Spore-Tactician Xith

Xith taught successive generations how to consider a spore-cloud: where it might drift, what it might encounter, and how long its effects could outlast the moment of release. Their yellow lattice of a face became familiar to students who learned that the most difficult part of the lesson was waiting.

After forty years, Xith watched high broodmothers turn the syllabus into a set of rigid commands. They used the teachings without attending to the circumstances that made them useful, and entire broods paid for the mistakes. Xith’s protests reached the court but did not change its habits.

Aboard Patient Inhalation, the old instructor continues to teach anyone prepared to observe before acting. Xith is severe with a careless student and surprisingly generous with one who admits uncertainty. The broodmothers may still quote their lessons, but Xith wants the living practice back from those who have mistaken repetition for understanding.