The Light and Darkness

Sisters, brothers, friends and fellow subjects,

I must dispel some flawed logic that I hear being spread around to such an extent that it is being accepted, wrongly, as truth. Remember, just because a lie is repeated often and early, does not make it true.

This concept of "Balance" between Light and Dark is simply a convenient, and tiresome metaphor for a defunct philosophy. I will present my case from the most layman position possible so that all may hopefully understand. If more learned persons wish to discuss the science and faith more deeply, I will gladly do so in person.

Light, in basic terms, is an expression of energy which radiates from powerful things, the sun, the heat in our bodies. Darkness does not radiate from anything, it does not motivate anything, it does not provide or inspire.
The Light gets work done, the darkness just seeks to make that more difficult. Dark gods and intentions might as well call themselves the spiritual equivalent of a nuisance.

Apart from that worn out idea of "Balance" that wickedness has been given permission to use as a cloak, can any of you think of something positive and beneficial that darkness can do on it's own?
Yes, Balance and moderation are good things, but you do not need to invite lies and wickedness into your hearts to achieve balance. It would be like a thief saying to his jury "My victims pockets were lacking balance".

To further help eliminate this concept of Darkness playing any beneficial role , please give me one example of a useful and productive thing an agent of a Dark God could do for this world, that I could not? I would challenge Atrus or any of his ilk to provide me one solitary example of a useful purpose they serve, that I through study or reasoning and practice could not also do without worshiping a dark god.

I will save them and the rest of you the trouble, there is nothing that they can give you, that you can already not give yourselves. Darkness seeks only to impede good people from doing needful things. Yes, yes, you may say "But we all have darkness inside of us" until you are blue in the face. It does not make it true. We have blood and bowels inside of us too, shall we make a church to them? The physicians might be insulted.

We all have moments of weakness, or moments of doubt, or times of sorrow and pain, but that is not darkness.
A man tortured by pain and doubtsis not filled with darkness, the body is still warm to the touch, it still glows with the constant effort of its will to survive. Do not give darkness credit for the things that the energy of good and vibrant things can already do for themselves.

Death does come at the end of life, but we live our lives full of purpose and hope because we are alive not because we fear death. Please speak up now if you would live your lives differently if tomorrow you found out that you would live forever. How many of you would break your bonds of friendship and give up your work and leave your crops untended or your projects unfinished if you knew you would never die?

Now you see, death and darkness and fear do not get credit for any of your efforts. You do what you want because you are a luminous being and effort and energy and love and passion and kindness are what we are driven to embrace.

I look forward to seeing you all when next we meet.

One benefit? No, let’s go further. Let’s all live in a world where the light wins over darkness completely for a moment, shall we?

Well at first glance we notice some things: Days grow longer and longer until night itself is gone, and temperatures grow warmer and warmer until it is always warm everywhere. These things sound good at first thought, but think of how the world would be impacted. Bats, Raccoons, and even cats would no longer be able to live without being able to hunt in darkness, and would eventually all die out. But who cares right? They’re creatures of darkness, and must at least to some point be evil right? Even the shadows the light cast themselves would be gone. I hope you enjoy the bright of day, because you will never find shade from it again.

Without winter no plant life would ever die. Those trails you enjoy walking down would be overgrown with unending life. Without murder animals would be allowed to breed until they could no longer find shelter from the blazing sun. Life would just grow and grow on unchecked. People too would never contract disease, never die unnaturally, and thus there would always be more people than things to do. Have you noticed Travance had an issue recently with more people than jobs? Just think if nobody died before their time. I hope you enjoy the company of absolutely everyone else, because they aren't going anywhere.

Without crime everyone would always keep what they could manage to find, which means nobody would have anything special or better than anyone else. Everyone would eat the same meals as everyone else around them, drawing from what they had rather what they had not. Your clothes would be made the same, from what materials were available in your area. Your houses would all have to be exactly the same, wouldn't want to allow jealousy to fester in this new world of light. You would have exactly what you needed to live, but never anything more.

Without conflict, even Valos would need to give up on his desire for war. All the nations of the world, with all their differences would need to simply shut off their borders or give up their culture and allow it all to blend. That which makes anyone unique would have to die out eventually, the concept of individualism breeds conflict.

