"We were told you would come."

The greeting had haunted Keniah since he left his village on this mission, but never had it been delivered by a dog.
The great wooly sheep dog stood in the shadow of the forest and wagged his tail impatiently.

"I beg your pardon?" Keniah said, not quite believing his ears.

"We were told you were coming.  Now quickly, back to my lair."  The dog's vocal cords, unused to human speech,
distorted the words, but the traveler understood and allowed himself to be led to a small cottage deep in the forest.

The sheep dog vanished into the night.  Keniah found a cold supper and a short letter on the table and a bed made up
for him near the fire.  He read as he ate.

"For the traveler who was promised:  Greetings and welcome.  We are in Change form this night, and cannot be here
to attend you.  Avail yourself of our cheer and comforts (the privy is out back, follow the path of white stones) and
we will talk in the morning.  Dravi and Myrn."

The next morning, Keniah awoke to a handsome man standing over him and a stout dark haired woman cooking near
the fire.  A son was carrying firewood and a pair of daughters were preparing the food and setting the table.  A small
boy sat yawning over a book.

"Good morning, traveler.  If you would be so good as to join us for breakfast, we shall have that talk I promised,"
Dravi greeted him.  "I trust you slept well?"

"Well indeed, and my thanks to you and your family.  My name is Keniah.  I come from Vareg in the far north of Birt,
near the Great Land of Leere."  He pulled on his homespun over tunic and short boots.  "I travel to Dark Hold."

Dravi's older son snarled at the mention, only to be reprimanded by his mother.  Dravi looked serious, but gestured
for his guest to sit.  "That news will gain you no friends among the People.  The Emperor's policy has made him the
enemy of many of us.  But we are sheepdogs, and our loyalty is to him, regardless.  May the renegades that slew his
legion and brought this curse upon us find no place in the Moon."

Myrn and her daughters began setting food on the table, and Dravi loaded a plate for his youngest son.  Keniah ate
sparingly, although he was hungry.  He had no idea how much food these people could spare.

"Oh, eat," Myrn chided.  "You are too thin.  Here."  She piled more eggs on to his plate and added a slice of cold
mutton and some mushrooms.  "Viurre cares for us.  The People do not starve, unlike the one-shapers outside the
forest."

Keniah ate enough to satisfy Myrn's disapproval and then spoke.  "You have mentioned The People twice.  Tell me of
them, and also how you knew of me."

"We are the People of Viurre," Dravi said, "Third born of the Power and given two shapes.  Viurre is the Moon.  She
protects us, and calls us to Change when She is round.  Viurre came to me a fortnight past in a dream, telling me to
watch for a lone traveler, a man of fair hair who came with a chain of stones and would tell us that which we have
forgotten.  The dream recurred for more than a week.  Then the Change-time came.  Last night was the end of
Change for this month.  It is much to ask, but would you keep our sheep today?  We would ordinarily feed them and
leave them in the barn as we sleep, but since you are here..."

"Gladly, I would help.  You have shown me great hospitality, and I would be pleased to repay it in some small way."

"Tonight, you will speak before the People.  They will not all like what you say, but all know of my dreams, and many
have had them as well.  I fear you speak to outcasts and dangerous criminals, Keniah, or so the laws have made us."
Dravi ruffled the hair of his youngest who was asleep with his head on the table.  "Pups," he said softly.  "He frolicked
hard last night."

The elder son, Vani, led Keniah to the barn and they made a careful count of the sheep.  The youth yawned mightily,
and Keniah sent him to bed, taking the animals out to pasture on a verdant slope not far from the house.  He quietly
rehearsed his talk for the evening.

At nightfall, Dravi and his family led Keniah to an abandoned quarry well hidden in the forest.  It was crowded with
people, families, with little ones, single men and women, young people flirting inconspicuously, and a few on the
sidelines wearing odd medallions.  Keniah stopped beside a sharp-faced woman wearing one of these.

"May I see your necklace, good lady?" he asked.  She nodded.  He lifted the bronze talisman, stamped on one side
with the imperial seal, and turned it over.  On the other side was the likeness of a small bird.

"A tivir, my change form," she said.  "I am registered, under the law."  Keniah nodded and moved on.

Dravi stood in the center of the assembly, his hands held up for quiet.  Slowly, the noise died away to small shiftings.
"As many of you know," he began, his voice carrying to the back of the quarry, "Viurre has dreamtouched me.  Some
of you have been touched as well.  The awaited traveler has come.  His name is Keniah, and he has traveled many
days.  He goes to Dark Hold to plead for his people.  Let us hear what he has to say, for the emperor will probably
not."

Keniah found himself the focus of all eyes as he moved to where Dravi had stood.  "Dravi has told you of his dreams.
I bring the words you have forgotten, the Old Music that comes not from the Moon, but from the One who made the
Moon."  He held up his mnemonic stones for all to see and began the chant.

"Black I hold.
Black of night and void.
Black of Emptiness before Ellassa.

Blue I hold.
Blue of waters and sky.
Blue above and below the heavens.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One seperating the waters.

Gold I hold.
Gold of sun and moon.
Gold of light piercing the dark.

Brown I hold.
Brown of plains and hills.
Brown of the land rising from water.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One making light and land.

Green I hold.
Green of trees and plants.
Green of vegetation covering land.

Rose I hold.
Rose of Power and magic.
Rose of that which flows through the world.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One calling plants and Powering the world.

Red I hold.
Red of beasts and fowl
Red of teeming animal life.

Orange I hold.
Orange of Dragons
Orange of the flaming lords of animals.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One creating the beasts.

Silver I hold.
Silver of starlight and Power.
Silver of Elves, firstborn of the Power.

Crimson I hold.
Crimson of blood and Power.
Crimson of Vorwalka, who hunt by night.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One awakening the Old Ones.

