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Public News Post #19411

A Final Missive

Written by: Sestina Senz'ombra
Date: Tuesday, April 8th, 2014
Addressed to: The City of Ashtan


Dear Ashtan:

Those of you who have spoken out in response to my statements have used many words to say very little. The gist of your responses seem to boil down to three simple points:

1.) Cyrene kneels before Targossas.

2.) Cyrene does not understand 'Freedom'.

3.) Actions speak louder than words.

In regards to the first, I must direct your attention to my last post. I do not enjoy repeating myself. It was post number 19400, if I'm not mistaken, but I will clarify a few points of contention for you while I am replying to these points. Firstly, the Diaspora exists within Cyrene, not the other way around. It is a means through which those who wield Light within Cyrene's walls may continue to commune with the source of their powers, an act of acknowledgement that the power of Devotion is drawn from a specific well that deserves the respect of those who draw from it. While some may argue that those who count themselves as members of the Diaspora were 'strong-armed' into membership on threat of excommunication, it is my understanding that the Diaspora was a choice made by Cyrenians and not forced upon them.

This leads me to the second point, that Cyrene's concept of Freedom is somehow inferior to your own. I would beg to differ--if anything, our sense of Freedom is clearer than any one view put forth by Ashtan this month. It is Freedom that guided Cyrene to its founding. It through Freedom that we have persevered through the ages. It is our Freedom that we exercise when we allow Ashtani and Targossians both to walk through our streets. It is through Freedom that we allow our citizens to act independently upon their own moral compasses. In many ways, we are sister cities. We encourage and support Freedom among our people--and it is a Freedom tempered with respect. Freedom has allowed us to forge our own path through history, one where a pursuit of the arts and culture and higher thought has taken precedence over the battles between Good and Evil, Chaos and Light. Respect has allowed us to maintain a steadily amicable relationship with our neighboring cities, even those with opposing philosophies. You suggest that Cyrene 'considers Freedom', but I suggest that Ashtan considers Respect.

As for your third point, I would argue that it depends largely on the nature of the action. Indeed, a well-aimed arrow may accomplish more than a deadlocked committee. And I would contend that those who say that 'violence solves nothing' ought to look at the wreckage of Shallam and consider whether or not violence solved the Worldreaver's problem of the Bastion being a thorn in its side. But then, I must ask--what have your actions said? Your actions speak volumes, but they do so incoherently. Your actions have been the boisterous flailings of a ill-tempered child who has seized upon the biggest stick in the playground after what had formerly been a time-honoured, traditional series of games. Your Skylord says that it was an act of Passion, and it is by His words that you are condemned: in any game, Lord Vastar, there is competition. Perhaps You are not aware of this, but everyone in the Championship Games, upon entering the competition, is seeking to deny the others that for which they are working hard. It is the very nature of a game, and it is normally through this competition that one will rise above the rest, earning not only the prize but the respect and acknowledgement of those who were defeated. By turning around and then striking at those defeated and honourable competitors, Jhui has proven himself to be immature and unworthy of his prize. Why, then, should the entire rest of Sapience not descend upon Ashtan in an act of aggression for denying -them- what they, as You say, 'worked so hard for'? I agree with You on one thing, Lord Vastar: Freedom is not a weapon, and should not be wielded as such.

Yes, actions speak louder than words, even when that action is to stand up and speak out against a bully despite a clear difference in might.

Clarity keep.

Penned by my hand on the 19th of Chronos, in the year 651 AF.


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