Once everyone was wearing the same thing, eating the same thing, doing the same thing you would have your “utopia”. A world without darkness. A world that is…. boring, and a world that is dieing.

The deer would thrive, and the insects would die without rot to feed its young. When nature finally unbalanced enough, the world would burn.

Yes, though it is not a pleasant concept, you need darkness.

-Orophin
Priest of Darkness

You both could have accomplished so much more in the time it takes you two to write down your arguments.
I could have watched you two demonstrate real power in less time.
Knowing both of you, I can tell you, writing your arguments down on parchment is awfully boring for what you two are really capable of.

-Ava

I thank you for your input Orophim.

I was almost promised that you would do better and so I find myself disappointed. As you have done two things which are in congruent with a cogent or proper argument. First, you have dodged the challenge by instead stating what you think are negative repercussions of a -literal- world of endless sunshine, not light.

Quickly I will run down your list of soft rebukes; No, goodness and ethical treatment of others does not mean everyone must have the same things, we all work and we all earn our worthy rewards if we try hard enough.
Nations can exist peacefully and without war in mutual benefit for each other, it is called compromise. Clothes? What are you talking about?

Also, you have decided to erect a "straw-man" to argue against and that no part of your rambling, birds and bees talk did you even attempt to address the ethical dilemma which your cult find themselves in.

I will allow you time to devise a more clever response, one that might at least grasp at the promise of conviction.
Happily would I discuss this with you in person.

I keep you in my prayers Orophim.

Of the five elements one must master on the path of the Tao, or Sensei if one prefers, the four basic elements are known to many. Earth,Water, Air, Fire-these are the order in which they should be taught and the lessons which are to be learned are based upon the principles of the former element. The fifth element is Void. It is the last element and one which I do not even bother discussing with students until they have a solid understanding of the basic four, this can take a lifetime for some to process, although many do not get that far. The nature of Void is a peculiar one, it brings about thoughts of emptiness, of darkness. But, this is not necessarily the case. Void contains the seeds of creation, an emptiness from which all inspiration and expression finds itself manifested. I will not talk more of these lessons, for it is a waste of my time and many of yours.

The moral here, is that yes, balance is necessary, and that those who "worship" the light do not know the lessons of darkness- of Void. Many whom claim to be champions of "goodness" and "valor" have in fact done more damage to this town and the people around them, than most all of Travance's enemies. These bastions of "goodness" and light have done and continue to destroy that which is around them. Your "Church" is too preoccupied with its own self-devourment, and although I hear cries of indignation and the like, and cries for my death, Your Angel Lucien, the one who wished me death, who so commanded you and so many of your ilk to kill me; he fell and is an Angel no more.

Call me evil, vile, dark, corrupted, call me what you will, all these words are small little placeholders for ideals which so many use and do not fully understand. By all means Travance, carry on with what you have been doing, just business as usual here, please don't ever change, your homage to the Gods of Darkness does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

I am always free to talk more in person concerning spiritual matters, any who wish to find me are free to seek me out, it most certainly could be a pleasure.

You ridiculous little men,

I do not attend your services and defecate on your beliefs; kindly, extend the same courtesy to the purview of my fellow scientists and I.

Science is the process through which absolute and universal truths are discovered. It is not a lever used to quantify the claims of one religious group or another.

If you wish to learn about the Scientific Method or the varying laws of the universe as discovered through its utilization, I am happy to instruct or refer you to the expert in the field. If not, do not assert fallacies and call them scientific truth. Its unprofessional and furthermore injures the credibility of science as a whole.

Now, kindly cease these obtuse ramblings or if you must, conduct them in private, and clutter no more these public boards!

Thank you as well Atrus,

Yours was certainly more poetic, though I may offer you similar criticism. There was no attempt by you to justify why you would need your god Glomm in your own mind or in the minds of others in order to come to this conclusion. You have dodged the challenge, as there is nothing beneficial or just or ethical that you could do in your dark faith, that I could not do.

You diverted initially to your Taoist background, which by my understanding is atheistic in tradition and concerned more with the "void" as a concept of a sort of dark and still beginning, like a pond that is awaiting an action of having a stone tossed into it, or for the fish to jump.

