“In fact, they're right. Their lands are the first to succumb to the desert, which is encroaching upon the ecopreserves slowly and relentlessly. Without the means to stop it, we grasp for straws, one of which happens to be this Islamic faith. It promises that chimerical panacea, the nostrum to cure all societal ills, dangling the blandishment of paradise in the afterlife in front of its followers. But this straw that we grasp for is as susceptible to the lichen curse as any carboniferous lifeform.
“We are losing our battle against the lichen, Casper.
“And my task as Protector is to preserve our unity, and if that means that I must order Jay's execution, then that is what I'll do. In these circumstances, if I were to act any less decisively, the provinces would revolt, our unity would cru
