
I know that belief to be a false one, having come across a strange
breed of dwarf in the forest nearest to the holy mountain. One could be
forgiven for thinking that they were the shards of some unknown god
rather than Clangorum, for they are unlike their cousins in the
mountains in nearly every way. Above all other things, one who looks
upon them is struck by their beardlessness for none among them have any
hair upon their faces. Instead the hair upon their chests grows longer
than thicker than that of their foreign kin, growing even more thickly
than that of Bollikin's heirs. This hair is brushed with great care and
adorned with fine jewels, and the dwarves display it with pride. None
among their number wear any clothes upon their chests, so as to prevent
their hair from being concealed. This hair is never cut willingly for
they deem the loss of it to be a greater disgrace than any other
misfortune which a person might be compelled to endure. The dwarves who
lose this hair through illness or age are disgraced and may prefer to
drink hemlock rather than to live in such a state. Those who are
convicted of crimes are shaved before they suffer any other punishment,
and it is said that the humiliation of such a fate is even more dreaded
than a sentence of outlawry.

These dwarves build no houses, believing that it is improper for them to
change the face of the world by constructing anything new upon it. On
account of that belief they also shun most of the arts for which their
race is known, having no knowledge of the forge or any skill at mining.
They have so deeply embraced this folly that they even refuse to grow
food for themselves, instead depending on those fruits which grow
naturally in the forest. Because of that custom they are few in number
and they are always on the verge of starvation. They cannot even turn to
the hunt to save themselves from famine, for they have no weapons save
for those which can be shaped from fallen branches, which when combined
with the clumsines of their race leaves them without any hope of success
in hunting the creatures of the woods. It is therefore rare for any of
their number to live to old age, their custom being to allow the elderly
to starve so that the young and strong might survive long enough to
produce the next generation. Those doomed elders often avail themselves
of poisonous herbs, both to spare themselves the pain of starvation and
to ensure that there is flesh upon their bodies when they die. Their
corpses are not wasted, for the dwarves devour their dead both to ward
off starvation and to ensure that the land is not defaced by burial.

The forest dwarves have contact with their kin in the mountains only on
the rarest occasions and their meetings are seldom friendly. The
dwarves of the mountain go among them on a mission of mercy, bearing
food and offers of friendship to their kin in the forest. It is rare for
any save those who have been outlawed to accept the friendship of the
mountain dwarves, for most of those who dwell in the forest think that
they are defilers of the world who take joy in their wickedness. Those
who do accept them as friends generally return to the mountains when
they depart, renouncing their old way of life in favor of the more usual
customs of their race. Those forest dwarves who prefer to keep their old
customs generally attack the mountain dwarves with what few weapons they
can find. It is rare for their attacks to have any success, for although
they fight with great hate in their hearts they have neither adequate
arms nor any skill in battle, and thus they have little hope of
attaining victory. The mountain dwarves do not fear these attacks nor
do they even respond in kind, for their armor is sufficient to protect
them from the blows of their forestal cousins.

They are, in short, a savage people with nothing to offer to any
civilized soul. Having devoted themselves entirely to their folly, they
have forsaken all hope of attaining civilization or excellence of any
sort.

--------------------

THE ABALINITES

There is a city of wonders which lies far to the south and east. Those
who live within it call their city Abaline after the man whom they
claim as their founder. They say that he first shaped the walls of the
city out of green glass and that he passed his wondrous skills on to
those who followed him. These first citizens used their marvelous
knowledge to shape glass bricks with which they built their homes, their
shops, and all the buildings which make up their city. I am inclined to
say that their story is truthful for I have seen the glass buildings of
their fair city with my own eyes. Their buildings shine like crystal in
the sunlight but the strange glass from which they are built is nearly
as strong as stone. The production of such a magnificent sort of glass
is their dearest secret, a secret which they guard with their very
lives. None who who do not live in the city itself are permitted to
learn their methods, nor are those who know the secret allowed to leave
the city unless they go under a guard of seven men. Those guards have
two purposes, the first being the preservation of a master craftsman and
the second being to ensure that their secrets are not spread to
outsiders. Of the two, the latter purpose is thought to be of far
greater importance.

The working of glass is the primary occupation of most citizens, for
although only a few of their number learn the secret of producing their
building glass nearly all of them have some knowledge of glassblowing.
They produce countless marvels which they sell to their neighbors at a
great price, and they in turn purchase the necessities of life from
those same neighbors. The city itself has no gardens, nor do any farms
lie around it, leaving the city entirely dependent on its neighbors for
food. It survives almost exclusively on trade and industry, turning to
other ways of living only when those two have failed it. In such times
of trouble the citizens turn their attention to martial affairs,
trusting in their strength to succeed where peaceful trade failed them.
Many people covet their wealth, so they have gained a certain degree of
excellence in war through hard experience. They wield arms crafted from
the same sort of glass from which they have built their city, for such
arms are as useful as those crafted from strong iron while being far
lighter. They march to war wearing suits of glass scales and bearing
long spears with glass tips. Few of their neighbors can stand against
them, and no nation has willingly faced their army twice.

