FIRST INTERLUDE: Lost and Found

The chapter introduces Ganlu, a famed foreigner in ancient Tun, described as a bearded man from the Island in the West. Upon seeing the Great Basin, Ganlu praised the land with a line later used to justify expansion. He wandered during famine and war, confronting banditry and aiding common people.

As he traveled, Ganlu taught martial skills, healed the sick, and preached peaceful living, community obligation, and reverence for land, river, and sky spirits. These teachings became the foundation of krajow, the Tuni fighting arts, and strongly influenced the Shubai religion.

Ganlu’s reputation reached Emperor Sh’jan the Third, who summoned him. After thrice refusing to test the emperor’s virtue, Ganlu accepted a counselor role. Legends say he drew wisdom and power from an enchanted stone worn close to his heart, lived to one hundred seventy, and after death his spirit entered the stone, which was kept in the Imperial Palace.

Modern historians concur that Ganlu was a Kekonese Green Bone, noting parallels to Abukei folklore and pre-Deitist spirituality. They now believe he was likely the third son of the king of Jan during the Three Crowns era. Kekonese records contain only a terse note of “a young prince, lost,” aligning the legend with this absence.