No one has ever claimed that being Ranger was easy.
Here are some of the comments of Wuaoi Yai-Zhio on this subject, taken from Rangers meetings held between the years of Jena 2580 and 2599, gathered by Ba'Ruly Wiser, scribe of
Wuaoi Yai-Zhio, and reported here in the form of a conversation.
Second day.
Aspirant: I have meditated and I have the impression that one of the Precepts is different from the others. All the others are about our actions, but Memory is different. Why should we remember Oflovak Rydon?
Wuaoi: It's not as different as you might think. Do you know who Oflovak Rydon was? Obviously, it was a fyros, but do you know more?
Aspirant: He was a Fyros who arrived early in the New Lands. I heard he would have met Tryton in the Oflovak Oasis, and then he would have gone back to the Old Lands. It is also said that he helped the refugees to flee the Old Lands. I didn't understand everything.
Wuaoi: There is a rite initiated in the Desert that will teach you a little bit about Oflovak Rydon, through an amber cube dedicated to him. This cube will explain how, during the Great Essaim, while leading refugees away from the Kitins, Elias Tryton appeared to him on a hill to tell him about the Rainbows but also to warn him that he was guiding refugees in the wrong direction. Following this meeting, he turned back and reached Les Arcs-en-Ciel and the safe haven that had been prepared there. But this is only part of the story.
For he soon became concerned about those who remained behind, those he had not been able to lead to the Rainbows. He then left the Refuge and found, thanks to his knowledge of the stars, the path of the Old Lands, which he walked, leaving marks behind him, thus tracing a path that future refugees could easily follow. This way is the Way, the Exodus Way that still allows refugees to flee the Kitins of the Old Lands and reach the New Lands.
Even more important for us, Rangers, Oflovak Rydon was the one who first recruited homins who swore an oath to help the refugees reach the New Lands. Some of them were the founders of what would later become the Atys Rangers. He did not create the Rangers himself, nor define their mission, nor found their camp - all this was the work of other homins who came after him - but his actions alone justify his being remembered.
Let us never forget, finally, that Oflovak began his life as a simple adventurer and explorer, not as a leader, and that he turned his back on that life to save the Kitins' homins before spending six years tracing and marking the Way. That is why we honour his memory as best we can when we fight the Kitins and protect hominities here in the New Lands, but also when, turning our backs on the facilities offered by this or that Power to selfish adventures, we swear to work to help all the homins.
Aspirant: Oh, so the Rangers have nothing to do with the Rainbows? I thought they had built the Rainbows to reach the Refuge during the second Great Hunger Test.
Wuaoi: No, these are the work of a trytonist guild and were nothing like the first ones. The original Rainbows were built by Elias Tryton... Or, more simply, discovered them: the story is not very clear on this subject. What is certain is that the Rangers do not know the secret of their construction.
Aspirant: Oflovak Rydon was the first to discover the Path of Exodus. Is this the Way we must preserve, as the Principle of Protection tells us?
Wuaoi: Yes, in part. Keeping this Way open is an endless task because Atys' perpetual growth constantly threatens to make it impractical. This is a task that we Rangers do on a regular basis. Protecting refugees if we find them and helping them to come here is also part of this work and part of the Protection. But if it were limited to that alone, Protection would be nothing more than a simple description of a task, not a Principle.
So let us try to consider the Principle in a deeper sense. We are scouts, «path finders», our duty is to watch over all roads. The path to the homelands is long and keeping it open is a continuous task. This is a one-way street, because we must avoid irritating the kitins of the Old Lands. However, it is equally important to keep open for homins, through our actions in the New Lands, all other paths, both the physical paths we use and the philosophical paths we follow. All these routes can be travelled in both directions.
Aspirant: I see.
Wuaoi: Well, go now and build your skills and reputation. I need some rest.
