"Fancher, Jane - Rings 1 - Ring Of Lightning" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fancher Jane S)

humble scholar, sufficient inducement for Rhomatum Val-
ley's former inhabitants to have taken their leave. . . .
... Of Mauritum itself, we have little solid evidence to
support or defy Darius' unquestionably biased account; the
reports of mutual trade interests, however, substantiate his
contentions of massive overpopulation within the island
cities, as well as the enormous sociopolitical power he attri-
butes to the Maurii priesthood.
Granted these two 'facts,' Darius' demand that the main-
land satellite nodes swear fealty to Rhomatum alone or be
cut out of the web was destined to create antipathy between
Darius' Rhomatum and ancient Mauritum.
According to Darius, there were actual armed assaults on
Rhomatum in those early days; however, considering Mauri-
tum's limited martial resourcesby that time the world be-
yond considered them invincible, and they hadn't mounted
an wmy in generationsand considering also the fact that
by the time such assaults could have taken place Darius'
original small band had grown to thousands, Darius' color-
ful depiction of Maurii soldiers breaching the outer walls of
Rhomatum and threatening the Tower itself might well be
all color and little substance.
A created cultural paranoia, if you will.
Then again, the accounts might be word for word, event
by event, accurate. One simply cannot know. . . .
. . . and lacking a contemporary outside perspective, recon-
ciliation of [Darius'] acts with his espoused goals and beliefs
is virtually impossible.
What appears indisputable to this scholar is that two great
powers have been poised in equilibrium for three centuries:
one structured ostensibly around the will of great and power-
ful gods, the other (also ostensibly) around human free will.
That the god Maurii lusts after additional followers is a
virtual givensuch is the way of gods. What Darius in-
tended, what goals Darius has passed on to his descendants,
is far less certain to those of us who live outside the Tower.
For three hundred years, these two powerful, isolate enti-
ties have stood side by side, looking carefully past one an-
other, their peaceful coexistence based upon their own
invincibility upon their own soil. If, however, each of these
aloof giants in fact desires the other's power, when that bal-
ance shifts, as some day it must, they will be forced to look
upon one another in truth, without a god'sany god's,
Maurii's or Darius'intervention. ...
Prelude

High in the atmosphere above Mount Khoratum, moisture-
laden froth boils higher, deeper. Denied escape, caught be-
tween the freezing air above and the shifting energies below,
particles roil in ever-increasing ferocity, swirling on fierce,