Greetings, fellow Sapients. I ask that you give careful consideration to
the following, regardless of your class, race, path or guild. The issue
under discussion concerns all of us in principle, and many of us in
practice as well. What follows is my best attempt to deal honestly and
fairly with some very troubling events.

A couple of months ago, I learned of the events addressed in post 4152.
As a peaceful and honorable person, I was outraged to learn of an attack
on a temple of any Divine. As a servant of Lady Niuri, I was doubly
outraged -- and as spokesperson for Her order it was my urgent task to
see what I could do to understand and resolve this situation.

My initial outrage turned to consternation when, upon investigating
Aren's references (in his posts) to some action by Inaeternum, I learned
that -- prior to Aren's attacks -- Inaeternum had entered the Luminary
guildhall and slain the guild tutor. While one gratuitous act of carnage
certainly does not justify another, nor can violating the sanctity of
the Luminary guild hall justify violating the sanctity of a Divine
temple, this certainly added a new element to be considered in dealing
with this issue.

I wanted to be fair, and thus I wanted to understand (as much as one can
understand such destructive acts) why these actions had been chosen by
the respective parties. To that end, I have spent many days since then,
speaking with guild leaders from both Aren's guild and Inaeternum's
(former) guild, as well as other individuals concerned with the case,
including Aren and Inaeternum themselves.

First of all, I will not condone any attack on a Divine temple --
particularly if that attack is intended to retaliate for the actions of
a servant of the Divine, rather than for the actions of the Divine
themselves. Secondly, I want to express my deepest personal condolences
to the Luminary guild, for the violation of their guildhall and the
slaughter of their tutor. Thank all the gods, the Divine have restored
her to life in the course of time, but this was a grievous insult and
your outrage is quite understandable.

Apparently many believe that what Inaeternum did was sponsored or
condoned by Lady Niuri in some way, perhaps as part of a quest to attain
the form of Azudim. This is completely false. (This also brings up a lot
of public misconceptions and biases regarding Mystery, but I will
address those in a separate post.) We of Niuri's order were taken by
surprise by his actions, and when I questioned him Inaeternum expressed
strongly that he had acted independently, based on his own personal
agendas and beliefs.

As far as I can determine, Inaeternum feels that he has a personal
mission to promote equal standing, rights and privileges for the undead.
He personally and philosophically opposes any attitudes or policies
which view them as lesser beings. Apparently, he therefore felt that he
should make an attempt to dramatically point out what he saw as
overly-biased beliefs and policies within the Luminary guild and the
city of Enorian. To say that he chose an unproductive means of doing
this would be a vast understatement.

Inaeternum: surely in retrospect you now see that taking such aggressive
action could only harden the Luminaries and Enorians in their beliefs
that the undead (and any who support them) are inherently brutish,
destructive and evil. By your actions you have probably done more harm
than good to any cause you intended to promote. My hope is that you will
apologize, to both Enorian and the Luminaries, for your attack -- not
because you believe any less in your cause, but because you see that
your actions were ill-considered and inappropriate. As a servant of
Mystery, wisdom and enlightenment should be your watchwords.

As for Aren's actions: when I learned that he had attacked Lady Niuri's
servants I was outraged, but I did not for one moment consider that this
was Auresae's doing, or think to strike at Her for the actions of Her
servant. Over the years I have helped to restore the shrines of many
Divine, including those of Auresae, and have worn Her favor as a result.
To my mind, attacking the temple of a Divine to retaliate for the
actions of a servant makes no sense.

Aren and I discussed these events, and he did readily acknowledge that
his actions, too, were ill-considered and wrong. Apparently he believed
that Lady Niuri had somehow encouraged or supported Inaeternum's attack
on his tutor, and instead of conferring with Her or with one of Her
order to get to the truth, he acted hastily and in anger. Now he is
hoping to have Niuri's curse lifted from his spouse (who apparently
tried to stop Aren from harming Niuri's temple servants), and feels that
Inaeternum should apologize for his actions before he (Aren) apologizes
for his.

What is done is done, and cannot be undone. The opportunity before us is
this: to conduct ourselves as nobly and intelligently as possible. I
have done my best, with the powers at my disposal. I have asked my Order
to stand down and refrain from any aggression toward Aren, while this
issue is being worked out. I will also be asking Our Lady to lift Her
curse from Osifer, as he attempted to stop the slaughter of innocents in
Her temple.

Aren: you have chosen a path that in your own estimation exemplifies all
that is right and good in this world. Therefore, you (and all others who
attempt to serve the Light) have a greater obligation to act honorably,
and to distinguish yourself by your behavior from those whom you oppose.
If we make our own good and noble actions contingent on another person
doing the right thing "first" we are giving all the power to another,
rather than acting from our own integrity. While I hope that Inaeternum
will see the wisdom of apologizing for his actions, I encourage you to
do the right thing on your own initiative.

If you see yourself as the better man in this situation, I encourage you
to demonstrate that by apologizing to Lady Niuri for your attacks in Her
temple, and for the disrespecful tone of your posts -- not because of
any curse or other contingency, but simply because you know in your
heart that it is the right thing to do. By doing so you will clear your
own conscience, and you will surely win greater respect throughout
Sapience for yourself and the causes you hold dear.

May we all grow in wisdom on our respective paths.

Penned by my hand on the 13th of Severin, in the year 189 MA.