The Storyteller ( episode ) Chief O ' Brien is appointed spiritual leader of a Bajoran village . Meanwhile , Nog and Jake try to help their new friend settle a struggle between two Bajoran villages . Summary . Teaser . Sisko is busy preparing to receive the Paqu and Navot delegations , but another issue has come up with O ' Brien . The chief has been assigned to pilot a runabout to Bajor , but he casually tries to find an excuse to get out of it . When his travel companion , Dr . Bashir , enters , it is obvious why O ' Brien does not want to go : he does not like Bashir , who is oblivious to this fact . They have been told there is a medical emergency on a village on Bajor , although the nature of the emergency is uncertain . Sisko leaves O ' Brien stuck with Bashir , leaving them in the turbolift to greet the newly - arrived leader of the Paqu . When they get there , they meet Tetrarch Varis Sul – a fifteen - year - old girl . Act One . During the trip to Bajor , Bashir tries to make small talk , but O ' Brien gives him the cold shoulder . Bashir does ask O ' Brien not to call him " sir " , but to use his first name , " Julian " . They beam to the surface to meet the village ' s magistrate , Faren Kag , but find no signs of disease , despite Faren ' s claim that the village is in danger of extinction . A man , simply called the , is dying , and Faren believes they will all die with him . Confused , Bashir gets to work . Meanwhile , Varis and the Navot leader , Woban , meet with Sisko and Kira . They explain that they have had a treaty for ninety years and that it declares the boundary between their people a designated river , the Glyrhond . However , during the Occupation , the Cardassian s diverted the river for their mining operations and caused twenty kilometer s of land to shift from Navot to Paqu control . While Woban claims the land is still his , Varis believes the original boundary – the river – still stands . They break temporarily , and as Varis passes by a bored Jake and Nog on the Promenade , Nog is lovestruck . Bashir finishes his scan when the Sirah wakes . He cries about something called the Dal ' Rok and calls for his apprentice , Hovath . He tries to get out of bed , but Bashir stops him . Suspecting the Prophet s have sent him , he feels for his " pagh " , but doesn ' t see it . He calls for his companion , so O ' Brien comes over . This time , curiously , he is pleased . The Sirah dismisses them , and Bashir explains to the leader outside that he is suffering system - wide organ failure from old age , and there ' s nothing he can do . Dismayed , he explains the Dal ' Rok , a " terrible creature , " will threaten the village that night and only the Sirah can save them . Act Two . Back on the station , Nog takes Jake to Varis ' quarters , but neither has the nerve to ring the doorbell , and they begin arguing . Suddenly the door is opened – Varis no doubt was checking to see what the commotion was all about . Jake and ( especially ) Nog nervously stumble over their words to offer Varis a tour of the station , mentioning that a Klingon freighter is leaving for the Gamma Quadrant through the wormhole . She accepts with a hint of a smile . That night , against Dr . Bashir ' s medical advice , the Sirah insists that he be allowed to " tell the story " as a dark cloud forms over the village ( although no atmospheric disturbances or energy discharges can be found with tricorder s ) . He stands on a rock where all the villagers can look at him as his back is to the cloud . He begins to give an inspirational speech , which lifts the hearts of the villagers and causes some sort of energy beam to rise from the village . This seems to push the ominously close cloud back , but the Sirah finally collapses . As he does so , the beam stops and the villagers panic . Without his help , the cloud – the " Dal ' Rok " of their legend – fires a lightning - like beam and injures several people . Act Three . Bashir and O ' Brien help the Sirah to his feet and he asks for his successor , but not Hovath , his prior apprentice . He wants O ' Brien . Urgently , the Sirah dictates what O ' Brien should say and has him tell the story of how the village is stronger than the Dal ' Rok . The villagers rejoice as the cloud - like formation is pushed away and disappears ; immediately thereafter , the Sirah collapses and Faren proclaims O ' Brien the new Sirah . In Sisko ' s office , he confronts Varis about the last long round of unproductive talks . Bluntly , he asks whether she is there to talk or to start a war , since she has been wasting everyone ' s time to this point . She insists that the land belongs to the Paqu , despite claims otherwise . He asks if her people are as ready to die for the land as she seems to be , but she storms out . She heads out to the Promenade where she encounters Nog and Jake . She tells the two of them about her land negotiations , but in a circumspect way and Nog suggests that this could be an opportunity instead of a problem . Both Jake and Nog suggest talking to her parents , but she sadly reports that both her parents were killed by the Cardassians during the occupation . They all get chased off by Odo . On the planet , neither Bashir nor O ' Brien can figure out what the strange creature was , nor how it was controlled . Bashir takes the opportunity to tease O ' Brien before some of the villagers arrive bearing gifts and offering services ( apparently including his choice of young , beautiful women ) . When O ' Brien says he is a married man , Faren insists that O ' Brien bring his wife and daughter down to the village to live with him . As he exits , the Sirah ' s previous apprentice , Hovath stares at O ' Brien with undisguised hatred . The only thing they can do is figure out what the Dal ' Rok is and destroy it . Act Four . Jake and Nog visit Varis again , but she is preoccupied with the negotiations . Just as the two boys turn to leave , she asks how you can " be sure that an opportunity is worth the risk . " Nog quotes the ninth Rule of Acquisition to her : " Opportunity plus