Imrien's Clan

On a distant edge of the Gladeveins is a small mangrove swamp over which the skies are always grey and rain is always falling. At the heart of this swamp can be found a lair of dragons unified in their devotion to the study and celebration of Nature -- that is, the substance and arrangement of the universe. To these dragons, there is no distinction between spiritual, mathematical , and scientific discovery. These practices are unified into a single cosmology. The adept among them are known as the Teachers, and the others are known as the Listeners.

Rarely does the clan receive visitors. They have no ingrained fear of outsiders, but they are often brusque and impatient with those who do not share their devotion to Nature. Furthermore, the dragons of the clan maintain strict dietary practices. They are scavengers, who feed primarily on plants, and scraps of insects, fish, and animals who have already been killed by predators or the elements. Furthermore, any plant which is medicinally potent is collected, processed into medicine, and stored. Thus, the dragons live a life of hardship, often going hungry for long periods of time rather than compromising their values or devotion to Nature.

Genesis
Part I: The Rain Isle
Part II: Exodus (Coming soon)




“You want to work spells,” Ogion said presently, striding along. “You’ve drawn too much water from that well. Wait. Manhood is patience. Mastery is nine times patience. What is that herb by the path?”

“Strawflower.”

“And that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Fourfoil, they call it.” Ogion had halted, the coppershod foot of his staff near the little weed, so Ged looked closely at the plant, and plucked a dry seedpod from it, and finally asked, since Ogion said nothing more, “What is its use, Master?”

“None I know of.”

Ged kept the seedpod a while as they went on, then tossed it away.

“When you know the fourfoil in all its seasons root and leaf and flower, by sight and scent and seed, then you may learn its true name, knowing its being: which is more than its use. What, after all, is the use of you? or of myself? Is Gont Mountain useful, or the Open Sea?”

From A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin