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I thought of the delta of the Vosk, and the disaster which had occurred there, and of the veterans returned from the delta. How angry I was, even though I was not of Ar, that they had, for all their loyalty and sacrifice, for all their service, courage and devotion, received little but scorn and neglect from their compatriots, a scorn and neglect engineered by factions hoping to profit from the perversities of such politics, using them to further their own ends, among these ends being to put Ar and those of Ar into a condition of even greater weakness and confusion, to undermine their will and sap their pride, to put Ar and those of Ar even more at the mercy of their enemies. And interestingly, it seemed that many of Ar, particularly the young, the less experienced, the more gullible, the more innocent, and, too, perhaps, the most fearful of hardship, responsibility and danger, and their attendant risks, those unaccustomed to such things, those who had always received and never given, those who had never sacrificed anything, were among those most ready to lap up the sops of Cos, clinging to excuses for their cowardice, indeed, commending their lack of courage as a new virtue, a new, and improved, convenient courage. Yet how unfair was this to the perceptive young, piercing the propaganda, scorning the public boards, recognizing without being told what was being done to them and their city, smarting with shame, burning with indignation, recollective of Ar's glory, the young in whom flowed the blood of their fathers, and the hope of the city's future. Perhaps there was not, after all, young and old, but rather those who were ready to work and serve, and those who were not, those who preferred to profit from the work and service of others, risking nothing, contributing nothing. But even so, how odd, I thought, that those who did not wade in the delta, facing the arrows of rencers, the spears of Cos, the teeth of tharlarion, should profess their superiority over those who did, indeed, by their work and service sheltering and protecting those who, obedient to the subtleties of Cos, heaped ridicule and abuse upon them. Why did such men return to such an Ar, one so unworthy of them? Because it was there that was their Home Stone. - (Magicians of Gor, Chapter )