Hello everyone. I will try and make this as brief as possible.

First--Hingar, you stand by the point that some achaeans are
sub-sapient. This is insulting, you know it. Educating a slave, teaching
them to read and write and debate doesn't change the fact that they are
a slave. I understand that you don't respect us as a people, but I don't
think that peace is possible unless both parties respect the other.
There are already people in sapience who have had a strong belief in
your cause, but the fact that you refer to us as somehow being "baser"
isn't convincing a great deal of people that your cause is a just or
true one.

Second--you stressed the point about Estan's death. Well, for everyone
who missed out, there's a big crater where Thera is, and Mayor Ariel
ain't coming back. I can only question why you felt the need to teach us
how you felt about mortality in such a manner. Estan is a military man,
he clearly commanded the greatest amount of respect amongst your people,
Hingar. Yet, I don't see what happened at Thera as an eye for an eye, so
to speak.

It is understandable that in your people's rage, your people committed
to such a course of action, but reconsider who you slander as
sub-sapient when you think of the countless innocents that were killed.
Hingar, I totally sympathize with you ON A PERSONAL LEVEL for the death
of Estan and probably countless numbers of Vertani you have called
brothers and sisters, but from my perspective, all the Vertani have
managed to do is make our common alliance feel your suffering and pain.
That is, it was an act of revenge, not of righteousness. It did not,
could not correct the countless number of deaths inflicted to your
people. I know there are people in sapience who have probably stopped to
think, "Estan was a good person", but then reconsider what they have
said when they weight the life of Estan versus the lives of every Theran
man, woman, and child. Hingar, you think of your people as being above
the petty bloodlust seen so frequently in our people. We would like to
see you rise above what many concieve to be diplomatic power plays--many
of us KNOW that you and your people are very smart--we would just like
to see if those smarts can assist us in building a lasting peace, not an
eternal bloodbath.

Third, To all the disgruntled Ashtanis--Please stop bashing on Shallam.
They will come to a decision in good time. Goading them on will
obviously hurt the cause as a whole. Also, Shallam does have PEOPLE
living in its walls. They think and breath just like us. We need to
respect their way of thinking. Saying things like, "Shallam has fallen
from the light" is the worst way to win their support. And, even if they
did come to support us in light of such mocking, it would probably be
half-hearted at best. The very fact that Shallam is THINKING about
taking action shows that they are NOT callous and ignorant of world
events. Please, just give them time. I have seen the faces of the City
of Light, and they peer into Sarapis' dream of divine lands just like
everyone else.

I am looking forward to your response, Hingar, because even though you
are my enemy, it is all the more reason why I should listen to what you
have to say even more.

-Sincerely,
Ardesco A. Moonflair, of the Warlocks, Ashtan, and Sapience.

Penned by my hand on the 25th of Sarapin, in the year 386 AF.