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Public News Post #19340

On Neutrality and Innocence

Written by: Phantom Asp, Siduri Azagnanna
Date: Sunday, January 5th, 2014
Addressed to: Ovate Werin


Hail, Ovate,

I will attempt to respond to your questions one by one at the best of my knowledge, as I have promised you previously.

Let me begin by referring you to a work you are already aware of, since I remember you interrogating the document in question. It is the Decree on Innocence, written on the 10th of Valnuary 631 AF, that you may readily find in PUBLIC 19275. I do not cite it lightly as an appeal to authority, but rather because it contains a very clear and thoroughly logical categorization of beings under three types according to their relation toward Creation, namely Innocents, Neutrals, and Enemies.

Are considered protected innocents those who have turned their back to the forces that threaten Creation and embrace the teachings of Good. These are few and far between, but should be considered prime examples of everyone's capacity to participate actively in the growth of our world. Understand that to be considered innocent, one does not necessarily need to take up the arms and participate in our Holy crusade, simply to -refuse- the nefarious influences of the heretics.

Those who refuse to take a stand, either through weakness of will or through selfish concerns, are considered neutral. They do not act against Creation directly, nor do they knowingly seek to harm it. They are content to do business with both parties, and do not shun the company of those who are branded as enemies of Creation. These neutral beings provide weapons, armours, enchantments, foodstuffs, inks, sometimes even karma to those who fight against the defenders of Creation and thus indirectly jeopardize the survival of our world.

As for the enemies, we have spoken far enough of them for you to understand who they are, and what they do.

Now let me clarify what I have said to spark your questions: We, warriors of Light and Fire, are the defenders of Creation. We actively defend the innocents, but let this be clear that those who belong to the neutral factions do not benefit from our direct protection. They are judged on an individual basis, depending on the gravity of their errors. In most cases, we are happy to let them continue their life without much disturbance since there are greater threats to vanquish and we have no time to waste on stubborn minds.

How can we protect these neutral beings, without sheltering them from our own blades, you ask? The answer is quite simple: They are dependent on this world, on Creation, to survive. Protecting Creation saves them by proxy. However, the line is very thin between neutrality and enmity as much as between neutrality and innocence. Too many steps in the wrong direction will see them branded as a threat, and in many cases, it would take only a modicum of good-will to take the final step into the purifying embrace of Light and Fire.

As such, here is in short your first answer: There will be no ban on the hunting of neutral beings, because they, themselves, are responsible for the choice of their own neutrality. They are however tolerated in the vast majority of cases, and any Targossian found to be hunting these is usually asked to justify his actions. This has, so far, not been needed, and I do not believe it will have to be.

Concerning your question against Shamanism, I would be ill-pressed to give you a clear answer. It is a firm "No", but I think the reasoning has to do with the fact that, like Devotion is a talent fueled by Good, Necromancy by Evil, Occultism by Chaos and Concoctions by Nature, the Shamanic arts have been branded as a gift from the Dark Father. As such, this ban has less to do about your personal actions than it has to do with "energetic" concerns. Again, my understanding of the Spirits' powers are tenuous, and my attempt at an answer should be taken with a grain of salt. I apologize.

Finally, as for your post-scriptum. I see you mention those who use Chaos without worshiping it as some sort of neutral beings. Get this idea out of your mind, for it is impossible to use Chaos without increasing the flow of its seepage into our reality. The more Chaos is used, the stronger entropy becomes, warping our world a little closer to oblivion every time. Those who pretend to aid Creation by using Chaos are either fools or liars, and you would be ill-advised to fall into their rhetorical trap: studying Chaos to be better armed against it is a gamblers' fallacy. Allowing Chaos to take its toll on Creation in the hopes that it will pay off is a delusion, akin to that of a Blackjack player certain that his hand will not burst when he asks for one more card while he already holds two kings in his hand. Since this is the portrait of the most friendly kind of occult practitioners, it is clear that even the most reasonable and responsible Occultist's negative effects on Creation far outweigh is benefits. Especially when this same person has the freedom of choosing a more fitting profession should he really have the integrity of our world at heart. Otherwise, he is your enemy as much as he is Theirs, and his fate will be the same as the other heretics'.

In closing, I understand your concerns about your own safety, given your status as a practitioner of the Shamanic arts, and I hope you will understand that given your choice of profession sans-ideology, you fall under the category of neutral being, as most citizens of Cyrene do nowadays. You are not a direct threat to Creation, and as long as you do not abuse this benefit of neutrality, no ill should ever come to you. I would still advise you to reconsider your path should you wish to truly become a vessel of Good in the future, you will be welcomed with open arms because, if Good is not naive, it is forgiving to those who wish to purify themselves.

Walk in Light and Fire, Ovate,

Forever Their witness,
Siduri Azagnanna

Penned by my hand on the 21st of Scarlatan, in the year 644 AF.


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