Greetings, Sapience.

I was privileged to deliver the following sermon at the Central
Courtyard of the Baelgrim Fortress on the 8th of Glacian, 533 AF. It is
my solemn hope that this message aids in your religious education, as I
remain,


In service,

Father Herenicus Coldraven
Viceroy, Mhaldor
Messiah of the Damned, The Blood Congregation








Hail and welcome, friends and brethren. Today I shall speak with you on
the First Truth of Evil - what Evil is, why we should care. This message
is intended for the young and ignorant, or the old and befuddled.

More than a fortress, more than stone bulwarks and bloodsteel, Mhaldor
is a society founded upon a belief, our faith in Evil - the belief that
through and -only- through the Truths of Evil shall we realize in
ourselves the men and women we were destined to become.

Since before our founding, Evil has been understood as Seven Truths,
given unto mortalkind by Lord Sartan, later revealed to us as the twin
divinities, Lords Shaitan and Apollyon.

The First of these Seven Truths defines Evil, and in so doing, defines
us as Evil men and women - defines who we are, what we do, and why we do
it. The First Truth of Evil states, "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."

But what is "advancement"?

When we speak of "advancement" or "greatness", we talk of success or
glory, of victories upon every field of mortal endeavour - military,
spiritual, cultural - whether as generals or writers, merchants or
explorers.

As Evil men and women, we have committed ourselves to pushing the very
boundaries of mortality. What is possible, what we are capable of
becoming is to be charted by we, and we alone - freed from the shackles
of Eastern morality, the distractions and beggary of the diseased and
weak.

This is what it means, what it has always meant to be Evil. To feel that
fire within your souls, that thirst for power - to know in the very
marrow of your bones that you were meant for something more than mere
existence, mere survival.

It is to be driven, body and soul, towards that distant horizon -
overcoming any and all obstacles that might stand in our way. Not
mountains, nor rivers, oceans or deserts. Not gods, nor dragons, princes
or principalities.

We feel, as our forebears felt, that inward certainty that our greatest
days lie before us. Slaves or kings, we know nothing but victory -
success being the decision, each and every day, to surpass what we were,
challenge who we are, and discover who we shall become.

This, my friends, speaks to what is means to be Evil, what Evil is. Yet,
there are some who would question "why".

Why advancement?

Why should this lust for greatness, this will to power become my end and
way? What of other mortal goals?

What of Happiness, of Joy?

What of Knowledge, Wealth, or Family?

Those of you traveling beyond the West understand the answers to these
questions. You have borne witness to the grotesque laxity, the trifling
immaturity, the corrupting license of the perverse and debased. Some of
you have lived among them, have called them "sister" or "brother".

Surrendering that essential, inward drive for greatness inevitably leads
men into dissolution and decay, they become as sheep, glassy-eyed and
stupid. They live for their own, passing amusement and they die for
ours.

No, it is not wrong to pursue wisdom, to seek knowledge.

It is not error to take joy in your labours, interactions with your
brethren, or the cries of the vanquished.

It is not weakness to amass great wealth or belong to a family.

However, it -is- weakness to build your life upon the shifting, mortal
loyalties of hearth and home. Husbands become dormant. Families bicker
and fall. Homes become mere structures, dead and shrouded by dust.

It -is- weakness to pursue wealth for wealth's sake - the musical ring
of gold sovereigns becomes a faith and numerology unto itself. This begs
the question: What is money for? If not power? If not advancement? If
not greatness?

The heathen often goes to great lengths to amass wealth only to purchase
indolence, idling so as to be forgotten, irrelevant and forever buried,
like a pirate treasure lost beneath layers of obscurity.

To be Evil, my brethren, is to turn away from a life of listlessness or
desperate mediocrity. It is to lay claim to the ancient birthright of
every mortal, living each day in the knowledge that greatness lies not
upon some distant horizon, but in its pursuit.

Let us pray.

Twin Lords of Evil, we come unto You in ignorance, our souls thirsting
for wisdom as the desert beast panteth after water. And though we might
ne'er achieve the perfection You are due, locked in this vain struggle
with our base mortality, guide us, Lords, that we might find the
strength to continue in Your bidding, striving against the weaker
aspects of our mortal nature, drawing every breath in pursuit of Your
glories.

Forever and ever.

Amen.



Penned by my hand on the 21st of Daedalan, in the year 534 AF.