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| - Summary: Each December, the G'ahnli celebrate Gorloba's Boon with a week of festivities. Pobolal shares the ancient story... Starring: Pobolal, Borono Air Date: Dec. 26, 2001 Pobolal hovers within his own tank, watching as the crowd gathers. Borono's hovertank whirs in from the lift G'ahnli inside smiling broadly. He somehow broadens it more as he moves his tank torward Pobolal's. "Welcome to Ahndar Subcity," the ledgemaster begins. "Today, we begin the celebration of Gorloba's Boon." Borono continues whirring near the Ledgemaster, bobbing his head to him as he nears. Bobbing within his tank, Pobolal explains: "In the Terran Standard year 2119, the two major civilizations on the planet Ydahr faced subjugation at the claws of the invading Nall forces. This was a most unprofitable situation for all concerned, but perhaps none more so than for Gorloba, a G'ahnli deemed at the time to be the richest of his line, even more so than Tiktachir of Ydahrum." Borono slows to a stop, listening to the lecture. "As the Clawed Fist Fleet began arriving to blockade the Ydahri star system, Gorloba recognized the situation as a viable opportunity: Profit could be made, should he manage to act quickly enough to get offworld and embark on a voyage to preserve his culture and his riches," the ledgemaster continues. The ledgemaster rotates his hovertank to regard members of the crowd with bulbous eyes, air bubbles fluttering from his gills: "Getting offworld had long been considered an act of folly by the denizens of Ydahr. Given the expenses involved, the effort required, the investment of time that would be better spent increasing profits, it seemed a ridiculous waste of potential. All G'ahnli and Ydahri alike were taught from the smallest fry that leaving the planet would be unprofitable, and to leave the star system would be ruinous at best. Stay on Ydahr, teachers warned their students. Nothing good waits among the chill darkness of the stars." "As the Clawed Fist Fleet approached, however," Pobolal continues, "Gorloba recognized the opportunity at hand. He had learned that Tiktachir of Ydahrum possessed, more as a curiosity than anything else, a spacecraft. Functional, operational, and relatively economical. From time to time, on a whim, Tiktachir would take the vessel - known as the Skybreacher - into orbit as an amusement for his friends." "Faced with subjugation at the claws of the brutal Nall, Gorloba contacted Tiktachir and offered half his fortune to the Ydahri business magnate in exchange for the Skybreacher," the ledgemaster states. "Tiktachir believed almost immediately that Gorloba had swallowed water too rich, that he suffered from blood madness, but when did this ever stop a business-minded individual from striking a profitable deal? He gladly accepted Gorloba's bargain and laughingly declined the G'ahnli's offer of passage aboard the Skybreacher. 'The Nall are no threat to our profits in the long run,' Tiktachir chastised Gorloba, all the while counting his own increased fortune." "In fact, many offered free transport on the Skybreacher considered Gorloba foolish at least, mad at worst, and he eventually spent the remainder of his fortune paying three dozen female G'ahnli to join him on the voyage to find a new world," Pobolal explains. "Join him, they did, and came they to this world, G'ahnlo," Pobolal says, gesturing with his wavering fins. "Here, Gorloba saw the rise of his own progeny, the currents ran silver with the fry of his descendants, and the glittering rainbow of our species flourished beneath the waves of the Ahndar Sea, free of the subjugation of the Nall, free of the subjugation of the Kretonians. Although Gorloba spent every last perl in his accounts to make the voyage, he lived long enough to see his folly was, in truth, his boon - and the boon of his people." "Now, each year at this time, we set aside seven days to celebrate the wisdom of Gorloba's venture," the ledgemaster says. "I trust you will all enjoy your experience during Gorloba's Boon!" Borono smiles broadly, looking over the array of airbreathers.
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