Hail, Sapience.

Two months ago I gave a sermon upon loyalty before the gates of Mhaldor.
I post my sermon here in the hopes that those of other cities may learn
of the Sartanic virtues, and thereby be strengthened.

I post this with the permission of the Tyrannus of Mhaldor and the
Messiah of the Damned of the Apostates.

For the greater glory of Lord Sartan,
and His slaves' eternal service to Him.


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Hail, Mhaldor. Followers of Lord Sartan and Lord Thoth. Hearken to my
words.

My sermon today, Mhaldor, concerns loyalty. Our loyalty to our guilds,
our city, and our gods. Loyalty, more than any other force, is what
keeps Mhaldor together, united and strong. This unbreakable bond, forged
from hardship, tempered through struggle, binds our citizens to each
other and to our divine Patrons.

Our first exposure to Mhaldorian loyalty comes when we are inducted into
our guilds. Obedience to our superiors teaches self-sacrifice. It shows
us that we struggle for more than ourselves. Indeed, we learn that to
attain true greatness, we must see beyond our petty selfish concerns. We
must place the welfare of the whole guild first and foremost, and by
doing so, we ourselves shall wax in might.

When we are enslaved into servitude in Mhaldor, and we recite the Oath
of Citizenship, we know the depth of the commitment that we have
undertaken. We have all, individually and severally, sworn to serve
Mhaldor and its Patron, Lord Sartan, in life and in death. We give our
fealty to this fell city for eternity, that Lord Sartan's wrath befall
this world time and again.

Mere discussion of loyalty, Mhaldor, is not sufficient to glorify our
city and our gods. We must know the three facets of loyalty, that we may
keep them foremost in our mind at all times.

Loyalty is firstly defined by action. We act to improve Mhaldor, to make
our city stronger. We cleanse Mhaldor of foreign filth when heretics and
outlanders invade in force. We prepare our defences, strewing malign
sigils and baleful totems about Mhaldor. We train in the arena, we
expand our subdivision, and we scourge Mhaldorian novices. We must
constantly toil in the service of this great city, to demonstrate
loyalty to this city and to our gods.

Mere toil for our city, however, is not true loyalty. Our minds must at
all times be employed in strengthening Mhaldor's glory. We must consider
each of our actions carefully, and be certain that they strengthen our
guilds and our city. As though this realm were a great chessboard, we
must use all our mental resources to ensure that each move is leveraged
to the fullest. One carefully pondered act, having repercussions
throughout the realm, is superior to a dozen painful yet ultimately
ineffectual strikes. We must bend our minds, Mhaldor, to the ultimate
shift in this world's balance of power, and how we will prepare for the
end times prophesied in the Apocrypha.

While loyalty of body and loyalty of mind is commendable, it is yet not
sufficient. Our souls must be devoted to Mhaldor, as we have sworn in
our Oaths. Every act, every thought, must be in worship of our gods. For
while we can prepare Mhaldor's defences, and plan cunning strategies, it
is our fanatical belief in the glory of this city and its gods that
carries us to victory. We can understand and recite our guild and city
oaths, yet we have not truly lived up to them if we are not committed at
the deepest levels of our being. The true loyalty, Mhaldor, which all
else flows from, is spiritual loyalty. When we truly believe in the
precepts of the Seven Truths of Evil, and the Covenant of the Lord, we
at last attain true loyalty to Mhaldor, Lord Sartan, and Lord Thoth.

Yet even for the truly loyal, I have a dire warning. There are terrible
dangers to Mhaldorians, that may waylay even the strongest among us. We
must always be careful that we not become complacent and sink into
weakness, for then we shall become disloyal.

The first danger to the strong bonds of our true loyalties is one whose
pernicious influence can be felt even in the city of Evil. I speak of
friendships and family ties, Mhaldor. Your kith and kin may place many
demands upon you, and even demand your attention and loyalty. You may
even come to treasure their health and well-being. If these ties ever
grow to threaten your loyalty to Mhaldor and its gods, then you will
have descended into spiritual corruption. It is your duty to never let
your friends and family interfere with your duty to your god, guild, and
city. If your kith and kin maintain and even increase their efforts to
corrupt you, they must be purged from your life. If necessary, with the
blade, with the fist, or with the daegger.

The next danger is one that has become more urgent with the appearance
of Lady Selene in the realm. Love, Mhaldor, is a threat to your proper
loyalties. Devotion to one sapient being over all others is a danger to
your spiritual health. Love, as promoted by Lady Selene, is the cardinal
opposite virtue to the Sartanic virtue of cruelty. Love implies
kindness, tenderness, and forgivenness. If you succumb to this new
heresiarch goddess' blandishments, or place loyalty to your beloved
foremost, then you will have succumbed to weakness and heresy.

The last danger that I will preach of is one near to all our hearts. It
can be a strength as well as a weakness. It is a river of blood running
through our lives, and we can either drink deeply from it or drown in
its currents. I speak, Mhaldor, of hatred.

Hatred has made us stronger as a city. Our hatred of all that is weak
and feeble is a source of spiritual strength to us. We slake our hatred
upon the soulless and the citizens of lesser cities, in butcheries
without number. We torture and maim lesser beings, that we may pour out
our wrath upon them. The Apostates even summon vicious daemons out of
the nether hells, to visit their hell-spawned horror upon the realm.

Despite the strengthening effects of hatred, Mhaldor, it can yet be a
weakness. If you lack control over your own hatred, it may rise up and
consume you. If you let your hatred rule your soul, control your
thoughts, and guide your body, you are weak. Your hatred must serve you,
not the converse. If you grow enraged at heresy, or wrathful at
gentleness, or even seethe at the merest mote of tolerance, control your
hatred. Add it to the reserves in your blackened, corrupted soul, and
control its every manifestation. When the time is right, Mhaldor, and
when you are fully in control, let your hatred surge forth. For then,
when you are cabable of fully mastering your own Sartanic vileness, your
hatred will prove your spiritual devotion to Mhaldor, Lord Sartan, and
Lord Thoth. When motivated by carefully controlled hatred, your thoughts
will be keen, and your actions precise. When motivated by raw, ravening
hatred, you will merely demonstrate the laxity of discipline that Lord
Sartan's fourth Truth rejects.

This, Mhaldor, is your path to true loyalty. A strong spirituality is at
the apex of your servitude to Mhaldor. From your devotion to Mhaldor's
gods comes the strength that will focus your mind and harden your body.
Your unholy piety will protect you against the weaknesses of love,
friends, and family. Your fealty to Lord Sartan's Evil virtues, as
represented by His Truths, will ward you against the monstrosity that is
unregulated hatred. Be strong, hew to the Truths and to the advancement
of Evil, and you will be truly loyal to Lord Sartan, Lord Thoth, your
guilds, and this fair city.

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In service,
Preacher Wulfen

Penned by my hand on the 19th of Daedalan, in the year 351 AF.