Xenia,

At first, I had contemplated whether or not it was truly worth responding to your post. I pondered this for a number of reasons, chief among them the fact that I loathe public forums such as these, viewing them as little more than a place where those with shattered pride go in order to save face. However, I digress, and will answer each of your falsehoods and statements and it will be the last time that I address them, as we of the Nightmare have better things to do with our time.

Firstly, allow me to congratulate you: your time in the Carnifex was clearly well spent with your expertise in training hounds. Just as you trained them, it would seem they have also had an impression on you, for you've learned how to bark, yap, and whine with the best of them. You see, I had first thought about waxing poetic as Runas did in his response but I felt that given you are, just as with a base hound, lacking in a fundamental grasp of the common tongue, that it would ultimately pointless. I say this because I made quite clear my stance to you last week and provided ample reasoning as to why.

Firstly, to state that the Malevolent's Order sought to negotiate is laughable. Your Order Champion, Nenelos, frequently went about defiling the shrines of not only our Order, but the Orders of other Spirit-affiliated deities when their followers slumbered, the Nightmare's followers included. In addition, four members of your congregation (Alathesia, Emir, Ellenia, and Cardie) took it upon themselves to enter the Seer's Wood, debase it, and steal something that they thought was of worth. In exchange, they were slain and driven from the Wood, and a few of them were slain outside of the Wood for their transgressions. Unsurprisingly, Nenelos decided to take it further by defiling more of our shrines and we answered in kind by destroying a lot more of yours. This is where I find your recollection of the events to be horrendously suspect and shoddy at best, for you had no part in the conflict at all until we had already decimated a number of your shrines, killed a number of your congregants, and lost patience with your aggression. A number of the Malevolent's followers, primarily those who had no idea why we were defiling, approached me and other members of the Chosen voicing that they did not wish to partake in this conflict. The chief reason that they did not want to participate is that none of the original offenders, save for Emir, lifted a finger to help with the mess that they had created through their actions. Instead, those individuals decided to hide within Spinesreach or Bloodloch.

Late into the conflict, you were involved, primarily because I had discerned that neither of our sides cared for this conflict. This was, of course, after you personally only managed to mustre the stomach to strike back at us when you had nearly twice our number in Tainhelm. Your Champion, Nenelos, personally fled from me when he did actually manage to leave his city and I confronted him with force. It's also worth mentioning that none of the rabble rousers, except for Emir, bothered to lift a finger at all while this conflict unfolded. In any event, we were instructed by our Nightmare to stand down, having been told that She had negotiated an armistice with your matron.

This armistice lasted and the Nightmare's Order went about our affairs until one of the denizens loyal to our Nightmare decided that we should reach out to make a deal with you for the Muse's Eyes in exchange for the Muse's Tome. I informed you that we would meet in Esterport at noon, it was agreed upon given the neutral ground, and you were a no-show. In addition to this, one of your congregants took it upon herself to state that unless we forfeited the eyes to her, she would continue to attack the members of our Order. This individual claimed to speak on behalf of her 'mother' and would perpetuate the attacks until we conceded to her demand. Hilariously, this is an individual that a number of us have felled repeatedly and someone with a reputation of looking for any reason to incite conflict. Naturally, you failed to mention this in your post. This is why, coupled with the fact that you were a no-show, I believe that your grandstanding and barking is merely a fear in trying to cover up your own ineptitude as a leader. What you mistake for "superiority" is indifference, for we honestly don't care about you and your Order.

As bitter of a pill that it may be for you to swallow, your Order is horrendously poor at negotiation and it should come as no surprise to you that we do not answer to threats. This is why we cancelled the deal, for we lost patience with you. You also seem to be misunderstanding a core concept of making deals: you don't make additional demands of the ones who have zero issues with the status quo, especially when you lack any kind of leverage against them.

It should come as no surprise that we are well aware that you could declare Holy War, but it would achieve nothing in the end. You, as mortals, do not have the means to coerce or threaten the Nightmare into anything. The Nightmare and Her followers do not fear death, nor do we harbour any disillusions as to the outcome between a Holy War between our Order and the Malevolent's Order. However, do not mistake this for respect. The reality is simply that a Holy War against the Malevolent's Order would be a declaration against the majority of Spinesreach and Bloodloch. Whether that is testament to your matron or a testament to the number of you being sycophants, I do not know nor truly care. The truth is simply that the ability to throw a number of bodies at our Order is not any indication of your personal skill as a warrior or as a leader.

The last statement that I will address is your threat of 'hunting us'. You've made this threat multiple times and have not lived up to it at all. I will state that the original offer was also on the table: we were willing to offer you the Eyes in exchange for the Tome, ignoring your original demand. Given your tantrum via this news post, the fact that you were a no-show, and the fact that you can't control your Order members, you can consider the deal suspended for the time being. The Nightmare's Order is willing to negotiate further, but you will not be involved with said negotiations, Xenia. We seek to speak with effective leaders, and not those who resort to whining the minute that their absurd counter offer is refused and their pride wounded.

By all means, any member of the Nightmare's Order can participate in your little game if they wish, as I do not have the authority nor the right to tell them otherwise. However, they will not be doing so under any official capacity as one of Hers nor will their participation be viewed as an additional price paid for the deal. If you wish to speak further with me personally, your words will be met with my claw at your throat. Send another to treat with me, for I have no time for someone with the negotiation prowess of a hound.

- the Seer



Penned by my hand on Gosday, the 20th of Midsummer, in the year 465 MA.