[Dragaera] The Enclouding

[Scott Schultz]

> I don't believe these claims are supported by the Texts.  Specifically,
> _Brokedown Palace_ discusses how the "Hand of Faerie" sometimes "covers
> the whole land" of Fenario, but usually "has blown away in a few days" (BP
> 8).  This makes it quite clear that the Enclouding is not constant, and
> also strongly suggests that it is affected by weather.  It is sufficiently
> dense over the Empire that it never (so far as we know) dissipates
> completely, but I'm pretty sure that variations in density and color have
> been observed (though I cannot come up with refs off the top of my head).

I really need to replace my lost copy of Brokedown Palace.

Accepting it at face value, since we have no reason to do otherwise, it 
sounds like it does move around in a cloud-like fashion. I'd agree that 
variations in density and color have been observed; I just wouldn't assume 
that it's caused by the wind blowing it around without some other evidence.

What was Rocza's impression of the Enclouding in Athyra? She held her breath 
when flying through it, as I recall, but I can't shake loose any particular 
reference to its basic nature.

It's possible (though I won't stretch so far as to say it's likely) that the 
Easterners think of it as a cloud bank because that's what they see. Even if 
there was some other mechanism involved in the retreat of the "Hand of 
Faerie", the average easterner would see a bunch of clouds dissipating and 
think "it's about time the wind blew those clouds away". They may be 
perfectly correct, but in reality they're in a poor position for evaluating 
the phenomenon.

It would be amusing if, in fact, the reason the Hand of Faerie sometimes 
touches Fenario is that it's attracted to the execution of sorcery in the 
area; by Sandos, for instance. (Yeah, he's dead, but I'm speaking in a 
historical context.)