Part 23
“For now, continue as you have; continue to develop your stealth warfare, continue to train to fight the demons with the military ways of these newcomers, seek always to do both together. Also, breed. Bear and raise as many children as is practical. Be ready to begin the training I will give you when the time-bubble ends.
“Know that I am proud of you, and committed to the responsibility of my leadership over you.
“Rise, and I will bestow my Blessing upon you.”
His people stood and closed their eyes as he held forth his hand, and every one of them felt him lay his hand on their head, felt his mind touch theirs, felt his power active within them.
He considered the Sylvan newcomers, and spoke in Common. “You Serminaki seek to join my people, but you are sworn to The Just Alliance on The Truthstone of Falgaroth. I know it was not your choice to do so.
“If you will swear your allegiance to me and accept me as your god, and commit to keeping the ways of my people, you can join us. I will promise to never command you to act in conflict with the vows you’ve already sworn. If you will not do these things, I will not allow you to remain on these islands when the time-bubble resumes.”
these matters, I am released from my agreements with the other gods, and there will be a conflict here today. I have been caught by the other gods, but I wasn’t trying
commanded his children and Karz, who were already fully Linked and Shielded and were preparing thousands of attack spells.
newcomers; are there any of you who both refuse to swear allegiance to The Sylvan God of Stealth and take his people’s ways, and who insist on staying here anyway?
them raised a
that you told them not to interfere with us before you left. I
understand why you’re in a snarly mood. There’s no
fair to the Sylvan here, and to help them be ready to face the demons when the time comes. There’s no doubt that they’re far more capable soldiers now than they were. We’ve ended the wasteful killing of the young without conflicting with their Sylvan nature, and they genuinely prefer their new lifestyles. They’ve made agreements with us that ensure the peace between us. We anticipate that their population will grow faster than Homestead’s, so we’ve allocated the surface of most of the islands to their use, on which they will have control over who lives where, and they have the right to exclude us from living there if they so choose. Your people’s dwellings are very natural and well camouflaged into the landscape, and they will
and you should have anticipated that Zarkog wouldn’t be able to defeat the rest of the world. Because of those, you should have registered your people’s ownership of these islands with the other governments of the world. Then I wouldn’t have bought this place from the legal owners, and paid a considerable sum
and I legally rule these islands. I see no conflict between your people living under my rule and
the world, and I think it’s a good idea for you to continue to develop that capability to deal with the present circumstances. Considering how good you all were already on land, and who you’ve got helping to develop your new training, I’m sure you’ll succeed in your goal of
gods over their unanimous stricture against religion on Kellaran. A lot of them are going to be upset over these few dozen who’ll swear to you today, but
have to be limited to your people. In The Just Alliance, command of mixed-race forces goes to the most capable, and there’s no doubt in my mind that you’re the best commander and trainer of stealth warfare. You should have all the best stealth warriors under your command when you engage in a mission. They can be released back to their regular units when they’re not engaged in