The Mercy of Gods

Ekur says that “he” wasn’t special and had no “particular philosophy that opened the doors of reality” (301). The only thing that made him stand out was the hatred others eventually felt for him.

The two human groups talk. Jellit’s group includes Llaren Morse, an older man named Allstin, and three women named Merrol, Dennia, and Kell. They have already located many other human groups. After an evening of conversation, the two groups return to their rooms to sleep. Tonner and Rickar go with the new group, while Llaren and Jellit stay with Jessyn’s team to visit longer. Late in the evening, Jessyn walks from her room to the kitchen. She sees Llaren standing in the doorway of Synnia’s room, the two talking in hushed voices. Jessyn worries about what this might mean.

Dafyd and Else walk to the cathedral room. He wonders aloud if they could have saved themselves time and heartache if they had thought to simply ask Tkson for a translator box instead of waiting for one to fall into their hands. Now that they have one, however, they can start questioning the other alien groups.

They speak to species like the bone horses, called the Phylarchs of Astrdeim, who explain that the Carryx took over their society long ago.