Dear Derk,

As in many things in life, a situation wherein a particular party seems
to in some manner be abusing an ability which they have the sole right
of using, must be looked at from a wide range of perspectives. By your
own words, you claim that "most of the thugs in this world, happen to
also have Necromancy." Now Derk, you must realize as I am sure the
majority of the higher class realizes, that such an absurd accusation is
merely a tool of perverse propoganda. I completely understand your
willingness to use such provocative tactics, but please, in the future,
do try to couple it with some amount of intelligent logic. After all,
contradicting oneself within only several paragraphs is surely something
you would hate to be caught doing, but as is normally the case with such
issues, you seem to have done so. Appologies if I seem a bit...direct,
but frankly you've done a rather fine job of amusing me thus far.

Now let us evaluate your original claim, which I seem to have already
had the pleasure of pointing out to our valued members of Sapience. Tell
me...if most of the...thugs...as you call them, have all chosen a
specific skillset in order to take advantage of this skill of Soulcage
you seem so quick to point out as the greatest factor in this choice,
then why is it that so few of these Necromantic users are of any
particularly high circle of experience? After all, the soul purpose of
geting Necromancy, as you claim, is for the skill of Soulcage, and thus
the soul purpose of having Necromancy is so that one can retain
experience far better than most other individuals. If this is so, why is
it that...looking at the highest rankings, I see the chance few
Necromancers, Napoloen, Vexlore, myself, perhaps another interspersed
here in there, mostly pacifists mind you, and hardly thugs at all, but
many are the numbers of Druids, Monks, and other individuals whose
classes contain no such Soulcage-type skill?

Because I am such a considerate individual, I am going to let you keep
the 1,000 gold you would need to post in reply to my questions. Instead,
I believe I will try to answer them myself. Unlike you, I'm going to at
least attempt to look at this from several angles. Feel free to further
direct me if necessary in the matter, but let us at least try to observe
a common ground in the matter of such an amusing topic.

You see Derk, there is something that you have failed to recognize in
your daft accusations of unbridled thuggery amongst the ranks of the
Necromancers. Looking at those skills which have thus far been fully
researched and tested to a useable level in the Necromantic arts, the
most potent abilities, which you must understand are quite few and far
between, are quite a drain on the life of their caster. You see, being
an individual who has mastered and used both the arts of Necromancy and
Devotion, the comparison between the two of them is virtually
impossible. Looking at it from the outside, or from one side or the
either only, it is easy to simply place the two arts in a category side
by side, used to augment the other talents taken up by their user.
However, when one has experienced the effects of these arts first hand,
one can far easier find the differances rather than the similarities.

Going back to my originally stated and subsequently lost in a train of
thought point in the previous paragraph, Devotion and Necromancy rely
not on a single source of power, as your words referring to the
landmarks and their effects would relay, but rather on two vastly
seperate pools of power. In reality, there is a single pool for users of
Devotion, whereas each Necromancer relies rather on his or her own pool.
Devotional strength is one gained through prayer, through service, and
through acts of good and mercy which are smiled upon by the Divine of
Light and Good. In turn, said Divine provide a certain allotment of
Devotional power to their followers, reflected by the goodness within
their soul and their strength in righteous undertakings. Thus it can be
said that Devotion's single pool is one shared by all of its users, and
its use is dependent not upon the user's mind or body, but rather on his
actions.

Necromancy on the other hand, is an art of self preservation, and of
self sacrifice. The magics of Necromancy are the magics of Undeath. The
life essence which is used in the production of said magics is not drawn
from any Divine source, nor is it obtained simply through acts of Divine
approval. Rather, the life essence which you, Derk, seem so willing and
ready to grasp away from the users of Necromancy is just that, essence
of life. That is, the life of the Necromancer. Use of Necromantic spells
and charms necesitates great physical self sacrifice, and in some
recorded cases, lack of willpower when using these abilities has caused
the immediate death of said Necromancer. Thus it is that when you
beseech the fine citizens of Sapience, the majority of whom have the
same value for their own lives as the Necromances you accuse of
thuggery, to help in the prevention of the gathering of life essence for
Necromancers, you are very simply asking them to help in slaying
hundreds of Necromancers, many of whom have never done any amount of
harm to you or any of your allies.

Now please Derk, tell me. Is there not thuggery in such an act of
genocidal brutality? To request of the masses to aide in your proposed
quest of Necromantic destruction, you are commiting a far greater act of
unfounded prejudice than any publicized individual since the days of the
Tsol'teth overlords. Tell me Derk, I remember you as a man of Justice.
Are you not still? The masses expect of you words of just wisdom, my
friend, not of unkempt hatred. It is no longer my place to say so, but
by the wisdom that has remained true to me from my days as a follower of
Lady Miramar, you must practice what you preach, and preach what you
claim to practice.


Cyre Elseth,
Prophet of Aegis

Penned by my hand on the 19th of Scarlatan, in the year 285 AF.