argonian

A source familiar with those familiar to House Barclay relays their challenge of a duel to the source familiar with a Cabinet member.

“Let two Courlandic nobles be murdered in cold blood, had a princess kidnapped, and then declared war, his second war of aggression, and he’s ‘The Good’? I don’t even want to hear about what ‘The Bad’ king did in that case.” says Conrad.

“Blood for Barclay.” says St. Tylos Barclay II from the Seven Skies.

A Thesis on the Veneration of Aenguls and Daemons Et Principia Ecclesiae Dogma: “The Principles of Faith I believe with perfect faith that to the Creator, Blessed be His Name, and to Him alone, it is right to worship, and that it is not right to worship any being besides Him.” It has been well-established in recent times that prayer directed towards the Aenguls is not only permissible but also virtuous, and good for one’s soul. In the Compendium of the Aengulic Hierarchies(a text which, although it is not infallible, has received some degree of Church approval), a number of different prayers are offered to the Aenguls. These prayers do not constitute the paganism of ‘Aengulic Worship’, an ancient and evil practice that infested human nations for centuries, but rather they simply venerate the Aenguls in the same manner as saints. Veneration, not worship, is permissible. As the Catechism explains: Catechism of the Canonist Church: “No. Canonists do not worship anyone but the one God of the Seven Skies, who created all things. What Canonists offer to Saints and Blessed is called “veneration,” which is sincere respect for their holiness and virtue. It is distinct from worship because the venerator does not believe the Saint has any power outside of that granted by God, and does not offer his submission or obedience to the Saint. The difference between veneration and worship is the difference between honoring one’s elders and obeying one’s father.” And so, we apply these same principles to Aenguls, and their veneration is permitted. However, the problem lies in the conflation of Aenguls and Daemons. Since both are often grouped together as “Immortals”(as they are referred to in Scripture) or “Aengudaemonic beings”(in certain academic texts), there has been a growing belief among Canonists that the veneration of Daemons is also permissible. This is false. The veneration of Aenguls, as with saints and the blessed, is permissible because for both groups the Church teaches infallibly that they are in total service of the Creator. When the Church promulgates a canonisation or beatification, it declares that that soul resides in the Seven Skies and has been perfected in the presence of God. Likewise, Aenguls are taught to be the Creator’s servants and also completely sinless. It is permissible to pray for their intercession for this reason: we know with perfect faith that our prayers are being offered to the Seven Skies, and that they shall intercede on our behalf before God. The key difference between Aenguls and Daemons which forbids the veneration of the latter is on the matter of free will. For while Aenguls are completely in God’s service and may never sin or reject Him, Daemons have the capacity to choose between good and evil. Et Principia Ecclesiae Dogma: “Aenguls and Daemons The Faith holds that Aenguls and Daemons are true, physical beings with a presence in the world and powers granted by the Creator. According to the Canon, they possess free thought, and worship the Creator in total obedience. Aenguls are devoid of will and thus total servants the Creator, while Daemons are alike to humans and can choose between good and evil.” So, while Daemons were created to serve God and may still choose to do so, they may at any time change and reject God. In this, they are akin to living men. Just as the Empress may be a holy and devout woman, you never pray to the Empresss, for she is a fallible like the rest of us. We cannot see into the hearts of mortal men to determine whether their intentions are pure or noble, or know for certain if they shall always stay that way, and so praying to them is dangerous folly. A Daemon is the same, even one appearing to have pure intentions may harbour secret malice. As it says in the Catechism, to venerate an individual is to declare they are holy and worthy of interceding before God on your behalf. Therefore to venerate an unholy and diabolical creature is blasphemy. For this reason, praying to Daemons is just as heretical and blasphemous as praying to living men would be. The worship of Daemons such as Azdromoth or Dragur may not be justified as “veneration”, no matter how pure their followers may claim those Daemons to be. Any prayers offered towards beings which are not perfect servants of the Creator are an implicit and damnable rejection of Him. And thus, their veneration is condemned. - Acolyte Ailred Barclay.

Conrad, having no door and no face, rests easy that night.

“Ridiculous. Anyone would die in the Nether. No scholars could possibly just traipse around writing little diaries of it.” Ailred scoffs, dumping his copy of the publication.

“To the Cardinal St. Julia, Is it the opinion of Your Eminence’s commission that the Scroll was truly authored by St. Theodosius, or is it thought to have been falsely attributed to him? Also, the original document purports that there were four other scrolls being translated by the saint. Have these ever been found, to your Eminence’s knowledge? Yours sincerely, Ailred Barclay.”

Ailred reads through the poem with a concerned look, trying to decipher its meaning. Still none of the wiser after a few re-reads, he flings the parchment aside in irritation and makes a note to ask about it later.

These redlines just seem unnecessary. First one – it’s just weird to require every new character of a race to have the same “origin story” or whatever. Just seems like a restriction for the sake of restriction. The second seems weird and unenforceable. How are you going to judge if someone’s done that? And would you really revoke someone’s Kha because the way they’re playing their chosen profession doesn’t create a “link to their lost culture”, whatever they means? If a redline is vague and unenforceable, there’s no point having it. The third is just restricting roleplay again. We already have charter activity checks to prevent ghost towns. If Kha theoretically could keep two charters active, and RP led to them having a schism of sorts, why would they be forced to stick together? Or if some Kha wanted to go under the High Elves and some others wanted to go under a different nation, why should they be prevented from doing that? Just seems like it’s limiting RP and what in-character beliefs individual Kha can hold just for the sake of it. If some Kha prays to a dead Daemon, why does it matter?

Ailred nods and, having nothing else to say on the matter, sends the Cardinal a brief letter expressing his agreement.

Ailred publishes an open letter in response to the report “To the learned Cardinal Kovacs, Re: The Saulite Report While I recognise the good work that went into the analysis of the Epistle and appreciate the clarification offered, I believe Your Eminence’s conclusion is wholly mistaken. While the author of the Epistle rejects the Holy Scrolls, he clearly claims to believe in same God we do and asserts that Canonists abandoned God’s sacraments and accepted false prophets, rather than accusing us of worshipping a different God entirely. The Epistle seems to be a work based on the Scroll of Gospel, attempting to legitimise its villains and vilify its heroes. Therefore I would brand it as heretical rather than heathenous. But the question of whether the document is heresy or heathenry is irrelevant. Either way, the Epistle is blasphemous and preaches a false faith, enticing the Canonist flock to apostasy. These are not only high crimes under Divine Law, but also under Orenian Law. As such, it is impossible to tolerate the existence of this document. It would be appropriate for the Church to keep its own copy to study for the purposes of refuting its content and understanding these ‘Saulites’, but allowing copies to be available to the public would cause great scandal among the faithful and, God forbid, even mass apostasy. In the interests of protecting the Canonist flock, all copies of this document in the public domain ought to be destroyed and its possession made illegal. Yours sincerely, Ailred Barclay.”

wait so dwarves aren’t allowed to leave that island or something? how’s that work tf’s going on

Ailred Barclay furrows his brows in concern.

any mod is allowed if you don’t get caught

“Looks like uncle Calculus is on his last legs.” Pythagorean Geometry de Sola, beneath his disguise as Conrad Barclay, remarks upon hearing the news.