One elderly man replied gently, his voice weighted with recollections of previous triumphs and sorrows: "Your path into the Crescent Grove has transformed you. "The mark you carry today is a connection to our ancient history, a bond rather than just a sign of authority. And with that relationship also comes a duty to face the shadows of our past.
I nodded, getting the sting of reality in his words. "I have seen the betrayals almost certain to wipe us, the sacrifices made by our predecessors. I personally know the expense of electricity. And I worry that our adversaries are not just outside. Our own ranks contain a poison—a corruption that can separate us from one another on the inside.
