1. Interesting.
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2. With light of this wavelength,
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3. there should be some observable
thermal emanation.
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4. Energy radiates from the stone,
but not in any form I've encountered.
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5. Hmm.
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6. Tests are required.
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7. Amazing.
The energy seems to influence
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8. the mental states of living beings.
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9. Individually, the test subjects appear...
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10. smarter.
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11. They've spontaneously evolved
into a superorganism.
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12. They no longer seem to recognize
unexposed members of their species
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13. as anything other than food.
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14. No.
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15. Father, what a perfectly awful time
for you to be away.
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16. You're so slow!
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17. - I'm gonna get you.
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18. Ha!
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19. - Hey!
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20. - You're it!
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21. What is that?
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22. Race you there.
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23. Can you see it?
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24. By the Dawn Star.
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25. I don't like it.
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26. Hey! Come back!
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27. The damn noise
wakes the entire block.
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28. Surely, His Excellency sees the value...
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29. The copper ingots were counterfeit,
and he was rude to my servant.
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30. He must be punished.
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31. filled with villains and scum.
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32. And I see guards there daily.
The Shoehorn must be cleaned out.
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33. The Imperium must not be sullied
by poor policing.
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34. I will speak
with the captain of the guard.
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35. - Your father would have already—
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36. My father appreciates your concern.
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37. That will be all for today.
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38. Sherzi! Oh, gods, please!
Where is my wife?
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39. Sherzi?
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40. I demand to see her.
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41. Father?
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42. Emperor Zal?
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43. Go away.
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44. It's me.
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45. It's Sherzi. I'm here. Come open the door.
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46. You're all right. I'm here.
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47. Oh, Sherzi. My dear wife.
I've been so worried.
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48. Come sit. Here, you must be hungry.
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49. What troubles you?
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50. Our daughter. She is not prepared.
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51. Mirana is stronger than you know.
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52. There's more to taking the throne
than strength.
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53. Making decisions for which
no one else can muster the courage.
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54. Seeing where others are blind.
Braving the darkness alone.
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55. She will do everything she can
to make you proud.
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56. Every time I look upon her,
I see our failure.
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57. Enter!
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58. Captain.
I hope this is important.
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59. I wouldn't have intruded otherwise, Highness.
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60. Something happened.
An incident in the Hinterlands.
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61. You're needed in the throne room.
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62. Mirana?
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63. Where did your mother go?
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64. Sherzi? Sherzi?
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65. Tell us exactly what you saw.
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66. Monsters.
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67. I barely made it out alive.
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68. You must go. Burn them out.
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69. There's more you're not saying.
Out with it.
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70. It's not just what I saw.
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71. It's what I felt, pushed through my skull.
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72. The world spun, and my soul teetered
on the edge of an abyss.
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73. A red glow to swallow up
all law and reason.
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74. I felt the truth. We are nothing.
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75. So, you had a bad dream.
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76. Pardon her apprehension,
but the claims you make are strange.
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77. You want proof.
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78. The proof is in the blood.
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79. Alert the guard.
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80. I ride to the Hinterlands myself.
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81. - Three days' march for this.
- Easy now.
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82. Where in the Seven Hells is everyone?
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83. Where could they have gone?
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84. It's as though they all left at once
in the night.
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85. Your Highness.
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86. Oh, I was beginning to fear
you would never come.
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87. More trouble with the Coriel'Tauvi?
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88. Mene's Provincial Governor
in the Scintillant Waste
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89. thought that she might collect tribute
from our border regions.
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90. I relayed your father's objections.
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91. I hope you were polite.
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92. Hmm, things became heated.
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93. Do you think the Coriel'Tauvi
are responsible for this?
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94. No.
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95. The Principality of Shadow
is not usually given to such subtlety.
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96. It's the same around the perimeter.
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97. Abandoned property. Empty silence.
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98. Could you see anything from above?
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99. Not through this fog.
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100. So, we're marching blind,
in the middle of the night,
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101. into the arms of an adversary
we cannot identify and do not understand?
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102. Perfect.
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103. Forward then.
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104. By the Dawn Star. What was she?
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105. Hold steady.
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106. Shields! Form ranks!
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107. The villagers.
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108. It's all of them.
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109. They're all...
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110. - Burn it to the ground.
- Done.
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111. Remember.
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112. Give it some room, Highness.
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113. You saw what it did to these people.
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114. Yes. You're wise, of course.
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115. One damned rock did all this.
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116. I'm more disquieted by a question.
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117. What if there are more?
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118. What if this is only the start
of something else?
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119. Something worse?
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120. Princess, I hope the soldiers
I lent the throne served you well.
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121. They did.
My father and the Empire thank you.
