Okay Sapience, let's talk.

I don't particularly care about war. I'm not here to declare it.

You're all very invested in it, the constant shouting is evidence enough of that, but I really have other things I need to worry about.

Like rebuilding my Gods-damn city.

But apparently, some people have gotten it into their heads that we, and our Patron, are menaces, and have started going out of their way to be a nuisance about it, which makes this my problem now, because the Patron hasn't got an Order, so someone has to address the upset of yours, and I'm the only Senator old enough to remember Him.

Lord Severn has an inglamorous job. No one likes the voice of Reason. That's the most unpopular man in the room, generally, and the other mantles He's taken up since are no more popular.

Artifice. Manipulation. Lies.

You know, it's much easier to sell a theology if you dress it up in words that people have positive association with. Truth, Light, Nature, these all sound very nice, and I'm not here to tell you what I think of your ideals. They clearly suit you just fine, well enough you're willing to fight and die for them.

I'm happy for you. Truly. This is not mockery, despite my overly blunt manner of speaking.

But let's talk about Reason. Lord Severn has worn many, many titles. And done many, many things that rankle, and itch, and upset those around Him - God and Mortal alike. He does all of those things, because Someone has to.

Someone needs to watch the Shadows. Someone needs to take the fall for all the pain that Freedom brings. Someone needs to be the totemic villain. Someone needs to fight the Shadowbound, and lose an arm in the process. Someone needs to mantle whatever Duty, whatever vitriol, whatever suspicions are cast His way. Someone needs to lie to us, because sometimes not knowing the truth is a protection that lets us live our now-free lives fearlessly. Because a lie can keep safe something that is not yet ready to survive, until it is.

He cares about us too much to simply let us falter and die before we're ready to thrive.

At Varian's request, He became what He is.
At Varian's request, He abandoned all formal worship.
At Varian's request, He became His youngest Brother's shadow.

I wear many hats. I have many duties. Some I love, some I uphold because someone has to. So I suppose I understand His position. And because we have so many notions spun up in the idea of Freedom, I know that His stance against it at the dawn of creation is going to rankle, like the notion of being lied to rankles, like the notion of being led by the nose. But if we're being reasonable; He was right. Freedom has brought so much more bloodshed than anything else we could have been given. And He cares about us, not as pets or play things, but as beings that He wants to see thrive. He always has. The first thing He objected to was our pain.

I do think that, overall, freedom has been good for us. At the same time, I realize that freedom is all I have ever known; I do not know what the world would look like, had Reason got His way. I think it's too late now to find out.

Simply... I know duty. I know it well. I know how to wear the mantle of duty even when it is heavy, when it is unwanted, when it is hated. I know how to put aside what I want to do what is needed, even if it results in myself being hated, even if it results in enemies. That is all that Lord Severn has ever done.

I am not asking you to convert, to set aside your beliefs and join us. I am not asking anything actionable of you at all. Except this: You call yourselves the devout of Truth; so open your eyes to the truth. You're already enjoying His Gifts in spades, taking the Syssin's skills with you to your cities, at least acknowledge that everything He has ever done has been for us.

Have fun with your war.

That's all.
Inkh

Penned by my hand on Falsday, the 9th of Midsummer, in the year 499 MA.