Hail to you, Hingar, and to the Vertani,

You may not know of me, as I rarely venture to speak on this board, and
this is possibly the first time I have done so. Also, I have very few
dealings with the Vertani. I do not have any "claim to fame" in regards
to your people. I have not stood with you in battle. I have not been
named a Friend of the Vertani.

Thus, I provide you with a very brief introduction of myself. I am
Antonius Agarwaen, a Knight of the Paladins, a member of the Holy Church
of Achaea, a member of the Elysian Order, and the "unofficial" Minister
of Security of Shallam.

At times, I wish I could speak as some of those, and not as others.
However, as I choose to be all of them, I must speak as all of them, at
all times. So I say this as a Knight of the Paladins, a member of the
Holy Church of Achaea, a member of the Elysian Order, and the
"unofficial" Minister of Security of Shallam. These words are my own,
the thoughts I convey are my own. I will not deem to speak for any but
myself; however there may be those who agree.

There are a few points I wish to comment on from your post.

Firstly, your comment about being a civilization that prefers Peace.
From my recollections, which may very well be wrong, you originally
stated that you did not prefer Peace, but did not engage in combat of
any kind. How then, do you justify the 372 combat-orientated Vertani
that currently reside in el'Jazira? That seems like an incredibly large
amount of fighters for a civilization that does not engage in combat;
and you also seem to be frighteningly effective at it.
If my recollection is correct, there lies the contradiction you fail to
see. If my recollection is incorrect, you may disregard this point.

My next point is not regarding your post, but my own. This one that you
are currently reading. My own use of the word civilization when
referring to you strikes me as odd. Especially when I consider that you
called some portion of the populace of Sapience 'neanderthals', and
stated that they are unable to 'rise above the animalistic excesses of
their baser natures.
I have extended you the courtesy of being polite when talking of you and
your fellow Vertani, kindly do the same when speaking of Achaeans.

You have claimed, on numerous occasions, that you did not seek war or
conflict when you ventured to this land. Yet you continue to refer to
the Vertani Empire. Being an Empire, you should have already been
blindingly aware of the fact that Empire's face opposition. They will
not be welcomed by the open arms of all they seek to include within
their Empire. Knowing this, you should also have been aware that in
order for your Empire to completely control this place, conflict would
be necessary. War would be necessary. Why then, are you so surprised by
this?

Respectfully in the name of Valour,
Sir Antonius Agarwaen,
Knight of the Paladins and the Elysian Order,
Commander of Defence of the Royal Shallamese Guard

If you require clarification on any of these points, or if any of my
'facts' are incorrect, please feel free to contact me about them.

Penned by my hand on the 23rd of Sarapin, in the year 386 AF.