Rejoice and be glad! I give thanks, for today I see that God is a good and righteous God. I made myself vulnerable before him and submitted to his judgment and he has not found me wanting. I have looked upon his face and have seen that his power yet reigns even as the corrupt sully his name.
For as it is written:
“Only through many hardships
Is a man stripped to his very foundations
And in such a state
Devoid of distractions
Is his soul free to soar
And in this
He is closest to God” - The Scriptures, Book of Missions 42:5
The Theology Council did not return to Jarizza. The Ammatar Free State Astrahus remains in orbit above Halturtzhan. As God has judged me worthy, let this usher in the age of the Pax e Kilizhi Siyah—the Peace of the Black Swords. We shall unleash the Black Dagger upon the Mandate, to cleanse it of the corrupt and impure. We shall redouble our efforts against the Order of St. Tetrimon Fortress Monastery that blemishes Halturzhan, now that God has chosen us as his champions. Our cause is righteous!
And in judgment of House Ardishapur’s actions in the warzone, we shall spread throughout the Ardishapur Demesne.
But today is a day of not one but two victories. For as was reported:
Duke Chakaid of Fabai Vows “Total Elimination of Ammatar Treachery and Collaboration with Terror in Khanid and Aridia”
And yet we, who have been the victims of your vile words, “Duke” Chakaid, stand firm in Kahah. We shall continue our efforts to strengthen the resistance of the Free Kahah Army and end Khanid tyranny. Your influence in the Kingdom and the Theology Council has reached its mark of high water. You, who have climbed so high, will only now know the fall. The forces you mustered equivocated and even ceased fire on a separate structure in Kahah.
I have looked into the eyes of your “god” and he blinked.
Mr. Darkar? I get why you’re happy, but, it feels like you might be reading just a little too much into stuff failing to explode right on schedule?
Also, if you start black daggering people who disagree with you you can probably expect things to get exciting again fast. (The implications of a black dagger killing, for anyone not familiar, are REALLY not nice-- it’s basically a personal note from the killer reading, “Dear God, this one’s not worth bothering with. Throw 'em in the Abyss and have done.”)
To build from your analogy, it’s the author and the content of the note that counts. The stationary is irrelevant. If the Amarr thought obsidian blades damned our souls, the Ealur would have been safe from Reclaiming and the Minmatar wouldn’t have chosen Khumaaks as a symbol of their rebellion. Armast Darkar is wrong with this interpretation as he has been with many others.
Of course, ma’am, but it would still maybe be better for all concerned if he didn’t send his followers out to knife people, especially in a way that’s guaranteed to outrage their relatives?
Noble, but the day you stop fighting is the day they win, friend. Do not make yourself a martyr without the confidence that those who’d seek revenge on your behalf will succeed. Keep on fighting.
While it would certainly be better for their to be less violence, the method is not any more likely to provoke outrage than any other, and more likely to provoke a firmer belief that Darkar has absolutely no idea what he is doing, and that everything he says is wrong.
In short, he’s being self-defeating as usual with his method.
If you and Lord Avarr are so certain in your belief, then I invite one or both of you to make that demonstration of your faith before your peers. Take up the blade I gifted to Disquisitor North-Onren or one like it and prove to the nobility they have nothing to fear.
If you truly wish to reassure your followers—whom you blind with noble pronouncements, expecting them to mewl at your feet while you reap the benefits of their labors—then take up the blade yourselves and mark your own souls.
Or could it be that you truly do fear the divine ramifications of such an act?
I await your decisions or are hollow words on the IGS all you can muster?
My position on suicide, even that of my enemies or those with clone contracts has always been that it is a shameful waste. So why should I furnish you with such propaganda? I’m sure a snuff holo of a noblewoman killing themselves would find a cherished place in your pornography collection.
Your assumption about my followers is almost as laughable as your theological understanding. If I was half as bad as you suggest. then why have more than half of the millions I have freed chosen to stay on my world? A real leader doesn’t need to demand obedience, it can and often is freely given in the Empire.
The dissatisfied such as yourself, and the poor excuses for nobility who have unfortunately set many like you on your path, are very much a minority. If it were otherwise, the Empire would have fallen apart centuries ago. Even at our lowest point before and during the Minmatar Rebellion, most of the Empire, including the Ammatar Mandate, remained faithful and loyal.
In closing, a few more words which may ring hollow in your heresy-addled mind. It’s not too late, even for you, to change the path you are going down. End your pointless string of petty rebellions. Stop threatening to stab your former friends and neighbors in the Mandate because you’re mad that not everything in life is going how you’d prefer. Submit yourself to the authorities and pray for the Empress’ forgiveness.