instinct equals profit . " This rings a bell for her , and says that helped , even though Jake and Nog still don ' t know her problem . Nog decides to celebrate with a practical joke and drags the other two to Odo ' s office to swipe his bucket with a Cardassian security rod that Nog has . In the office , Nog tells them to watch the front door and then heads to look for the bucket . After a moment , he comes running out , trips and the contents of the bucket spill onto Jake . Nog begins to laugh at the joke because the contents were oatmeal . The three join in the laughter , just as Odo walks into the office and takes the bucket from Nog , who , in attempting to escape , runs headlong into Sisko . Bashir and O ' Brien continue to search for any hints of what the Dal ' Rok might be when they are approached by a woman wanting her baby blessed by the Sirah . O ' Brien leaves Bashir to distract the crowd and heads back to the Sirah ' s home . There , Hovath approaches O ' Brien , and while O ' Brien continues to search , draws a dagger and lunges at O ' Brien . Instinct saves him and they struggle for a moment until Bashir enters the room and gets between the combatants . Hovath is disarmed and tells O ' Brien that he is not the " true Sirah " and that Hovath is . Act Five . Hovath explains his apprenticeship to O ' Brien and Bashir and told how he was unable to control the Dal ' Rok three nights ago . He then shows them a bracelet that apparently contains a fragment of one of the Orb s from the Celestial Temple . Hovath continues his story , telling them of the first Sirah , back when the village was split by hatred and mistrust , and how he used the fragment to create the Dal ' Rok , and thus " give their fears a physical form " and force the villagers to work together to defeat it . O ' Brien gives the Sirah ' s robe to Hovath , but Faren enters and tells Hovath that he had failed and would not be allowed to endanger the village again . In his office , Sisko listens to Varis as she takes responsibility for the actions of Jake and Nog in the security office earlier , telling him that they were just trying to impress her . She tells him that she was trying to learn more about him and that Jake thought very highly of his father . Her own father , Varis reports , was a great man who had been feared by the Navot . Turning to the talks , she admits she has been trying to be strong as he was . He could afford to make compromises because the Navot feared him , but she would not have the same luxury , appearing weak . Varis supposes " you don ' t lose by saying no , " but Sisko remarks that great leaders know when to risk saying " yes . " This prompts her to suggest she may have " an opportunity " that allows both sides to say " yes . " In the village , O ' Brien is reluctantly getting ready to tell the story . The crowd urges him on as he reaches the platform , but he is obviously not comfortable . He begins to tell the story , poorly , as the Dal ' Rok makes its appearance . There is no sign of the sparkling lights to fight off the Dal ' Rok though . Meanwhile , Bashir encourages Hovath to step up to his true role and that the prior Sirah had likely chosen O ' Brien so that Hovath could rescue him , and thus regain the confidence of the villagers . As the Dal ' Rok comes in for the final attack , Hovath rushes onto the platform , grabs the bracelet from O ' Brien and begins to tell the story , brimming with confidence . The lights appear , and the Dal ' Rok is driven off and defeated once again . Bashir and O ' Brien quietly make their escape . Back on the station , O ' Brien tells Bashir that he ' s had enough of storytelling for a while , and Bashir informs him that he is not required to call him " Julian " . Walking with Sisko , Varis is nervous about the compromise she is going to suggest ; giving the Navot their land , but allowing free access to the river for the Paqu . They encounter Jake and Nog , watched by Odo of course , and she thanks them both , giving Nog a kiss on the cheek . Odo walks the two boys to the security office to clean up the mess they left . Just then , Bashir and O ' Brien arrive back on the station . Bashir ' s interested in telling people about what happened , but O ' Brien has had enough of storytelling . Memorable quotes . " " My dad ' s a pretty smart guy . " " " " Mine too ! In his own way . " " " " I ' m not a little lady ! " " " " I ' m still charging her for that drink . " " " " Once . . . upon a time . . . there was a Dal ' Rok ! " " " " I mean , for all we know , you really were sent by the Prophets . " " " " I was sent " by " Commander Sisko ! " " " " All right now . . . let ' s really focus ! " " " " I believe in people working together to find reasonable solutions to their problems . I hope you do as well . " " Links and references . References . 2279 ; afternoon ; apprentice ; bacterial contamination ; Bajor ; Bajoran Provisional Government ; Bajoran wormhole ; baseball ; baseball glove ; Battle of Wolf 359 ; bed ; ; border ; Borg ; Boyer ; bracelet ; bridge ; Cardassian s ; celestial temple ; cellular decay ; chauffeur ; civil war ; creature ; curve ball ; dagger ; Dal ' Rok ; docking bay ; docking port ; door bell ; father ; Gamma Quadrant ; Gamzian wine ; Glyrhond River ; harvest ; hitter ; holographic image ; holosuite ; " hors d ' œuvres " ; hour ; Human ; infection ; jelly bean ; kilometer ; Klingon ; Klingon freighter ; larish pie ; level 1 diagnostic ; magistrate ; mediator ; medical emergency ; medical tricorder ; mining ; mirror ; Navot ; neutrino ; night ; oatmeal ; ; ; Occupation of Bajor ; Odo ' s bucket ; orb ; orbit ; PADD ; Paqu ; Paqu - Navot Treaty ; phase coil generator ; plate ; pollutant ; promenade ; Prophet s ; quarters ; replicator ; Rom ; Rules of Acquisition ; runabout ; security office ; security rod ; shapeshifter ; sir ; ; ; soil ; stardrifter ; station log ; superior officer ; synthale ; systemic organ failure ; table ; targ ; tetrarch ; treaty ; tricorder ; Trixian bubble juice ; uncle ; Varis Sul ' s father ; village ; water ; woods ; year