My first gold sovereign has to do tangentially with Cyrene, but more the
fact that some of those participating in the public discussion regarding
Cyrene have felt it necessary to drag the Bastion of the North into that
conversation.

From Rhakshai's public post # 10243:

"This action is especially shocking coming from Aegians and Erisians,
because many of them are Ashtani. Ashtan styles itself the 'City of the
Free' and is known for its law which allows citizens to murder and rob
noncitizens in its borders without punishment from the city. Now, this
law is highly favored by the citizens of Ashtan, but many a noncitizen
(myself included) has had fits over it."

What Rhakshai refers to (in rather slanted language) is not a law, but
Ashtan's *lack* of a law that punishes our citizens for their actions
upon noncitizens within the city borders. Yes, we do place our citizens
on higher esteem than noncitizens. We are a pro-citizen city. If, for
example, a personal enemy of an Ashtan citizen happens to enter Ashtan,
and said citizen decides to attack his or her enemy, Ashtan sees no
reason to punish the citizen for doing so.

Obviously, a city that favours calm and neutrality, over the right of a
citizen to begin or respond to a conflict with a noncitizen, would
enforce policies that reflect those values. Like every individual, every
city has its own set of values, and attracts citizens that share those
values. In Cyrene's case, their values may attract, for example,
Erisians that wish to live a quiet life meditating on the metaphysics of
Chaos.

It may be surprising to some that I personally agree with the overall
point of Rhakshai's post. I respect Cyrene's soverignty to reason and
choose for themselves their own laws, though I wish for them to begin
with an open mind rather than starting from what I consider the
narrow-minded views of their Elysian/Church founders. I only contend
with the fact that she chose to use propagandistic language against
Ashtan in making her point, which was completely unnecessary.

And my 2nd gold sovereign. Where I believe Cyrene erred in dealing with
Lady Eris is, is their city council's inadvertent insult to a Divine in
stalling a simple wish to open peaceful discussion with them for over
two years. Through miscommunication and mortal error, promises were
broken and Divine wrath was incurred. Also, I have spent a great deal of
time trying to piece together the facts behind the incidents in Cyrene
that kicked off this ordeal, and I think that I have as firm a grasp of
it as anyone. My thanks to Jack, Glor, Procellan, Morkael, Cree and many
others who took the time to converse with me and patiently answer many
questions.

Ultimately, it seems that again miscommunication and mortal error, as
well as prejudices and knee-jerk reactions, are at the heart of it all.
I applaud Cyrene and its Senators for their efforts to rectify any
damage they caused, and to improve communication and honestly reassess
internal policies overall, with or without outside pressure. I'm led to
believe that many Cyrenians do wish to become a truly neutral city out
of the shadow of the Church of its founders. While I cannot know if that
translates to the majority, if it does, then these are steps well taken.

In regards specifically to Erisian citizenship in Cyrene, I quote
Caled's words in public post # 10239:

"Several, if not many of the founders of Cyrene were/are Elysian. I was
Elysian. Czanthria still is Elysian. We believed/believe, with all our
hearts, that what Pentharian and Lorielan say about You (Eris) and
Chaos, is true. There have been countless posts on this subject, so I
will not make a sermon now, nor attempt to instruct You on Your own
realm - suffice to say that our beliefs of Chaos led us to believe that
Chaos is in opposition to Cyrene's ideals."

Later in the post he goes on to say:

"I hope my explanations help somewhat. They aren't complete, I know. But
they should help you all to understand why the stances in the past were
taken. Not because of "church beginnings", or even "Elysian beginnings"
but because Cyrene was intended to be a haven for those who wanted to
get away from the strife of wars between other Cities. Anything which
could jeopardise that was opposed. Maybe it was the wrong way to go
about it, maybe it was the right. I'm not going to argue that now,
because I truly don't care about something so far in my past."

It seems there is a direct contradiction in what Caled, as one of the
founders of Cyrene, has to say on why Cyrene originally chose a stance
against Chaos. He first says that the reason was because of the
founders' Church-instilled beliefs against Chaos. Then he says that that
stance was not taken because of church beginnings. Citizens of Cyrene,
I'd ask you to remember that Erisians are free to forge or follow their
own path, and not to discriminate against Erisians who choose a neutral
way of life on the basis of old prejudices.

Regards,

Shakti Devi.

Penned by my hand on the 18th of Mayan, in the year 320 AF.