My Dear Tenebrus,

Firstly I'd like to say that you've got moxy - I'm genuinely impressed
that someone managed to raise the spawn. I thought it was quite
impossible, but then I suppose I over-estimated the capability of
Shallam to keep their orphans in their own city, as well as the ability
of your accomplices to keep their mouths shut eventually. Your talents
as a sneaky bugger should be a shining example of what you can achieve
with a modicum of talent, a lot of patience, and dedication to being the
rottenest of scoundrels.

I suppose thought, I should speak some words in defence of the dear
Bastion that so many of us call home. Whereas I have no particular
affinity for the vermin upon the streets, whether those be rats or
orphans, I can abide their presence there. One thing which I really
cannot abide is the presence of the enemies of Ashtan walking our
streets freely. With you yourself being a permanent enemy of Ashtan, and
insisting on frequently and persistently entering the city, I was put in
a position where dissuading you from doing this was required.

I have no problem with the raising of the Spawn in itself, chaos has
always held a place close to my own heart, but upholding the integrity
of Ashtan is an important part of my job. Our citizens have always been
free to attempt to raise the spawn, and I have seen a number of those
that have tried and not succeeded. Having seen the levels of dedication
that went into failure I cannot help but admire that in more difficult
circumstances you did what they could not. Do not extrapolate my
objections to you as objections to anything else.

On one final point, it seems that the younger generations are sometimes
misguided as to Ashtan's past and history. Ashtan is and always has been
more than just chaos, although that is certainly a significant part of
the City's character. Ashtan's greatness was never built upon any one
meaning or purpose beyond Ashtan's desire for greatness. The doctrine of
freedom evolved not out of some concept of continental egalitarianism,
but rather to ensure that citizens of the Bastion could do what they
want, when they wanted to do it, where they wanted to do it. In Ashtan
freedom is for the Ashtani.

In Shakti's time the pre-eminence of the Occultist House, and their
fearsome talents, were equally admired and feared throughout Sapience.
Ashtan is however a home to four philosophically diverse Houses and a
collection of those that walk their own paths: as well as the scholarly
and mysterious Occultists there are the respectful and diligent Ashura,
the wise and mighty Warlocks, and the cunning and deadly Shadowsnakes.
The uniting purpose of this community is a dedication not to an ideal,
but to a collection of buildings, to a collection of people, and to the
history and tradition that belongs to the whole known as Ashtan.

Ashtan is after all a city that has stood and seen your Twin Lords join
together, join Ashtan, get thrown out of Ashtan, and split up again. It
would seem that dedication to Ashtan is a far more proven pursuit in
life than running around after the Moaning Twins. It would seem that
dedication to the forces of evil is less rewarding than babysitting a
litter of hyperactive rajamalan children for 4 gold sovereigns an hour,
and having them set fire to all your valuable possessions while you're
on the job.

Rambling on pointlessly,

M.M.

Penned by my hand on the 1st of Valnuary, in the year 455 AF.