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[Talon Skyfire]

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*Talon allowed his notoriously short temper to cool before penning his reply and having it posted publicly*

Lord Izrem,

You are correct in the statement that I do not know of you. Allow me to thank you for the critique of my foreign policy and strategic plan. It is always a pleasure to hear feedback from our mortal foes.

I came to the realization many years ago that Sanctus' resources are in fact, finite, and we cannot police the globe in the manner that we once did. This is an unfortunate dilemma that we must learn to cope with. Sanctus must focus it's efforts on the true foe in the world, and that is the Ebon Skull. The Skyfires and the Lich Lords have been mortal foes since time immemorial. My Grandfather's grandfather's grandfathers stood against the Lich Lords, and so it will be for my descendants until the end of all things.

The Lightbringer must practice discretion. He cannot destroy all things that are unlike himself. We once tried that policy in Sanctus, and it left us isolated and alone in the world. The Lightbringer must learn to accept the shades of gray in the world and to co-exist with them. This discretion and compassion are what makes us different. The Ebon Skull and Oblivion, however, are the darkest of black. There can be only war betwixt our realms.

In defense of Stonegate, they have proven themselves to Sanctus time and time against as an honorable people. I hold the Wolf King and his Oracle in the highest regard. Umbra under the Ab'Arawns were a regime we could live peaceably with, by and large. We were certainly enemies, but they were not without reason.

You say that the reputation is Sanctus is tarnished. You are not the first, and certainly not the last to state such. We are your opposites, and our presence strikes fear into the heart of your beloved Lich Lord. The Skyfires and her allies have placed the Ebon Skull into the grave twice in my lifetime alone, and we are looking forward to doing it again.

Sanctus remains the shining beacon of the Light that it always has. We shall bring the cleansing fire of the light upon you in the battles to come.

Valor, Honor, Empire.
_________________
~Lord Talon Skyfire
King of Sanctus
Lord Protector of Malas

[Grignag]

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A letter returned much in the same fashion as the first.

Greetings King Skyfire,

I am delighted that you found time to both read and return a response to my missive. I must admit that I was expecting your tone to be considerably more dour or sardonic. Yet your matter-of-fact tone speaks volumes to your capacity as a politician. Truly you have considerable understanding of interacting with worldly matters.

Yet despite reading through your notice several times with an increasingly critical eye, I cannot help but notice that much of what you have said I have heard spoken somewhere else before. And while your points are certainly valid from a secular standpoint, it leaves something to be desired as to your defense of Lightbringers and Sanctus' place amongst them.

To declare absolute war on all aspects of existence you don't like would truly be folly. It is hard to fight a war against one, let alone all. Even I wouldn't expect Lightbringers to make war on all evil in the land just because it was there. There is a time and a place for each battle. But I was always taught, by Lightbringers no less, that more important than their swords was their indomitable wills. Their desire to always keep themselves pure, even if they could not necessary purify the world. If we take this commonly held definition of a "Lightbringer" then we truly see a shining and glorious image of what Sanctus could be. Sometimes big, sometimes small, yet always unconquerable of soul.

Why is it then that I, one who clearly sits in darkness, am not blinded by the light you seem to see? Not making war upon your enemies and those anathema to your way of life because it is suicide? Certainly. Allying with that same "evil" to fight another? The light dims and the darkness rushes in, King Skyfire. If you would ally with Stonegate, and by extension their allies the Blue Lotus, surely you should just as soon open up your borders to Necromancy. A fine tool with, while questionable in its purposes perhaps, would prove most useful to you! You do not have to embrace it but isn't it about time to do away with all those archaic rules that stymie your powerbase, when you don't need them? If you accept one form of corruption why not another? You are picking and choosing your virtues as a politician would, not a Lightbringer and you risk the stench of hypocrisy in doing so.

