Your recent article to the city-state of Hashan brought tears of
laughter to my eyes, young leader of Shallam. Let me go through your
post from start to finish to point out each joke that made me laugh,
rather than chronologically. First off, yes you've managed to tear down
three of the four Icons of the Ashtani Houses. Congratulations, it's
quite the feat, now please take into account that the Icon belonging to
the Occultists was the longest standing icon out of all the Icons. It
was the last of all the House Icons first granted by the Gods when
Nishnatoba became accessible.

You go on to say that you alone have held back the tide. What tide is
this? Sure you've made a grand series of well played out attacks on the
Icons. But to be quite honest, the lapdogs of the Church, that call
themselves an army of Shallam are a bit small these days. The Church
once had barracks in most of the villages as well as the city-states of
that era. In case you haven't been educated on such matters, I'm
referring to the brutal times before the fall of the Seleucarian Empire.
During that era, the Church ruled with a very bloody iron fist. Any who
opposed them or held different views on the world were given a swift
execution.

The next laugh I got was from 'The dark masters you serve wish to
subjugate, or in the case of the occultists, destroy it.' Yes, Mhaldor's
Evil and wish to control the world with an iron fist, looks like they
lost that race since the Church did it oh so long ago as I mentioned
before. Might I point out that the Church is now much smaller. They
couldn't hold it any more than Mhaldor would be able to should they
manage to take over every city-state and village. The lines get
stretched too thin, that's why empires fall in the end. As for your
comment against us. Yes, Babelonian Chaos predicts that Chaos will
eventually return everything to the Void. When do we deny that? In the
meantime, however, we will continue to seek mastery over Chaos. The
Church nearly succeeded in blocking our endeavors ages ago when they
began the crusade now known as the Burning Times. Out of curiosity, does
your city still deny that occuring? Divine know that must be hard on
your PR group.

Moving along, 'Shallam stands poised over the bodies of the enemies of
creation.' I don't see any of us laying on the ground and I feel sorry
for any who finds themselves on the ground with a priest standing over
them! 'We have brought about a shift in power that will be resonated in
history.' I honestly can't recall how many times this 'power' you refer
to has shifted in my years. It's a vaporious power that constantly
shifts.

'To whomever would be the new Seneschal, your reign does not have to be
marked by destruction.' That's quite the blatant scare tactic there,
Child-Caliph. Either they join you or be destroyed. At least the
destruction we predict embraces everything, rather than a prejudiced
form. 'Come to us and we will protect you.' Just out of curiosity, will
Hashan have to kick out the Spiritwalkers, they practice a form or
ritualism that wouldn't be tolerated by the Church, I believe.'The
chains that have held your city back for years are coming off and it is
now up to you.' Yes, Hashan has been tied down a bit, perhaps Ashtan and
Mhaldor cutting them off will help them gain their own feet and finally
they will stand for their true neutrality. Good luck, Hashan, if you
wish to truly embrace neutrality then do so on your own strength. Do not
bow down to the Church, for their chains are as heavy as any others.
Stand strong, Crown of the Ithmia.

Nijias Oloren

Penned by my hand on the 12th of Valnuary, in the year 540 AF.