Category: Journal Entry

Objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.

So many people had argued that with him over the years, not understanding the bevy of nuance that existed in their world. People, at the hearts, were just well-meaning objects, and they tended to do whatever they had always done until someone forced them to do otherwise. Then there was a general outcry, and a scramble to defend what had been before without truly gauging the merit of the proposed change. The laws that governed all known bodies applied so beautifully to people that it was nearly ironic in its wonder.

More and more of his time was being pulled away by side projects, these days. Reviewing contracts. Approving tax rates. Assisting with land parcel development. Getting married. It was a wonder that he had time to think at all. Gone were the days-that-never-were of being able to blissfully sit carefree and think for hours on end. To mentally turn the world on its axis to examine a new idea or question an assumed reality. No, no, he was an honest man of this strange new faith in an old decayed city.

The tavern was noisy these days. Too noisy. His apprentices wanted for work, and he hadn’t time to direct them like he used to. So the other ones drank the day away, or caroused with the Hestrali strumpets about town while the youngest doodled in the corner. Jehanne had taken to them, at least, in her bright smiled way.

Such a smile.

An agitated puff of smoke left his lips and bounced off the confining wall opposite him. The one remaining room in his world that was firmly his, the quiet study at the top of the Metalli Guildhall. Below him, he could hear the work of hammers and saws, improved for efficiency by his own design. If he sat long enough, he even believed he could hear the bellow of Borso echoing off the halls. The old miner had proven to be an exceptional investment, but if the equally old Engineer was being honest, the Metalli hadn’t felt the same since Thorn had departed. She had been the… heart of them.

He sighs and turns the page of his weathered tome.

It was strange how long the winter had felt. The Cappacian beauty wrapped in his sheets, the warmth of her filling the room nearly to bursting. A genuine laugh before eyes hungry for answers latched onto him. She had a way of drawing him deeper and deeper into her wants. Before long, she’d have wrung every answer she could ever desire from him. What a blissful prison he had built. Soft and pale and witty. A small part of him wondered when this young lady would tire of so… grumpy a companion. Odd that his mind hadn’t turned towards its usual routes.

He cough a hurrumph of scented smoke into the room and turns another unread page.

It promised to be a busy Spring, he could already hear the clamor of the city as it slowly roused itself from the lethargy of Winter. Soon construction would begin. Soon he would find time to touch his quill to paper and allow the creations to flow. Soon the carefully set pieces would form the desires he wished.

The key to inertia was to account for the forces that would draw away energy, not to invest more energy. A smile touched his lips as his eyes turned to the book again. Another few hours of solitude wouldn’t harm anyone.

The Triumvirate’s rebellion is what brought sin into the world.. When these creatures destroyed their Meaning to create a new Purpose they discarded their Divinity and allowed paths of wickedness to be walked. This was their childish, spiteful act against their creator- to lead Mankind astray and say “See! Your way isn’t perfect!” Were their acts not so destructive they might even be pitied as one might pity a child throwing a tantrum, but that time is long past and any sympathy for these creatures is merely the product of their twisted manipulations. Eons of stewing in their hatred and belief that they could not possibly be wrong have left them bereft of anything of value.

Regarding the nature of the damage they have inflicted, it would seem to me that sin exists in two intertwined, but separate ways. The first is the wound upon the soul of the person taking the sinful path, and the second is the wound inflicted upon the world. Here in Stragosa, I see people struggling with both and that highlights the need for wisdom, courage, and strong atonements for all.

The capacity for a person to sin is a product of the subversive Purpose that the Triumvirate have created. In the world as it was meant to be, God would test themself with all sorts of circumstances and in a world without sin, he would choose a sinless path every time. The most difficult conflicts would be solved and with each, God would grow and Meaning would be gained from the results. In the world that was wounded, we must guard ourselves for paths of darkness exist and they are tempting and easy. They draw us into Meaningless successes and Pyrrhic victories where nothing is truly learned, gained, or resolved and every man and woman looks upon what they have wrought and feels only anxiety or anguish. These paths can range from the venial like drawing you into conflicts and mistakes with too much alcohol, to the deadly of seeking to resolve a feud with an assassin’s blade. The lie that avoids conflict does not resolve it, and the lie will always be found out and make the eventual conflict harder. The Triumvirate have designed their wicked spiral to draw you in with the smallest missteps and you must be watchful to avoid them and right yourself swiftly when you stumble.

This is why atonement is so important. An appropriate atonement should include three parts. The first is the healing of the soul. The penitent should engage in an activity that’s purpose is to rehabilitate, not punish. The penitent should be shown, in this time of openness to the path of Meaning, that their sin is unnecessary and not as rewarding as taking the sinless path. The thief must be shown that their needs will be met by their community. The violent must be shown that conflict can resolved in other ways. The lustful and the gluttonous must be shown that fulfillment and happiness comes not from momentary, distracting pleasures, but from living a good life with good friends.

The second part of sin is that which damages the world, and an atonement must also help to heal the world. Sin manifests in the world as those monsters we call the Night Malefic. These are our sins made manifest.- our Divinity twisted and corrupted by unhealed sin and expressed as Acts upon the world. The world needs healing, too, and so our atonement must not just help ourselves, but our community and the world itself. All of our Acts must do this, but atonement especially is the time when you have most opened yourself to expanding God’s Meaning and are listening to his words in your heart. Therefore, protect yourself and others from the Malefic, but also work with those wise in the faith to resolve them. Give the orphan love and the soldier peace. And seek to right the wrongs of the living and help your neighbors so no more do they turn to sin.

The final part of atonement is simple, but also easily overlooked. Atonement may be difficult, but it must always be possible. There is no shame in seeking new guidance about an atonement to make peace with an enemy who has passed beyond your reach. Seek a path to healing in the wisdom of the clergy and trust them to help you.

Together we can find Meaning and become great- greater than any other race or deceptive creed. Together we are God. We are the Form God takes when poured into the world. Do not be taken in by the tantrums of the Triumvirate. Their paths have no Meaning and their rewards are false. Only the path of Divinity leads to a true victory.