In the area just outside the town of Avengarde a tunnel swarms with clanking golums like a hive of brass and copper bees gathering materials tirelessly coming and going past the great black sentinel golums at the tunnel entrance. They bring many things such as steel scrap, bundles of hemp, precious metals, magical coral, shards of oddly colored metals, and the bodies of their fallen back down deep under the crust of the earth.

Quietly another figure appears deep inside the tunnel walking casually out. A quiet young man wearing armor, a shield aacross his back, and a sword at his hip. His dark hair pulled back over his human ears and braided behind him. His keen eyes surveyed the land quietly as he walked out past the sentinels and reclamation golums without their issuing regard to him.

His steps carried him around the hill and toward the road away from town.

The mysterious figure continues around the road watching the forests quietly. As he walks he looks from place to place contemplatively as though running through his own thoughts and taking stock of memories.

On his way out of Avangarde, Al spots the man on his way down the path. He notes the familiar clanking and whirring, but tries not to appear tense in front of the person he was about to meet.

"Hail, friend. Excuse me, could I speak with you a moment?"

The strange man looks up as he is addressed, and pauses his thoughtful stride. Looking at him he says, "Alright Alrion, what do you wish to speak about?"

A puzzled expression crosses Alrion's face, then changes to curiosity.

"It seems there is little need to introduce myself. I just mean to ask who you are and what brings you to Avangarde. I mean no offense. These are troubled times, and it is good to know those who would enter your home.

But now another question rears its head. How do you know me? I do not recall your face."

The man seems to ponder Alrion for a moment, then shrugs and simply responds in an even warm tone. "I am Kirrin. There is no need of introduction, as I know... all of you. But, I appreciate the sentiment of hospitality." He pauses a moment pondering, "Nothing brings me to Avengarde. T'was you people who brought it to me, and I agree."

"Your statements confound me. You know all of us? And we brought Avangarde to you?

Let me make a few guesses here to try and fill in the blanks, if you would. Hmm... You would have had to have been here before the town was founded. You also would have to have either been spying on all of us yourself, and I wish anyone the best of luck with that, or you had others spying upon us. Hearing the sounds of the Golems moving about nearby... assuming you are watching us, I would guess you are connected with them, can communicate with them freely, or perhaps even able to view things through their eyes. But this is just speculation. Feel free to correct me if i am wrong."

Kirrin doesn't answer Alrion's questions, but smiles softly... and asks one of his own. " Do you want to know what vexes me? How is it that men can do both good things and evil things, and how does one know if one is inherently good or evil?"

"Good and evil are relative to the person perceiving them. Evil is what is the most socially or personally unacceptable. Good is what is most acceptable. Thus, a person is only good or evil based on how they feel. What might appear as an evil person to your average citizen of this area may wholeheartedly believe they are doing good. A being who thinks that they are holy and just may actually be detrimental and 'evil' to others who have opposing morals and ideas. So in short, because good and evil are abstract, subjective concepts, one cannot know if an individual is inherently good or evil. All they can know is if the person has a similar moral structure to their own, and that knowledge is gained by repeated interaction and analytical thinking. That is not to say that the intuition is to be ignored in such matters, though."

Kirrin looks a bit frustrated, "Yes, these words have been spoken to me before. They are definitive of a moral dichotomy. But, I do not yet... understand how to recognize or to distinguish. For example, it has been widely said in your town murder is wrong and should be punished on moral principal. I saw murders. Some were punished, and some were not. Some beings are considered by mass consensus to be evil, but I have seen others warmly welcome these creatures and hold privet councils with them. I have seen harmless humans murdered callously, and then the same murderer selflessly give his own life for others. I have seen trusted leaders break oaths to honest men, and allow those men to fall to horrible torture because they believe them monsters. I have seen good men driven mad by a monster whom he loved, and no one care enough to find out why. I have seen many many things. But, I do not yet understand. Nor, do I know what I should do next."

"Understand? Few, if any of us do. Nor can we truly know what to do next. You can formulate a plan, a plot, but you will not know what to do until the moment you are doing it.

The only way to distinguish what is good and evil, and if a person is good or evil in general, is to first make for yourself a set of rules. What you perceive as acceptable and unacceptable. If you cannot do this on your own, then you might use someone else's code. Most people are brought up and taught what is right and wrong by a parental figure. If you like, I could give you a basic overview of my own moral code.

People have a tendency to change their moral codes based on experiences and innate feelings that come along with them. A person who sees something killed and feels frightened or saddened by this will most likely say that murder is evil. Someone who sees it as a necessary thing to continue the cycle of life might say otherwise. Everything is dependent on your perspective. And now it comes onto you to choose your own fate. What do you want to believe? No one can choose for you. It is ultimately your decision how you will choose to view the world, and thus act on it. If you would like help, I know some interesting teachers for you.

As a final note, know this: You will never fully grasp good and evil. Not in ten thousand lifetimes will you see every facet of morality. There will always be a new surprise."

"I would not be opposed to hear your take on morality coding. While you speak I'll try to place your personal actions I have observed to be framed in context, and I'd like to hear others of your people on this subject and compare theirs. Maybe then I will better understand 'feelings' and finally decide."

The two are still talking when Garritt comes down the path from the north, evidently bound back into the town from a trip somewhere out in the countryside. He sees the two men talking and alters his path over to where they stand.

He nods to Alrion, and then looks to the stranger, an unreadable expression on his face. He looks around at the activity nearby, and finally settles his gaze back on the man.

The man nods a greeting, "Good afternoon Garritt, and Rylls."

"Hrumph..afternoon. Seems you know more about us than I know about you. Have you got a name, or a place you're from? I haven't seen you around here before."