Beyond Moonskin, as written by Rafano, Trader of Siksraja

I write this from the road, my hands still trembling from the recent Change. And the rocking of the caravan certainly doesn't help either.

But it's in these moments of loss that I am forced into a state of quiet reflection. Half of the trouble of finding answers is asking the right questions, so let's start with a question: Can our Moonskin, our True Form, ever be completely restored?

I believe that it can.

Our True Form was lost when Katamba was charred, and since it's absurd to believe we could ever restore a moon, some would say the problem is concluded. But I think that this is an oversimplification, an avoidance. And Rakash do not avoid -- we Hunt.

Rather, what if we think of the loss of our Moonskin as a wound? If we accept this, then we can accept its extensions. For example, can an Empath not heal wounds? Can't alchemy?

Mrod, legend tells us, restored our Moonskin after the charring of Katamba, but not completely . . . this warrants further investigation. Why? A trick played by a bored deity to watch us squirm? Or, as I choose to believe, a test to be passed? A challenge, to rise up to!

First I'll disprove the former: why all this is not just some cruel trick. Simply put, the Rakash gods care for the Pack. These ideas of Dark and Light "aspects", of angry, moody deities -- this is Eastern thinking.

Ticetar may know otherwise, but to my knowledge there are no stories of the Great Pack smiting worshippers or erasing villages. Rather, when we kneel before the redivawzis stone, we feel their protection and see visions of how they led the Pack from the undead horde. We hear it, too, in stories like the Fable of the Apples.

Instead, consider that Mrod was starting us on a journey, that His purposefully limited gift was really putting us on a Path. Look now to Coshivi, whom legend tells us appears always in Moonskin, clearly symbolic of a state to aspire to, symbolic of the end of this proverbial Path. I tell you that He waits for us there, telling us, "You too can have this." And Enelne offers us Her wisdom along the way.

And so that is what I grasp for -- can a solution be found?

"Rafano, accept what gifts the gods have given," some tell me. But again this is Eastern thinking, and dilutes our traditions. Rakash gods do not just blindly give -- they inspire! The Fable of the Apples tells us the same -- Enelne did not gift food! She gifted growth, change!

And so I am indeed inspired. That, following in pawprints of Mrod, we might gift to each other a return to our True Form.

I personally believe the solution lies in rigorous alchemical research, and intend to write about these efforts separately. Others likely disagree -- indeed, I hope they do, for the strength of the Pack is the Many.

But no kill is obtained without the Hunt, and no Hunt begins without the Howl. And so that is what I try to do now -- to signal to my brothers and sisters that this is not over.

It’s out there. A solution. And we will find it. Together.