The Flood Compendium (Extra Submission Article #1)

"Bal Nashar sat beneath the damp streams of the roots for long days and long nights, and as he meditated Na'amet showed him many things. He saw a torrent of water flowing with the force of the wind itself, rushing in a tide from the clouded sky above the Roots, and carried aloft upon this torrent he saw three rafts. One was bright; it bore aloft glittering metal, strong, hard, steadfast. One was green, and bore blossoms cleaner than the Myzi, and altogether more trustworthy. The third raft bore a cage, and the things within were vague and pale, unused to the wind. When Bal Nashar awoke, he saw around him the contents of the rafts. Here was the metal, glistening brighter than the sun, and he named it Iron. Here were the blossoms, growing atop their supple moss, and Bal Nashar knew they were good as well. But there was no sign of the third raft; whether it had been lost on the torrent, or had emptied its pale shapes upon the wet Marrowstone, he did not know, and Na'amet bore no more visions that night." - Bal Nashar and the Seven Truths, Book 23 Verses 12-14

Summary

Widely considered to be one of the more essential passages in the epic of Bal Nashar, the Flood Compendium is a passage that occurs during the 4 book long sequence in which Bal Nashar discovers the Apex and it's gifts. Second only to the opening verses describing Bal Nashar's unity with the Wind, the Compendium is revered for it's highliting of the gifts of the water, essential as they are for life on the Tooth. However, among the purists who live far away from the Apex and use it's products as little as possible, the Compendium is viewed with skepticism. They view the water as an enemy of the Wind, and they see the Katanari's reliance on the Apex as the principal reason for the lack of the union with Na'amet that Bal Nashar enjoyed.
Most Katanari are not so radical, but there are few who do not view the mention of the "vague and pale" shapes with apprehension and mistrust, as they are explicitly stated to be creatures of the water and not of the Wind.
Should Humanity be discovered on Vol Yhaera, this mistrust of the Pale Ones likely would eliminate any possibility for there to be peace between the two species, for on Vol Yhaera to be against the Wind is to be antithetical to the very being of the world.