I was surprised to hear that. Both in and out of character, I thought Alorin had a really good argument. I'd like to ramble a bit on why that is.Even the people who were clearly planning to move factions seemed to think Alorin sounded pretty crazy and were moving -despite- her, not -because- of her.
First, let's consider Alorin's words:
TL;DR: The essential premise of Alorin's argument is that resen is the greatest threat to the Lost Lands, and since people know how to control the nether, it's better to use what we know about the nether to contain the resen.Alorin says, "The nether is a force that could be the Lost Lands' salvation. Yes, it can be dangerous - but just like dangerous fire, nether can also be used for the good of mankind. Nobody in Caer Ioan wishes for the entirey of the Lost Lands to be completely altered beyond recognition by the nether. However, with the right amount of control, it can enhance man, beast, plant, and the land itself. More importantly, it can protect us from other more malevolent forces - specifically, that of the resen infestation. Have you ever heard of infested nethrim, or infestation afflicting nethertouched men or beasts? It cannot happen. The nether prevents any infestation from the resen. Between the two great powers rapidly and irrevocably altering our world - the nether and the resen - the nether is the clear preference. Unlike the resen which seeks to completely corrupt, dominate, and replace anything it touches, the nether can meld and transform - often enhance - without destroying what it affects. It can be controlled, honed, and even channeled for countless beneficial purposes."
Alorin says, "The resen infestation is by far the greatest threat to the Lost Lands. It is a vile corrupting fungus that robs man and beast of their wills, withers and replaces plantlife, and befouls the very air and even the climate of the land. The people of Caer Ioan seek to fight this destructive force that threatens to corrupt our world, but we can't hope to achieve victory without adapting in some way. Those with the canim condition are blessed with immunity to the effects of the spores, but the canim condition is still not well-understood, nor do we know what causes it. A much more achievable adaptation that we can actively induce is to become Nethertouched, which also prevents resen-infestation."
As far as I can tell, it is 100% absolutely true that resen is more dangerous than nether, and our characters know it. Most characters don't wear face-masks while fighting nethrim; no one is worried that killing nethrim will turn them into a nethrim. In fighting nethrim, characters need only concern themselves with straight-up combat. In contrast, consider all the extra concerns there are with fighting the infested. Characters wear face-masks and wash themselves, being worried about inhaling resen spores or carrying them on their clothes just by being near the infested, to say nothing of fighting them. There's no known cure for being infested. Consider this, too: without something to reanimate it, a nethrim corpse isn't really dangerous anymore; the corpse of an infested is absolutely still dangerous.
Containment is also different. Nethrim can't abide iron and fire, and both of those are easy for characters to acquire. You could theoretically, say, build an iron fence around an area. It'd take a lot of labor, but it'd be possible. How can the infested be contained? We know that they don't like the cold, but that's really dependent upon the weather. The only well-known method of generating cold (that our characters have access to) is through channeling nether, and even then, that's only sustainable for short periods of time. The infested can't be contained the same way that nethrim can be.
Is nether dangerous? You bet. And Alorin absolutely played down the dangers of nether; after all, plenty of people have been hurt or corrupted by it or lost their minds/souls/whatever as a result of it. But there are also dozens of schools and scholarly associations (just in the Lost Lands) whose sole occupation is studying nether. At the library, if they so choose, characters can receive formal training in making use of nether as a weapon. That's not something it's possible to say about the resen. Nobody knows how to control the resen, let alone treat it or undo its effects.
I mentioned earlier that this sounded like a good argument in-character as well. Here's what Dylan had to say about it:
It's a pretty complicated position for Dylan to take. As a result of some of his past experiences, he deeply distrusts sorcerers and nether, and he always goes out of his way to put down nethrim, but he's also willing to admit that Alorin had a point. By himself, Dylan personally would not have chosen to go to Caer Ioan - and certainly he would never choose to become nethertouched - but because he knew that his adopted daughter was unhappy living in Shadgard, he was ready to pack up and leave so that she wouldn't have to be alone. He had even cleaned out his room at the inn. (I'm not entirely sure how that's going to play out now, but not knowing is just part of the game!)[ESP-GRAY]: A vanilla entity begrudgingly admits, "I don't agree with or trust the folks who want to go puttin' nether into themselves, but if what that woman said is true - that bein' touched by nether means ya can't get the resen - then I reckon I do understand why folks would be willin' to take that risk in fightin' the resen. It's a choice born o' desperation. A bad choice, mind ya. But still a choice."
[ESP-GRAY]: A vanilla entity admits, "Ya see, I'm a coward. I only fight nethrim. And that's 'cause, in my heart o' hearts, I know resen is scarier."
Sorry for the long, rambling post. Maybe I'm completely wrong about the whole nether-resen thing, but this is how I see it. I'd like to hear other perspectives on Alorin's argument.