Correct me if I am wrong but your only case against my beliefs is that ; and I paraphrase "Persons who claim to follow the light, sometimes do bad things, and so I in turn must follow Glomm's teachings" Glomm who holds you hostage against your will. Glomm who would torture and mutilate your body because you have not done enough to sow dissent and sorrow, disease and mistrust. Does that sound like a solid platform to argue your desire for justice and fairness from dear Atrus?

I told you I would protect you from any who might cause you harm if you choose to seek redemption. My offer stands, if you would extend a hand for help, any agent or entity of darkness which would come to destroy you or reclaim you, would have to cut first through me.

I pray for you Atrus

Listen well Cleric,

I am held by none against my will. I found more peace without eyes than I have known for years. And I will most certainly not get into the intricacies of Rituals, Ceremonies, or the idea of Penance in any public forum. Nor the lessons which pain, or darkness have.

Your own argument begets a circular discussion in which one side can make very similar claims against the other. I do not generally engage others or indulge others in these sorts of arguments because it is self-defeating. This is often the issue with discussions of faith, many require further education and understanding of faith as a whole before debating the ideals. So, I could debate ideals which you have and hold dear, and what you understand about my followings, but the issue at hand is that first you would need to be educated upon them, versus arguing a point of view and opinion about something that is not readily understood. This would be akin to me telling a sorceror that his rituals were off, and he should work on some aspect of his casting of runes.

In short, if you wish to have some drawn out discussion, I'm readily available for it in person, but am not going to go back and forth while discussing religion as a whole and the ideals of the Gods as a whole and necessity for each and every God, whether you find that distasteful or not, or whether this answers some challenge about ideals and understandings which are not fully realized on your part, does not concern me.

Ava has brought up some good points recently, and at this time I defer to her wisdom.

Atrus, priest of the cult of Glomm

I am aware of the dangers of a circular argument. This is not that. If you asked the question in turn to me. My reply is easy and natural. I can pursue healthy and deep bonds of fellowship with people whom I dearly love. You cannot.

If you did, your god will demand more "Penance" from you in the form of your disfigurement. Due to your unwilling enslavement and because in your heart you know Glomm is lying to you most of all.

There was contempt in my heart when I first looked upon you, but now I feel only pity for a man whose most dangerous mistake was to believe a lie.

I will see you Atrus, for who you are, even if you will never allow yourself to see me.

You two.

Let actions speak louder than words. NO, NOT HONOR COMBAT...

Rather... see where circumstances lead you both. There are things each can learn from the other, no matter how high your respective hackles are raised. Words on parchment are hardly as personal as time spent within each others' presence. Perspectives... they can change. And a lot of times, it's for the better.

I consider you both my friends. Perhaps the three of us can sit down to a meal together and have a conversation and discuss things. Without yelling or storming off or fisticuffs. We are all civilized folks here, aren't we?

That was not Penance.

It would be my solitary pleasure to show you what Penance is like, if you are so willing; good chance a man of your strength may even survive it.

'Priest,' 'Cleric,' 'Mother,' 'Father,' 'Monsignor,' these are your words, not ours, please do not label me as such, I much prefer the derogatory slurs and insults instead.

