Crixos of Cyrene,

Absence of clarity breeds uncertainty, and the clamor of voices you decry are a direct result of years of murkily stated policy from your city.

A hundred and fifty years ago, then-Imperiate Keorin announced how Cyrene's place in the world was to change with the unveiling of the Pillars of Silver and Steel (PUBLIC 20924). This public missive was a clear and formal declaration of Cyrene's worldview at the time: "We seek to create and unite, not destroy and conquer."

Since joining the Empire of Thalassa, Cyrene has made no public statement regarding any change to this policy. Your fellow citizen, Grakhir Rian, points to the Imperial Charter as a sufficient basis for understanding the modern Cyrene, and the bluntness of your Chancellor's latest missive to King Tu'eras certainly supports that reading. Yet it remains ambiguous to much of the world which of these two conflicting documents represent your city's ideology and policy.

I have found myself asking again and again in recent years how I should understand the reconciliation of the Pillars and the Charter within Cyrene. As a rule, my inquiries to both private citizens and to members of your senate on that question have been met with either evasions or silence. So, while I offer my thanks to you and to Shieldwarden Rian for making such clear statements of your views of Cyrene's foreign policy, the reality is that the latest official statement remains the announcement of the Pillars of Silver and Steel those many years ago.

I ask you, o Gate of Oceanus, who are you? What do you stand for today?

Until you speak for yourselves, you cannot expect the continent to cease doing so on your behalf.

In service to Light and Fire,
Dawnlord Aroan Shire

Penned by my hand on the 5th of Glacian, in the year 992 AF.