The marble rooftop guarded was adorned with a sand garden. Floating above the sand garden was a small man of asian descent wearing a simple white robe. His head was bald, and six marks adorned his forehead. Across from him sat Sira, Brother of the Heart, who looked up at the floating monk with awe.
Sira pressed his head against the cold marble, “Brother of the Mind, the Native question grows like a weight on my mind. When I stood before the Valley of Vegalia Comission last year saying we should grant the feral populations protected status and extend this zone of reservation over the entire Goblin Lands, I never could have planned this. Instead of protecting their native cousins who were living alongside nature, many Olgog tribes killed them, and many that didn’t kill them drove them out to starve.”
“Humans have done much the same to their traditional communities,” said the Brother of the Mind serenly as he shifted the sand, levitating one grain at a time.
“The Tribe of Ka Rhug has argued it is the right thing for them to do,” corrected Sira, “Their words echo with the pride before the fall. Hate will spawn hate. Their hate of us is breathtaking. We did nothing but support them.”
“Other Earthers have done great evils to them,” agreed the Brother of the Mind, “They simply bite out of fear.”
“Their fear is great and growing,” said Sira, “This United tribes of Refuge is already oppressing many in their territory to their own way of life. If the Ka Rhug tribe gained more power, we might soon see our own people forced to bow down to their Kalok or die in fire.”
“Kalok will be born, Sira, there is nothing we can do about that,” the Brother said serenely, “Just as the Dragon of Unity was born. Great Evils brought about by the actions and beliefs of the many are not for the Ascended to change with violence. That path leads to the Ancient Evils.”
“Then what options do we have,” said Sira, “The VofV Comission is already demanding a full revoking of rights and protections.”
“If you allow that to occur, the attacks will be full scale, and the Colony of Dunesphere will know no mercy,” said the Brother of the Mind with a moment of remorse, “But it will be your choices and their choices that decide their fate.”
“They have already made their choices,” said Sira, “They will not turn over the criminals responsible, and they will not guarantee the rights of the Ferals to live their own natural way. The UtR as a whole will continue trying to change the ferals way of life, and wish to stand as a unit for the crimes of their members.”
“What is the punishment according to VofV Comission law?” asked the Brother of the Mind knowing full well what the answer was, but forcing Sira to say it out loud.
“Any Earther found to performing xenos cleansing of a protected species…it is death, Brother,” said Sira.
“The Colonies of the VofV have survived this long by keeping our people unaware of the full extent of the power that this planet gives its people,” said the Brother of the Mind, “As long as that careful balance is maintained we can keep the peace.”
“The newsnets have been showing portions of the debate,” said Sira.
“Who allowed a translated version of that video out of our offices?” asked the Brother of Mind in deep concern.
“It was a member of the VofV Commission. Commissioner Xenwai of the Hovertrain project seems to have grown passionate about the natives rights. When he heard the Commission began discussing sending in Veskan Robots in to collect Tribal leaders, he released the recordings,” said Sira.
“The colonists are not disturbed by the Natives?” asked the Brother with deep interest.
“So far no, Brother…but then again they haven’t seen the actual footage of the atrocities,” said Sira.
“Make sure they never do. If they saw the fires of Kalok, they would not so easily support the natives rights,” said the Brother of the Mind.
The breeze blew around them, and the Brother of the Mind looked up. Explosions rocked the streets below. The Valley of Vegalia skyline was only two and three story buildings except for the Monestaries of the Brotherhood and the Government Buildings. They watched as explosion after explosion blossomed on the skyline. Screams filled the air.
Then a giant worm with stony skin suddenly materialized in the center of the valley. Its massive form burrowed into the grown, ripping up the city streets.
Still as custom demanded without acknowledgement from the Brother of the Mind, Sira could not raise his head up to look. He never saw the Brother of the Mind banish the Stone worm with a simple wave of his hand.
Finally Sira asked, “Brother, what goes on?”
“An attack, bombs, artificed explosives, they even summoned alien beasts to attack us,” said the Brother of the Mind, floating back above the sand garden.
“Raise your head, brother,” said the Brother of the Mind, “Look upon this sand and see what has been wrought.”
Sira raised his face up to see the sand before him was arrayed in a strange shape. At first he thought it a symbol but could not place it. Then he realized it was a masque with an eye-less gaze.
“The Caged Eyes of Warmonger are on us all. The Enemy of the Great Wheel seeks to upend reality,” said the Brother of the Mind, “This attack will be traced back to the Olgogs, for it was Olgogs who did it. They make their homes across the UtR and others in the native lands but are not part of their government.”