Sultan,

For a time ye of the East did impress me with what seemed to be a
newfound resolve and clarity of purpose. 'Here,' I thought, 'is at last
what Shallam should have been. Here is an opponent worthy of Mhaldor, of
Evil. Finally, the score may be settled. In glorious battle shall we
meet, and from the ashes will rise the victors, strengthened and
hardened by their trials, and the world will be better to have to them.'

It is with no little disappointment that I give up this evidently
fanciful notion as naught but a dream. Returned are ye to the hypocrisy
of old: with your mouth do ye decry Mhaldor's offer to its longtime
allies in Hashan, with whom our relations have ever been honourable and
fair, and cast insult at the recent auction, a financial practice
steeped in years of tradition, while with your hand ye draw closer those
to whom ye have whored yourself in Eleusis and Cyrene. The whole of
Sapience is not taken in by the lies ye now spew, Sultan; the victories
ye claim are not your own. It is truly disheartening to see you and
yours reduced to the place of vultures, pickers-at of the scraps left
behind by the surprisingly superior warriors of Nature.

This bottom-feeding behaviour is only worsened by the fact that those
upon whom ye have come to rely, those in whose success ye gleefully
share, care nothing for your faith. How many fairies, how many citizens
of Caer Witrin, how many mhuns, how many creatures clean and pure of
spirit have died to splinter shrines to the Lords of Mhaldor on ground
upon which ye happily tread? How many 'innocents' have died to further
your aims?

Ah, but surely all of this is moot, for at last, under your rule, Church
and city both have been unified. Surely then your recent deposition came
to you as no great surprise; surely, contrary to report, ye did
relinquish your position as Archprelate without complaint.

I think not; ye do not strike me as the sort to give up power for any
reason. It is much more likely that what ye believe to have been an able
manipulation of your populace is but another failure, that there are
those among your constituents who do not care for your methods.

I do not for your megalomania condemn you, Sultan, for none but the
supremely confident could accomplish what nearly ye did, and nor do I
begrudge you your feeble grip upon reality; it must after all be
difficult to remain right of mind and stay true to your ideals when your
Patron cannot Himself do so. Indeed, it is said that He coddles your lot
as lost children, considerately seeing fit to grant amnesty to enemies
of your state, historical foes of the Light and its acolytes, that ye
need not yourself fuss and fret about cooperating with them.

Most magnanimous.

Though His linguistic prowess has in the time since His return without
doubt sharpened, His grasp of honour has dulled considerably. Perhaps ye
ought take the time to study with His kin, the Smith, Whose Champion
seems at least able to conduct himself in a manner befitting a Knight.

Your willingness to exert your influence upon this world by whatever
means are necessary is laudable, but it is hardly appropriate. It is no
great surprise to see you cleaving desperately unto your delusions,
Sultan, nor to see your faith cast aside when best it serves you to be
forgotten, but if ye must twist the Truths of Evil to your purpose, ye
might have the stomach to admit the theft.

Respectfully,
Father Nocroth dis Serenath
Tyrannus of Mhaldor

Penned by my hand on the 6th of Glacian, in the year 496 AF.