A Reminder to All

I am not the first to bring to your attention the legion of vicious zealots sitting out on our figurative doorstep. Nor am I the first to state an obvious, uncomfortable truth: These are people who stand against us, not monsters, not undead, not the mindless, but thinking and feeling people. So let us soak in this truth.

These are our fellow men committing horrible atrocities. The High Pontiff request we champion diplomacy above all else, spare needless bloodshed where we can help it, and sway those who had been swayed back onto a righteous path. How are we to accomplish this? First, we must truly understand those who side with the Blazing Sun. We are a nation at war and I have seen the devastation left in its wake firsthand. Sure, it kills, it burns, it pillages, it ruins. But worse than all that… It leaves those left standing starved - physically, emotionally, spiritually. A hungry man is a desperate man, and a desperate man will turn a blind eye to a stranger’s suffering should it fill his belly.

But a desperate man is not always an irredeemable one. Remember that.

Thank you Adalia,

Your words have truth and virtue.
As a reminder, the true Valosian church has mission houses in Alomiolande in Pendarvin, Stortmouth in Dregamire, Niedrillion in Kaladonia, and Mordavia in Ostcliff. Please, I beg all Travancians, if there are those who are indeed starved and homeless send them to these places of refuge. There they will find nourishment and support during this crisis. These places are not so much places of conversion or proselytizing, but simply places of feeding the hungry and sheltering those without home.

Read our other publications;
You understand little,
These are not men,
Do not look to them as such,
They are boys,
and termites.

**Not Caelvan**


Have you been on the receiving end of these kinds of people? If you have you would not simply treat them like you would a member of Travance. You would want to treat them like they have treated you and those like you.

My flock and I will treat those who are not the leadership and do not strike first with respect and have as much of a discussion as long as they wish. It will be on the true nature of the Dark. We will then leave the decision if they wish to live or die to them.

The leaders do not get that choice. They have made their choice when they decided to seek out those who are even interested in understanding the Dark and killing them.

My people and flock have been killed without a discussion. Why should I grant their leaders any better?

Gal'azin Merikh Tazam

(The script is angry, hasty without decorum)

I hope you have read what my initial posting said. These "people" are Monsters, and they will be treated as such. If you want to assist someone, assist their victims, oh you can't, they don't leave survivors. I hope you see the leniency many of the dark already have given these disgraceful wretches. The ignorant, the young ones who are misguided by these followers of "light" will be given a chance to lay down their weapons. But their leadership, their older members they will die, and their blood will be the paint that writes the lessons for these scum.

-V.Wainwright

A time may come when my shield will crack at the hands of a Travancian for want of mercy but I will hold it aloft nonetheless.

~Nalick

[strike]Nalick[/strike] no Angelina,
We will happily turn you into garland if the situation arose, and hang you with the rest of the zealots.

If that should be my fate for defending innocent life, I'll tie the knot.

~Nalick

You know what's funny? Somewhere in the back of my mind, there's a little thought saying destroy them, Sindarion. Destroy them. It would be easy. Obliterate them into powder, into dust.
And there's another thought. They deserve no mercy. End them before they expand their influence. Left unchecked, they're going to cause untold suffering. They're going to hurt people. The things that they do will cause people to suffer. The things they do will cause people who could become good to do terrible things.
And another thought. You have the power. Use it.

Should I listen to these voices, hmm?

We are fighting enough people already. We should not fight each other too. My teacher, Miss Dame Amalthea-sensei, told me that we should show compassion first to the innocent, then to our allies, and then to our enemies. If we can teach them that Mr. Valos doesn't want them to hurt innocent people, and we can do it without bloodshed, that is all the better. But we also can't let them continue hurting people. Miss Adalia is right. They are people. They are people who do bad things because they are confused about what's good and what's bad. But if we only see monsters when we look at them, how can we show the world that that isn't what Mr. Valos wants? I think we should teach those who will listenq and stop those who won't, but please don't lie to yourself and say they're not people. They will be just as alive or just as dead either way, and if you remember they're people who made the choice to do mean things, you will remember better the reason why we are fighting them.

