My fellow Achaeans.

It is with a heavy heart, and no small amount of
irritation, that I wrtie this now. I have delayed my
response these past few months because I was sincerely
looking forward to the responses I would get. On the
whole, I have been gravely disappointed. What follows
will contain none of my attempts at humor, nor any of
the common courtesy I affect. Emotional neutrality.

Regarding my original article: As I have stated since,
my article was an analysis of the Codex, and it was
written for those unfamiliar with the document. Not
clear enough? I'll emphasize then. My original
article was an analysis of the *Codex*. Not the ideas
within, not the people who believe in it, not the
people who oppose it. The Codex. The document itself.
The Church and Chaos are entirely irrelevant to my
purpose. My conclusion of the analysis is made quite
clear in my last paragraph. The Codex is the least
clear and sensible document I have read which did not
state its intention to be unclear and senseless. I
refuse to speculate as to why a god would purposely
write a document which could be so easily misread, and
leaves itself open to so many possible interpretations
of the words therein. Out of all the people who
responded publicly or privately, only two gave any
indication of having understood the purpose of my
original article, and both of them were Occultists.
No other respondent took the article at face value and
responded accordingly.

Regarding Kail's response: I'm glad the article provoked
thought, but where you began reading between the lines
is where you missed the mark entirely. You note a
marked change in tone when I begin to paraphrase the
commandments, and attribute it to my "true colors"
finally showing. As I made abundantly clear prior to
that, I was struggling with brevity the entire time I
wrote that article. Brevity won out. Pentharian,
your church, and your laws do not interest me. I will
accord Pentharian the respect due a divine, but I hold
none of the things you associate with the light in any
reverance. Not because I despise them, but because I
could really care less. They stay well out of my way
and I their's, and that is why I didn't take any great
pains to be polite beyond the first few paragraphs of
my article.

Regarding Article 9801: My hope, Rianne, was that those
who would not take the trouble to read the Codex on
their own might be interested enough in what someone
expected to oppose it had to say, as well as the
ensuing discussion, to actually read it for themselves.
I don't know whether or not I succeeded. I won't
argue with what you've said regarding bias, but I would
like you to consider this: what soldier in his right
mind would dismiss his enemy as "unqualified" when they
began to speak of his weaknesses? Just a thought.

Regarding Silverstorm's statements: I don't have much
to add. Aldair did respond privately, and was actually
quite interesting once we'd gotten past the inital
salvo of accusations and personal attacks. Remarkably
aggressive person.

To a certain unnamed member of the church who spoke
with me in private: If you really want to deflate the
apparently massive ego I have and show me for the idiot
I am, then I have a suggestion. You and your brethren
should stop playing the fish, and cease this jumping at
anything that even remotely looks like bait. We will
both be happier when given reason to think of each
other as equals.

Last thoughts: Any who still want to bother me about
this should read what I've written with care. I don't
enjoy repeating myself, or stating the obvious, so
kindly have something new to say. Thank you.

Penned by my hand on the 7th of Daedalan, in the year 308 AF.