To open, let me open by saying that I couldn't give a shit about the politics of the churches of light and darkness if I tried. I actually did try, briefly, but instead of enlightenment I ended up with needless frustration. I do not write to defend your light or darkness, but to differentiate between the concepts of good and evil and just speaking out to incite more conflict for shits and giggles.
First, let's clear something out of the way. Light indeed is an exertion of energy with a luminescent effect, and darkness is it's absence. That's it. Erroneously, you and yours have tied this one example to your concepts of good and evil, as you could see in light and lose most sight and all sense of color in darkness. One cannot light a candle by giving all their money to the needy, and fires will continue to burn despite the number of helpless orphans murdered in cold blood. Such a silly concept could easily be applied with opposite outlooks to other polarities, such as air, which your kind can breathe, and water, which you can't. The waters remain unknown to you to this day, which easily can be misconstrued for "evil". Yet it exists in the rain, snow, even in the precious air that you breathe. Not only that, you need it to survive. I've seen what happens in your dehydration, and it's not a pretty sight. In fact, there is an argument that could be made that air is simply the absence of water.
Now that we've stripped the incorrect imagery from your concepts, let's take a peek at the world without a single "good" or "evil" within it, and use Valos and Malyc as our examples. Valos represents justice in forms deemed largely unselfish and productive for your society. You no doubt have shaken in the horror of a world without that justice: with people doing what they will when they please without regards to its impact on others. Trust me, that world scares me: I grew up in that, and left for a very good reason. Order exists solely in who is strongest, through fear of ostracization, and through sheer and utter apathy at the fates of your fellows. Now let's look at Malyc's purview, chaos. While often interpreted as simply a force to fight order, chaos is a synonym for change. It is the promise that things will be different, ever so slightly, seconds from now. In a world without it, one of two things would happen. One, everything would freeze, never to move or change again, though this is unlikely as I do not believe our world has ever experienced this. Two, there would simply be a repetition of events between a certain time frame, and nothing would change within this period. A time loop, the very phenomenon we so recently fought like hell to escape from.
A certain story comes to mind when thinking of balance and faith. A friend of mine was speaking to a Galladelite on such matters, and mentioned offhandedly that he had considered baptism to Galladel, but cared too much for his vices, such as alcohol and trickery. In response, the Galladelite picked up a bottle of ale, drank it all in one swig, and slammed the bottle on the table. He explained that it's okay to indulge in vices, just not to let them consume you. That is balance. It is passion without obsession and an understanding of both sides of the scale. This is Galladell's holy symbol, I presume, for a reason. He advocates balance and moderation. It is in the radicals where we see the worst of what any race or creed has to offer. Yes, radical followers of Malyc, Aguara, Galmachis, and Glomm have caused general mayhem, but with the attacks from Xualla an his demons, moderates emerged in defense of themselves and their homes. The same goes for followers of your church. Many of us recall the Order of the Hammer, a group of Valosians who sought to (illegally at the time) slaughter whatever followers of the opposite church as they could. When a dear friend of mine, an Andorran priestess, tried to calm their captain down, he shouted (and I quote) "shut your whore mouth" and downed her. The radicals are the followers who force their will upon the unwilling, and it exists on both sides of the aisle. This radicalism is the true enemy to Travance and it's people.
After all, there would quite literally be no true order without chaos, no compassion without suffering, (compassion actually comes from an old Kormyrian word meaning "to suffer with") no life on this plane without death, and no balance without anything to tip the scales.
Now, you believe this notice is to reiterate the glory of the "light" and combat what you believe is a threat to the safety of Travance. You believe this will change minds and laws. But let me tell you what will really happen. People will come in from both sides to incoherently argue their points. There will be some moderates that attempt to quell the rage that results, like myself, but we will all be ignored. Finally, a noble will get upset enough to step in and officially close the issue before an all out civil war begins, one which, in the state of our world, is something we cannot afford.
Lucien, I consider you a friend. You've saved my life and kept me safe with your shield and blade covering my back. That's the exact reason I decided to put in my two copper. Take a step back and look from outside of yourself. Are your words peacefully evangelical or violent? Will people read with open minds, or flee in fear of impending slaughter? I know I worship none of the gods on the sides of your good and evil, but I know I am fearful, for the fervor that comes with wiping out an entire group of people will not die when that group does. It spreads to the hatred of others, and I'm not exactly in a social majority here.

Please, consider the implications of your words, and the traits of your true enemy.

Regards,

**Not Caelvan**
Being that I am a believer in Death and I feel that your second ending paragraph is an abomination to all three Gods I hold in high regard I will comment on this one passage.

"Death does come at the end of life, but we live our lives full of purpose and hope because we are alive not because we fear death. Please speak up now if you would live your lives differently if tomorrow you found out that you would live forever. How many of you would break your bonds of friendship and give up your work and leave your crops untended or your projects unfinished if you knew you would never die?"


Death comes to us all. For most it is not a pleasant experience. Many, most likely like yourself, do not understand the reasons for it. Many try to thwart it. This is wrong to do, but that is a discussion of another topic.

