In the shelter of the old shrine, three travelers huddle around a meagerly burning camp fire set upon the broken flagstones of the church's floor and surrounded by broken statuary and columns. Through the open windows – which have long before been cleared of whatever glass or other material once filled them – gray clouds can be seen, and only an occasional peek at the stars and the glittering, cloudy expanse of the Procession.

Autumn-Storm, the golden-furred Savanite, seems quite the outsider right now, not only by appearance, but by the fact that she's very much out of this conversation; although Alptraum could potentially translate for her, she ventures no questions to ask of this strange Eeee – so like Alptraum, if attired so differently – and leaves all of the conversation for Alptraum to ask questions, and Nekara to answer them.

"So, how long have you been looking for me?" is the latest question Alptraum blurts out.

Nekara sits with her back to an overturned column, delicately picking the meat off of a small bird acquired during the day's hunting. "Not so long," she says. "The High Priestess received a vision of Our Mother, and was instructed to send someone to this land to retrieve you – that now is the time for you to return home. I was sent out immediately, and came here before the snows set in. My hunting skills do not compare to yours, but I am used to subsisting off of very little – and the blessings granted me by Sunala allow me to survive off of even less than that."

Alptraum frowns. "You called her 'our mother'. You said you were my sister. What exactly do you mean? What is the 'family' like?"

Nekara smiles. "You will have to forgive me. I try to be consistent when translating between my tongue and yours, but our words that we use for 'priest' or 'priestess' have somewhat different connotations. I am a Yodhsunala – literally, a 'daughter of Sunala'. 'Sunala' in our language means, literally, 'Death', though there are many subtleinflections in the Babelite tongue that may be hard for beginners to the language to pick up. There is death, and there is Death. There are daughters, and there are Daughters. One's heritage is very important in our culture, and terms of family are used as titles of honor – even when the relationships are symbolic or spiritual rather than by blood.

"Am I your twin sister, then, birthed and nursed by the same mother? No, I am not," Nekara continues, "but that does not mean that I am some stranger. We are your family, Alptraum."

"Who was my real mother then? Or my father?" Alptraum asks.

Nekara opens her mouth to speak, then closes it again, pausing in thought, then at last says, "I … do not think I can easily answer that question just yet. That would be for my superiors. They can explain everything. Yours was a very special birth – and that fact put you in great danger, which is why you were taken away by some of the Yodhsunala, and given over to a kindly couple to look after you, to see you grow into a young man. I cannot tell you much just now, for there is too much you do not yet understand … but I can tell you that your mother is dead, and I am sorry if that disappoints you."

Alptraum does not look satisfied with this, but he has many questions to ask yet, and the surreal nature of this encounter makes it hard for the implications of all the answers to sink in just yet. "So, you want to bring me back to Babel, then. Can you tell me more about it and yourself? … and maybe how I'm going to be accepted … seeing that I'm a … 'Bardiphath'." He frowns here, Nekara's reaction to the revelation very fresh in his mind.

Nekara nods, but seems not inclined to address the last part of Alptraum's query just yet, as she begins speaking: "Babel is a great city, the center of life and spirit for Eeee the world over. It is cupped within a valley formed by a ridge of seven mountains of the Golan Range dedicated to the Seven Sisters, and an eighth mountain dedicated to the heroic visitor, Dronnel. It is unlike any village you would have seen here. Over millenia, the Eeee have built towers upon towers, making new buildings that use the old as their foundations, a forest of brick and stone that rises toward the sky, spanned by countless bridges and buttresses, and dotted with tombs and shrines to our ancestors and deities."

"The greatest structure of all is the Great Tower, which is never finished, forever being built onto, rising higher with each generation, to the point that even now it rises from the city like a ninth mountain, rivaling the height of the others," Nekara adds, then frowns. "It was a symbol of power of our immortal ruler, the Sabaoth, a king and high priest of our people, who united us all under a common cause. It was said that the Tower represented the struggle of mortals to reach the place of the gods, and that when it finally reached a height to exceed that of the mountains, on that day, a great change would come. Some said that the Sabaoth would ascend, to become a true deity – a blasphemy, perhaps, but it matters not anymore, for he is dead now, slain during the turmoil that has beset our city, cast it down from its place of prominence in Sinai."

Nekara turns to look at Alptraum. "The world is dominated from on high by the sky island of Rephidim. So strong is its reach that even in a place such as Sylvania, the natives are expected to know Rephidim's tongue. The nations of the surface, though greater in population, have never held the power of technology in such abundance as is to be found in Rephidim. Such is the importance of technology in Rephidim that it is their religion – they worship their technology almost as much as they worship their ancestors."

"Of the surface nations, the two greatest empires were that of the Nagai – the cold-blooded reptile people of the blistering southern continent of Savan," Nekara says, even as Autumn-Storm looks up momentarily, " – and the Ashdod Territories, governed from the glittering city of Babel. But Babel glitters no more. Rephidim dropped a terrible weapon known as the 'boomer' on the heart of our city. The old palace was torn away, along with the houses of many of our great noble families and countless others dead … and we are left with this great wound even today. We lament from the oppression of Rephidim. The Nagai Empire has been torn apart, and we have been pierced through the heart. And so it is, in our hour of greatest need, that the Sisters have come again to us."

