Dark Mass Open to All, Baptisms will be Provided

There has been a lot of controversy with the new Kings Law coming into this town. Many Paladins and Townsfolk have threatened me and my parishioners, but many of you do not even know who I am or what I am about. I have been in Travance for almost twelve cycles. Ever since I was a child, I sat by and watched the world turn. The Tellinghast hunted me, The Mages Guild hunted me, I saw a Baron murdered and I saw evil burned to the ground for the actions of one solitary man.

I have seen racial profiling become the norm; Chaos Warriors interrogated for the action of a rogue individual. Rain the Nyad caused an entire race to be subjugated by the same laws that the Mages' Guild enacted upon Wild Mages. So now, I give you this information, that a Demon Knight is no different than an Anti-Paladin. Everyone has the capacity to sell their souls, yet in these twelve years I have never once seen a towns member walk that path. Never once have I seen anyone so foolishly make that demonic pact to the point where I feel that this dark blood within us is simply propaganda. A handful of individuals created an issue and the governance has been suffered.

I have seen innocent people protected by the law mowed down by nobles. I have seen innocent people mowed down by veteran townsfolk. I have seen racial eradication of Dark Elves by Elves in a hunting right of passage. I have also seen kindness, benevolence, and reverence by those who have sacrificed themselves to do great things. May the gods bless the Witch Hunters who left this world waging their eternal war of hatred against that which is truly evil and dark. Despite my affiliations, I felt Lethias as a friend. In my younger years he protected me, he taught me, and he acted as a paragon example of how one could use the once called evil, 'art of assassination' to be a paragon of diligence and a shining beacon of what an adventurer should be to this town.

I will give to you now, the feelings of my Parish in regards to the Maiden of Darkness as I intend to preach and we intend to worship, so that you may understand:

Agaura is a goddess of War. She is the soldier who stands alone, elite and fights with elites. A man in an Army of Agaura trusts that those he chooses to fight with are capable of sustaining their own in the field of battle. One does not need to go out of their way to protect one another unless the decision is tactically sound. We do not believe in heroes; We believe in plans and execution. We believe in doing what is necessary for self benefit, whether that be for ourselves, our king, or our country, our church, or those we have societal contracts with. We believe Might Makes Right. We believe that if a decision must be made for the good of everyone, and that decision requires sacrifice, that we should not think twice and that those on our side who need to die, need to die. There is no pity or sympathy because every man who fights alongside us knows the risk.

Agaura is a goddess of suffering. Some zealots take this parable to the extreme to the point where innocents must be sacrificed or murdered or dealt with in unseemly and grotesque ways. I disagree. In this new time of balance, this is a false gospel. All beings suffer, all beings learn from suffering, and all suffering should be expected. Suffering promotes growth, it promotes change. By suffering, you can overcome weakness; by being a stern and strict teacher with ample punishment and structure a Child can become a Soldier. With nothing but love and compassion, a Child can be spoiled and do nothing. Xualla caused the greatest suffering in the world, and forced us to find Balance. We found new alliances which never in the history of the world were able to be forged. The world was changed due to the suffering that Xualla caused. It was not a good thing, but none the less no one can say the world will ever be the same.

Agaura is a goddess of darkness. Our strength comes from the night. We are individuals, we seek to grow in power and strength for ourselves. We do not coddle our young; We force them to grow and evolve with the times. We do not believe in sitting still, to worship darkness is to be a predator. We are predatory by nature, hunting and destroying that which we feel is weak. Galmauchis through death, Agaura through suffering, Glomm through corruption, Malyc through chaos and destruction. Darkness is about survival of the fittest and being the best individual you can be. It doesn't not involve the reliance of others.

The Structure of Mass:

For now, I can still constructing the Sermon; However, I am opening the floor to any and all towns members to voice their opinions. This includes Paladins who wish to say their peace on my mass. I will turn no man aside, I even suspect their will be a marvelous display of Celtic Pensmanship and Poetry in hopes of making me red in the face. I am giving advance notice so the Towns Guard can make preparations in hopes of protecting the Parishioners.

In the opening of the floor, I am asking any and all towns members to give Testimony on their experiences with the Suffering as of late and how it changed them for the better or worse. People can give stories about lost friends and family members, and how they learned from their example. The goal of this mass is to show the positive aspects that Suffering can bring to the world.

I will be dispensing blessing of Agaura, including Valence prayers to those who participate in the following ways:

Offer a blood price of pain to Agaura.
Make War in Agauras Name (There will be a fighting pit).
Receive a Baptism.
Pay a Tithing of 10 Gold or more to the Highland Relief Fund

In addition, pending the acquisition of proper materials: There will be a small feast for all those ally themselves with the Church for Mass.

Respectfully Yours,

Father Razael Seiryn

As I have done with every faith in this community, I would be honored to observe and study your religious gathering and would happily pay the 10 gold tithe for the privilege.