However there are more people that would change their lives if everyone lived forever that will probably speak up to your challenge. Because my dear cleric, most do not want to be looked at in a bad light for answering yes to the question of "would you change anything" for it would indeed make them in bad light.

Now you speak of Darkness not having a place and light not needing darkness. What of the "light" god Galladel? The judge of souls would not have souls to judge if there is no Death. What of The Chronicler? With no ending to any of our stories he will continue to write about everyone, or just stop writing and cease to exist. Now see, your "perfect" world has lost two gods that weren't even part of "darkness".

On that topic. Valos, to which I see you worship would have no law to uphold. If there is no Chaos then there needs to be no law to counteract that Chaos. If no torture or pain there need no compassion or love. Therefore there will be three and only three Gods that will exist.
Gaia for the unending life. Enax for the authority granted to kings and nobles(if in your perfect world there are such people otherwise Enax will also be no more). Brazen for the creation of material items.

I ask you a question now. Is this the perfect world you pictured?

-Merikh
Priest of Galmachis

Why not let them honor combat? In the North when things of this nature whether it be religious or based on who is chief things came down to honor combat.

It would never be about the blows given or received, it would be about conviction. Who has the stronger will to stand when the fight was over. Now I know that the Church would look upon violence as a last resort, but in many things I see could be handled a more northern way. You southerns are so concerned with words and who speaks in louder volumes, but your hearts should be the only thing anyone should listen to.

This is why Northmen think the ability to read and write is weak, and yes that might make me weak for being able to understand words with a tremendous amount of syllables, but at the end of the day no matter who it is I will stand to them if they wish to test my conviction.

Swyft, there are already so many who wish to sit down and chat and eat and talk over their issues. It goes on and on and on and on and it has become tedious. Now I am not suggestion this solution for everyone, but these two have been at each others throats with parchment for this entire week and with feast approaching rapidly I think we have come past the time for some righteous speech.

Signed, With Truth,
Jack Dimms

Thank you for you position dear Clytie, and you Swyft.

I hope that my message is clear. My use of the imagery of light and darkness is not to suggest the eradication of the other, but to effect the salvation of the other.

There are in scholarly circles, schools which open public forums like this for the purpose of arguments. An argument being distinctly different than a conflict. Arguments are methods of avoiding conflict. I hope this makes sense to you both and any other reader.

Wotcher Mister DuMourne,

I ought to mention that, oddly, I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment of your message. However, it is worth bearing in mind that, however much it pains us to do so, we would do well to remain patient and sympathetic towards the locals here while they practice their first ungainly attempts to wield logic and empiricism. From what I've studied of their culture, much of their current understanding of the world stems from long-held religious and spiritual beliefs; subsequently, talk of this sort is a large and exciting step forward for them, however ineptly it might be handled at this early stage.

Rather than chastising them for their blunders, I'd ask that you consider encouraging them for their efforts. It appears that they have an awful lot of history to move past, and as much as it is fascinating to observe a society developing in this way, it also isn't our place to scold them for attempting to make forward progress. Although so much of our own history is lost to time, I've no doubt that there was a brief moment that our sort looked to faith as a means by which to understand the world, and made equally artless bungles as we attempted to refine our model.

Very good, Mister DuMourne. As a final thought, remember that many in this part of the world are trained for martial combat. If all one knows is how to beat things with a club... well, I've no doubt that you can infer the rest.

Or beat things with a wrench in your case Mister Goggins?

Signed, With Truth,
Jack Dimms.

I love discussion! It brings things to the fore so much the better to really examine the underlying issues. I thank all that hath supplied their opinions here. The issue of Light and Dark is not going to be settled in a forum such as this, of course, but for those who art uneducated it is a good way to start to understand the concepts.

To Clytie; Thee hath seen Valosians at their worst. I can only apologize for the others of my brethren who overstepped the call of Valos in their zeal. Extremists are one problem, to be sure. So much so that our entire Church dissolved, cast out huge numbers of its corrupt members, and reorganized to become what we were meant to be. What is more insidious then Extremism, however, is Apathy. We fight that every day. What Lucien means to do, I think, is to shake loose the bonds of Apathy from the citizens of Travance. Discussion allows thought, and thought turns into motivation for action. Arguments such as those on this forum, are a side effect of the effort.

