In "The Winds of Darkover", Dan Barron, a Terran, has visions of Storn Heights, brought to him by a "laran" rapport with Brynat Storn. In Chapter 1, he sees Sharra: In the midst of the flame there was a woman... She was almost inhumanly tall and slender, but girlish; she stood bathed in the flame as if standing carelessly under a waterfall... She looked merry and smiling... And then the girlish, merry face wavered and became supernally beautiful with the beauty of a great goddess burning endlessly in the fire, a kneeling woman bound in golden chains... Later: [T]he figure changed, grew, and was, again, the great chained Being, regal, burning, searing her beauty into his heart and brain. The ancient Keeper of Comyn Tower, Ashara, tries to explain Sharra to Lew Alton, who is, one might say, "possessed" by the Form of Fire after the events in "The Heritage of Hastur". Ashara hints that Sharra is actually an extra-dimensional being and the Sharra matrix is used to summon her. She also hints at the reason the matrix was set into a sword: "What do you think would happen to a person who was killed with such a sword?" Darkovan culture in the Domains is essentially feudal: the Comyn are the nobility and there is a king of Elhalyn lineage. Rarely, an Elhalyn is crowned king and rules, but usually the actual rule of the Domains is entrusted to the Hasturs, since the Elhalyns are considered "unstable." Thus there is a Hastur regent and the ranking male of the Elhalyn domain is given respect but no real power. The seven Domains have lesser family names associated with them, as noted above. All other persons are "commoners" and even if they have "laran" they probably have no chance of social advancement, although they may obtain tower training and earn respect. There are two important languages on Darkover: Cahuenga, spoken generally by everyone, and Casta, usually only spoken by the nobility. There are mountain, lowland and regional accents and dialects. Sometimes Bradley attempts to reproduce a dialect with English contractions and spelling. For instance, in "Hawkmistress!", Part 3, Chapter 5, Romilly, the protagonist, realizes "with horror" that her mountain accent has crept into her speech when she says, "...I'm nae servant to the lady; if ye' want her fetched and carried for, me lord, ye' can even do it yerself."