Hail,
You all may or may not know me, I'm a Sentinel, an ex-Sentinel rather.
And I have an important message for all Sentinels, Oakstoners and
Achaeans to hear.

Recently I was ejected from the Sentinels. I was ejected for having a
difference of opinions with my guilds administation, which has been so
valiantly spreading its propaganda, and whipping up a war fever within
the guild to try and take the Darkenwood from Twilight. In this post I
will discuss that as well as discuss the truth of the Darkenwood.

The claims of the Sentinel administration were that the plinths in the
Darkenwood are slowly killing it. I stepped forward, saying that it only
looks to us as though it were dying when we see the room descriptions.
Sarapis only knows the nature of such flora. It is also within the
domain of Twilight, so obviously it's going to have an eerie, mind
shocking appearance to emulate the Lord of Darkness himself.

I will show you an example:
Filling the firmament is a lattice of heavy grey clouds. Now well into
the depths of the northern Ithmia you stand within a terrifying place,
bereft of the natural beauty one would normally associate with the
forests. The densely packed trees rather than displaying the green
foliage one would expect are blackened and sooty, and their branches are
twisted like the limbs of a horribly crippled beast. Dark faces leer
from the moss-covered slimy trunks their knots glaring at you like
cataract covered eyes. In all direction you find yourself surrounded by
this dismal scene, and you can see no escape from the bleakness of the
forest.
This is the description of a blackened forest room within the Ithmia.
All it is doing is giving the person the fear effect of his or her
surroundings. Are the plants here really dying? No, they merely look out
of the norm because it's not something you see everyday.

So if the Blackened Woods look just as bad as the Darkenwood, why isn't
Covenant worried about saving those woods under Oakstone control first
you might ask? Possibly because he already has the blackened woods under
his grip? Maybe because he knows that what he sees isn't what's really
happening? I don't know what machinations are swirling in that mind of
his and I'd hate to find out the hard way.

I will show you yet another example of how one can turn a perspective
into propaganda:
The bright sun shines down, blanketing you with its life-giving warmth.
Standing under the giant redwoods on the edge of the western eaves of
the Aalen forest, you have a breath-taking view of the sea which lies on
the western horizon. Listening carefully, you can even hear the distant
waves crashing on the shore. But here the sea has minimal influence. The
trees and other native plants of the Aalen forest do not care for the
sea, for it is something that they cannot conquer. The sea, however, has
made its mark on the forest, for on each plant and tree lies a thin
layer
One could easily say by reading this that Caspian is destroying nature,
and the Sentinels should go attack him. But then I have heard claims
that this salt formation is all part of the cycles of nature. Then I
could just as easily say that the gruesome looking plants in the
Darkenwood and the dark essence flowing through them are part of a cycle
as well, which I have no doubt of.

We all know the Darkenwood is very different from all other forests.
Many believe its a normal forest corrupted by the essence of Twilight. I
believe that when Twilights essence settled into the area, it did not
corrupt a forest, but created a new one, one with natures that noone has
ever seen before. I believe that such a finding should be observed, not
destroyed. And I know we have plenty of time to observe it, unlike what
many within Covenants institution claim...

When I approached my mother, Tigrayne Lena-D'argan, with the question of
whether the Darkenwood really was lying, she simply told me that in the
years of its existence, the Darkenwood has not changed, not for the
better, not for the worse. And now, do any of those who still believe
that the Darkenwood is dying, want to come up and call her liar?

Less then two months ago, I had a private talk with Covenant on the same
issues, here it got dirty, with him subtly threatening me if I continued
to counter him. Here is an excerpt from our discussion.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Covenant tells you, "Shade never has told Tralev why he did it..he
summoned Tralev out of Shallam to kill him, we have presumed that it was
because Tralev harvested a bit in the Darkenwood, which he freely
admitted to..yet Shade never asked him to stop, nor warned him, nor told
him of a fine for what he harvested."

Covenant tells you, "So perhaps you will reread Shade's posting on his
claims in the public news, and see that he doesnt say the truth, since
he did NOT do what he says he does."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "I will ask and learn."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "Until then, I have some digging to do, and
I hope the right thing happens in the future, and I hope you will be the
one to do the right thing."

Covenant tells you, "Yes, I will continue to root out treachery, and
oppose those who would infringe on the forest..make sure you keep
yourself squeaky clean, Tyrael, for I have quite a bit more tolerance
than others certainly would, if they knew all I know."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "Is that a threat?"

Covenant tells you, "You know well what you do, I don't need to threaten
you..Iam actually the only one protecting you at the moment."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "Protecting me from who may I ask?"

Covenant tells you, "From the consequences of your actions and words,
thats why I warned you to keep yourself clean..others, like I said
again, have much less tolerance for treason than I do."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "I would never betray anything the
Sentinels stand for."

Covenant tells you, "Do you believe Caled is lying when he says a
Twilighter attacked him?"

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "I dont know yet, but I'd say hes n
honorable man and say No, what I mean to search for is the reasons for
why he was killed."

Covenant tells you, "He was only the Secretary of War, thought he was
standing next to an ally in the situation, and died for it..if his word
isnt good enough, whose are you going to ask?"

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "Whomever has an answer to the questions I
ask."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "Starting with Caled."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "And the one who killed him forgive me,
what was his name again?"

Covenant tells you, "Sylence."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "Thank you."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "Once again and i will repeat this and
swear upon my father and mother this, I do not worship or support
Twilight, I am merely searching for truth and good, I do not think of
you as a liar, but I wonder whether you hide the facts that dissupport
you, and I will always uphold the oath I took when I was a cub, to
protect nature and what the Sentinels stand for."
Covenant tells you, "Good, then I will leave you with a very important
thought about what we stand for, in part."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "Ok."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "?"

