ReveredOwl

"I was explaining to a norlander why he can't be dead or killed." said Basil

An artist’s depiction of an army of aenguls descending from the seven skies to assist his creations in their fight against the Inferi and the daemon Gazardiael -----------------------------------------------------------------✠✠✠----------------------------------------------------------------- Is God dead? 11th of Julia and Piov, 356 ES 11th of Malin’s Welcome, 7 SA Karosgrad Brothers and sisters, today is a solemn day and it saddens me that I should have to pen such a thesis for all faithful already know the answer, alas there are some who need guidance. For at least twenty years now there has been a rumour circulating, mostly amongst groups of magi, paladins and naysayers, that God is dead. I am not sure as to the origins of this dangerous rumour but it has slowly made its way into human nations, silently swaying peoples minds to doubt and confusion. As Saul entered Horen’s camp to sow iniquity and sin, so does this rumour, spewed by disillusioned magi or rampant heretics. One of the Lord’s key attributes is his aseity, and it has been this way since the dawn of creation itself. This means that God exists in upon himself, he exists to be, he is independent entirely and is not dependent on anything for he is the Lord. The Lord’s powers are infinite and immeasurable and none can surpass the strength of God himself, not even Iblees. Iblees, the arch-daemon which came to lead the Lord’s faithful astray, envious of the Lord’s immeasurable power and might. It is important to remember that God made the daemon Iblees, who fell from grace in his envy of his creator, he is referred to as the great deceiver and this is entirely because his most dangerous weapon to all of creation was his deception. Through deception he would lead the faithful astray and as a result tether their souls to the void for all eternity. I weep for the souls who have been entrapped in the void by Iblees but alas he is not an equal to God. God suffers no pain or death for he is simply the divine. If there were any doubts as to the immeasurable power of the Lord then we must turn to the holy scrolls for guidance, as we do with any theological question that may present itself to us, however ludicrous it may be. First and foremost we shall look to the scroll of Virtue for guidance. “I am the Lord God without peer. I separated the world from the Void and placed the lesser and greater lights into the sky, and breathed life into all the beasts of the earth. And I have also breathed life into your heart, and the hearts of your children. And I have given you life: I am your father, and the father of all things. And so I shall guide you in a theater of virtue, and the virtuous shall not live except by My Word.” (Virtue 1:1-7) Here in the scroll of Virtue, in the very first canticle the nature of God is explained. God created all beings in the earth including the aenguls and daemons, they are his servants - not his equals. God has no peer of equal standing or abilities for he is the most powerful entity in all of creation. The phrase ‘I am the Lord God without peer’ is repeated several times in the scroll of virtue therefore we should be of no doubt as to its very clear message, God has no peer. Next we shall turn to the scroll of Gospel for further guidance and clarification. ”But among all the Daemons, the chiefest was Iblees, and he was very proud to reign over his kind. And he doubted GOD’s strength, for it was given to the Daemons to rule what is not. And Iblees desired to rule without the Lord. So he descended the emanations of glory, and drew farther from GOD, until he reached the Void. And lo, he was cursed by its touch. And GOD was wroth. For when GOD bore witness to the bounty of His Immortals, He was pleased. But when He saw the bounty of Iblees, which was sin, He was wroth with the Daemon. And He spoke to Iblees “Why have you done that which I have forbidden?” And Iblees replied “For you name us as servants, and I shall devise of no virtue until I am your equal. And now my touch is the touch of the Void, and it is with all things in your creation.” And GOD was furious, but Iblees would not repent. And he fled into the Void, for he hated the glory of GOD, and by his own will was shackled there from the Lord. And while the other Immortals had pleased GOD with their creation, none had fulfilled His plan, which was interrupted by the sin of Iblees. So the Lord made two bodies of earth, and gave them blood and breath, and the light of wisdom.” (Gospel 1:14-28) In the scroll of Gospel this passage teaches us about the envy of Iblees and the way he came to be. Iblees was created a daemon, like all the rest, only he wished not to follow God and instead desired to be his equal if not better but such could never be possible. Daemons have very limited powers compared to the infinite powers and abilities of God. Iblees could not ever have the power to kill God, nor could any other being. There is no other being equal to our saviour, GOD, for the Lord created no such a being as it is clearly stated within our holy scrolls that he has no peer. No aengul or daemon can ever surpass the powers that the Lord has. So to answer the question, Is God dead? The answer is a simple no because God is unkillable, he suffers no pain and has no peer. There are none who are equal to him. I hope this puts an end to the ridiculous rumour circulating that God is dead and I pray those who propagate these dangerous rumours cease immediately for the sake of their own salvation. Written by Brother Basil Moroul @Qaz

