To Sir Alban Aodh'Stormcrow:

You begin your post with the words, "The other day, I was calmly
standing in the bait shop in Shastaan on my own..." Surely the
importance of the location of your body in the mentioned event does not
escape you. The Mermaid's Tail Bait and Bar remains the hotly contested
location of one of Lord Apollyon's shrines. I dare say it is the most
common battleground between the Anointed and Mhaldor in this ongoing
struggle of shrine defilements and sanctifications.

I may not be a member of Lord Apollyon's Order, but I serve Him as I
serve Lord Shaitan. I would not expect you to stand by idly while I
defile the shrine of a Good Divine such as Lady Mithraea. Indeed, if you
did, I would find myself surprised at how far the Guardians would have
fallen if that occurred. I owe my allegiance indiscriminately to both
Lord Shaitan and Lord Apollyon. I would not shame my City and my House
by failing to respond to the defense of one of Lord Apollyon's shrines.

Your situation would be such a liberal definition of teaming which
forces every defender in Sapience, regardless of affiliation, into the
pool that teamers are identified with. There is, I assure you, a
distinct difference between defending a known shrine location and
seeking out individual Shallamese to kill with a partner far outside any
defensive or raid situation. If you consider that teaming, then so be
it. One more difference between the values of my House and yours.

You speak of no mercy, no cease, no respite. You speak of my lack of
Honour, of slaughtering of defenceless children, of spreading disaster.
I find it incredibly ironic how reflective your words are of my previous
post. I spoke of maintaining Honour even when meeting your sworn enemy
in battle. I spoke of how foolish it is to abandon Honour in one moment
and take upon its mantle again in the next. How clearly you prove my
point, Sir Knight. If you truly were any Knight to respect and remember,
you would continue to treat me with Honour irregardless of my actions.

I also find it highly amusing that you would condemn the slaughter of
the defenceless. What do you call then the death of young goblin
children born and reared only as their families see fit? Are they not
also as defenceless as you claim the ones you protect are? Surely they
know no better and should be treated as such, yet they are qualified for
slaughter by Good's own standards. Do explain to me how no hypocrisy
lies in your words.

And at last, I come to the final attack of your post. The statement
that, serving Evil as I do, I cannot retain Honour. And there, Sir
Alban, is where you are found woefully ignorant. The First of the Seven
Truths reads as following, "What is called evil is simply the drive for
advancement, for greatness. We seek, through discipline and pain, to
spur the advancement of nothing less than sentient life."

Your foolish claim that Honour cannot coexist with Evil is just that,
foolish. Evil as defined by the Lords is merely the pursuit of
perfection by strengthening one's self as much as possible. I do not
hunt your innocent little children at my rank and age; the only ones
that do would be the Grunts of my House that you will find equally
matched to your defenceless cherubs who, you will find, are not so
defenceless after all. No Maldaathi seeks out the weaker opponent when
offered a stronger one. We abide by our Code of Chivalry which imposes
an additional set of rules upon ourselves in our quest for greatness. So
long as this Code is followed in conjunction with the Seven Truths, then
the Maldaathi has fulfilled its mission as a Knight House serving the
Lords through Honourable Evil.

To Justiciar Alaren Nivalis:

I would not go so far as to claim warfare is or is not entrenched by
deception. The only authority with the power to substantially define
what does or does not consist of war would be Lord Aegis as it is His
realm. I would not intrude upon it with my mortal words. As for the
Maldaathi being centred upon combat and war, rest assured that our sole
focus is the advancement of Evil. The means of doing so are largely
militant, but are not restricted to such.

I will say, however, that one may choose between two different styles of
fighting which are openly confronting your opponent versus hiding in the
shadows for the opportune moment. I would certainly hope every Knight
strives to follow the first style, and you assert that you do. In which
case, I certainly commend you for your efforts. But the fact of the
matter is, that the Serpent's true character lies in the elusive art of
shadow and trickery. You may make the conscious choice to abstain from
such, but it goes against the very grain for which your soul was
designed. You can say that your Serpent skillset is merely a tool that
you utilize every day, but your class is so much more than simply a
tool. It is a way of life that you cannot escape, no matter how hard you
try.

In service to the Lords,
High Lady Istiria Dread

Penned by my hand on the 23rd of Aeguary, in the year 450 AF.