Greetings all.

After wading through a lot of posts about Shallam supposedly casting the
Sentaari out over the new Patronage of the guild, Lady Niuri, I thought
I'd add in my two sovereigns as I appear to be the Grandmaster as of
late.

Yes, the guild voted who would be our new Patron, and Lady Niuri came
out on top. The guild voted for Her, and I don't think they made a wrong
choice at that. However, many Shallamites seem to carry the notion that
She is somehow evil, not for what She represents, but for the actions
She has undertaken, as Sir Ahel Tyre puts it.

Now let us look at the facts... or rather, let me tell you of the facts
as I see and organize them. A city was newly inhabited... it chose
leadership, Patronage... and it invited Lady Niuri who accepted.
A new guild arose, and they also made their command structure... again,
Lady Niuri was invited to Patron... and again She accepted.

Now, it happens to be that these two organizations are seen as most of
the world as Evil, and perhaps they are. I must admit that having a pact
with the lord of the Chaos Planes doesn't make you look particulary good
in my eyes. Yet what would have happened if the new city and guild were
not evil, but good, and had also invited Lady Niuri? Would she also have
accepted? Perhaps, we do not know, for we mortals cannot fathom the
Divine and Their intentions. But why does She not Patron any good guild
or city at the moment, one might wonder. Perhaps because She was not
invited by them.

As I see it, Niuri heard a call for aide and guidance, and decided to
honor it. The 'good' institutions branded Her Evil for this, and thus
they did not ask aide of Her, lest they would be tainted themselves.
They omit to see that there was not necessarily any taint to start with.

As for other actions, the deal with Lord Lanos' essence is vague to me,
I must confess. The captured angels, I hear, give no blame to the
Goddess and instead only blame the mortals who gave them away. The
Cabalists and people from Niuri's order even say She had nothing to do
with it. And I must compliment Rawin Olorin El'druith on his excellent
example of how Lord Rahn, still Shallam's Patron, rather destroyed
something then discover what it is... if He had his way, Lady Lleis
would never have returned to this world.


Is it not that Shallam is doing the same right now? We, the Sentaari
monks, give Lady Niuri the opportunity to do deeds for Good, if a Divine
even makes a difference between the two. Yet Shallam indeed wishes the
Sentaari to change the Patronage, not researching the potential flower
that could grow from this seed. If Shallam had it's way, the flower
would not be able to bloom, alike Lady Lleis not ever gracing the face
of this world again.

Also, mostly to Shallam, consider the following. Even if Lady Niuri
would be Evil, does every Sentaari monk suddenly turn into a thief and
assasin because we chose Her for Patronage? We remain the same people,
with the same ideas, the same ideals, and the same preferences.

As for no one seeing good deeds, I'd like to give yet another analogy.
Consider someone giving bread to starving people. Personally, I would
consider that a good deed, with good intentions.
Now, Consider someone intending to do that deed, instead being shunned
away by the starving crowd. Not wanting to harm them, the bread-giver
walks away. His action, in start, was good, with good intention. Yet the
starving crowd sees him as an intruder, likely with ill will.

Shunning people before discovering the intent of them can destroy many
good deeds, and perhaps that is why we still live in a Midnight Age
today.

Judging the length of this post, perhaps this was my four sovereigns...
My apologies.


Sister Takara Justii,
Grandmaster of Flowers,
Slyphian Highpriestess.

Penned by my hand on the 3rd of Severin, in the year 119 MA.