The strange device rested in a shielded case under the dark green light of the Kalonia station. "This instrument is called a klane", Crinomu said. "Many thousands of years before the Vow Of Earth, one amongst a group of human settlers on the fecund moon known as Glysaranda 4.IV made the first ever klane. Over more than five hundred years it was perfected by a succession of designers until it became a totemic symbol of that moon, known far and wide for its cultural significance. The klane was first and foremost a tool, and a tool of great subtlety for it is capable of serving many purposes and it was crucial in the taming of the wild southern jungles of Glysaranda 4.IV. The klane is also a weapon and it is in this role that it found fame. The knight wanderers adopted the klane for their own. With the klane they fought duels according to baroque codes of honour incomprehensible outside Glysaranda 4.IV. Off world they took the klane into battle against the Dark Legions in the desperate days when the Golden Allies made their last stand and called on all the Systems of the Arm to aid them. This is all long forgotten now and in truth it was scarcely remembered even before the Vow Of Earth when I had an interest in the place and time this klane was created. I doubt there is anyone left on Earth but myself who knows of Glysaranda 4.IV and the culture that gave rise to the klane. If there are any in the Galactic Compact who have records still, we have no way of knowing. This particular klane is a collector's item. It belonged to a famous knight wanderer of the fifth dynasty called Jalesh and comes from the time when, in my opinion, the art of fashioning klanes was at its height for the instruments of that period are of surpassing refinement, potency and beauty. The story of how such a venerable weapon came into my hands is a long and intricate one in its own right and I do not wish to tell it now. Suffice to say that it has been resting here in Kalonia from the time before the destruction of records and the start of the Season of Innocence. It was ancient then and it is doubly so now, yet such was the skill with which it was made that it will still function. I wish you to have it now for I fear you will have need of it."