The Caverns of Kronos

The Moon Trogs - Part 7

     Thomas looked across at Lirenna and caught her eye. He tapped a finger on his right hand and she nodded, fingering the Ring of ESP. She would read their minds while the others were talking and try to find out what the Dallak’s intentions towards them were, signalling it to the others by a crude system of hand signals they’d worked out the night before. That would help them to say the things most likely to earn their friendship and co-operation, while avoiding statements that might make the moon trogs see them as a dangerous threat. Even Diana had agreed that telling the complete truth would probably not be a good idea in this case, although she’d insisted that they stick to it as much as possible.

     The moon trog who’d spoken then turned to the Tharians. “Welcome to Kronos,” he said. “and if our information regarding the human city is accurate, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the first welcome you've received since coming to our world. My name is Abar-Dhan, and I am High Manir of the moon trog race.”

     He then went on to introduce the other members of the Dallak, giving the names and titles of every member in turn. Every clan was ruled by a Manir, it turned out, and the Manirs of the five largest clans were present. All the other members of the Dallak were either Manettes or Manottas, lower ranking nobles but still very important members of moon trog society.

     When he’d finished, he then asked the Tharians to introduce themselves.

     "Before I do so," said Lirenna, taking the position of spokesman, "I'd like to say how delighted we are to discover the existence of another race of civilized humanoids, each of which adds to the richness and variety of our lives. Up until now, we've only known of four such races. Humans, nomes, the shae folk and the trogs from whom you are descended."

     She left a barely perceptible pause after naming each of the four races, during which she read their minds to see how they reacted. If they harboured bad memories of any of the Tharian races, this was when they'd find out. To her relief, though, their only reaction was one of mild impatience and a desire that she get on with the day's business, and so she hurriedly went on to introduce herself as a demi shae, secure in the knowledge that they felt no particular animosity toward her race.

     On the contrary, a buzz of excitement broke out among the Dallak, and many of them leaned forward, staring at her in fascination. “A shae girl?” said Abar-Dhan cautiously. “No moon trog has ever seen a member of the shae folk, even before the fall of Agglemon. They never came to Kronos, and we never, could never, go down to Tharia. Consequently we have only the vaguest idea of what the shae folk actually are. If you will forgive our scepticism, therefore, can you prove that you really are of the shae folk, and not merely a human of unusual appearance?”

     Lirenna looked annoyed. A human of unusual appearance was precisely what most humans thought the shae folk were, and it was a source of continual aggravation to the slender, graceful humanoids, many of whom considered humans to be barely more civilized then shologs and goblins.

     “The shae folk have many abilities that no human possesses,” she said, with the air of someone who’d said this a thousand times before. “We have infravision equal to your own. Our ordinary daylight vision is sharper than that of any other humanoid race and our other senses are also more acute than those of humans although to a lesser extent. Also, we live, on average, eight to ten times longer than humans. I am willing to submit myself to any test you care to devise to test any of these claims, except the last one.” A ripple of amusement spread among the Dallak.

     “Then there are the purely subjective differences,” added Thomas. “The shae folk are far more beautiful and graceful than humans. They excel in all the arts and cultures, particularly music and dancing. They have a deep, almost passionate love for life and nature and are just, well, more civilized overall than any other race.” He looked over at Lirenna, who dropped her eyes modestly.

     “I’m afraid that your statement regarding shayen beauty means little to us, as you groundwalkers all look the same to us,” said Abar-Dhan apologetically. “I beg you not to take any offence from this, however. As for the shae girl's own words, we will indeed test your claimed shayen abilities before you leave us. For now, however, we will simply assume that you are telling the truth and see where that gets us.”

     It was then Jerry’s turn to introduce himself and they had to go through it all again, with him listing all the talents and special abilities possessed by nomes.

     “But the rest of you are all human?” asked Abar-Dhan.

     “Yes,” confirmed Diana. “This is Thomas Gown who, like Geremy and Lirenna, is a wizard from Lexandria University, and these are my brothers, Shaun and Matthew Winterwell. My name is Diana Winterwell, and I have the honour of being a cleric of Caroli, the Lady of Healing.”

     More excited gossip broke out among the moon trogs. “Then the Gods are still worshipped on Tharia?” said the High Manir. “We had feared that the only Gods still worshipped on the fallen world were the evil ones.”

     They believe us! thought Thomas in excitement. He looked over at Lirenna, and she gave the hand signal that confirmed it. The moon trogs had accepted their claim that they came from Tharia without testing Lirenna or Jerry’s special abilities, although they would undoubtedly still test them later on just to make sure. Well, at least we don’t have to worry about being executed as Konnen spies now, thought Thomas in relief. All we’ve got to do now is convince them that we’ve got absolutely no chance at all of ever getting home again. That shouldn’t be too difficult, considering that it’s probably true.

     He realised that he’d missed Diana’s answer to the moon trog’s question. She’d pullet her silver caroli flower from her clothing and was showing it to them, while telling them something of the activities of the church of Caroli in Ilandia.

     “We are not doubting you, you understand,” said the High Manir respectfully, “but could you show us a small part of your Lady’s divine power as final confirmation of the truth of your words?”

     “Of course,” replied the cleric, and she closed her eyes as she began to pray. “My Lady, if it be Thy will, allow the light of truth to shine upon these people, so that the last of their doubts will fade and disappear like shadows with the rising of the sun.”

     The Goddess responded immediately, and the silver caroli flower began to shine with a soft, pearly light, outshining the glowbottles and making their light seem harsh and cold in comparison. Gasps and whispers came from the moon trogs as they felt the presence of the Goddess Caroli right there in the chamber with them. They could feel Her infinite compassion and the love and reverence She held for all living things, and Abar-Dhan stared at the cleric in undisguised awe.

     “Forgive us our doubts, sister," he said. "We see now that you are telling nothing but the truth, that you do indeed come from Tharia. That civilization has indeed risen again on the fallen world and that the Gods are still honoured and worshipped there, as they are here.”

     Looking around at the other moon trogs, though, Thomas saw that not all of them were happy at this revelation. Many were scowling or even fearful, and he saw the expressions changing on even the most delighted of them as the full implications sank in. Yeah, thought the wizard, forced to sympathise with them even though their fears could be the end of him. The Agglemonians got a great deal of iron, a great deal of wealth, from Kronos. How long before the same idea occurs to the new Tharian civilizations? And what will happen to the moon trogs when it does?

     The High Manir then asked them to recount the entire sequence of events leading to their arrival among the moon trogs and they did so, beginning with their departure from Fort Battleaxe on their mission to find the priest of Samnos with the Sword of Retribution. They were unable to avoid mentioning the Shadowwar, but they scaled down their account of it, trying to make it sound like a local war that only affected a few small, neighbouring countries. They didn’t want to alarm them with the prospect of thousands of refugees flooding up to Kronos once the existence of life and civilization on the smallest moon became known.