So I was to continue my discussion with Callibius when we heard a shout
from the direction the priest had left. Shortly after a Knight of the
Maaldathi strolled by carrying a familiar looking bloodied mace and two
bloodied longswords. I greeted him and asked him to join the two of us.
Smirking at me with a lear, he said, "Saruman! Had I not just abated my
thirst for blood and gorged my belly with fresh priest flesh, I would
strike thee down and feast upon your innards. What business do you
have?"

"Our business is that of morality. Callibius and I were engaging in a
thoughtful discussion of morality. A priest tried to explain it to us,
but he showed to be of little use in furthering our understanding. We
have started by saying morality is that which benefits the community.
Perhaps you may be of help, bringing us the perspective of evil?"

"Well if that is the case then clearly it is the advantage of the strong
over the weak, as our Lord Sartan teaches. Now I suppose I shall have to
spell it out in simple terms for you imbeciles."

"Yes you ought to," I replied, "Though I am familiar with the Malevolent
One's teachings, I am not certain how that could be deemed as good for
society as whole."

"It is quite simple, and I am surprised that someone such as yourself
who claims to be a scholar can not see it plain as day. Some cities and
villages are democracies, some aristocracies or monarchies, and some are
dictatorships. Can we agree that in any society, that which has the
power is its government?"

"Undoubtedly!" said Callibius, and I nodded affirmation.

"All governments pass laws to their advantage. Democratic nations pass
laws which further that democracy while dictatorships pass laws to
further that dictatorship, etc. A democracy would never, for example,
intentionally pass a law to allow its advantage to slip in favour of a
dictatorship and vice versa. The same applies to monarchies. In doing
this, each government is demonstrating that its advantage is what is
good for its subjects: that which is to the advantage of the existing
power. Each government, which is the stronger party in a society,
punishes that which deviates from that which is advantageous to itself
as though they were criminals. Though few would call that morality at
face value, if you say morality is that which benefits society then that
is morality."

"Though I suspect it is likely that morality is some sort of advantage,
I am not certain that it is the advantage of the stronger party. So with
that in mind, are you saying that obedience to a government that rules
over you is a right thing to do?"

"Though we may be evil, we knights are a lawful society despite the lies
our enemies spread to the contrary. It is not only the right thing to
do, but also the honorable thing to do!"

"Well is it possible for government to make errors from time to time?"

"Well certainly. We are only mortals. We can not compare to the unflawed
greatness of our divine lords."

"So when they get it right, that means they passed legislation to their
advantage, while when they get it wrong they pass laws to their
disadvantage, but citizens must still act in accordance to the law to be
in the right and also to be honorable, as you put it."

"Most definitely. Any other society will be one of lawless scoundrels,
doomed by the discord and entropy you dim-witted Occultists trumpet
about so much."

"Well that seems a most flawed view. Please hear me out for a moment; I
certainly may have missed something here. As you said, we are but mere
mortals. We have agreed that when government orders its subjects to do
things, it can sometimes be utterly mistaken about its own best
interest, but it is right for the subjects to obey this. We have also
agreed that it is right for subjects to act in the best interest of
their superiors, the stronger party. So if the government is utterly
mistaken, then by our latter agreement it is wrong for the subjects to
obey their superiors. So it follows that it is right for the weaker
party to disobey the stronger party. They are, after all, being asked to
disadvantage the stronger party."

Callibius interjected, "It starts to sound as though this brand of
morality through obedience of the weak is no different when it is done
to the advantage or disadvantage of the stronger party. Perhaps it would
be better to phrase it as doing what the stronger party 'thinks' is
advantageous to itself rather than what truly is advantageous."

The knight contested, though. "Do you think I would claim stupid people
who make many mistakes would be the stronger party? You would have me
say that one who makes mistakes about his patients as being a true
doctor, or one who misspells words as a true writer!"

"Perhaps," said Callibius, "things would be easier if we assumed that
the stronger party made perfect judgement. In that sense, it would be
harder to deny that it is in fact the stronger party, for it would be
impossible for any other party to have a stronger judgement."

"That sounds fine," I replied, and the knight nodded assent. "It does
make the situation quite a bit easier."

I paused for a moment and then continued, "The doctor you mentioned
comes to mind. Such a doctor who is perfect in his craft would do his
best to find out what is advantageous for another person's body, and
clearly he is the stronger party in that relationship since only he has
the power to make the body well. The patient certainly does not seek to
do what is most advantageous for the doctor, for that is not the
guaranteed path to well-being. A teacher also comes to mind, as a
perfect teacher focuses on what is advantageous to the minds of his
pupils, and he is the stronger party since the pupils certainly are
weaker as a teacher than the teacher is; the pupils, though, would
certainly not be working to the advantage of the teacher since that does
not lead to learning. The same applies to a ship captain, a builder a
lawyer, and so forth. It seems that every branch of knowledge does not
consider the welfare of itself, but rather the advantage of that which
its area of expertise applies to: students, a legal client, a ship crew,
etc."

The sinful knight nodded his head slowly.

"So clearly a government ruled by perfect decision makers passes laws
that are not to the advantage of itself, but rather to its subjects,
which we have agreed is the weaker party. Thus the stronger party in
this case is doing what is advantageous for the weak, and so doing that
which is advantageous to the stronger party can not be beneficial to
society as a whole since a perfect ruler would do quite the opposite. It
is only the imperfect, flawed government that enacts rules favouring the
stronger party over the weaker party."

"Bah! You argue well, but it matters not to me. I would never call this
way of life moral; it was you who said that. So we are in agreement. And
on that note, I bid you farewell, and may your soul writhe in eternal
agony."

He then stood up and strode off, singing a foul hymn:

"Your scar will not stop bleeding
No sign of ever healing
My heart if filled with darkness
It's what you always wanted
This life is not worth living
The gift that keeps on giving
A fist of adulation
I accept the word of Sartan - yes I do

"Demonic fiend in the eyes of the Lord
A failed abortion to misfortune and scorn
The kindred spirit with a soul that's possessed
I walk alone through the valley of death
Am I a figment of imagination?
Unknown to myself, the struggling to move on
Another day over, misery and regret
Can't wait till it's over, I am better off dead

"Behind these eyes there is nothing to see
Abominated by my choice to blaspheme
Demonic forces overriding control
The time predicted and the hour foretold
Where is the fear that keeps you closer to light?
Then I appear and you wish I would be gone
Covered in terror far beyond your belief
Never existed, am I only a dream?"

Penned by my hand on the 10th of Phaestian, in the year 329 AF.