Covenant tells you, "Brainwashing cubs to achieve some gain is against
our standards..stand up and speak like you did tonight, and keep it
within proper decorum, and you will be respected for it, even if folks
don't agree with you..but never ever let me find out you are attempting
to machinate the minds of young folks."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "When have i machinated the young folk?"

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "Why would I."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "And when the conversation returns, I will
talk like I did again, in the same fashion I did with you, and I will
most likely have to stand guard for anything and everything you and your
associates have to throw at me on the channel."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "But please, do tell, when have I
machinated the minds of the cubs? Why would I do such a thing? Its
dishonorable and blasphemous, much like this near war with Twilight."

Covenant tells you, "You spoke the words, do not fault others for taking
them seriously."

You tell Covenant Stormcrow, "I think I see whats going on now."
--------------------------------------------------------
First off, a little talk about that discussion. One, how could I
machinate the minds of the Cubs when I never talk to them, the only one
I've said more then hello to since I became a Sentinel is my sister
Jewel.

Second, If Covenant had learned how to check honours, he'd notice that I
am not of any order and worship no god, though at one point I considered
joining Caspians order, I decided that it would be best to concentrate
on being a Sentinel at the moment (putting the guild first, another
concept believed strongly by the Sentinels, and yet Covenant worked up
the nerve to call me a traitor) I suppose I don't have to worry about
that anymore.

Now here is another conversation on the matter, which not only answers
one of the questions Covenant left me with:
----------------------------------------------------
You tell Caled Tiercel, "Oh yes, one question, during the Sartan war,
why did one of the Twilighters kill you?"

You tell Caled Tiercel, "Hmmm?"

Caled tells you, "Was wondering how long it would take you to answer
that. He killed me because I was doing my best to get the bunch of
sentinels and druids...out of the vibed up room they were all dying in."

Caled tells you, "Andelas and zero...and a few others, were in a room
that had retardation in it....killing people. Idiots kept tracking in
and dying. Not prepared."

You tell Caled Tiercel, "Why on earth would he kill you for that."

Caled tells you, "I was a little more careful, and was in the adjacent
room, axing and bthrowing."

You tell Caled Tiercel, "Now I shall ask Andelas and Zero the same
question that pops up, and we shall see what answers surface."

Caled tells you, "Sylence, as our new darkie ally, was right next to
me...shooting his bow. I was beginning to think...gee, maybe this
alliance WAS worth something. Then....he stopped shooting, and about 30
seconds later, snapped his fingers in front of me."

You tell Caled Tiercel, "Which def did he remove?"

Caled tells you, "Deff? Heh. Snapped his fingers, beginning the
hypnosis."

You tell Caled Tiercel, "Oops, sorry, scratch that."

You tell Caled Tiercel, "Ah, so it was the action of a rogueish
Twilighter then."

Caled tells you, "Faunus's vibes started hitting me at the same time
too...otherwise I would have killed sylence or in the very least run. He
got me with an arrow, in the end *shrug*."

Caled tells you, "You dont understand twilgiht very much do you?"

You tell Caled Tiercel, "Who understands him?"

Caled tells you, "Rule number one: on the odd occasion you get the truth
from him....there is an ulterior motive for him to be telling it to
you."
----------------------------------------------
Well this also adds on to my story of the Sentinels and Twilight. Nobody
really knows what Twilights motives were to sign a temperorary pact with
the Sentinels in the Sartan War except the Lord of Darkness himself. All
too often the motives of the divine are unfathomable, perhaps Twilight
knew the Darkenwood would come into existense, but I doubt that as he
has recently shown little to know interest in it. Perhaps he honestly
did want to protect the woods, Twilight is after all a neutral god, and
thus capable of performing actions of good.

I'm not sure why Covenant has been so absorbed in trying to get the
Darkenwood under his grip. Perhaps he wishes to satiate a long standing
hatred for Twilight. Perhaps he cannot stand the idea of a single forest
not being under his fist. Or perhaps hes is actually so blind as to
believe the Darkenwood are dying and wishes to save it. I dont know,
however I do know that Covenants actions may lead to a horrible scar
upon the Sentinels. We know the Darkenwood is survivng on its own,
however as Sentinels it is our duty to protect nature, whatever its
kind, thus if we find a Twilighter incinerating a forest room, we will
apply the Oakstone laws upon him or her. And I repeat, we PROTECT those
forests. If it is true that those plinthes are feeding the Darkenwood
dark essence, then removing them could very well break the cycles of the
Darkenwoods nature and kill it. And if that doesn't kill it, then the
senseless war Covenant is brewing will.

All the signs that the Darkenwood is not a forest corrupted but a new
forest are there, the fact that Gaia took no interest in the Darkenwood,
the fact that these plants live off of dark essense instead of sunlight,
the way the plants are survivng in their environment. Its all there, and
as Sentinels its our duty to protect and observe nature, even if its one
we are unfamiliar with. It is not our duty to destroy it if it looks
scary.

I will however, in spite of my being unclassed and unguilded, perform
the duties I swore to do when I became a Sentinel, If I see someone
attempt to harm nature, I will be the first to stand in his way.
Remember I love all you Sentinels, and I would do nothing to defy that
love. I've prayed to Sarapis, I've pleaded to Covenant, and now I'm
begging you all, do the right thing.

Adieu,
Tyrael D'argan
Orca of the Woods

Penned by my hand on the 23rd of Glacian, in the year 309 AF.