Page 2044

((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 1 of 2))
"Oh, it said lots of other stuff," said Ibai. "Have you heard of something called the 'Breaking of Korgum?'"

Chergoa was silent a moment. 'Yes.'

"And did you know that there were tons of famous people who achieved emergence during it?"

'Yes...'

"Like the Devil's Knife, the Man of Crows, Bloodeye, the Hammer, the Gargoyle, the Surgeon Saint. And those are just the ones still alive. There were dozens more who are dead now, like the Red Tiger, Bug Boy, Darkhand, the Owl, the Mad Piper, and so on. There were loads of 'em."

'It is a trend I am familiar with,' said Chergoa. 'And it makes a degree of sense, of course. Those prone to achieving emergence in the first place are generally not the most safety-conscious. They keep throwing themselves into dangerous situation after dangerous situation. It only makes sense that, at some point, their luck runs out. Or the ungodly level of stress gets to them, and they just snap--at which point, any reasonable reaper would release them.'

Ibai had to frown. "That's not a very pleasant way of looking at it."

'Is there a way of looking at it that IS pleasant?'

"Hmm. Maybe not. But I also imagine that their undoings might not have all been their own fault. That kind of fame would place a target on your back, no?"

'Oh, of course. Your kin have a term for that, don't they?'

Ibai nodded. "An astero."

'That's an old Arman word, isn't it? Does it have a literal translation?'

"'Star that burns with the fires of all.' And the word 'all,' in this instance, is specifically meant to include oneself."

'Bit of a mouthful, that. I can see why they wanted a term for it.'