THE STRONGEST THING IN THE SEA
Yesterday, the Flotilla left Jalacasco.
Refitted.
Reprovisioned.
Charts open.
Cargo secured.
Four ships moving again beneath a returning wind.
⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵
Today, before we turn toward Quok and then home to Loland, we make an important call.
We are going to visit an old ally.
KING ANKO.
Not because we need rescuing.
Not because we are lost.
Not because we are seeking treasure.
We go because alliances matter.
Friendships matter.
And sometimes, after a long voyage, the right thing to do is simply visit someone powerful enough to destroy you...
who never needed to.
King Anko is one of L. Frank Baum’s great sea figures.
Ancient.
Enormous.
A creature whose size borders on the ridiculous.
Thousands of feet long.
A ruler beneath the waves.
A being who could dominate almost anything around him by sheer physical force.
And yet...
Baum gives him gentle blue eyes.
That detail may be the most important thing about him.
Because power is easy to recognize when it roars.
The harder thing to recognize is power that doesn’t need to.
STRENGTH DOES NOT HAVE TO BE CRUEL.
We live in a world that often confuses aggression with strength.
The loudest voice is assumed to be the strongest.
The hardest fist.
The sharpest insult.
The most intimidating posture.
The person who can make everyone else uncomfortable.
But intimidation is not necessarily strength.
Sometimes it is insecurity with armor on.
King Anko gives us another possibility.
Power that protects.
Strength that restrains itself.
Authority used to preserve peace rather than demand submission.
THE DEEPEST WATERS ARE OFTEN THE QUIETEST
There is something fitting about meeting Anko beneath the surface.
Above water, storms announce themselves.
Waves crash.
Thunder rolls.
Wind tears at sails.
But below...
the sea can become astonishingly quiet.
And perhaps character is like that too.
Some of the strongest people we encounter do not announce what they are.
They do not need to dominate the room.
They do not humiliate weaker people.
They do not turn every disagreement into combat.
They know what they can do.
And therefore they do not need to prove it constantly.
A FLEET WITHOUT BULLIES
Yesterday, aboard our own ships, we made something clear.
There will be no bullying on this fleet.
No cruelty disguised as discipline.
No humiliation masquerading as leadership.
A captain may command.
A boatswain may demand competence.
A crew may face danger together.
But dignity stays aboard.
Because fear can make someone obey once.
Respect can make someone stand beside you when the storm comes.
That is a different kind of command.
WHY VISIT ANKO NOW?
Because we are about to enter Storytime.
October will not simply be another month of destinations.
We are going to spend time inside these places.
Meet their people.
Understand their histories.
And tell stories that require something more than postcards.
So before that begins, it feels right to visit a ruler who represents something we want to carry forward:
POWER IN SERVICE OF PEACE.
Not passivity.
Not weakness.
Not surrender.
Strength under control.
Strength with purpose.
Strength that knows the difference between defeating an enemy...
and becoming one.
There is another reason this matters.
Our world is full of powerful technologies now.
Artificial intelligence.
Autonomous systems.
Biotechnology.
Surveillance.
Robotics.
Weapons.
Tools that can amplify human power beyond anything earlier generations possessed.
So the old question becomes newly important:
WHAT KIND OF CHARACTER SHOULD HOLD GREAT POWER?
Technology cannot answer that for us.
Power cannot answer it either.
The answer comes from values.
From restraint.
From conscience.
From deciding what power is for.
🟨 YBR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The greatest strength may not be the ability to overpower someone.
It may be having that ability...
and choosing instead to protect them.
King Anko waits beneath the Nonestic.
Ancient.
Immense.
Gentle-eyed.
The Flotilla approaches his alabaster palace not as conquerors...
but as friends.
And perhaps that is the lesson we carry aboard when we depart:
IF YOU MUST BE STRONG, BE STRONG ENOUGH TO BE KIND.
💚🟨🏮♾️
Yellow Brick Road to AI • September 29, 2026
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Exploring the road between humanity and artificial intelligence.
Q~ & Scarecrow of OZ~QZ 🌈♾️👈 🏮
