I remember my days as an idealistic Probate in the Paladins and Church
thinking we are good, they are bad and everyone else is a druid. This is
going back some 100 years or more. As I grew older things didnt change
too much, I was forced from the Paladins through disagreements of how to
live and what was good and what was bad but there was 1 thing that
stayed constant. A Paladin was still good if he acted like one.

I have been a rogue for more than 70% of my life, a Rogue Paladin, and
with the threat of excommunication looming over my head all this time I
have still been a Paladin in my heart, weither for Aurora in my youth or
Phaestus in my dotage. There have been times when the Church disagreed
with my actions and tried to scare me by the threat of excommincation
but I perservered in the way a Paladin should act.

In my youth there were many Rogue's, predominantly Paladins. These
however did not stay Paladin for long as they were systematically
punished for failure to live upto the expectations of the lives they
chose when they were 18.

In more recent times I have watched in awe as the number of Rogues in
the realm has skyrocketed. No longer are Bambi and I unique in the
world. The market for Rogue's is rife with frauds and fakers. Why do I
say this, simply because you are. I say you as those very same
charlatans that this is making the world aware of are reading this and
they know who they are. What is a fraud, someone who has chosen a life
for themselves and cant cut the cheese. They cant live as they have
chosen to live. This world has many professions a person can choose,
each uniquely set up so people can take something that will appeal to
the way they wish their life to be lived. However thats too hard for
some.

So many, too many are now taking their profession and going, well I dont
want to do it that way. When they chose it when they were born into
adult life they knew what it entailed so why then do so many have the
simple lack of ability to do what they chose. Why now has the number of
people that fall into this category gone so high? Because they can.

A forestal is a protector of nature, so why do we see so many that are
harming it. Those who support those that would harm nature are going
directly against what they chose to be after loom island. You are
fakers, every one of you that harms nature in your actions. You can
brush it off as I am not doing it directly I am just making a profit or
helping a friend. NO!!! you are not just doing that you are making life
miserable for those that have devoted themselves to the cause that they
chose just like you, but unlike the forestals that cannot control
themselves with greed in their eyes, these ones have no forsaken their
choice.

Runewardens who have joined the Guild just to get class and then quit
almost instantly and fled to another city. You are fakers and frauds.
Because of the actions of these people who chose not to do as the
profession they selected few Runewardens get to the level where they
have class now as it is too risky seeing more flee their oaths.

Even though there are Mage guilds in three cities, encompassing several
different ideals we still see Mages that are out there in none of the
guilds. Is it possible they cant fit into any of the ethos' that have
been chosen by the city guilds? I doubt that.

Similar to the Mage's there are several snake guilds, again the same
situation here.

There are "5" monk guilds so please noone tell me there is nowhere for
them.

Shaman, Priests, Occultists, Apostates are all unique guilds. My own
city, Cyrene is the only city without a unique guild. So why is it that
these particular ones have the least trouble with Rogues? Because these
are the only ones that have created a true identity for themselves.
Their members work diligently to fullfill that which they chose after
loom island as their profession. In more ways than possible the members
of these guilds deserve more respect than all of the rest of us Rogue's
(myself included) put together. They are the ones that have learnt - You
Are Your Profession! They are the ones that have learnt that if you cant
live as a (whatever) then change and move on.

And that is the crux of it all folks. There are too many out there that
cant live as they chose. They cant be a this that or the other thing.
Those people need to move on. If you are Rogue, fine great I say,
"Welcome to the club, take a seat, have an ale - how was your day?". But
if you cannot live your live as you chose then change. IF your a
Maldaathi and want to do good, become a Paladin. If your a Paladin and
want to do bad, become a Maldaathi. If your a Naga and want to do good,
become a Dawnstrider. If your a Dawnstrider and want to do bad, goto the
Naga.

Lets turn this world into a place we can be proud of, a place where you
can say - There is a Paladin and not care if it is a Paladin Guild or a
Paladin Rogue for they are the same thing. A place where a Sentinel
protects the forest not actively seeks to harm it. A world where a
Jester will play pranks and tricks on someone, doesnt just let the world
pass them by.

I think that is all I was going to say, and I know this is a long post
and I am sorry if you are reading this, but I needed to vent around 50
years of frustration on those that just cant seem to get it right.

Hand of Phaestus
Molotov Lighthawk

Penned by my hand on the 5th of Phaestian, in the year 336 AF.