References:
Gulag Archipelago. I have some specific notes somewhere, I think in the catch all's I call "summaries."
Play: Lots of overlap with other chapters (see below). Recall the Tempest and Anitgone. The Merchant of Venice is the new one here. Also Brothers Karamazov.
"You are like a bubble in the ocean floating to the surface." This chapter is about element sickness- the withdrawal. Next one is about saturation.
From this scene, Clarissa is told to go to the desert and find Drarebe's people. She has to drink from the River of Dreams. Ironically, she is drowned in the Water of the cult. The desert dwellers do not partake in raids against the Conduit Cities. They guard the River of Dreams (TKCoolName). It is a draught of pure consciousness, containing a mix of all beings created in this galaxy by the Steward. Almost all of which are gone, of course. The tralaticon spark which hit the earth contained a piece of the Steward's soul (Soul Infusion, it was their weapon) and split the river in two. Downstream one sees the world through God's eyes. Clarissa must drink of this. Must pass the tests in order to become the Steward's agent and save a galaxy. She must also learn of Chaos. That is what the desert dwellers know: someone who drinks from the stream without preparation can bring a being of Chaos into the world. It has happened and they train to fight them. What weapons do they wield? What an awesome quest and an awesome charge to fulfill. Patrols are filled with effective, but normal warriors. If an outsider passes their screen and drinks from the river, a Fire Eater is called. These special people are half warrior and half shaman. Only pure fire can truly defeat a beast of Chaos. They channel the energy of the sun through their bodies and die in the process, but annihilate the Chaos entity.
What does Clarissa discover here with the Ergon? Does it lead her to the desert later? To drink from the River of Dreams which flows out from the Scar? That would be interesting. Try this: The man wanted to be captured. He was a shaman's apprecentice and drank from the waters below the Scar. He saw this place in a vision and came here (after consulting with elders). He does not know his mission. He only knew that he needed to go. Even now, on the edge of death, he accepts that this was his fate. He is afraid, but regrets nothing. He is a mentor character for sure, and guides her towards self-sovereignty, but the Pool smashes this down. Perhaps a rat or dog approaches. It is clear to the shaman there is something wrong with it and interrogates it as if it could understand him. I haven't dealt with this issue in awhile- does the Pool merge with animals to spy?
Perhaps she is sent to the Pool before him. He sees in her eyes that his words have been washed away. Is he a shaman? I think he should be a low level one. When he sees the Pool it terrifies him and a hand actually comes up and out, something that has never happened before, to silence him before he can speak or use his magic. But what happens when the Pool enters this Ergon? He has drank from the River of Dreams. Perhaps nothing. Perhaps a lot. I do not know right now. Perhaps when he sees that Clarissa is lost, he breaks free of his bonds and attacks, killing several cultists, until Clarissa subdues and kills him. This would negate the need for the Pool to deal with the shaman.
Clarissa is now open to listening to the Ergon because the Census Office is Infusing its soldiers in the same way, in her mind, that the Ergon do. Perhaps he saw the body. Maybe they talk about it? She learns the Ergon are totally different than she thought. Don't get lost though- the man's self-sovereignty is the main thrust of this. The Ergon are mentioned earlier in the Brass scene as likely enemies sending the entities after the Census Office, which sparked the Infusion in the first place.
This mindset is as foreign to Clarissa as the man's clothing. This is where the seed of self-trust is planted. You do not need a plan to move forward, only a direction you believe in. The Ergon was brought up in a culture which trusts in their visions.
Clarissa is led to the Pool and watches the Ergon die. When she is lead up, the Pool reveals itself to her as an entity and brainwashes her hard. Showing her its stregnth and its vision. She is washed clean, but is more blank than ever. Will she get her mind back?
Mechanically, what is going on here? The elemental cannot erase her innate element makeup, only continuously gloss over it with itself. Her true self is not gone, it is covered up, buried under the ocean, so to speak.