[My other duties have distracted me for too long. When men speak of priorities, they ofttimes ignore certain responsibilities--to family, to the Illuminator, and so forth--which exist in a realm beyond the level of priority. To the honest, just man, they cannot be ignored. They are a payment that must be made, else all else we build is reduced to dust.

But to the task at hand. My notes on the Netherwild leave off here, but as it is a topic which is sure to resurface, I am content with that. And thus we move on with The Golden Horn:]

"There is something in the personality of the Cilanese that sets them apart from all other inhabitants of the realm, and seems to support the gipsy-interbreeding theory. The descendents of the other Immigrant races, for example, live in abject terror of the sudden and unannounced infestation of the Netherwild. Thousands of stories, legends, and pieces of folklore exist to attest to this. Indeed, the very existence of organizations such as the Merchant's League, and more appropriately, the so-called Paper Knights, attests that the vast majority of the world believes in the danger of this strange, supernatural phenomenon.

"On the other hand, and equally as well attested, is the indifference of the gipsies, who ignore or revere the Netherwild, depending on the source. In this, the most obvious evidence is again a mercantile one. That much of the legendary wealth of the gipsies was cultivated through the creation and sale of azhedul, or stain-oil, is a documented, historical fact.

"But the Cilanese seem truly to take from both of these traditions. Indeed, in Cilan one can find those who fear the Wild as most men do, but on the whole, they simply consider it another aspect of the climate, much as the harsh snows that occasion the mountains, or the flooding of the river. They do not ignore it, nor do they love it, but they possess a stubbornness about it that, when combined with their reputation as demon-worshippers, has contributed much to the prevailing and popular attitudes of this day concerning the Cilanese."

Perhaps he discusses this later, but this seems to be a religious trait. The original Narti were ancestor and spirit worshippers, at least as my research indicates, and they always held ties with the various spirits of nature. To them, an resurgance of the Netherwild must have seemed like some sort of message from the divinities they saw all around them. This must have led in some part to the demon issue, as demons are and were always wont to imitate and connive in their attempts for reassimilation in the stream of the holy one.