"Does this not include blackmailing somebody to do something that is not a crime?" asked Basil.

To his Eminence Bram, I apologise for the mistake that I have made in my thesis, it was no intention of mine to discount God as the central and divine inspiration or our salvation. I have corrected my error and rephrased the sentence. Once more I apologise for my error. Brother Basil

Basil pauses his work on the sister thesis to his first in order to pen a response to Caedric, he expects to publish it in the next day or two.

Above is an artist's depiction of a damaged and crumbling bridge, impassible to all travelers who would seek to cross the river here. -----------------------------------------------------------------✠✠✠----------------------------------------------------------------- On the Omniscience of God 12th of Msitza and Dargund, 355 ES 12th of Harren’s Folley, 6 SA Karosgrad For centuries we have taught that all actions are seen by God, all actions, misgivings, foul deeds and even sin, he sees it all. There is no secret that one can ever keep from the Lord for he knows it before you even know it yourself. The mystery of God knows no bounds and I believe there are still things to discover in this earthly plain, yet, the all-knowing nature of the Lord is no mystery. The Lord, with his infinite power, is omniscient, this means that the Lord sees all. God knows all things that can be known, if knows when the sun will stop rising, he knows when you will die and he even knows when you try to sin in secret. No manner of mortal trickery or deception can fool the Lord and it is foolish to try. You might wonder, if God can see that I am about to commit sin why does he not intervene and stop me? Well my friends, the answer to that question is a simple one, the Lord gave us free reign upon this mortal plain, we are free to act as we wish. One mustn’t confuse free will with blindness and disobedience to the holy scrolls though, that is where some are confused. Along the path to salvation there are many hurdles and barriers that might block us, it is through our grit and determination to achieve salvation that we do not let these barriers block us. The Lord does not intervene before you commit sin for it is your role as devout followers to resist the temptation that Saul was unable to do.1 The Lord does, in special circumstances, intervene in the mortal affairs of his realm, I will elaborate further upon this in a future thesis, however to stop you personally from sinning is not one of these special circumstances. There is an easy way to picture this, friends, close your eyes and imagine you and your friends are traveling along the road towards the city where your families live, it is a long trek but you must make it there in time to celebrate Krugsmas. But alas, you are stopped half way because the harsh winter weather conditions have caused a wooden bridge to collapse! One friend wants to wait for the nation's patrol to come along and assist you, but the weather is harsh. Another friend suggests turning back and returning home, not reuniting with your family for Krugmas, very sad. You know however that there is a bridge further down the river or perhaps there is a rowing boat along the embankment. Do you give up, stay put or do you persevere and start making your way towards the other bridge so you can make it to your family? Your friends are not so keen on the idea and simply wish to return home, but you know there is a bridge further down the river, do you let them leave or do you urge them to continue? Do you stay put and wait for others to fix the problem facing you or do you persevere? This, my children, is the very nature of sin and why the Lord sees all but does not intervene to prevent you, directly, from sinning. You must have strong faith in the Lord and persevere for however arduous and treacherous your journey may become, the Lord is watching, do not let him turn away in shame. Written by Brother Basil Moroul

"A just verdict, I ought to start a law firm." Said Hubert.

