The following fragment represents a transcript of a report by the Great Tree of Ballid forest to the combined councils of Ballid and Erontree forests on the Osentakalta project:
Light and Growth to all.
We have gathered under the great tree in the sight of mother Aldrya to hear of the great project to regrow Flamal. You know me well, I am Lestus Creeping Ivy the Great Tree of our beloved forests. I was here during the eternal summer of the Green Age a nd fought the blight of the great eater when the forces of the taker were ascendant. I rejoiced with our mother when Voria danced the flowers awake and stood with clear eyes to welcome the dawn. But my joy was soon withered as the new summer soon turned to dark and I saw our lives were trapped in an eternal, sterile cycle. I resolved then that we must see a return of the green age and the rebirth of our father Flamal.
To this end I have worked to rejoin the great forest so that all aldryami should be united behind this great goal which represents our only hope for a new age. Through the long seasons I have worked tirelessly while others have slept and stagnated or str iven like weeds to choke the new growth. But slowly and patiently, as the mighty tree grows spreading its beneficent shade to all, has the great scheme begun to flower and the ancient forests of Ballid and Erontree are now as one. Yet there are still fo rests that resist the new growth. Just to the south lies the Tarinwood - this once proud forest lies stagnant and is choked with old and rotten growth - none more so than their leader Roostin Trueheart. To the north lie yet other forests that have yet t o see the light.
It is for this reason that I saw the "world council of friends" as an excellent opportunity to further our goals - the attempt to create a new god could become the rebirth of out father Flamal. If I could gain enough influence then I could ensure the saf ety that we require for our seeds to sprout and grow and clear out the dead wood that has been choking out growth.
Alas my high hopes were soon dashed. Like a self-strangling clump of
weeds the council members wrangled and wasted the seasons in sterile and
pointless debate. The construction of the god was dominated by the forces
of the taker while the forces of life
and light wasted their energy on meaningless squabbling. Much as I
strove to overcome the pitiful whinings about "balance" those who would
sell out to the taker and darkness were too numerous. Their collaboration
ensured that the new god would be a hat eful thing of darkness and stone.
I realised then that the council and the new god would be a hindrance rather than a help to our dream of new growth and resolved to work from within to ensure that the council was weak and divided against itself. To this end I persuaded the forces of ear th and the other aldrayami to vote for me as earth speaker for the inner council - persuading the deluded fools that I would work for balance and the common good. While on the council I managed to remove the prime avatar of the taker, Karawatch Kang, fro m the position of warlord. His replacement, Iron Diamond Voice, is a much less effective and deadly foe. I also gained council help to destroy the zebra riders while withholding effective support for the heirs of Dari in their struggle against the hill barbarians, thus potentially weakening them. Unfortunately the hill barbarians proved hopelessly inept.
While weakening the council from inside I worked at strengthening the forest. The zebra riders were crushed and the heirs of Dari and reptile men put of with meaningless words. The potential threat from the stonemen of Nida was removed by entering into an alliance - all they required was that I should not allow the third eye blue access to the forests. What fools, as if we would allow the death-metal lovers into the living lands? The iron-clad human to the south are no threat and will be compost for t he forest's expansion.
The birth of the new god heralds a new opportunity for us. This so-called god is a creature of stasis and darkness - a new avatar of the taker and thus has no hold over us. There is no doubt that chaos and turmoil will engulf the lands of the council. We should therefore have nothing more to do with the new god and the council is so weak and divided that they will be incapable of withstanding the new growth. The heirs of Dari believe that they have secured our friendship but there is no faith with hu mans. Even now the ground has been prepared for the new forest that will spring up around their feet. The forest will stretch as far as the Tarinwood and we shall be able to prune the deadwood from there as well.
End of Glorantha Digest V1 #128
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