The White One, having delivered their blessing, or curse, or whatever it was, rose to their feet with the practiced grace of a ballerina. They held their arms high, spreading their fingers, waiting for all present to lend their attention.

"The strangers will journey within The World," they proclaimed, and their voice had deepened to a basso and resounded throughout the palace. "They seek the Nightmare and his kin. This is more danger than any should encounter, so no others will impede them. These are under my caveat, that so long as they travel honorably, no entity of The World should molest them. Who has heard?"

The response hesitated, then came as a positive grumbling, a nodding of heads, as chittering, wailing, and the dragons shrieking and batting their wings.

The White...

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