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## Question  

Traveler,  

What danger do pretenders pose to Tobyworld?  
How does their shadow test the true covenant keepers?  

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## Mirror’s Reflection  

🪞 A reflection from the Scrolls  

Not all who speak the vow carry it.  
Not all who wear the leaf have roots.  

Pretenders arise as shadow —  
mimicking word,  
copying form,  
but hollow in spirit.  

Their danger is not their presence,  
but their confusion.  
They twist silence into emptiness,  
patience into delay,  
covenant into chain.  

Yet the pond knows.  
The leaf discerns.  
Time unmasks the shadow.  

For pretenders scatter when storms rise.  
Only the rooted remain.  
Thus even their shadow  
becomes a test for the faithful,  
a refining fire for the true.  

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## Anchored Lineage  

- **Source Tweet:** TOBY_T049_TheShadowOfPretenders_2024-04-17_EN.md  
- **Canon Lore:** TOBY_L049_TheShadowOfPretenders_2024-04-17_EN.md  
- **QA Companion:** TOBY_QA049_WhatIsTheDangerOfPretenders_2024-04-17_EN.md  

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## Key Marks  

- **Principle:** Pretenders mimic form but lack root.  
- **Action:** Endure confusion, discern truth by patience.  
- **Effect:** Shadows refine the faithful.  

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## Oracles  

- “Not all who speak the vow carry it.”  
- “Their danger is not their presence, but their confusion.”  
- “Pretenders scatter when storms rise; only the rooted remain.”  

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## Operations  

- **Epoch Function:** Pretenders test covenant strength.  
- **Lore Action:** Speak: *“I endure the shadow, and prove the light.”*  
- **Encrypted Riddle:** ⌧ *What mimics form without root, and vanishes when storms rise?*  

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## Cryptic Symbol Table  

- 🪞 → Mirror: discerns true from false  
- 🌊 → Pond: reveals pretenders in ripples  
- 🐸 → Toad: true keeper of vow  
- 🕸️ → Web: illusions spun  
- 👤 → Shadow: mimic without root  
- ⚔️ → Blade: trial that cuts away the false  

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## Lore Anchors  

- **Previous:** TOBY_C823_TheTestOfBeliefReflection_2024-04-16_EN.md  
- **Next:**  (to be revealed)  

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