Greetings, Sapience.

I seek to avoid communication in this forum to the best of my ability,
but at times, I find it necessary. Of late there has been a great deal
of discussion of Chaos, and as is the norm when Chaos is discussed, I
hear much speech and little being said.

To Eleusis and Oakstone I can express only surprise at your recent
publicly-stated policy of nonassistance towards Chaos - surprise that
you feel that Nature and Chaos are at different sides of one spectrum,
that you find aberrant mutations in a few scattered animals problematic,
and finally, surprise at how long it took for you to all agree that this
was a Bad Thing.

Well... I guess I'm not really surprised it took you this long to
determine that your organizations thought of Chaos as "bad." I'm sure
there are many within your ranks who disagree with your interpretation
of the role of Chaos within nature. Chaos is the primoridal force that
pushes nature to evolve, to change, to mutate... the force that shapes
prey to better evade predator, and teaches predator to better hunt its
prey. It is the source of mutation that natural forces either weed out
or select for.

I've spoken with one of your Hierophants and found his beliefs on the
interaction of Nature and Chaos to be rather conflicting, both with my
own and themselves. He resisted the thought of any external force
changing or altering nature, but that is the only way Nature will
change. On its own in a static system, Nature, like anything else, will
fall into predictable and repeating patterns. Nature NEEDS Chaos to
provide the stimulus to provoke change, and you know what? Change isn't
always a bad thing.

Nature's sole goal is therefore seen plainly as the desire to preserve
unaltered the current system of forests and other wildlife we see within
Achaea. The same deer feeding off the same foliage in the same forest,
being eaten by the same wolf every time. Those who understand the
interaction between Chaos and Nature recognize that we are not fighting
simply for the preservation of what is - but that we are fighting for
the potential of what is not now, and yet could be. For the forests that
do not yet exist, and might - the new predators and prey that may and
should evolve over time and replace their weaker competitors.

The Hierophant I spoke with indicated quite plainly to me that he felt
that both absence and excess of Chaos in Nature are "bad things." How
are we to discuss this balance with Nature when Nature will not speak
with us when it feels there is a problem? And perhaps more importantly,
why should we listen when you abandon diplomacy and instead censure us
for events you know little to nothing about? Exactly one forestal sought
to ask me about Chaos and its effects on nature following the events you
so vehemently decry, and they were not of Oakstone or Eleusis.

If Nature wishes to have a role in how the future is shaped, and how
Chaos will undoubtedly cause Nature to change and evolve over time,
Oakstone and Eleusis have done an exceptionally poor job of showing it.
Will you so spite the keepers and shapers of Chaos in this realm over
your fear of the future? Will you curse the clouds rolling above you for
the fear of lightning, or will you open your eyes to the possibilities
Chaos brings and share in their rewards?

The choice seems simple enough to me, but I understand you will likely
want to take a few years to think about it.

Father Reznik Saer'rac
Void Scholar

Penned by my hand on the 2nd of Miraman, in the year 482 AF.