Greetings again,

I have recently been enlightened as to why Eleusis and Oakstone as well
as the other Forestal community abstained from the war. Allow me to
quote the reasons I was presented with:

During the preliminary stages of the war (prior to the destruction of
Thera), it was becoming increasingly obvious that the Vertani were going
to have to be stopped, and I'm fairly sure that had Thera not been hit,
the forests certainly would have joined the war. However, when they
should how much damage that they could do, the situation had to be
re-thought.

Were Eleusis to have committed itself at that point, the city would have
proved extremely useful in the opening stages... however, by its very
nature, the Eleusian military is built for crippling an enemy in
onetroke, as it cannot hope to defend itself effectively in a war of
attrition, simply due to the ground that the forestals must defend. If
the village was attacked by the Vertani (an incursion from Tasur'ke
sweeping down through the Ithmia seemed a likely prospect at the time,
since Hashan was apathetic as ever), then the forest's finest fighters
would have mobilized there and fought.

Most likely, a sizable Vertani force would have been crushed in that
event... however, such a battle could easily have cost us Northreach -
pop a small force out of the portal in the Dardanics, with a magelord or
two, while the forests are battling in Eleusis... and poof. At the
time,we didn't know how much the Vertani knew about us and our beliefs,
but we had just witnessed firsthand the damage their mage lords could do
if pressed. Losing even parts of a major forest would have forced
Eleusis out of the war very quickly (we cannot hope to defend every
forest room against an enemy that can attack in force anywhere), which
we knew well. The question was, did the Vertani know, and how much were
we willing to gamble that they didn't?

The prospect of having to defend a series of forests would have resulted
in us being destroyed piecemeal and losing a great deal of what we're
sworn to protect in the meantime - all of which means that if the
forests attacked during the Vertani war, it would have had to be the
hammerblow that finished the war entirely.

I hope this wasn't too confusing and it cleared up the misconception
that we were apathetic towards the rest of Sapience during the long war-
our absence, as far as I know, was entirely for strategic reasons.

I say to you forestals, Tiamat stated if the continued forest affiliated
individuals kept attacking his home, he would attack your homes as well.
And still they raided, and he destroyed forests much as the Vertani
would have. And yet they still Raid. And you rebuild. And the forest is
healed. Now tell me, you're willing to risk the destruction of some
Forest areas to attack a fellow resident of Sapience, but don't have the
backbone to defend it from extraplanar forces? You mean to tell me that
you would rather bite your tongue and live in servitude to a force from
another plane than risk anything to save it? You're telling me that
fighting a war where you stand to lose something makes the war
pointless? What about Ashtan? What about the many many many lives lost
for Ashtan? What about the children and citizens of Thera? Did the war
not cost them anything? Did the Mayer of Thera say hey, these guys can't
hurt us let's attack them with our allies and liberate Sapience from
their attempted conquest. No, Ashtan, Mhaldor, Thera, Petra, Blackrock,
and all those who helped knew exactly what they had to lose. Even after
the destruction of Thera they knew that the Vertani could enter their
cities and reduce them to absolute rubble. They knew the destructive
power the Vertani had at their disposal and still they risked it all to
defeat them. To prove that Sapience is our home, and not a place
foreigners can invade and take over. Yes, all organizations that fought
in that war knew exactly what they had to lose just as you did. However
they were willing to risk it all rather than allow some aliens to take
over and run things. And yet during the war, after it was over and so
on, people mocked them. People called them names, criticized their
actions and basically spit in the face of people who risked everything
for the greater good of Sapience. Even the Church who claims to support
the ideal of Good refused to assist in the battle. If Forestals can be
pushed around so easily, then I'm sorry and I pray for you, that one day
you

Now that that's out of the way,

Some of you Forestals have claimed that the reason you didn't help in
the war was because the Vertani didn't harm nature. Well let me point
something out to you. I only spent a year as a Sylvan but in that year I
feel I gained a greater understanding of just what being a forestal
means. And apparently I learned something Sylvan of 100 plus years have
yet to learn:

"Be we Human, Satyr, Siren, Xorani, Rajamalan, Trolls, Horkvali, Grooks,
Atavian, or any other race, we are all part of Nature. Part of being a
Forestal is respecting Nature, and to truly respect Nature, you must
respect all her children because after all, isn't Nature's bounty what
sustains us?"

I bid each and every one of you to think on that. To ponder it when
you're mulling around wasting time, and to ask yourself, why hasn't
anyone brought this up lately? Respecting Nature, is about respecting
every living being. While some of us haven't done too much of this in
the past, myself included, this is a point that needs attention. You say
to me, the Forestals don't consider us, mortals, part of Nature and I
ask you why? Were we not created by the same Divine who created Nature?
Do we not live with Nature all around us? Does Nature not sustain us?
You are what you eat. Therefore by sustaining ourselves on Nature we
become Nature. And you don't have to like everyone, as it would be less
than intelligent to like someone who kills those you hold dear, or robs
from them. But you should at least respect them. The next time a force
tries to take over this place, Sapience, our home I hope to find more of
you on the battlefield fighting for our side rather than criticizing
those that do fight or simply biting your tongue and letting others do
the work for you.

Respectfully,
Jago Verasall

Penned by my hand on the 2nd of Miraman, in the year 393 AF.