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Ernozio was a little disappointed the Vapor Herself hadn't entered the
room and spoken to him, but he tried to believe that she would come to him
when they were alone.

The next neighbor had a nagging cyst on his hoof. The lamp lit up and
filled the room with light and music, causing the neighbor to grab a
tambourine and dance, something she had been unable to do for many years
because of the pain in her hoof.

Ernozio grew bold. He borrowed the tambourine and galloped out into
the streets, singing a song of praise to the Vapor, attracting a crowd. By the
time Ernozio reached the ninth house in the village, however, two healers and
seven authorities were waiting to arrest Ernozio. But the authorities would
have none of it. The Transmutator among them was ordered to uncorporealize
Ernozio's beautiful centaur legs so that he could no longer trot through the
village.

To the end, Ernozio was defiant. Even as his legs were dissolving into
grotesque curves and bits of curling vines and feathers, he continued to strike
on the tambourine and sing the praises of the Vapor of Knowledge. They finally
yanked his lamp from him and smashed it to the ground.

There was an inverted whirlpool of colors which spun in ever-increasing
spirals throughout the village. Many and many were cured that day.

Trial was swift and certain. Ernozio gave his defense, including a
recounting of his dream, but alas, he was charged and convicted of espionage
and treason. His death followed the next day. They used his own bones to
build an enormous birdcage-looking shrine, with a mockery of his lamp inside,
lit with a foul-smelling low-grade oil, and an inscription which read “Beware ye
who spy on state secrets.”

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