Contents
CHAPTER 6
Overview
Ravna Bergsndot is summoned by Grondr Vrinimikalir at Relay and learns Straumli Realm birthed a Class Two perversion. A Power’s emissary arrives seeking a living human, which Ravna refuses to become.
Vrinimi reveals a secretly revived pre-Nyjoran “Ur-human” from an ancient dredge, positioning Relay to profit by supplying the Transcend.
Summary
Ravna Bergsndot’s background and ambitions are recapped: a Sjandra Kei librarian drawn by adventure and the Vrinimi Organization’s apprenticeship at Relay, the Net hub. She travels Groundside to meet executive Grondr Vrinimikalir, uncertain why she’s been summoned.
Grondr shifts from pleasantries to Straumli Realm’s fall, confirming it created a Class Two perversion. He frames the calamity as both threat and business opportunity: customers may be lost, yet demand for information is soaring, including from the Transcend.
Revealing a secret, Grondr shows a small ship from the Transcend now in-system, claiming direct control by a Power. The emissary wants a living human in exchange for establishing an oracle at Relay. Ravna, alarmed, refuses to volunteer.
Grondr then discloses an alternative: Vrinimi recovered an ancient dredge from Relay’s “attic” whose cargo included long-dead humans from a wreck in the Slow Zone. After costly reconstruction, one body proved viable. The Org has revived a pre-Nyjoran “Ur-human,” potentially satisfying the emissary’s demand.
The meeting ends with Ravna agreeing to serve as local human expert while Vrinimi positions itself to profit and gain power by mediating information about the perversion to the High Beyond and the Transcend.
Who Appears
- Ravna BergsndotHuman librarian at Relay; refuses to be taken by a Power; becomes the Org’s human expert.
- Grondr VrinimikalirVrinimi executive; reveals Straum’s perversion, a visiting Power’s request, and the revived “Ur-human.”
- Power’s emissary shipSmall Transcendent-controlled craft seeking a living human in exchange for an oracle.
- Ur-human (revived)Pre-Nyjoran human reconstructed from ancient remains; presented as alternative to sending Ravna.