PANEL ONE: Close on Erlak's champion, staring into the sky. CHAMPION (thinking): I wonder if the gods daydream... PANEL TWO: Erlak sits next to Nizini. ERLAK: Zeen, have you ever wondered what it would be like to be the patron of a theocrative empire that forced all its subjects to worship you on pain of torture and death? NIZINI: Sometimes you scare me. PANEL THREE: Close on Erlak's champion. CHAMPION: When I was a boy, I used to dream of one day being a champion of a god. PANEL FOUR: Erlak's champion stands in ornate armor. (This and the next five panels are taking place in the champion's imagination; the champion is not speaking in these panels, but his thoughts appear in a caption.) CAPTION: My patron would grant me the finest of armor and equipment... PANEL FIVE: In the ornate armor, he rides a winged, feathered beast through the sky. CAPTION: ...and a wonderful magical steed on whose back I could fly across the land... PANEL SIX: He fights a shelly monster. CAPTION: ...and in my patron's name I would battle evil and perform all manner of heroism. PANEL SEVEN: He kneels at the foot of a king. CAPTION: Rulers and wise men of all nations would honor me for my valiant deeds... PANEL EIGHT: A glowing god (not Erlak) smiles benevolently. CAPTION: ...and my divine patron would look down from the mountains of the gods and smile at my valor and faithfulness. PANEL NINE: The champion wears a white robe and has feathered wings on his back. CAPTION: And on my death, I would become a haneal, a direct servant of the gods, the greatest honor a mortal can be granted. PANEL TEN: We return to reality: the champion riding the rat Nezhoni across a grassland. CHAMPION: Somehow, things don't seem to be working out quite the way I'd hoped for... NEZHONI: I've got a dream too. It involves you, a catapult, and a really deep canyon.