Sapience,

The recent events in Cyrene have again illustrated how the Divine impose Their rule upon the continent. For years, we have heard escalating threats that without protection from One of Them, we are vulnerable to the Others. Though the Heir has been the most vocal about this, Her latest actions are nothing more than a vanguard of Their combined effort to maintain control.

Cyrene has spoken in recent months of sovereignty. The reality is that no mortal settlement holds any kind of sovereignty, except for that which is tolerated by Them. It is irrelevant if the people of Cyrene wish for Keorin to continue to lead them; such a thing will not be tolerated by Them, unless it is on Their terms. We are all at Their mercy; a price must be paid to Them for protection from Them, through conformity and service.

What do the Wayward Heir, the Lightbringer, the Malevolent One, the Dark Father, and the Smith share in common? Never mind that the Heir claims to abhor the status quo, that the Dark Father espouses the agency of mortals, or that many of Them stand in direct opposition to the Others. They are All united in Their effort to have mortals conform to the ideological niches that They deem fit for us, each under the ultimate oversight of one of Them.

They are quick to call us irrelevant, compare us to insects, and point to how unfathomable They are to the mortal mind. Why is it then that when mortals stray, They correct us with such force? Why bother to do so, if we are so small to Them?

Legend tells of us the Aldar prophet Caymus. The first of his Twin Prophecies was fulfilled in full with the coming of the Logos after the Chaos War, but the second has only been fulfilled in part. He foresaw that we would hold the potential to one day rival the Aldar in power. Though less in power, the Aldar, in their numbers, were not irrelevant to the Elder in the War of Humanity.

By keeping us entrenched along the battle lines of Their Realms, They hold us as if in stasis, never moving towards realizing this potential. Until we do, we will never be more than Their subjects, living in city-states and villages that are no more than tools of control, wielded by Them to stagnate our development.

It was not meant to be this way. Proteus decreed that we would inherit this continent, and that humanity would be free of dominion. Without the oversight of the Logos, the Divine have overstepped the bounds of Their agreement with mortals.

It falls to us now to realize our potential and claim our destiny. There is no One left to negotiate on our behalf.

Aroan

Penned by my hand on the 8th of Chronos, in the year 853 AF.