Many of us have met Mr. Valos. And lots of other gods too. We've heard from their own lips what they want from their followers. So to those who follow Valos-or the other light gods-You can set the example. You can show them through how you act what it really means to live your life for the light. And to those who follow the darkness, you have a chance to show that you are not what they think you are. They have the wrong idea about you, so now you can show them the right one, as I've seen many of you do time and time again.

I'm not stupid. I know that there will be fighting, and some people will die, and there's no way to avoid it completely because not everyone will change their minds. And I know that I can't rightly tell anyone what they must do. But I hope you can remember that you have choices when faced with an enemy, and I wish us all the wisdom we need when the time comes to make them. Please be safe, everyone!

-Midori Suarez
Daughter of Mercy

Why have you been keeping such a threat to yourselves for so long?

Annora, the same thought comes to my mind. If these are "Valosians" - and I use that term not by their actions, but by their own claim - then why was not the Church of Light made known of this evil much sooner? If they are evil and a threat, why would the Light not be told? Could this have been nipped in the bud sooner if the Church outright declared them heretics?
Alas, we all know that "what ifs" and "should haves" are not to be considered at this point, but I cannot avoid thinking these questions. The matter now is to do what we must with what we know now and make sure that justice is done. I must force myself to move past these gnawing questions and refuse hindsight as an option. Let us move forward, though we argue different means, which is not a bad thing, as long as it does not hinder our swift and firm battle with this evil.

Words are wind in times like these.
There are not many of katta kind here, so I can’t expect you to understand something that comes as instinctual for us.
True evil and cruelty have a... scent, of sorts. Can some hide it well? Absolutely. Some of the most vile beings have enough charisma to cloak it. For a while.

But sometimes we just know. It tingles our whiskers and makes our fur stand on end. And that is what I have felt every time I crossed paths with these traitors.

So no, there will be no mercy. No, there will be no compassion. They exhibited none for us, none for our kind, and none for your kind. I am tired of this debate. They die. Whether it’s by sword or by sorcery or by tooth and claw.

IA AGUARA!

I never kept their presence to myself. I spoke out of this group when I first encountered them, and my story fell on deaf ears.

They were so ready and willing to kill an entire family.
Just because one in that family's ranks followed Malyc.
And that was not even true.
They were seconds away from killing the dead "Malycite's" sister.
She was and still is a devout Andorran.
I saved her, and everyone else they were about to torture.

When I told this story in town afterwards some smiled at its happy ending.
Even more scoffed, because many that were about to be tortured followed Malyc from that day on.
I was simply trying to enlighten the minds of those ignorant of religion.
Of Valos' true light and teachings, and Malyc's painted portrayal from the Blazing Sun.

To this day, no order has evoked such emotion from me. I was so irate that they were willing to kill another of the Light's own because of the supposed taint of a Malycite. It has molded my actions significantly, in that I never killed any of them that day. I doubled down on saving the innocent, something I have never been known for prioritizing. But I still have a burning anger that only their eradication will quell.

-Orophin Earfalas

Annora,
You were there.
You helped save Nia.

But much like Plague Drinker,
Much like the missing shards from Eodra,
Much like House Blood Moon,
Encounters with these fiends
Were simply happenstance
Upon the missions
The dark heroes here had faced.
But now,
Their plot for our deaths
is at the forefront,
And not simply to the side.

No one here wishes to turn
Anyone away from help.
Ephram, I say again,
Listen to those with experience,
Instead of berating them.

Niko Malagan






________________

I was there when the Blazing Sun burned orphanages. I was there, slaying their members.

You know who wasn't? Any of the light clergy.

You know why?

Because no one invited them.

Don't berate people you intentionally left in the dark for not knowing.

You're all hypocritial religious zealots.

Unite or let them win.

Nobody invited me.
I need no invitation to do what needs be done.
I just acted.

-Orophin

We didn't invite them because they smell, Seth. I thought you knew that.

