But there will always be the voice in the crowd who stands up to label the outsider as a threat, a scourge to be guarded against. If these voices are legion, the queens of these colonies will order walls to be built, and any sailors of clouds who arrive shall be turned away. And as the colony turns inward upon itself to wither in ignorance and fear, realize your folly, Wise Queen, and repent. Return again to walk the path of righteousness under the guidance of the Great Tree.
—Selected passages from The Book of the Origin by Bella Aurelius Nobilis, Modern Language Translation
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“How did she come to you?” Queen An Ming asked, as she and Lina paused their stroll to stand, still hand in hand, beside the thick trunk of the colony’s Great Tree. Lina was wearing a long white robe, a gif
