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Now, it cao in the Domain of the North that a half-mad hermit had a vision of that which would one day beco children whose dreah, for the dreams could command, and Mother Sea and Father Earth could not disobey the commands of the Dreamers

And most men of the Land of Dhrall scoffed at the vision of the herods of East and West, North and South, scoffed not, for the hermit’s vision resounded deep within their souls, and they knew it to be true And troubled were the true gods of the Land of Dhrall, for they knew in their hearts that the arrival of the Drea thereafter would ever be the saain

And the eons, as eons ods grew older, and the cycle of their ascendancy neared its conclusion

And it is here that our story begins

THE ISLE OF THURN

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Zelana of the West had groeary of the brutish man-creatures of her Domain She found them repulsive, and their endless complaints and demands irritated her beyond measure They seemed to believe that she lived only to serve them, and that offended her

And so it was that she turned her back on them and sojourned for several eons on the Isle of Thurn, which lies off the coast of her Domain And there she copoetry

Now, the waters around the Isle of Thurn are the home of a rare breed of pink dolphins, and Zelana found theent, and in time she came to look upon them not as pets but rather as dear companions She soon learned to understand--and to speak--their language, and they gave her much information about Mother Sea and theher shores Then by way of reco for them The dolphins came to enjoy Zelana’s impromptu concerts, and they invited her to sith them

They were much perplexed by a few of Zelana’s peculiarities after she joined them So far as they could determine, she never slept, and she could remain under the surface of Mother Sea almost indefinitely It also seemed odd to them that she showed no interest in the schools of fish which swam in the waters around the Isle Zelana tried to explain to her friends that sleep and air and food were not necessary for her Her periods of sleep and wakefulness were er than theirs, and she could extract the essential eleht rather than fish or grass, but the dolphins could not quite grasp her explanation

Zelana decided that it ht be best to just let it lie

The man-creatures of the Land of Dhrall knew full well just who--and what--Zelana was She held dominion over the West, but there were others in her family as well Her elder brother Dahlaine held sway over the North, and he was grier and sometimes frivolous brother Veltan controlled the South--when he was not exploring thethe color blue--and her prim and proper elder sister Aracia ruled the East as both queen and goddess

The ages continued their statelyto her Then on a clear day her dearest friend, a matronly pink dolphin named Meeleaed on the face of Mother Sea playing her newestyouvoice

"Oh?" Zelana said, setting her flute aside in the emptiness just over her shoulder where she kept all her possessions