They turned a corner after a short while and Aran Mylo's question was answered; "you all" did apparently mean "monks", for a crowd waiting just for them consisted entirely of men dressed in the robes of various Orders of monks. She saw a number of Alchemists, who wore brown robes just as she did. There were a number of Dyn-Alys, all wearing white or light gray.

Luckily for Aran Mylo, most monks were not like Galano, in that they did not tend to socialize among even one another. So when she joined their ranks, she felt right at home. Spoke only if you were spoken to, avert eye contact, and ponder the eternal mysteries. It was simple, comforting.

The man in the fine clothes who had found Aran Mylo left her so he could lead the group to their eventual destination. They walked quite a distance, with each step coming closer to the grandiose white palace at which Aran Mylo had been staring a half an hour before. She couldn't help but continue to stare at it as they walked; she wondered what it would be like inside, how lavish and ornate every detail of its architecture would be, how busy and choreographed all of its inhabitants would be. It was like a living entity, full of activity and life, spewing forth power, greed, corruption, and whatever small amount of good it accidentally did in addition.

Once they reached the palace, they were told to form a line, as if they were school children. New attendants appeared in order to assist with the logistics of getting so many dinner guests into their appropriate places. The monks were allowed to enter the palace only one by one, with roughly