[RPG][FEI][TA][GA] Restoration of the Faith

[Dorian Gray]

[[Meta: Sent to the rulers of the FEI]]


Rulers of the Far East,

Betraying ones realm is not something to be taken lightly for even a lower
noble. To be a Duke to betray is a great violation of ones oath. A ruler
immeasureably so.

However, I remember when I joined Taith Aenil, it was introduced to me as a
Theocracy. We had our lieges, we had our lords, but we had the Aenil, who
were ever higher. An oath to our liege was as much, and as important, as an
oath to the Aenil.

As Pontifex, as Haruspex, and as a noble, it is this oath to uphold Aenilia
which I follow today... I joined not long after Taith Aenil was made... I
have seen the power of its faith... and I have seen this faith tainted by
heresy.

Where is the heresy, you may ask?

The heresy is all around... throughout the realm in its highest councils.

I pin the source of this heresy on the late Arella.

What, Arella? You may ask. Arella was good and faithful once... but, it
seemed, less and less as the days went by ever since the days of the Book of
Promises, of which some of you may have heard. The Book of Promises says
many things... I myself have read the book and the words Arella claimed to
have read from it and the actions she claimed to follow through its guidance
I could not find. She ascended to the Aenil and returned, I think, without
the thought that she had before. There had been glimpses of this even before
Promises, which can only make me wonder how long she had the book in her
possession before she revealed it to the world. And when the Far East was on
the brink of war, aided in no small part by her, she fled, abandoning her
realm. But not forgotten, oh no, not forgotten.

I am Pontifex. I am, by our faith, selected by the nobles of this realm with
the guidance of the Aenil to serve the realm and the Aenil and to be the
Aenil's highest representative in the world. Yet I am reduced to little more
than a figurehead - I cannot serve my realm.

This heresy is what has caused so much strife. Taith Aenil is forced to bow
to the Pontifex, but any Pontifex has been forced to bow to the Arcangela -
it is impossible for any Pontifex other than the Arcangela herself to change
anything without those the Arcangela has had in thrall to rise against any
attempt through debate or by force. Indeed, I have been threatened by the
Arcangela with such force should I attempt something which I believed would
serve the realm well.

How can a ruler rule when he is brought to kneel by such a minority? Arella
is honoured in our realm, it is true, but her actions before her death...
had not entirely seemed to be what would be best. Her dedication to old
ideas is what entraps Taith Aenil now. Not that the old ideas are completely
worthless, but adhering to the old ideas to the point of fanaticism, denying
any new ideas to come through, is what causes this strife.

I am the Pontifex, the ruler chosen by guidance of the Aenil, yet I cannot
say this to the realm I am said to rule. Should I try, I would be denounced
from one end of the realm to another and my titles stripped from me in
revolt. How can I rule, following the scripture of the church, when I cannot
do anything about the corruption throughout the realm without it destroying
me? War, death... all were forged by the relations the Arcangela and her
troupe created before her so-called ascencion, and perpetuated by their
whims for which any Pontifex other than they are but figureheads. It has
been difficult ruling my small theocratic realm, being guided one way by the
Aenil in what to do and having those in my own realm blinded by darkness or
by jealousy force me another. Torn between loyalty to noble, or loyalty to
Aenil.

I preach negotiated peace, the Arcangela and Paladin preach total war. I
offer tactical movement, they offer the blood of Aenilian people and take no
step in any direction. I preach war against others, they promise rebellion
if it is not with the right people. There are only two ways to survive in
the higher councils of the Aenil - become subservient and accept meekly
their demands, which too many do; or go above them and preach sedition far
more fanatical than theirs to try and wrest power from them so that Aenilia
may be set back on the right path. I will admit I have done both in various
forms and times, yet their control is still... near-absolute. I follow them,
they grow even more influential. I preach total war beyond even their
fanatacism, it only serves to 'justify' their long-held stances, and they
grow even more influential. They hold Taith Aenil in their strangle grip
which no noble escapes. Stagnation...

I cannot blame Arella or her followers, it is my hope they knew not what
they did in the end. However, I admit it, Taith Aenil has lost its way. The
church has been sullied. We cannot rule and worship at the same time.

What Taith Aenil needs is to be born again, and to be born again is to die.

Taith Aenil must reform. However, the name of the Mark is steeped too
heavily in history for the slate to be wiped clean. We need complete
renewal, complete reform, with the discarding of the old politics and the
chance to rise the way we did when we first seceeded from the old Empire.

I will disband the tatters of the old theocracy and reforge the remains into
Greater Aenilia - a realm dedicated to the observance of the Aenil, but
without the constant bowing to the church and adherence to the old ideals
which have stagnated us. Not a theocracy, not subserviant to the church, but
with a strong church and a powerful ruler who has the authority to forge the
realm as they will, without being forced to comply with the demands of
heretics and ignorants. A realm which can worship *without* church
absolutism, a realm which can grow with a church side by side rather than
being dominated by it.

With the fall of Aenilia, the last stronghold of Aenilic authority falls.
The old way has led us to stagnation and shows to lead us to fall. To
rebuild ourselves, to die and be reborn... to cast away the histories and
start anew. To prevent the total and complete destruction of Aenilic
authority... these are the foundations on which Greater Aenilia is built.

Orphen Vincent
Former Pontifex and Haruspex Maximus of Taith Aenil
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://news.battlemaster.org/pipermail/rpg/attachments/20060510/54e363b9/attachment.htm