With Open Mind,

Wotcher Mister Seiryn,

How fascinating! Thankyou for sharing these insights into your spiritual traditions - as chance would have it, I've recently been attempting to review material pertaining to Kormyrian religious practices, but have been struggling to find any credible sources that focus on the dark pantheon, as I believe it is called.

I'd be delighted to come along and observe proceedings at your mass - though, of course, if this is something that would cause offence to you or your congregation, please accept my apologies, and know that it was not my intention to do so. I understand that these religious gatherings are very serious affairs, and, having on several occasions been asked not to attend similar events by worshippers of the light and neutral panthea, would fully respect your wishes - without seeing it as a personal slight - were you to express a preference for my nonattendance.

Very good Mister Seiryn. I sincerely look forward to meeting you.

Mister Goggins,

I would be HONORED to have you attend and my mass. I will answer any and every question you could ever muster with honesty and integrity. Your bravery and the bravery of those who have shown support for the free exchange of ideas will truly be blessed. It is truly an auspicious day when a true Londwyn Royalist can extend behind his countries' base disposition towards religion with a respectful and honorable demeanor. I am very curious about your country and queen as well. Perhaps we will enjoy a meal together after the mass and we can exchange stories.

May you be Blessed,

Father Razael Seiryn

Child Razael,

If this is an open invite I will gladly join to ensure that the kings law are not broken at your mass as I am aware of your tenants. I would also have at least one member of the baronial guard with me to supervise.

Wotcher Mister Seiryn,

Very kind of you indeed, and thankyou - It'll be splendid to see an example of one of your masses first-hand! This is an extremely busy time for us; there are, after all, countless repair projects that require attention in the proper alone, without even beginning to consider the incomprehensibly large amount of work that'll be needed back home - however, it would nonetheless be terrible to turn down such a rare opportunity for in-situ studies.

I suspect, however, that you may have been misled as concerns the disposition of both myself and the rest of our sort to religions and those who follow them. Imagine, if you will, that you are an explorer. One day, you happen upon a strange kingdom, whose subjects are all predisposed to juggling fruit. They take their juggling very seriously, and have all sorts of complicated rules about how one should juggle one's fruit, where and when it is appropriate to juggle fruit, and indeed what types of fruit one ought to juggle. They have built large and elaborate structures whose sole purpose is to provide space in which to juggle fruit, and fruit-juggling features prominently in the artistic and bardic traditions of the kingdom. In fact, the juggling of fruit is such a serious business that the subjects of this kingdom will attempt to kill or incarcerate anyone who juggles fruit in a manner that they find distasteful, and have no qualms in starting large conflicts over the same.

You would naturally be rather baffled by these practices - being as, after all, juggling fruit is just a parlour trick, at best - but would, by equal measure, be compelled to learn all that you could about the kingdom's fruit-juggling protocols, in an attempt to better understand how and why juggling fruit came to be so important to these curious people.

I believe I am accurate in saying that this, generally speaking, is the stance taken by those members of our academic community charged with studying your spiritual practices. Note that disrespect does not feature in this analogy, though it might perhaps be easy to misinterpret the attitudes of our scholars as the same. I suspect that this is what may have happened in your case, and hope that this example will go some way to helping you make sense of any past disagreements you might have had with our sort!

Very good Mister Seiryn. A spot of lunch after your mass would be smashing; excellent idea. If it is appropriate to bring some form of offering to the mass beyond your recommendations, or perhaps wear a particular sort of clothing, please do let us know - otherwise, I look forward to hearing your sermons.

Is this to happen at Solstice Festival? If so at what bells? Since you have offered tith to the highlands funding either I or Duncan should attend. As both are now Members of the guard rest assured the Guard will be present in one person or another as a available.

B. Drexel

B. Drexel,

This Meeting will be held at the next Baronial Feast, more than likely immediately after the town is sufficiently gathered.

Father Razael Seiryn

Thank you Razael.

B Drexel

As an Update:

People have contacted me whom really wished to attend the service who will not be around on the first night of the Baronial Feast. In addition, as an act of respect, I will be splitting up the activities I have planned throughout the Baronial Feast. In short, the Mass itself will more than likely happen at some point Saturday night as to not interfere with the Gaian mass being held on Friday. Friday night however, all those who are supportive of freedom of religion regardless of their take are invited to join me for a traditional Agauran meal for discussion and general revelry.

I will be serving various pieces of chicken, soaked in herbs and alchemically modified pepper juices (the mastercraft of an Alchemist coined "Mad Dog"). In short, as a warning this meal is traditionally served during the Holy Days of Agaura as sacrament in my village. You will sweat, you will simmer, some of you will even cry; but ultimately it is a statement to show that suffering can be enjoyable. If anything those who are brave should come and consume as a rite of passage or a test of manliness (or dameliness if you prefer).

Father Razael Seiryn

Will there be refreshments? Oh, a small feast... Hm. I will consider attending.


Kuo Kun