"Countless Eeee have been granted visions of the realms of the Sisters, and the Yodh have been granted more generously the use of miracles in Their names," Nekara says, sounding more excited. "A vision helped guide me here to this forgotten shrine to find you. Even here, so far from Babel, I see that the Sisters have not been forgotten … even if they are termed 'angels' instead of goddesses. The Seven are coming to the defense of Babel, and its rightful place on Sinai. I do not know your purpose in this, but I am certain that you are being called now because Babel needs you now than ever before … and Sunala will reveal in due time just what your true purpose will be."

And then, Nekara stops herself, for as she talks of Alptraum's true purpose, Alptraum can almost see a hint in her face that she's thinking again of his status as a "Bardiphath". "Oh. Yes. You did ask about me, now didn't you? Well, I am a Yodhsunala, as I told you before. I was chosen to seek you out because, even though I am young, I am one of the very few to be granted the ability to work miracles in Sunala's name. Sunala has power over death, since She is Death. And so, all Yodhsunala are trained in the arts of dealing out death or holding it back – they are trained in the arts of killing, and the arts of healing, as best it may suit the purpose of Sunala."

"In ages past, the legends speak of Yodhsunala so blessed that they have had the power to strike men dead with a word, to banish entire hosts of restless spirits, or even to raise the dead to true, breathing, uncorrupted life. My powers are not so grand," Nekara explains. "I can do such things as to slow my breath and enter a restful state in which it may seem that I am dead, though in fact I am still alive and aware. It is a useful skill, for in this state of rest, my body does not require so much food, and the restless dead are not so likely to notice me – and in this land, I have learned that such affronts to Sunala's supremacy present a far more real danger thanmight ever be in Babel. This is why you could not hear me, for I was in hiding, and sought to verify just who you might be, before I revealed myself."

"Who I might be… ," Alptraum echoes, his unanswered question about the "Bardiphath" still weighing upon him. "So … who am I?"

Nekara smiles. "You are a miracle. I do not understand just what sort … but I believe that you may have some gift that will help our people. Perhaps you have powers you do not even know of. Maybe you will be granted a place of honor within Sunala's temple. Perhaps you will find a place within the court of High Princess Saraizadze. But none of that is for me to say, and it would be pointless for me to guess."

Nekara then sighs. "I do not know what to make of your status as Bardiphath. I am not as learned in omens as those above me. Perhaps it fulfils some ancient prophesy. Perhaps it will bring grief. Perhaps it would be wise to be careful about mentioning this fact casually to the wrong people. It still does nothing to change the fact of who you are."

The gypsy Eeee lets out a soft breath and nods, unsure of just how to take everything in that he's just heard. He shifts uneasily and looks at the priestess. Finally, he speaks. "Nekara. I'd like to tell you about a few things that has happened to me. I'd like to know if this is common for members of our … family. If any of it makes sense to you, could you please try and explain it to me? I'm at a loss to understand it."

"I shall do my best," Nekara promises, then falls silent to listen.

Alptraum begins re-telling the story of his trip and the encounters he's had. First comes the tale of the spirit of the Sheriff's wife and how he spoke with her at her deathbed. Second, he tells about meeting the little Eeee, the one with tattered wings and silver eyes, much like his own. He tells about fighting through the wraiths and what the little girl said after that. He then moves to the night they spent at that inn, and how the little girl appeared outside the dream and that she was protecting him from the spell that ensnared the others. He almost speaks of his attempt to help Autumn-Storm and the failure that came from it, but closes his mouth and decides that is something private, to spare his Savanite friend further pain. "So, does any of that make sense? Do you know who that little Eeee was?" he asks.

Nekara's expression has been unreadable through all of this, so focused she seems on Alptraum's every word. She does not question him, she does not ask him to clarify any points, she only seems intent upon absorbing that which he deems important enough to tell in his own words … until now. "Sense?" she repeats. "Mysteries such as this may well have many meanings to give, but I do not doubt your veracity, if that is what you are asking. You saw the Sea of Souls, and the realm of Sunala. You did that which should be the role of a Srinala – to act as an intermediary between the living and the dead – and as for the acolyte you saw … I do not know who she might be. I might wonder that someone else has been sent to find you – but surely not a child, and not an acolyte would be sent on such a mission, and would not have the power to appear to you within a vision of Sunala's realm. I can only suppose that she might be the ghost of a young Yodhsunala who was favored by our Lady, and assigned to protect you before I could find you."

Nekara sees the questioning look in Alptraum's eyes when she mentions the "Srinala". She takes a breath, then says, "A Srinala is very special to our faith. Sometimes, a stillborn Eeee infant is given a special role by Sunala, rather than being allowed to die. Such an infant emerges with the likeness of Sunala, but is unable to move, and is forever asleep, suspended between life and death. Such a child grows to be an intermediary between the living and the dead, and the faithful will build a shrine to house such a Srinala, where the child is cared for, since she cannot care for herself. The faithful may come to visit the Srinala, and a Yodhsunala will be assigned to her, to pray to Sunala to send the Srinala's spirit to fetch a departed one from the Sea of Souls to speak with the living for but a moment. The Srinala's body becomes a vessel for the spirit, to speak to the living. In this way, the faithful may bid farewell to loved ones, or receive a last message from the departed. That is what I was referring to."

Alptraum nods, trying but failing to hide the fact that he's disturbed by this strange aspect of the worship of Sunala. He nonetheless suggests, "It would help me to learn the language of Babel. Maybe you could teach me … and in exchange, I could teach you a bit of Sylvanian, and a something of the culture here, to help you get by."

Nekara smiles. "I would like that. It would be irresponsible of me to ferry you back to Babel, after all, without preparing you. In fact, we could begin even now… "