Then again, perhaps you are right. Maybe an alliance with Stonegate and the Blue Lotus isn't a sign of a fall. Certainly they are honorable and good people that, in the end, really want to have a nice warm hug and join hands with you in fellowship. Hence why it is acceptable not only to leave them alone, but embrace them as you would a brother-in-arms. Though I wonder then, why is it again we see such different things. I recall the treaty that allowed Stonegate to police Luna so that the Order could not attack. Strange then that they chose soon after to seize the city not so long after. Perhaps it has been too long since I have studied the virtue of "Honor" but their actions seem to be anything but. They're intentions are self-serving yet you welcome them into your borders as if they were saints.
Let us not forget the situation in Yew, either. A territorial dispute between Blackmarsh and the extraordinarily undermanned forces of the Protectorate yet they joined in for an unrighteous slaughter. Where is the honor in slaughtering what amounts to little more than an unprepared militia? As I mentioned before, they are prone to violence. They seek it and they do not much care who dies as long as they get what they desire. It is why they are strong. It is also why they could never be a friend or ally of a true Lightbringer.
As for the Blue Lotus themselves, what are they but assassins? They strike from dark places, seeking first to put a knife in your back before they mirror the gesture with one in your stomach. The legends of the Underground, an order of assassins, was spoken of in hushed and angry whispers, yet these "ninja" are somehow different and better? An shadow walker who stabs his foes in the back, by any other name no matter the language, is an assassin. This is honorable to you? Calling them "honorable" is but a pretense to making them acceptable to you.

Allow me a simple caveat, King Skyfire. They do know a system of honor. An honor to themselves and their kind. Remember always that you will NEVER be one of their kind. Think otherwise and you will end up like the "Duchess Molly Willow". A ruler with a title, yet no lands to rule.

The final note is one that our very own Herald spoke on not a night ago. You speak to me of all the hatred and antipathy you have against the Ebon Skull and the Lich Lord in general. I can sympathize. I truly can. Yet as I read down the list of virtues I do not find "Blood Feud" listed amongst them. I do not claim that Sanctus is "tarnished" due to mere association with an entity anathema to itself. It is because you have lost the drive and spark that makes the "forces of Good", well... "good". You hate the Lich Lord. You want him to SUFFER or at least die for what he has done. There are members amongst my Order that wish for Sanctus to SUFFER or at least die for the pogroms and acts of violence against them in earlier days. When I look at you and Sanctus, King Skyfire, I do not see a hated thing that defies the proper nature of reality anymore. I do not see that bright light that burns my eyes and denies me my goal. I look at your actions, your allies, your reasons and I see... us. Your reasons, once so foreign to us are now easily understood and empathized with. Your struggle isn't for the Light. It is for yourself. You are an empire in the making. Simply... not a holy one.

I am afraid that the term "fear" is an inappropriate to us. Most amongst the Order are Undead. Fear has subtleties and extremes that they cannot grasp. The Lich Lord does not know "fear". Perhaps you have "worried" him, yes. Given him pause in the past. I mention this because you spoke as if we should be concerned of your presence or your past in an inordinately severe way. I hope this does not offend you too grievously, but you remind me much of Greypawn from the previous evening. You speak of old victories as if they had any meaning in the present age. It is also worthy of note that you are yours appear to be poor gravediggers if you have buried the skull twice and we have dug it back up just as often. There is a lesson for you there in the unending and unyielding nature of Oblivion and Entropy, but I will not lecture you as this letter has gone on for FAR too long.

I thank you for your response, King Skyfire. My only request is that if you choose to respond again that you replace your rousing rhetoric with reason. I too could endless spout platitudes about your inevitable defeat and how we will arrive victorious at the end. But it serves no purpose when speaking to a committed ideologue.

Walk in Darkness,

Izrem Verin'Vlos
Magus of Shadows, Lorekeeper of the Scholomance
Ancient of the Order of the Ebon Skull
_________________
Femmies?! HOWAH!

Can't we all just get along? No? Excellent.