Good tides greet you. I'm
Elan, compiler of this ambitious cultural reference work. Although this project takes up the bulk of my time, my primary goal is still to document the present and past Water Seekers. To that end I'm stepping aside briefly to address a few of the many rumors about Water Seekers that have been spreading around the Cluster Islands.
The Water Seekers are going to take over the Eihlarian courts.
I'll start with this one, even though it won't make sense to other islanders, because this particular rumor is what convinced me of the need to bring the truth about Water Seekers into the open. Before he became
Dancinglight my
uncle Nkeba Rruend was a judge on Eihlari, and he heard this a few times from jurors--and worse, they seemed to be glad about it. I certainly understand that being part of a jury isn't very exciting, and can feel a lot like "pressing an ear into another clan's chatter". Also, it's been fifty-five years since we were last
visited by the old
Water Seekers, so it's no wonder that we're beginning to forget what we owe them.
Yes, the old Water Seekers created our courts. Before they did, disputes regularly escalated into blood feuds. And yes, in the beginning the Seekers stood as judges. Who else could, before we learned how to handle the procecedings ourselves? But they designed the system specifically so that we would be able to step into those roles as we learned, and we have run our own courts for just over a full
thousand years. After all that time, it would make no sense for the Water Seekers to once again step in.
The other question that no one seems to be asking is when would they do this, and why? Water Seekers come to the Eddy to enjoy quiet contemplation. From what I've seen here, it's hard enough already for the Seekers in residence find time to meditate. Taking over court roles--for which they
have not trained--is not on any Seeker's list of things to do. And again, remember that half-century gap? There are no Seekers left alive who made those last visits to Eihlari. In the time that we've forgotten about them...they've also forgotten about us.
In short:
- The good news is there will be not be another Water Seeker intervention in Eihlarian justice.
- The bad news is that it's almost more that they don't care than that they don't see the need.
The Water Seekers will start coming to our rescue again!
The reason that the Water Seekers undertook the intervention on Eihlari in the first place was to end the violence of the feuds. Time and again, since before the beginning of the
Volcanic Era, Water Seekers have been known for appearing as if from nowhere on scenes of human suffering. From rescuing drowning refugees during the atoll evacuations to interrupting the
Twilight Chaos, they have appeared so often that islanders came to expect them in the aftermath of any kind of disaster.
Then
disaster struck the Seekers themselves, and we were left to take care of ourselves. We did, admirably, and in fact the first such efforts predate the end of the
Old Eddy.
Walemin, for all her errors as
Uniter, organized the first emergency transport fleet. After she died,
Salibret funded her own fleet to continue the same humanitarian work, and even
Delu and her
Dissolvers saved many lives after the triggered eruptions of the early 2000s. But rescue work is hard and dangerous, and we think of Water Seekers as being so much more powerful than ourselves. It's tempting to believe that the revival of the Eddy means a return to the days when Seekers were always ready to save us.
The truth is not as pretty as what we want to believe. Recall that the Eddy is a place for Water Seekers to enjoy being a part of the ocean. That is impossible when sensations of fear and pain are transmitted through water. Seekers intervened not out of compassion, but out of a desire to restore interrupted peace. They don't WANT to keep coming to the islands. Another consideration is that the Water Seekers simply do not exist in the numbers that they used to. If a team of Seekers had to leave Eddy's Island for every crisis, there would be no one here. Sage
Varenonde, when she first accepted the role of Dancinglight, donated the remnant of Salibret's fleet to the
Allied Isles with the condition that the islands maintain their own
rescue organization.
In short:
- The good news is that we are better equipped than the Water Seekers are to organize aid wherever in the islands it is needed.
- That's also the bad news.
Kezlaf is still alive and planning to use the Water Seekers to recreate the Unity.
Sage Varen is keeping Istlourn alive to turn the Water Seekers into the Wringers.
It may be too much to hope that anything I say can have an effect in quieting these particular types of rumors. It's been thirty years since
the Unity was
dissolved, but memory of the brutality of
Kezlaf and his
Wringers is still strong. Speaking honestly, it's an understandable concern, since it's common knowledge that some of the Water Seekers were once Wringers themselves. That does include Wringer One--
Istlourn--who is only too aware of his reputation among the Cluster Islands.
The surprising fact that few will believe is that not only is Istlourn
not teaching any of the skills associated with the Wringers, he is author of the oath that protos must take in order to be acknowledged as Water Seekers. They must swear before the assembled
Sages that they will never interfere with another person's control of their own
aura. That is what makes the difference between a Wringer and a Water Seeker: the limits of what Seekers are permitted to do.
But there's the old saying "easier to say is harder to prove". I have a close relationship with my uncle, who happens to be Dancinglight, and my statements on the matter could be dismissed as showing family favoritism. Even if I believe I'm reporting objective truth, some would say the Water Seekers could be lying to me about their intentions. Or the Wringers could be making me say these things. And there will always be people who will never waver in what they think, no matter how much proof to the contrary they're given. Still, I have to believe that my efforts will have enough of a positive effect to make it worth trying.
In short:
- The good news is that the Water Seekers are actively opposed to the kind of work that Kezlaf did through his Wringers.
- The bad news is that, as a biased source, no one has any reason to believe me when I say that.
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