So I don't really have much of a dog in this fight (beyond, y'know, not liking the blokes who burn children and wanting to see them stopped), but I've scrapped with my fair share of fanatics in the dunes. Beyond the true believers, you'll always have more than a few who rolled out because that cult gave them something they were missing back home and are now having a serious case of buyer's remorse. Some of 'em feel like they're in too deep to ever leave, some of 'em are actively looking for a way out. The problem with curbstomping the lot of them is that you're just gonna reinforce the narrative that the cult's way is the only way, there won't be any defectors or runners, and our job becomes a lot harder. We lose possible sources of human intelligence, we lose possible manpower who knows better than any of us how to fight the enemy, and again we're playing right into their hands that it's their way or death.

Yeah, there'll be plenty who're irredeemable, who don't want to atone for what they've done. Slot 'em and let their God of choice sort 'em out. But there's no need to make our job harder by backing the uncertain ones into a corner.

^{No one} _{has answered} ^{my question} _yet... ~

Swyft,
Don't be jealous of my delightful swamp mud aroma. I still remember the smell of wet cat.
Those who live in glass houses and all.

Ephrem,
Please stop twisting my words to be about your Church.
The Light does not solely exist in your Eodran pantheon.

Nico, Orophin,
I was glad I could have been there that time.
I regret that I could not have been there more.
If I had known what was happening I would have.

Sindarion,
That sounds like a question you have to answer for yourself.

Trust your instincts, Sindarion.
Yes.

**Not Caelvan**

Cobus and others who have the same mindset,
With the exception of Swift, please someone show me where those of the dark have stated that all in this cult, leaders and misguided, are going to be killed.

I hate that you are assuming because we despise this cult we will kill them all without mercy. We have stated, we will attempt to convince those with "buyers remorse" that they were led astray, and if that doesn't work then we will deal with them appropriately.

I see perception of the Dark for many in the Light hasn't changed. I thought with the merging of Eodra, and the nature of Travance, it had.


Once again, by My Will,
The Church of Galmachis will give those who are not their leaders a chance to be taught properly about the Dark and the error of the path that the leaders showed them. If they choose not to listen, and instead fight, they will be shown the true nature of Death through death. The Leaders get no such chance. They gave that up when they cut lives short by killing children and burning whole villages just for one individual who may have never committed anything except for following Darkness.

-Gal'Azin Merikh Tazam

Mate, I'm new in town, I don't know shit. Dark, light, I'm picking it all up as I go along. Saw the Magistrate's post on the banner for that other chat, if that's the way you lot are approaching it then I've got my foot down my throat something fierce and I apologize for it.

**Not Caelvan **

Cobus,
My mistake. My statement stands, just less to you and more to others.
I offer to you to teach you about the Dark so you may know where we are coming from on this issue. Just let me know if you’re interested and when.

-Gal’Azin Merikh Tazam

Your actions will be your own, I have orders to follow. My wish for all of these postings was education.

I will see you all on the field of battle, that is where we will find out the truth of the matter.

Best luck in your endeavors, I hope that there is enough of your corpses left for someone to bring you back.

V.Wainwright

From the Front,

Dolly,

You willingly walked into a field of undeath in the hopes of getting "stronger" through possible subjugation to Lord Fallow. Do not moralize to me on the nature of empathy. I know why these 16 year old boys are picking up clubs and killing their neighbors. They are afraid- The same way you were afraid. They have been terribly afraid for a long time and something has let them feel strong and in control. This dogma has molded them into tools to serve its own avarice. They can be reforged, they just have to be broken again first.


Puren,

You are doing fine. It is an old wound some have not yet recovered from.

Dictated but not read,

We invited no light?
This answer is easy; it is because the trust from them is nonexistent.

It takes time to forge allies, such as Cennius. To convince those of simple mind, Nalick for example, that they can trust something they have labeled as an enemy is futile.

With the boy litch assisting us, we where forced to choose the more valuable Allie in the moment. Most of Travance holds its use elsewhere, and are inefficient; so we chose accordingly.

Since this ally hasn’t been spoken of, if one so much as questions the child litch’s place, you are our enemy.

We invited no light because we were trying to be a secret society of people who are paid by a skeleton.

If you hold not inviting them against them you're an idiot.

This isn't worth my time to check in, I have a war to fight.