Arin
The First Division[edit]
To keep your friends close and your enemies closer is a tired cliché, and, honestly, one with little truth. Since I was scoured clean by the Unconquered Sun I have learned that in order to see our work done I must be equally as suspicious, if not more so, of those who would call my circle friends as I am of those who are obviously our enemies.
Arin seems like the perfect friend. He is bold, skilled, courageous, and willing to swear any oath of loyalty we ask, but still, he is Raksha. His people have again and again formed up out of the Wyld places in an attempt to bring Creation back to the chaos from which it was formed. For every romantic tale of a misunderstood fair one that learns to find a place among mortals, a hundred desolate villages show the truth of their glass blades and soul-drinking eyes. At best, they are rabid dogs that have learned to wear clothes and walk on their hindquarters, but their eyes still rage and their mouths still foam, and if you leave your children alone in the room with them, you are a fool.
Nonetheless, the subject of Arin divided us, and even when our quorum chose to send him away, Storm of Amber did so by giving him a mission to perform, rather than simply expunging him from our midst. He was too focused on the ideals of the Marukan to end the problem with a proper show of leadership; I was too deferential to his wishes to end the problem with an iron dagger in the night. We both have weaknesses to correct.
