What follows is the transcription of a sermon I delivered to a group of
assembled Mhaldorians in the Central Courtyard of the Baelgrim Fortress
on approximately the 6th of Miraman in the year 374 AF.

When last I spoke here, I took the time to explicate each of our Lord's
Seven Truths. If you wish to revisit that topic, I will direct you to
Preacher Herenicus's recent sermon, far superior to my own, archived in
the public news as post number 13185. Tonight I will be speaking about
Evil in a far more general sense--before I begin I would like to say
that I do not claim to know or to understand anything; knowledge and
understanding are beyond my grasp. Whatever I speak now, I speak as
interpretation and as belief, not as knowledge.

While I was walking once through Mhaldor, I overheard a conversation
between two of our fellows, regarding some recent battle. It was just
the normal idle chatter, and mostly irrelevant; one small bit, however,
stuck with me. The one citizen remarked to the other, referring to some
ill deed done him by the Shallamites, "Those damned evil Churchies";
and, in response, the second asked, "Don't you mean 'those damned good
Churchies?'" I held my tongue then--it was not my business to speak into
their conversation--but I do not do so now: it is my firm belief that
these commonplace terms, 'good' and 'evil,' are wholly and completely
different from their proper counterparts, 'Good' and 'Evil,' despite
what the better part of this world might think, and that it is this very
difference that makes the Truths so important to those who would follow
them.

I know that what I just said may sound confusing--after all, what
difference is there between 'evil' and 'Evil,' but for the context in
which one speaks them? I will illustrate, then, with an example. The
arachnoi, those spider-like creatures who make their home within the
Darkenwood, are not friendly things. Their Queen, Istishia, has little
regard for any life but her own, and she and her children will fight
bitterly any intruder who sees fit to disturb them. Murdering these
beasts is considered an act of 'good' by the general population of
Sapience, and will help to purify one's soul. There is no dispute, then,
that these creatures are considered 'evil.' But what is the purpose of
their existence? To live, to sleep, to feed, and nothing more. They make
no designs upon the world outside of their forest. Do these creatures
follow the Truths of Lord Sartan? No--and therein lies the illustration.
These creatures are, according to most Sapients, evil--but they are far
from Evil.

Perhaps I sound redundant. Allow me to clarify: Evil is an absolute. It
is a way of life, a system of belief. One cannot be called Evil without
adhering to its particular set of laws, without bending to a higher
power and acknowledging one's place as a servant to the greater cause.
The arachnoi are fierce, yes, and they are sinister in their dealings
with other mortals, but they work toward no higher goals, no future
purpose. Evil is not an end, but a beginning; it is the means to
accomplish something far more important than the individual need or the
immediate gratification. It is, as our Lord said, the way in which we
seek to empower and strengthen and advance life on this world.

Yet we are not alone in our endeavors. The Holy Church, despite the
bitterness it feels toward Mhaldor and we toward it, is a system built
upon a particular foundation, its tenets inscribed in a sacred book
called the Holy Codex. It is an organization dedicated to the betterment
of Achaea--and we will likely find ourselves eternally at odds with one
another. Why is that, when our goals are so similar? The answer is very
simple: it is a difference of opinion, a case of sound reasoning against
flawed.

I have come to believe, in my limited experience, that though the gods
may be absolute, nothing else in this world is. We live in a place of
relativity and subjectivity, where what is trash to one is treasure to
another; where what is called evil may be considered by another the most
wonderful good to come upon the land; where one may see beauty and
another may see disfigurement. When I was young, younger than the
youngest among us now, a man far wiser than myself said to me that it is
pointless to fight against time or against philosophy, because no such
battle is ever won; they are never even fought. The battlefield is but a
stark grey space in the mind, and victory is but an illusion of
philosophers and fools. I was too young to interpret his words then, but
I believe I have begun to grasp his meaning. To prance about exhorting
one's own 'goodness' or 'capacity for evil' is pointless, even immature.
The most we may do is feel pride in our adherence to the Truths of our
Master, our ability to believe in Lord Sartan's Evil--our dedication to
the Divine we each serve.

What, then, of the Truths? Are they meaningless, in this world of
relativistic nonsense? No; belief in Evil--or in the Church or in the
ideas of Chaos or Darkness or Destruction or what have you--it is a way
of imposing a Divine absolute upon we hopeless mortals. Without our
belief in Evil, we would be as the wretched arachnoi: hidden away in a
dank cave, doing what must be done to survive and nothing more. To our
Lord, then, we owe our livelihood, for it is by His hand that we have
been brought to know the only true path through life in this world. All
others fade into dust long before the goal is reached, but our Lord has
given us the eyes to see the true way--the way to enlightenment, to
strength. It is by His Way that this world will reach its fullest
potential.

We of the true faith must never waver in our beliefs, for the line
separating Good and Evil is a fine one; a single mis-step might lead you
down that dusty road toward the Eastern City--not as conqueror, but as
supplicant. Cruelty, pain, discipline: we must not forget these things.
Without the guidance of our Lord, we would be no better than the
spider-people. We must prove that we are correct by demonstrating the
truth in His Words; we must crush the unbelievers with the power that He
has given us.

I know that our belief is strong; I believe that the path of our Lord,
the path to strength--I believe that it is the right one: Mhaldor has
demonstrated time and time again that its unity under the Truths of Evil
is strong enough to grant it the power to stand against those who would
invade and seek to destroy it. The Holy Ones might seek to better life,
but we seek to advance it; our methods are harsh, yes, but such is the
course of mortal life. We must never become stagnant in our growth, or
believe ourselves to be at the limit of our strength--such a thing is
impossible. Strength, knowledge, understanding: these things are the
outer limits of what we may reach. We may always strive for them, grow
infinitely closer to them--but we, as mortals, may never touch them. We
may only work to advance ourselves--no, to advance -life- ever further,
spurring it onward and outward into history.

Penned by my hand on the 10th of Miraman, in the year 374 AF.