The city of the Abalinites is a wonder, but the people of that marvelous
city are not without sins. It is not enough for me to say that they are
faithless, for although they worship neither the noble Supernals nor the
base spirits of the world their wickedness extends even beyond that
failing. They laugh in the face of faith and count all those who kneel
in virtuous prayer as their enemies. Where other nations are guided by
the just counsel of holy beings and the priests which speak for them,
the Abalinites are guided only by their own greed. Commerce is their
prayer, their treasuries serve them as churches, and the ledgers of
their merchants take the place of holy books. I have seen them strike
the head off of a priest who sought only to bring news of the Supernals
to them and I have seen them burn druids alive. Who, then, would do
business with them, knowing that they exult in treating the virtuous so
cruelly? Only those who share in their wickedness or who have far more
greed and courage than sense would dare to do so. It is for that reason
that I parted company from them quickly, as soon as their vice was made
apparent to me, and it is for that reason that I advise all others to
stay as far from that wicked and magnificent city as they can.

------------------

THE HEDGE TRIBE

A kindly tribe of Bollikin's shards lives on the western outskirts of
the Glorianna forest. They are not kin to those of the Glorianna
commune and although they look upon each other with friendly eyes
neither nation answers to the commands of the other in peace or in war.
They come together from time to time due to matters of trade, but it is
altogether more common for them to find common cause when dealing with
religious affairs, for they share the same savage faith. The furrikin of
this tribe, which is known as the Hedge Tribe on account of the tall
hedges which they grow around their dwellings, have neither druids nor
witches of their own. They are thus compelled to place their trust in
those of the Glorianna commune, upon whom they look with great
reverence. These religious associations have been sufficient to keep the
peace between the Hedge Tribe and the Glorianna and to ensure that they
treat each other as treasured friends. They have stood together even in
times of famine and hardship when both would have had much to gain by
betraying the other, for all among them would rather perish than betray
those who have pledged themselves to the same spirits.

Their lifestyles are very much in the same pattern as those who live
about them, for those of the Hedge Tribe are not at all noteworthy in
regard to their gardens or their occupations. It is only the treatment
of their children with is worthy of study, and a great deal may be
learned from their practices. They leave their infants exposed to the
elements from the very moment of their birth to ensure that they grow
strong through suffering such pains. Their endurance is further enhanced
through regular exposure to all manner of pain and minor injuries so
that as the child grows he also grows immune to the many injuries which
plague those of other nations. Of all the people in the world it is they
who are the healthiest, for they go to great lengths to train their
children to resist injury and illness. On rare occasions these practices
result in the death of a child, but they judge that to be a fair price
for the strength which is given to those who live. Those who die in such
a way are mourned for only half the time as those who perish as adults,
being lamented for only seven days and nights.

All those who survive this upbringing are worthy of praise for their
health and their strength but there are a few who profit more from such
experiences than others and surpass their peers in every way. It is
customary for such children to spend a portion of their early years
living with the shards of Tae so that they can learn the art of war. It
is these fortunate few who defend the rest of their kind from all
dangers and they are rewarded for this dangerous service with the right
to lead their tribe. They take this to be a pleasure more than a burden
for they have no comprehension of honor and no knowledge of the
obligations which all nobles are bound to fulfill. They reign more in
the manner of brigands exacting tribute than in the manner of kings, but
this is widely accepted by the rest of their number who think that there
are no lords who would be any better than those who already rule them.

In spite of the nature of their lords, they are kind to travelers. This
is not because they have any great love for their fellow men, but rather
because they fear that any cruelty would be met with unbearable
reprisals. This fear is not without justification, for their lords are
few in number. For this reason one may deal with them freely and without
fear, although in truth there is little reason for one to do so.

-------------------

THE RED ASLARAN

A most bizarre breed of aslaran can be seen in our marketplace from time
to time, being distinguished from their fellows by the strange hue of
their coat which is a deep red in colour. These aslaran have earned a
reputation for their ferocity and their devotion to their friends and
employers, which has allowed the greater part of their number to find
employment as bodyguards. Having become a dear friend to one such
aslaran, I was invited to journey back to his homeland with him. I
eagerly accepted his offer, for I was filled with the desire of seeing
the home of his kind.

The red aslaran dwell in the foothills of the Razine mountains where
they build small huts by piling up unworked stones. These huts are built
without any mortar to hold them together, being aligned with great skill
such that they held neatly together by their own weight. Each family
destroys their hut at the end of each winter and constructs a new one in
the same place, for they think it is unlucky to live for too long in the
same house. The entire community joins together in the constructions and
destruction of these homes so that by working together an entire village
can be destroyed and rebuilt over the course of a few short weeks. None
are excused from taking part in this work, for even the youngest and the
weakest of them can be put to work sorting and hauling small stones.
Those who attempt to shirk their duty to assist in the work are put to
death by their community, a punishment which is carried out by stoning
with the very stones which they had been unwilling to carry for the
benefit of their friends and kin. They call this the pinnacle of
justice, for the object of the crime is thereby turned to the purpose of
exacting justice.

