A Judicious Answer

"Lady Lucia, that is a good question. Now, what I am about to say is my best guess. There are some things that she cannot do. She cannot speak, I think. But she does understand what we say. At night, her way of sleeping is not to lie down, but to freeze solid - like stone. But there are many things that she can do very well. She has a magical quality about her. She has chosen to give us visions. It is like you close your eyes, and you see what she wants you to see. It is like a dream, but you think clearly, and are wide awake. Her memory has to be pretty good, as she was able to paint a picture of an Aqualarian magic user in my mind, and it prompted my journey to Themyscira. She apparently wanted to talk to someone. Maybe I will find out why. As far as her state of mind. The word that I would use would be ... confident. That is what I would say, confident."

"I see. That is good to hear. So you don't feel threatened?"

"No, not at all. As a matter of fact, she is really powerful, but she has done nothing threatening at all. I don't know if she is made of a living stone, but she seems to be immensely strong, as well as having magic. And she crossed our path at the same time as the Golden Hind. This is an extremely powerful sign. So I think that we need to help her."

Lady Lucia nodded her head, and thanked Vedagaisic. A man with a short white beard, sporting a robe with three green stripes on each sleeve, then raised his hand, and Rose said, "Doctor Sylvanius."

"Thank you. Mister Vedagaisic, what I do is look at the stories, the writings, and the magical lore around the Ryngaerd, in order to see if it can be used for good things. I have to admit that my knowledge of Dunchovian lore is not very deep."

"Well, Doctor Sylvanius, I am not a sourcerer. I am not sure how much help that I can be."

There was some gentle laughter at Vedagaisic's modest answer, and Doctor Sylvanius continued. "You probably know more than you think. Like the Golden Hind for example. I have heard of it, but never quite understood its importance."

"It is very important. The golden hide is not natural. It has been sent from our god. And it is a test. If we are worthy, and can capture it, then it will become part of the regalia of our next seer, and her time will be good. We will catch more antelope, there will be less sickness, and no quarrels with strange tribes."

"So Vedagaisic, if we, say gave you gold and jewels to take back to the seer, would that also bring in the good times for the next seer?"

"Doctor, I do not think that it would work that way. The hide is the very fabric of the seer's dress. Jewels are just an ornament on that fabric. Now don't get me wrong, jewels will help - but they have to be earned."

"Ah, so if you took them from us in a raid, then would that be earning them?"

"No, no. That would be unthinkable. Striking first, against a friend? That would be the opposite. There would be bad times - sick antelope, sick people, and quarrels. Please do not even speak of it."

"There was no offense intended. We know of the high character of your people. So how would a jewel be earned?"

"If the jewel was to be given as a fair reward for a service, it would have greater value than if it were bought, or given as a gift."

"Thank you. I think I understand now. Now to what I really wanted to know - do you have any stories, even from other tribes, about steingeweser, the people of stone?"

"No. This is the first time that I have heard the word steingeweser. Maybe you can help us with that, then. What do you all know about these steingeweser?"

"Really, not much. I was hoping that you might have heard more. Nobody here has ever seen one. They are legends in the southern part of Aqualaria - folk tales that are sensational, but they are hard to pin down. The problem is that somehow it appears that Princess Astra was transformed. There had to be a powerful being - one that might still be in the caves - that has a form of magical power that we know nothing about. If we can identify it, we can take measures to find out what the nature any threats she - and your tribe - may face."

"Sir, I have a question. The dragon has been a problem for some time. I know that several bands of soldiers had gone in and never came back. Did anyone ever think of sending a wizard?"

Rose responded quickly, "Mister Vedagaisic, you have just raised a very contentious point. There are those in this room that feel that should have been tried. But the Doyeness - and I as well - strongly believe that would be a mistake. The dragon himself, although strong, would have not have been a real threat, except for the fact that he quickly picks up and masters magic. Some forms of magic that we know that he has masterd, such as the mysteries of fire, we know well and created defenses. There are other forms of magic that only we in the college know. Most importantly, there are some we know imperfectly. If someone with knowledge of these protected disciplines had been captured in a failed try to kill the dragon, we would be much greater danger that if we had just left the dragon alone."

"That makes a good deal of sense, my lady. That must be why the stone woman planted the vision that encouraged me to go to Themyscira."

1. There were no further questions, and Vedagaisic was able to eat dinner.
2. More questions came.

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