"Oh, no, Sir! But the view is breathtaking! Look! There are birds down there in the orchards . . . and us up here! And those odd-looking sailing ships, over there on the river, to the south! The ones with the oars and the bright sails! And those farms laying in the valley behind us to the west, with that ribbon of road winding through them . . . why, some of them must be miles away! And that sparkling glimpse of the ocean, east through the Valley of Baruk and beyond . . . south from there lies my home! From here, it does not seem so far away!"

"The Tower does made the world seem a smaller place," Baldric agreed thoughtfully. "Perhaps, for this reason, it is Fated that you and I should be reminded of the fact while standing upon its summit."

He sighed, and ostensibly turned his attention back towards the east. Without preamble, he said, as though explaining himself, "You know, our ignorance of the east is something that dates back our earliest folklore.

"I tend to think of ignorance itself as a form of blindness, a groping about in the dark for something solid to hang on to.

"That said, when one is left groping about in that dark, one may feel different things for different reasons. One may feel simple frustration for an inconvenience caused by one's own ignorance, or one may feel anger, revulsion, terror, horror, or any number of emotions, depending upon the circumstances.




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