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122. Oh, your father.
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123. I have not seen your father in many suns.
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124. The demands on his time and energy
are difficult to overstate.
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125. Hm. And the demands on you, Princess,
what of them?
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126. Spit it out. You want something.
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127. Only the opportunity to serve the throne.
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128. I see how restless you are, Princess.
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129. Name me Regent.
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130. Perhaps I can ease the demands
on you both.
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131. Your kind concern
is always so appreciated, Legatus.
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132. And thank you again for the troops.
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133. Your Highness.
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134. She's more snake than a woman.
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135. Mirana, you have returned.
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136. Father, you seem to be having a good day.
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137. The days are always good
under our unflagging sun.
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138. In the night, though, I must admit,
dark times do visit upon me.
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139. How was your trip?
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140. I encountered something.
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141. Something awful and powerful.
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142. A stone that glowed crimson.
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143. - A stone?
- What is it?
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144. A half-remembered dream or a nightmare
that came to me while you were gone.
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145. I saw a red rock, in a cave...
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146. in the snow.
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147. You were lost in its song.
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148. It was only a dream, Father.
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149. Do not trust me. Do not rely on me.
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150. Even sanity feels like madness now.
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151. Oh.
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152. Don't say that.
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153. Death comes for me. Prepare for it.
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154. When you were born,
the Oracle offered you a gift of prophecy.
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155. He told me I would know when the time
had come for you to collect it.
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156. Find him. Take the stone.
Find your answers.
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157. I don't want to leave you again.
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158. You must.
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159. Just remember,
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160. the Oracle speaks truths
that sound like lies
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161. and lies that conceal the truth.
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162. He foresaw this.
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163. Or perhaps— Or perhaps,
I just imagined it.
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164. Sherzi! There you are. Sing with me.
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165. Of course.
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166. You know that little voice
in your head,
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167. the one that chimes in
when you're trying to decide something?
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168. It always leaves me wondering,
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169. is that the true me or is that the devil
tempting me to error?
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170. You're still thinking
about those monsters in the village.
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171. No, the Oracle.
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172. What if he tells me things
that wouldn't have come true
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173. if he hadn't spoken?
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174. Fate always seemed a noose to me.
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175. Well, there's fate, and there's destiny.
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176. Fate is for cowards and fools.
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177. Destiny is what you make it.
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178. Destiny.
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179. Mirana, daughter of Zal,
Princess of the Sun...
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180. come to say farewell.
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181. You must know why I'm here.
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182. Oh, not even you know why you're here,
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183. because you have not yet arrived.
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184. I don't understand.
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185. Of course not. Not now.
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186. Not yet.
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187. I will make you some tea.
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188. Under the shadow of this red rock,
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189. you will see what blinds you.
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190. Come in, under the shadow.
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191. You will have your answers,
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192. and you will wish
you never sought them at all.
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193. Do I have a choice?
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194. You are free.
You can leave my temple now, as you will.
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195. But we both know,
as much as it feels like a decision,
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196. your path has been set
since the moment you saw the Direstone.
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197. Direstone?
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198. Remember.
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199. I remember.
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200. I'm not me.
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201. Not this me.
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202. Hah. The hiss of fate.
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203. He did this. The Invoker did this.
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204. No. The Pillars of Creation did.
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205. He used them,
collapsing all realities into one.
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206. This one.
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207. He silenced infinite souls.
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208. But your voice,
a god's voice pierced the void.
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209. The Pillars of Creation?
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210. If they made this,
then this can be unmade.
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211. With more difficulty than you know.
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212. I'm afraid your divinity has fled you.
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213. What power you have
is granted by your father and destiny.
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214. Your Radiance, the prophecy you came for,
I would speak it.
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215. Thank you, no.
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216. I've heard your prophecies before.
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217. The Devil of the Moon
would turn Selemene's lotuses against her,
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218. heralding the return of Mene
and the destruction of all things.
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219. That came true, it seems.
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220. Yes, it came true.
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221. But tell me, was it fate,
or was it destiny?
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222. You'll forgive me
if I leave that question to you.
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223. You will travel into darkness,
and save what you love
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224. by allowing what you've loved to die.
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225. Restoration requires destruction,
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226. Princess of the Sun, Princess of the Moon,
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227. Princess of nothing at all.
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228. Marci?
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229. Oh, gods, Marci.
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230. Let me look at you.
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231. The Oracle
said something obnoxious.
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232. I would have separated him
from his tongue long ago.
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233. But the bastard always saw me coming.
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234. He was... obscure.
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235. And why do you look like
you just came from a funeral?
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236. It's nothing.
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237. It seems more than nothing.
