[Liem is distracted from his own musings by the question Hayame raises. It's not one he's ever considered, and he blinks in faint bemusement at what she seems to be implying. Though almost more strange is the fact that she seems to expect an answer, like this is something Liem might have any knowledge about. He has no idea why that might be the case.]

I don't know. [He answers slowly, unsure. After another moment, he tips his head slightly to one side, thoughtful.] I knew that some of the shard-bearers here are native to Kenos, but I've always assumed they must simply have been born that way.

[He eventually came to think of their arrivals in Horos as a sort of birth, and certainly what he saw in his sun-bead implied that he'd left his old, shardless body behind with his world. Surely such births happened the usual way as well?]

Is that… not the case? I confess, I've never heard anyone speak of such a thing.