It is curious, if unsurprising, to see the leadership of Duiran lay the
blame for their aggression against Spinesreach at the hands of the
Council of Seers. Nonetheless, these claims shall be answered, if for no
other reason then because a community with which Spinesreach long
enjoyed cordial relations deserves to be informed of the realities and
the decisions that led to the present state of affairs.

Following the last outbreak of armed violence on Sapience, treaties were
written up to allocate the postwar settlements and distribution of land.
At the center of these treaties were the victors, Duiran, who ensured
the cooperation of Spinesreach and Enorian in territorial treaties, and
demanded assent from the conquered Bloodloch. As was noted by the
Duiranite Keeper, no agreement were formalized between Spinesreach and
Enorian to honour and guarantee the division of land- Duiran remained
the guarantor of the settlements, to dissuade any conflict between the
two cities. In 333 MA, the treaty between Spinesreach and Duiran,
allocating the division of land between the two cities, was signed into
force by the Ard-Dhasani and Keeper of the Wilds.

Years passed. The year 352 MA, in particular, was a turbulent one for
relations between Eleusis and the Citadel. When the Council of Seers
resolved to void the aforementioned treaty of territorial division, it
happened because the council became disillusioned with the ability of
Duiran to uphold agreed-upon terms, and because organized groups of
Duiranites had been involved in armed assaults against the core
territories of Spinesreach. Specifically, Eleusis was found to have been
violating repeatedly the terms of a treaty of diplomatic immunity, a
treaty they had themselves offered to the city of Spinesreach, and the
raids which left hundreds of Spirean peasants dead highlighted the
inherent bellicosity of significant parts of the citizenry of Eleusis.

As Ard-Dhasani Tina Cardinalis has emphasized, the friendly relations
that existed between Spinesreach and Duiran persisted for a while in
spite of a refusal from Duiran to accept values Spireans hold close to
our hearts: The tolerance of undead and their equality with the living
as Spirean citizens, and the progression of science and research in
fields still considered anathema in Eleusis, most prominent among them
the arts of necromancy and deathlore. When the Benandanti remained tied
to the old ways and refused to alter the policies of Duiran to
accomodate new allies, it cannot be surprising to an observer of history
that reactionary zealots based in Eleusis eventually managed to
successfully sabotage Spinesreach-Duiran relations by repeated acts of
aggression against the Citadel.

With these events as the backdrop, the Council of Seers resolved in 352
MA to void the terms of the land division treaty between Spinesreach and
Duiran. The practical implications of this, as acknowledged by the
Duiranite Keeper in discussions following the breakdown of treatied
relations, was that neither party would be performing the role as
guarantors of the territorial status quo. In other words, the
repudiation of the treaty was not in itself an act of hostility- rather,
it represented a clear view from the Spirean Dhasani that Spinesreach
was no further inclination to trust and rely on the willingness of
Duiran to stand by the terms of the settlement in the event of attack on
Spirean territory by a third party, or play this role in the event of a
challenge to the territories Duiran held. The borders themselves were to
remain, because anything else would have constituted a declaration of
war, and as such the Council of Seers considered the question of borders
between Spinesreach and Duiran settled, de facto and de jure, without
the need of a formal treaty.

Not long before the next outbreak of armed hostilities the Council of
Seers was made aware by Bloodlochian emissaries, in the strictest
confidence, of their intentions to enter a state of war with Duiran. The
council resolved to adopt a policy of nonintervention, but to prepare
for war by conscripting phalangites to safeguard Spirean interests in
the event that the Lion was forced into the conflict. In accordance with
this policy of nonintervention, Spinesreach severed its war alliance
with Duiran when hostilities broke out, remained without any such
alliance with Bloodloch, and made clear to the Benandanti that
Spinesreach would prefer for the conflict to remain between Duiran and
Bloodloch. Severing the war alliance was not a neutral act: No act can
be. But it did not block relevant supply lines or give either side a
decisive advantage, as Spinesreach also remained without any such
alliance with Bloodloch up until the events that led to the involvement
of Spirean troops in the war.

As it happened, the conflict did not remain limited. Without warning,
Enorianite cavalry began an assault on Spirean territory, and when
Spirean phalanxes responded to the attack, Duiranite militia intervened
on the side of Enorian, again without any formal declaration of war. As
such, Spinesreach maintains that the responsibility for forcing
Spinesreach into intervening in the armed conflict must rest squarely on
the military leadership of Enorian and Eleusis. Revisionist
interpretations of history like the one presented by Keeper Sibatti Dur
Naya, does not hold water when subjected to critical examination.

Spinesreach, as it always has, maintains its right to champion the cause
of research and progress, and remains a friend and ally of all, undead
or living, who share in these ideals. With all measures at our disposal,
we will fight to safeguard the law-protected equal rights of our
citizens and comrades, and oppose any entity that aspires to bring the
land under the yoke of regressive oppression in the name of corrupted
divinities and misguided zealotry.


Cordially,
Ser Luna Olahri

Penned by my hand on the 7th of Lleian, in the year 360 MA.