Amusing.

How the rats crow. You come skittering from your warrens into the daylight, eager to spread your filth now that those who once kept you in your place no longer walk this world. I have little doubt the world will one day regret the absence of the boot upon your necks.

The antics of Ksha are known to me and scarcely worth my attention. I have spent my semi-retirement enjoying my holdings and would have preferred not to be drawn back into this petty newsboard squabbling. Even so, my patience has limits, and my kin shall always come first.

I care not what patchwork coalition of chivalrous toads lends its support to those who wield my name. It is irrelevant, wasteful, and bears not the slightest resemblance to reality.

No one may claim the name or title of Rian without the bond of kinship we bear. Blood and bond stand above all in the eyes of the Pack. Do not reach beyond your station to seize a mantle that is neither yours by right nor one that can be stolen through backroom dealings and petty subterfuge.

Aodfionn, I find it amusing that you of all people speak of ill-gotten gains and being dragged through the mud. Such acts have defined much of your existence. The difference is that you conduct your business from the shadows, whispering caustic poison into the proper ears while employing the likes of Archaeon as your mouthpiece whenever you lack the courage to soil your own hands, all before hiding behind your predecessor when someone tried to hold you to account.

That you now bear the title of Knight Arbiter stands as a testament to how far the Guild has fallen in its brief and infantile existence. Those vaunted Rian whose names you invoke in the absence of their judgement would scorn both you and the Guild you lead. You have long since forfeited any right to bear so noble a title as "Sir or Dame."

There is a bitter comfort in knowing that those of my line who came before have passed on to places far better than this. Their rest is untroubled, spared the indignity of witnessing what this world has become and the depths to which the code of knighthood has descended.

Were they here to see it, they would not recognize those who now cloak themselves in honour while trafficking in deceit. They would look upon such things with contempt, and upon those responsible with even less.

My children and their descendants shall always have my love, and I shall always watch over them. The halls of The Mark will forever stand open to them, a home and refuge girded against the taint spread by the likes of Ksha, Aodfionn, and all who share their outlook.

Be well, for I shall waste no further measure of my valuable time addressing such small-minded people upon this channel. My judgement has been rendered, and I have no desire to linger amongst the squabbling of lesser minds.

I am forever,

Eril Rian.

Penned by my hand on the 10th of Lupar, in the year 1007 AF.