"I've got little sympathy for you," you say. "My tribe was attacked by your people not long ago, and we responded in much the same way."
"That was not my band, I assure you," replies Beren. "Likely they believed you were somehow helping the Brothers, and perhaps you are. It's no secret that the Iceborn and the Brothers of the Eight have been fighting for a long time, since before the old Dominion fell. It's a war that we're winning, though, and we can't—won't—stop until it's done. Until the portals are closed and the Eight are wiped from memory."
A thought strikes you. "Is this something to do with the Water of Urud?"
"It's everything to do with it," says Beren. "It is true that the Water of Urud enabled the simple tribes of the north to come together; to lose their fear of hunger, thirst, and cold; to build great cities and become a force in the world. The ruins that scatter this land are a testament to that. Clearly, too, many took the water without issue—and why not? It offered, and still offers for those who drink it, many benefits and no ill effects, save for one: dependency."
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