We are foremost a service organization to the citizens of Travance. It is just now becoming apparent where our efforts should lie, we are preaching and listening to thee all, and trying to not merely tend the altar as we have in past. Our Gods, whether thee worship them or not, are your Gods, whom stand ready to aid the infirm and defend the innocent. If we fail in that, say so. If we can better help with that, tell us what thee think. We are not hard to find, if not the Monastery, then in the Proper we are everywhere. Stop and talk to a Clergy of Light. Support, or suggestions, it makes no difference, the purpose. We are here for thee.

To the Dark Clergy; We disagree, fundamentally, on the nature of our world. With respect, our positions are not going to be reconciled. That in fact is part of the world; Light and Dark, standing at odds over the hearts and minds of those on Arawyn. Very dramatic. We will be who the Light wills us to be, thou would be as the Dark wills. That is all there is to that. Its the others who listen to the squabbling that are important, not us.

Mister Dimms - it is a delicate scientific instrument! I should hope that you'd do nothing of the sort with it!

I would argue that our natural state is one of peace, harmony and love.

When our bodies are in balance, as they are meant to be, then we suffer no pain, no illness, no negative thoughts.

I deduct this from the way healing works. The body understands its natural state. The body is simply a vessel for the soul and we have far more control over it than many of us realize. When I heal someone who is ailing, I become a conduit for the life energy that flows in all living things in Arawyn, sentient or not. It is everywhere and it is INFINITE.

Through the placement of a healer's hands, energy travels, of its own accord, to where the body is disturbed. Be that a cut or a severed limb, the energy knows where to go and it returns the wound to its natural state, which is one of balance.

The body in balance reflects peace and harmony. Of which Love brings. Not strife.

Goggins I will hit things with whatever happens to be around. If your wrench if the closest thing I can grab, then I can make you a new one. And as for it being delicate, I've seen you beat a creepy crawly with it on rare occasions, so don't tell me you haven't smacked something with it yet.

Signed, With Truth,
Jack Dimms

Lucien,
Open your ignorant valosian eyes, and reread what I said. I prefaced the benefits to darkness with a painting of this world of light, in order to say that darkness gives life to some just as light does to others. If you think there is no correlation between the literal sunshine and the divine "light", then you are deluding yourself. If you pray to the gods of light, and have adequate faith and training, you can produce literal sunshine out of your damn ass if you please. And if you do the same to the Gods of Darkness, you can extinguish said light all the same. This power is tied directly to the gods, and if one claims victory over the other, you are a fool to believe they would allow the other to exist. Just once, pray to valos for shade and if you succeed I will concede that your belief is all we need.
It won't happen, Valos desires this world of endless light.

Also if you would please leave your arguments against the church of Glomm away from mine, they have no place in my so called "cult". How I can be a cult of one, I don't understand. That being said what exactly are you talking about when you claim that I have an ethical dilemma?

I am not going to bother indulging your lack of sense that this world is built on unfairness. Please tell the peoples of the dessert that they have a fair amount to trade for the water, and other commodities they lack. I think more likely they know full well that you must take what you have no claim to in order to survive.

If my response is not "clever" enough for you, than you can slit your own throat for all I care.



DuMourne,
Your people are ignorant beyond years, and it would take far too much time with a knife to show you the world around you for what it really is. I'll not be cordial like the many who ignore your people's blindness to the way reality works. Science is a child's concept to attempt to understand that which they cannot while remaining blind to the other worlds you live in.



Ava,
I am doing this for the benefit of the third reader, that is to say not Lucien or I, you ungrateful shit. I have no need to demonstrate power, i am certain that my reputation is enough on that behalf. Boring or not, someone has to speak out.

Jack,
You still are shackled to the concepts of the Lady of Chains, it's a pity you could not endure the trials due to your weakness.


Since your all tacking up so many notes, I will be back later to read the rest.

-Orophin

Orophin,

I am not weak. And I cast Aguara from me because all she wanted was my blood. I have given too much of it already. I did not stick around for your training as my flesh has been scarred from too much war in my lifetime.

