There Be Dragons
Robb Miller

Once upon a time there was a young lad, Renn Dertru who lived in the village of Verity. The village was peaceful. Veritists (as the people were named) lived close to their values and did not attempt to convince others of the rightness or wrongness of their ways. This is why the village was so peaceful -- none had reason for war. This is also why this story, albeit true, is strange.

One day, after visiting a forest beyond the boarders of Verity, Renn asked for an audience with the village head, Phalse Noblesse. Being forthright to other Veritists, Noblesse granted the audience directly. Renn was relived, for he was aware of the great impact his discovery may have on their way of being.

"Good morn fellow Veritist," Noblesse stated with summoned stateliness. "My advisors tell me you have news of discovery from the wood."

"Yes Sire," Renn spoke with vocal trepidation; for although Noblesse spoke in a welcoming tone, something about his manner spoke less tolerantly. "Most Admired," Renn quavered, "in the forest... there be dragons."

Renn continued by disclosing, with exact detail, the nature of the dragons as known to him, and the events that led to their discovery ÷ but these yarns need to be spun elsewhere. Summarily, there were no less than six immense creatures that inhabited the wood that surrounded Verity. Their intent was not known, but their presence real.

Before dismissing Renn, Noblesse commanded the presence of The Thinkers. Explorers, scientists, tacticians, and historians were given charge to study the matter extensively. Study it they did.

The news of the discovery spread quickly. There was palpable anticipation in the air as Noblesse's advisors ÷ Verity's best thinkers and doers, initiated their study. However, as the study stretched time, the anticipation became frustration. As the months grew to years, frustration grew to apathy. The study ended just as the matter was all but forgotten.

Renn was married, with two beautiful children when Noblesse summoned him to audience. It was with atrabilious timbre that the findings of The Thinkers were discussed. In particular it was reported:

The explorers, after searching the known forest extensively found not a single dragon; it is certain that beast of such immense size could not hide.

The tacticians reported, considering the time elapsed, that if the dragons existed they were either benevolent or cruelly malicious. On the other hand if they were nonexistent, they were most likely ambivalent.

The historians dissertated, ad nauseam, that although dragons appear in history, it was always in the form of folklore, usually to give point to the unexplainable or feared.

The scientists interpolated, through careful measurement and experimentation with smaller reptilian creatures, that creatures of the mass asserted, quantified to the report, could not survive in current climatic conditions without consuming all members of the kingdom Animalia, and one tenth of the kingdom Plantae, within in a radius of the diameter of the village squared ÷ including all of the villagers.

"And how do you answer to this report, Renn Dertru," bellowed Phalse Noblesse.

Renn's voice withered as he spoke, "I can only say that it was with my own two eyes that I saw them." Though his voice withered, his inner resolve did not. The ways of Verity had taught him to trust his senses completely, and to always hold the truth before him. He refused to withdraw his statement.

It was great sadness, but still greater dignity that he accepted his sentence of family exile.

The people of Verity quickly heard of both the report and the exile. The villagers were torn. They knew Renn well. He was a leader, chivalrous and cordial. But more than that he was known as a truth-sayer. Few doubted Renn's sighting and expected The Thinkers only to give explanation to it.

Many stood at the side of Renn as he, his wife, and his children, were dismissed through the gates of the city. "Let it be known that Renn Dertru has been exiled to live with his dragons," an the crier announced.

In response, an unknown towns-person stood atop an unseen crate and shouted words of departure that rang in the village for years, "Be it here, or in the forest, we must all live with our dragons." A few small, contemptuous laughs came from the direction of Noblesse and his Thinkers. The gathered crowd, however, was hushed.

At that moment, a few brave souls, without gathering even base necessities, decided to pass through the gates with Renn. In doing such they were giving up all that was known to them.

Renn and those who followed were exiled beyond the distance of communication and there they established, in relatively short order, the village of New Verity. If any looked at both villages it would be very hard to discern any difference ÷ for by all outward appearance, they were identical in their lifeway. It was in talking to the villagers however, that small but quite consequential differences were noted.

Being the perpetrators of exile, the folk of Verity now possessed new internal representation of the world ÷ schema ÷ a new way of acting when presented with conflicting information about the known. When an outsider attempted to open dialog, they were quickly evaluated within this schema. The initiate was welcomed with open arms if his dialog was in agreement with the established thought. If there was discord in thought, the initiate was vehemently urged to bring his thought into sympathy with the established schema. If he could not, he was dismissed. This schema grew stronger with each dismissal and each conformer. It grew to the point that the mere mention of dragons, of any form, resulted in immediate and permanent exile.

The people of New Verity, having been the victims of exile, also built schema. Their schema was extremely tolerant of new thought and it was through, this new thought that they grew.

To make a long story somewhat shorter, let it be said that both villages grew in their way. Verity was elated that dragons were no longer part of their existence, for now they had nothing to fear. New Verity was content to be living among their dragons, for there they found peace. Both villages believed themselves at one with their values.