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238. Have you ever had a dream
where someone you love wronged you?
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239. You know they did nothing,
yet, the sting remains.
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240. I wronged you in a dream.
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241. You were wronged more gravely.
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242. My father, he is not well.
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243. I know you will care for him
and care for the people.
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244. Princess?
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245. I will not be returning
to The Imperium.
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246. Where you go, we follow.
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247. Where I go now, the guard, their captain,
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248. and The Slayer would be noticed,
and quite unwelcome.
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249. You're headed into Shadowlands.
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250. I won't leave you unescorted
to the tender mercies of the elves.
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251. You can, and you will.
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252. Please, stay by my father's side,
both of you.
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253. Do not trust Tihomir,
and do not trust my uncle.
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254. You're not making any sense.
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255. Trust I am trying to set things right.
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256. Lina.
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257. You worry you are capable
only of destruction.
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258. I know better.
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259. I'm not from this world.
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260. I'm not the Mirana you grew up with,
and loved, and served so selflessly.
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261. And you're not my Marci,
but I watched you...
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262. watched her...
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263. Gods, it's...
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264. The Mirana you knew
thought there was no greater pain
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265. than looking into her father's eyes
and seeing a stranger.
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266. But in the other world,
the one I come from,
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267. Father was right. I failed.
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268. I lost you. I lost— I lost everything.
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269. There are two paths before me.
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270. Down the first,
righting a wrong so perverse,
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271. I can't even comprehend it completely.
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272. Down the other, this life.
This stranger's life.
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273. I feel trapped in someone else's dream.
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274. Where is it?
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275. It's gone.
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276. Well, how could it be gone?
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277. There's only one moon.
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278. The threat is unprecedented.
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279. The stones have fallen all over the world,
even here in the Nightsilver Woods.
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280. Where they land, chaos follows.
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281. And where are they falling from?
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282. The moon, Highness.
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283. Our moon is crumbling
and raining this down upon our heads.
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284. The moon.
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285. Then they are gifts from Mene.
This must be her will.
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286. If they are gifts,
they are strange and troubling gifts.
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287. N— Not every creature, so exposed,
is reduced to a gibbering cannibal.
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288. A few, a very few, seem able to resist
the worst of the effects
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289. and are visibly... empowered instead.
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290. Just a handful of such beings
could pose a threat to the Dark Moon Order
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291. and our Lady's ability
to maintain peace across her dominion.
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292. The Helio Imperium
and Zal's Praetorian Guard
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293. have already been troublesome.
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294. You're saying that those troubles
would grow?
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295. Perhaps exponentially, Highness.
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296. I would request an audience with our Lady.
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297. If she has some intent,
I would like to divine it.
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298. Impossible.
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299. Forgive my daughter.
She isn't usually given to overreaction.
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300. Disturbing the goddess
is quite unnecessary.
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301. The stones can be collected,
their effects contained.
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302. I will personally see to it.
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303. Overreaction?
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304. These stones may be a conduit
for an entity
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305. whose power could surpass any of the gods.
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306. Quite a conclusion.
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307. I don't imagine you shared it
with The Althing.
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308. Of course, I didn't.
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309. Something like that? They're not prepared.
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310. Correct.
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311. What are you...
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312. Some mysteries
are better left as mysteries.
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313. That applies to them, not me.
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314. Filomena, for once,
when I tell you something, listen.
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315. I always listen.
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316. Listen and obey.
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317. This is dangerous. This is death.
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318. Leave this problem to me.
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319. Trust that I know best.
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320. Fine.
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321. I am proud of you.
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322. You're all that matters to me.
Trust that, too.
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323. You're wrong, Father. I listen.
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324. It's the obey part
I've never been very good at.
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325. He said, "Tonight, we dine!
Tonight, we drink!
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326. The village is saved!"
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327. - To Bram!
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328. I'll return with fresh cups for everyone.
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329. Barkeep, another round.
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330. It's good to see
some things haven't changed.
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331. Sorry. What hasn't changed?
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332. Your love of jumping in front of lines
at bars, Davion.
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333. Of course. It's you.
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334. Took me a second in this dim light.
Um, let me get you a drink.
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335. Your favorite is... something strong.
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336. Whiskey, right?
We had a wild night after—
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337. I'm not one
of your nameless conquests.
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338. They all have names, lovely.
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339. But I'm in my cups, and my memory
just isn't what it was when...
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340. Yeah, I'm not here
to share a drink or your bed.
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341. I have a need of a Dragon Knight.
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342. I have need of you.
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343. This wyrmling you've slain.
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344. I'm hunting something bigger.
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345. - The Crimson Devil.
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346. The Father of Fire.
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347. I'm hunting Slyrak.
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