The red aslaran devote the greater part of their time to conducting
their heathen rites of devotion to the many spirits which they hold to
be sacred. None of these spirits are known to any of the druidic
circles, who hold their faith to be misplaced. They likewise perform
rituals in honor of their dead ancestors, believing that their honored
dead will guide them to greatness in life. Sheep are sacrificed during
all of their rituals, the sacrificial victims being torn limb from limb
while still living and thrown upon a blazing bonfire. They dance around
the fire while the carcass burns, shrieking the names of the spirits and
their dead. Once the fire has died down to smoldering embers they pluck
the ashes from the fire and use them to darken their fur, bearing the
pain without complaint as a sign of their devotion. They perform such
rites during the full and new moons, believing those nights to be the
most sacred, and also when they feel a great desire for the blessings of
their spirits.

They most commonly seek such blessings when they are planning to embark
upon a raid, which is the primary occupation of all of their kind. The
red aslaran have neither farms nor workshops, for they deem the
warrior's role to surpass all others in nobility, leaving few who are
willing to walk any other path. Thus they are compelled to take what
their hearts desire from those who dwell near them. Their neighbors are
disinclined to tolerate such raids and have often marched against the
aslaran to take their revenge. Many of the aslaran have died during such
attacks and so many who are willing to give up their traditions for the
sake of their lives have moved to our city so that they may pursue the
profession of arms in a far less dangerous way.

----------------------------

The Tower People

There is an ancient tower in the eastern mountains which was built long
before the foundations of our city were laid. Two tribes make their home
around the tower, the first of them living within it and the second of
them living around it. Those who dwell within the tower are shards of
Xyl and they rule over those who live around the tower, who are shards
of Dracnoris. The dracnari live as serfs in thrall to their lucidian
masters, engaging in labor of all kinds for the benefit of their lords.
The lucidian lords employ their free time to study the mysteries of the
world, preferring to sit in quiet contemplation rather than to engage in
honest work. The dracnari tolerate this state of affairs not out of any
love for their masters, who they greatly resent, but out of fear for the
great magical force which the lucidian scholars can bring to bear
against them. The lucidians reinforce this fear from time to time,
taking one or two of their serfs at random and putting them to death in
order to remind them of their great power. They do not do this not
because they take any great joy in cruelty, but rather out of their
desire to maintain their authority.

The two groups keep entirely different customs from each other, and do
not mingle save for when the masters exact their tribute or display
their might. The dracnari sleep under the stars and build no homes for
themselves because all shelter and privacy are forbidden to them by
their masters. All displays of faith are likewise forbidden to them
under pain of death, although many of the slaves practice their
ancestral rites in secrecy. They kindle small flames, and holding those
flames in their hands they pray for deliverance from their masters. They
do not even receive that deliverance in death, for their corpses are
claimed by their masters who use the body as they please for their
experiments and hang what is left of the remains from their tower so
that their slaves are compelled to look upon those who lived and died
for their masters' benefit. The misery which such a sight brings to the
slaves is observed and recorded by their masters, as are all other
aspects of their miserable lives.

The lucidian masters dwell within the ancient tower. They are few in
number and so each of them lives in luxury despite the confined nature
of their home. They live lives of solitude, mingling only when they time
comes for them to extract tribute from their slaves or when they deem it
necessary to breed. The children of their unions are given over to the
care of their servants, three of whom are selected at the birth of each
child, each of them having no other task than to care for their charge.
The child is made to execute one of those caretakers when it is old
enough to begin its studies in order to ensure that the child has no
affection for its slaves. A second execution is arranged once the child
has grown a little older, that one for the purpose of proving that the
child does not flinch from death even when it is old enough to
understand its actions. The last of the caretakers is also put to death,
dying at the very moment when the child is recognized as an adult. The
execution marks the beginning of adulthood for in killing the slave the
child looses the last of its childish possessions. At that time the
young adult is accepted as a peer by his fellows and he is given an
equal share in the wealth and administration of the state.

A visitor who comes to the tower is judged by the first of the lucidian
masters who meets him and that master determines his fate. If the
visitor is deemed to be intelligent and honorable, he is accepted as a
guest and lavishly entertained for as long as he chooses to remain among
them. If the guest is a lucidian, he is offered the right to take his
place in their society. If on the other hand the visitor is judged to be
a fool, he is placed in chains and forced to work as a slave. This fate
awaits all shards of Dracnoris who fall into their hands but few people
of other races. Only those who come for the purpose of trade are exempt
from this judgment, for all merchants are permitted to come and go from
their tower as they please in the hope that they will bring rare
treasures to the lucidian lords. They pay very little for such things,
preferring to take them by force if the offer is refused, and so few
merchants are willing to visit them, but the lords themselves can offer
great knowledge and treasures to those who make the journey to their
tower.