The words of Liracia to the God Emperor
Liracia, the taraakian; she could not be over the human equivalent of 16.
A very young lady, and she looks it, too.
Her people have placed a heavy burden on her, to come to the God Emperor as an ambassador now.
Liracia communicates to the mighty being known as the God Emperor of the Pantheon:
I am Liracia of the taraakians.
We are the taraakians, and we bequeath to ourselves the right to speak to you, as we see fit, for this occasion.
Had we chosen to exterminate your people, we would have done so as soon as we located your Spheres, and no ambassador would have been sent to speak with you first.
We chose not to destroy you out of mercy.
You were permitted to live, out of charity.
Your people and your country, was permitted to remain, our of kindness.
You are alive now, and hearing my words, out of generosity.
If in this you sense arrogance and pride, know that in great power is great responsibility; the responsibility not to use power without reason.
Not to kill, when it is easy and expedient to kill, when another answer is possible, even if it is not expedient.
We choose to show mercy where mercy was not expedient.
We choose to restrain ourselves at great risk to ourselves and our subjects.
We are attempting to save you now, knowing that you will be a threat to us and all of ours, as long as you exist.
We are working on a project that will protect you from the looming assault of the Shade.
If we succeed, you will survive this assault.
If we do not succeed, you may not survive this assault, or you may - but you will find that yours is a much poorer reality than the one you have enjoyed up until now.
To succeed in protecting you from this assault, we must generate truly enormous power.
Our power, unaided, is not sufficient to accomplish the task at hand.
Our power, even strengthened by the power of your Kevellond League, is not sufficient to complete the task at hand.
You must give us the power necessary, to accomplish what we would do, to protect you from the assault of the Shade.
You cannot give us this power by giving us your weapons.
You cannot give us this power by giving us your magic.
You cannot give us this power by giving us any material thing you possess.
However, you can give us the power we need, to accomplish our goal, and see the assault of the Shade foiled.
You can do that by giving us your faith.
You can choose to have faith in us.
You can choose to willingly hand over complete control, over you, to us - that is what the Diadem symbolizes, and why we choose it as our request.
We appreciate well your distrust of us.
We appreciate well your desire to be rid of us.
We know your heart, O God Emperor.
We know your heart, and all your deeds.
We appreciate that handing over your life into our hands will be hard.
Indeed, that is the point - that it is hard.
It must be hard, for it to have any meaning.
And it must have meaning, for it to grant us the power we require.
If we could halt the Shade assault, we would.
We cannot do so.
We cannot prevent the Shade assault from being launched.
We can, however, protect you from that assault.
However, you must do, what is extremely hard and difficult for you to do - you must have utter faith in us.
Faith, to the point of placing your life in our hands.
We offer you no assurance we are telling you the truth now.
We can lie as ably and effectively as the best amongst your kind.
Perhaps, if you give us your blessing, and we use the Diadem, we will use it to remove your power.
Perhaps, we will render your people helpless.
Perhaps, we will even choose to kill you, and eliminate your soul.
Perhaps.
That is the risk you take in dealing with us.
That is the risk inherent in acquiescing to our request.
That is always the risk inherent in faith.
More than this we cannot reveal to you.
For in the revealing, we would destroy your capacity to make choices on your own, and it is imperative that those choices be your own.
If the choice is not your choice, then we gain nothing from that choice.
If the choice is not your choice, then we gain no power from it.
Now, you must choice whether or not to have faith in us.
You answered our demand, and brought the Union of the Worlds to the Kevellond League.
That we appreciate, but now we request more.
We request that you bless the gift of the charge of the Diadem of Dreams, to us.
Yes, this we request.
Will you do so?
Will you do so, knowing that Hazen has this charge, and is very likely to hand it over to us?
Or will you deny us this blessing, and move against Hazen, to stop him from endangering you?
The choice, and the responsibility for that choice, lie in your hands, God Emperor of the Pantheon.