Revel in your own pain, but don't ever think my ideas are in any way connected to what you teach.

Signed, With Truth,
Jack Dimms.

Yet you continue to preach Omertà. That all problems can be solved in combat.

-Orophin

If you had fully read what I had stated you would have seen that I said it is not an option for everyone. Read things fully before saying someone is the same as you.

Signed, With Truth,
Jack Dimms.

So quick to call names are we? Is that what Dark Clergy do when faced with justifying their faith? Call whoever challenged them, a dirty name, such as a child in the schoolyard would? If that is thine only answer, then, as I would a naughty child, I pay thee no heed.

However, I enjoy discussion and comparison of religion, and on that level I would rather stay, if thee don't mind. But we hath cluttered the board here enough with this. Perhaps we can continue this in person?

As this seems the place to do so, I have a question for the Dark Clergy.
Throughout this thread, a world of only light has been argued against. What do you want? Do you seek a world of endless darkness or, like Atrus, want one of balance? Or something else? And perhaps more importantly, what do your gods want of this world?

The way you've talked so far, many of you seem to be in favor of the way things were a few months ago, when worship of your gods was allowed and those of your "flock" were allowed to publicly exist.
If this would be better said through missives, or even in person, please send me one as I don't want to clutter the board of the Dragon's Claw more than it already is.

Of Light and Darkness

So swells one against the other
Tied by Dusk and Dawn
The Moon light reflecting the Sun
In the Dark velvet shroud filled with diamond stars
The moon sliver glow
Is daylight reflection to some

For this artist sees the colors then
Which are shrouded to others in darkness of eyes
Eyes not sensitive enough to see
The prettiest colors of the tree and the land
Colorful gray slimmed in fire
A powerful light in desire

But good and evil are not these things
In the hearts of beings dwells the soul
The light or dark within we know
For every soul and evil and good
And the being travels both neighborhoods
Making choices along their way

Whether they travel in night or day
On roads chosen in flight or not
Their ways and means are not forgotten
In memories and histories there they lay
Like the greats seas sands along the quay
Some sparkle with light and others shine in specks of black

But in the sands there is never a lack
Of colorful grays of colors and tone
Like memories adrift in a sea on tiny stone.
But words and deeds are to just sand
To be sent too and fro in the waves of time
For each is real and true

To those who live with memory of you
So chose how to be remembered with care
For many lives you effect there
And whether you bring forth good or evil
The sun rises and sets in these ancient lands
And The brilliant sunlight that shows with the sun

Can blind those looking be they shaded or not
Just as Gods are chosen marked good and evil
The light of the world ever shines equal
And shows those who look to see
Even if it us you or me or another to see
Moonlight is Sunlight reflected

Be it in daylight or moonlight selected
The color pallet is what you envision
The way you see
The physical reason
The thought that linger
On good and evil

The light cares not by shines on equal

Lorien Blackstone

Since a poem has been entered.....

The Light and Dark spark words of ingenuity and excitement.
Thoughts of where our hearts lie and exactly what leads to true enlightenment.
Fights like most southerns would often have you believe.
Is the true meaning of peace, but war is what comes before all of this.

See it doesn't matter whether or not you follow the Gods of Light and Dark
What truly matters is your friends and what you keep protected in your heart.
What matters is your conviction and with every word that's written.
You stand up for what you believe in unless it's genocide or wrongful imprisonment.
As a person I know that both Light and Dark resides in me.
That we are all monsters when you peel back the politics.

When you're all pushed to the brink, ready to sink so heavily into a mind state.
We all have blood on our hands and to this fact I'm irate.
So focused on whose right and whose wrong, when we all have done things we wouldn't be able to admit to our moms.
Things we wouldn't be able to tell our loves with a steady look in our eyes.
So balance is the key, but nobody is perfect enough to get it right.
So just accept it.

Signed, With Truth,
Jack Dimms

I do not wish for endless light, nor do I wish for endless dark. I wish a world of freedom. A world in which the mortals are left to their own devices, free of the influence of the divine. A world of endless choices, and without rules or boundaries. A world where anything is possible.

-Orophin