"They are speaking off the punishment they are going to receive and the justification behind it almost as if the outcome of this trial is already determined. In order for this trial to be fair then the judge should be independent from the church hierarchy. The very fact you refer to them as schismatics before finding them guilty speaks that a trial is just a formality." remarked Hubert as he read the summons, in his home.

"Why hasn't he addressed many his foul deeds, written by the niece of the former Pontiff, and only address small parts. I do believe that after the grave insult to the royal family, Haense does not want the Holy See to be relocated to Karosgrad, we do not want to be ordered about by his papal guard, who currently have no authority in Haense other than to act as bodyguards. Though it is saddening to see that he is prepared to burn people at the stake without a trial. He claims to be fixing his past mistakes and making amends with Haense but it seems that is a lie and simply a ruse to sneak his papal seat to a place where it isn't wanted. His true opinions is clear wherein he named his donkey after his most beloved Queen. I for one can not forgive him for this grave insult to the royal family as he still refuses to even address it, I am sure even the imperial in Providence are outraged by the insult to their deceased Empress, Anne." said Hubert Porcher as he read the response in his home before tossing the parchment into the fire.

"It has, but canon law states that in order for a man to be elected Pontiff, he must have been unmarried, Laurence has been married and has fathered children which would logically make him ineligible." replied Hubert to Ademar.

"Are we supposed to pretend that canon law doesn't exist now or something... if we were following it then surely Laurence would be ineligible to be voted as Pontiff as he was married. Though, I thought Bram was Archbishop, would it not be right to let him publish a comment instead of forcing his hand?" asked Hubert.

"For a man who quotes the canon law so eagerly he seems to be forgetting that Laurence was ineligible to be voted for as Pontiff. The college of cardinals may only vote on a man who is unmarried, ie this means no sexual activity has taken place and he has no children, however Laurence has been married and has had children therefore to vote for him would be a breach of canon law. Though it is saddening to see that the Barclays and even a knight sworn to the King and Queen can so easily overlook such a grave insult to their own queen, is this the state our nobility have become?" asked Hubert.

"It is strange, we are told to follow canon law but canon law would logically state that he is invalid. I read in the recent publication by the former Pontiff that the college of cardinals may only elect a man who is unmarried but the pontiff has been married, what are we to do, Monsignor?" Hubert asked Fiske.

"Last I checked, the Queen is not a donkey. You should watch yourself insulting our Queen in the middle of our city in such a way." replied Hubert.

"An insult to our Queen can not so easily be brushed aside." Remarked Hubert.

"Saddening to see that Alfred has unjustly and silently been stripped of all of his positions he previously held, despite all his hard work in his diocese, I guess such is the punishment for running for Pontiff against him. Worrying are the times ahead, can't recall a time where the Pontiff hated an entire nation and was also hated by the nation he resides within. I pray the public receive an explanation for his sudden disappearance from our diocese, but alas the men without scruples are rarely able to justify their decisions without providing their bias and seething hatred." remarked Hubert as he read the papal bull in his home, worried for the conflict that lies ahead between the Church and the kingdoms of men.

"A man who hates Haense and is hated by Oren, Lord guide us through these troubling times." Remarked Hubert to his comrades.

"Let us pray his successor is not the anti-haense madman." remarked Hubert to his comrades.

Well no, because this would have been in the discussions that got this current set of rules approved, surely?

you mean as oren expands onto everybodies border, not every nation wants to expand or even needs to expand yet can't assist their allies if they are 2 tiles away..? Also why do you plan to release 'features/abilities' the same way you released vortex, bit by bit, why does it have to be 'we plan to add things later', why not add them now... or better yet why didn't you add them into this initial release?

ST are inactive in "protest against the economy team", apparently, does that mean your team is being purged too, seems fair right?

I think its safe to assume, since its been nearly a month with no guide created by the staff that they are solely relying on ones made from this competition rather than explaining their own plugins to us properly?

Hubert sets out with his bloodhound!