"When the world burns - sometimes running into the conflagration just means you die as well. Sometimes all you can do is save what you can." The Abbot's eyes are distant for a moment, focused on something far away and long ago. He shakes his head, and his gaze comes back to Saram Zen. "A sanctuary may not quench the flames, but it can preserve skills and knowledge and resources and lives, and serve as a rallying point, and I do not call that useless."

He stops, and breathes deliberately slowly for a moment. "Still. Abstract arguments aside... hmm." He gives Saram Zen a sideways look. "You are unusually direct, by the standards of your kind." A faint smile. "Try not to lose that, as you grow older."

"It's true that at present, we could afford to spare some people. Provided only a few went at a time, our ability to deal with emergencies here in the mountains would not be badly diminished. There is still the danger that they'd draw too much attention here, while they're inexperienced in the wider world - but you may be right that the potential benefits outweigh the risks, and once a few had gone traveling, they could advise others..."

Haven taps his fingers together. "How sensitive is your mission, Saram Zen? Would it be compromised by the addition of a traveling companion or two?" He raises an eyebrow at the young Air Aspect.