Brown I hold.
Brown of fur and Power.
Brown of Lycanthropes, they of two shapes.

Yellow I hold.
Yellow of strength and Power.
Yellow of Ogres, children of Power.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One awakening the Old Ones.

Emerald I hold.
Emerald of rolling hills.
Emerald of Lanthari, shaped of the loam.

Grey I hold.
Grey of harsh mountains.
Grey of dwarves, carved of the rock.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One, shaping and breathing.

Tan I hold.
Tan of fields and plains.
Tan of humans, made of dust.

Violet I hold.
Violet of joy and good.
Violet of completion of the work.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One who bade us rejoice.

Black i hold.
Black of evil and corruption
Black of the Destroyer, finding the world.

Scarlet I hold.
Scarlet of temptation and falling.
Scarlet of choices, ill made without prayer.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One, weeping in sorrow.

Slate I hold.
Slate of silver becoming dross.
Slate of Elves, twisting to Orcs.

Maroon I hold.
Maroon of old blood, long decayed.
Maroon of Vorwalka, enslaved by Thirst.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One, mourning lost children.

Drab I hold.
Drab of fur matted with dirt.
Drab of Lycanthropes, become slavering beasts.

Ocher I hold.
Ocher of lichens and isolated crags.
Ocher of Ogres, becoming brutal and stupid.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One, mourning lost children.

Olive I hold.
Olive of hills too long in shadow.
Olive of Lanthari, turning to goblins.

Dun I hold.
Dun of rocks broken and crushed.
Dun of hobgoblins, once sturdy Dwarves.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One, Mourning lost children.

Khaki I hold.
Khaki of plains, covered with clouds.
Khaki of humans, marked for their evil.

Black I hold.
Black of choices ill made.
Black of woe come to Ellassa.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One, mourning lost children.

Blue I hold.
Blue of promise and hope.
Blue of the sky and the new world.

Purple I hold.
Purple of hope and joy.
Purple of the King who will come to us.

Clear I hold.
Clear of purity and spirit.
Clear of the High One promising deliverance."

Keniah stood for a moment, watching the light break on some faces and sullenness on others.  "I am a Servant of the
High One," he announced.  "I worship the One who made us and promises hope.  The being you call Viurre serves the
High One, even as I do, as a messenger to the people.  You are third-born of the Power, awakened children of the
High One."

"You lie!" came a snarl from the back.  "Viurre is the one who made us and commands us to wear two shapes for her
pleasure, to hunt and kill and eat!"  A singularly unattractive man made his way through the crowds, the shaggy
brown hair of his head merging with his shaggy brown beard.  The hair seemed to grow longer, enveloping more of
his face as his hands became more claw-like.  "Great is Viurre of the Tanglewood!" he roared, launching himself at
Keniah.  Four men caught him and held him back.

"Control yourself, Wolf," one commanded.  "You are no match for a bear and there is to be no bloodshed here."

The lycanthrope stopped in mid-Change, half-man, half-wolf, and glared with bestial fury.  Slowly the fur started to
receed.

"That's good, Arvu," the second soothed.  "Go back to your den.  No bloodshed."

Arvu regained his composure, his hair resuming its normal length, although his beard remained as ragged as before.
He stalked out, collecting a frightened looking woman with a set of four identical children.

"He will not take the changes well," the were-bear who had stopped him commented.  "Nor will many others.  Viurre
has protected us and fed us for a long time.  Change comes slowly to the thoughts of those of us whose bodies
Change with the Moon.  Tell us again of the High One."

Keniah recited the mnemonic again, noticing some making notes on the order of the stones.  After the completion of
it, he announced, "I will give my stones to whoever wishes them.  I will make another set."

"No need, traveler," said a slender young woman coming out of the crowd.  "I can enchant them to reproduce
themselves when needed."

"You use magic?" Keniah asked, having never met a wizard.  "Of what sort?"

"The sort that makes women deliver their children easier, and the lambing come out double.  The kind that cures
winter illness and finds lost objects.  My gift is small, and I do not use it to hurt."

Giving assent, Keniah watched as the woman gently spoke a few soft words to his beads.  They glowed rose-gold
briefly and then subsided.

"Keniah, if you would grant me a favor, I would have the first set.  It can make up to four sets a day," she said.

"Good lady, I would have the first copy, and you may keep the enchanted set.  Then the lycanthropes may have all the
copies they need."

She made the copy, and gave it to him. "One last thing, I would ask.  May I enchant these stones still further to
prompt me as I need it?  You will not be staying long enough to teach us all the words."

Keniah gave the assent, and then turned to the populace.  "This woman will give those who desire them sets of the
mnemonic stones.  These are to be used only as a reminder of what we believe.  They are not to be worshipped as
relics, nor are they to take the place of prayer to the High One.  Every parent wants to hear from the children.  The
lycanthropes have been away from home for long enough."  He noticed the crowd had thinned some, and those who
pressed forward had eager eyes to know more of the beliefs.  "I must go.  I require a guide to get me to the other side
of the forest."

"Our people can take you to the Elven border in the west.  From there, the Elf Queen's people can guide you.  Our
people on the other side of Lake Vadnais will take you to Dark Hold.  This will keep you off the roads and away from
the guards," Dravi told him.  "I go with you as far as the next way post.  Hdar has the stones and will give them to us.
Thank you for the message."

Keniah turned to find Myrn by his side with a small traveling bag.  "Just some food, nothing too fancy.  Thank you for
coming to us."  She kissed his cheek.  "May you be successful and see your family soon."

Dravi's children embraced him and he followed the sheepdog out into the night.  From behind him, as he had in many
other villages, he heard the rising mutter of "Black I hold."

have traveled with Keniah on his journey.