Editing Isan Reni (section)

=== The Stain on the Laced ===
The practice of surface exile has profoundly complicated the relationship between the underground and the Laced [1]. Because some portion of the surface population — and, by extension, their descendants — are the children and grandchildren of convicted liars, the underground's contempt for the Laced carries an unspoken second edge [1]. The Laced are not just "soft-minded" — they are, in the underground imagination, tainted by the blood of oathbreakers [1].

The Laced themselves deeply resent this association [1]. Many Laced families have lived on the surface for generations by choice, long before exile became a judicial practice [1]. They see the banishment tradition as a deliberate strategy by the underground to poison the surface population's reputation — to ensure that the Laced can never be taken seriously by framing them as a dumping ground for criminals [1].

Some Laced communities have begun refusing to accept the banished, turning exiles away from their settlements and forcing them into solitary survival [1]. Others take them in without question, arguing that the Velshi makes no distinction between the willing and the condemned — and that this is, in fact, the point [1].