A message of Mercy

    Those words are easy to say if they are coming from the lips from a person who did not know the man. I will never remember him as Yoshimatsu, but simply Yoshi. The fun-loving joker that fought beside me and saved my life more times then there are stars in the sky. His actions were completely contradicting to his nature, but how he handled the consequences was true to his spirit. He did not run, although he easily could have, he did not strike out against us for bringing him in, and he faced the ultimate punishment without fear. I will admit that he deserved every ounce of his punishment, if not more, but the fact remains he has the spirit of a warrior with one mark of taint.

    This husk of a body, as you call it, may not reflect what happens to ones soul, but it is the mortal embodiment of their memory. Personally, I hold myself to a higher standard and show respect even when I know it would not be returned. Should we not set a better example for others? Also along your line of thinking, when you pass on would you wish your body to be the personal play thing of others? We bury our dead, we preform funerals, and those with any amount of self respect do not desecrate the dead we despised in life.

    As for the friends that did not speak up, we are those friends and we are speaking up now. Many of us were taken by suprise from Yoshi's actions and stunned by the vicious display of savagery after his death, we should have been able to rely on our officials so stop these actions. Should we take such matters into our own hands next time a body is disgraced? Also, to say that good and evil deeds do not matter is correct. He committed murder, a wrong act, but did not fight his sentence, a right choice. For every evil person who freely commits evil acts there is the chance of redemption.

    This leaves me to restate that his actions were completely against Yoshi's nature. Questions I think we should ask ourselves is why does one embrace the darkness over the light? Why would a great man stray from his path? Also, what can we do to keep someone from walking that path without forcing them not to, for if we force a decision we are nothing but mental slavers?

To the Good and Noble citizens and the Holy Clergy of Travance,

Father Kwildar's good message I believe has become lost in translation.  On the Fifteenth day of August in the great Town of Travance, a bold hero and friend to many was indeed lost.  This Yoshimatsu fell the moment his heart sunk into the darkness that each and every single person fights inside themselves.  It was in these moments he thought to aquire and utilize scrolls of the dark Necromantic Arts, that he became lost.  I am sure that all of Travance takes great grevance in the loss of this great Warrior, as he lost his battle with the Light and turned to Darkness.

Andorra teaches of Mercy and Forgiveness.  Andorra also seeks to see the Redemption in all.  Although Yoshimatsu has fallen in his darkest hour to walk no longer among friendship in the great town of Travance, perhaps he will find himself one day redeemed in the eyes of the Light.  May our prayers go with him as he seeks to redeem himself.

I leave you all with food for thought.  This man, once a great hero to the town of Travance much like each and every one of you, turned from the Light.  He lost his inner battles and took it upon himself, in his own right mind, to trap the spirits of the departed in the decayed and reanimated bodies.  Calling upon necromancy is a disgrace and disregards to the departed.

You all have friends in Travance, people whom you can turn too in your darkest hours.  Please remember this when you feel the darkness closing in upon your hearts.  Reach out to those of your friends and remember to always walk in the Light.

I have not been here for long, but I would find myself humbled if any member of Travance turned to me and called me Friend.  Know that the Light is there for all, and any wishing council or a friend may but send me missive.  I will be happy to meet with you.

Walk in the Light, Travance.
Alston Devareux

Forgive my ramblings.

Kwildar,

Join me for lunch?

Birgitta

OOC:  PM me please.

I am not writing here to argue or make excuses. I only wish to list a few facts.

My cousin Caleb is not a cleric. He is a warrior and a follower of Valos.
He was chosen as the executioner. I do not know who chose him or why.
I can only tell you that he was tortured for months by the powerful necromancers of Evernight and sent to Travance to be used against his knowledge, as a pawn.
I almost lost my cousin to the evil of necromancy. Perhaps one can find a way to understand his actions for all that he went through.

I expect I have lost more kin than most, so I do understand your loss.

I am truly sorry that many of you lost a good friend and brother to the dark.

Remember the friends that are still here.

Take heart in Father Kwildar’s words.

May the Light guide your path,

I think that those that were close to him should have know his true heart the most. If he fell from the light as you say, did you not see the signs? Did you not help himm in his moments of the fall? I think those closet to him are to blame and this, after reading how much of a friend and how close many of you were to him peaks my interest in the true question of why, you are right to ask that question.

And for that now I wonder who was really to blame, thank you for your concerns, now I will have my people look into your souls and hearts and find out if you let him down or at worse were to blame in some way. You concerns are valid, I see that more now. Be prepared to answer for your friend. If he fell we must know why.

So thank you for your concern and showing me what might be the heart of the problem here. Prepare yourselves, for now you will know, and Travance will know if there is guilt or taint within you! If you are free of these things then you have no worries.

Chancellor Ming knows much of honor, but I ask him what compassion is due to one who left a bound person to the mercies of an undead, whose overwhelming drive is to ravage the living?  This person was not the target of the assassin, but what is, in an effort to obfuscate the matter, called collateral damage.

Compassion was shown by the Baron in ordering a quick and painless execution.

Mercy was shown by not obliterating him for his consorting with Necromancy.

It is one thing to know what Necromancy is, for to know one's enemy allows one to fight on one's chosen ground.  To actually employ it, however, is absolutely, incontrovertibly unforgivable in any instance.  To unleash it on one with whom one has no quarrel, even professional in the instance of this assassin, is morally and ethically reprehensible.

I can make no clearer statement on my position, which is upheld in the Canons of the Church and numerous Papal Bulls, most notably "Nihil Necromancus" issued by Gregory V in 1031 in which he stated that Necromancy, in any form was "to be eliminated root and branch." from the Church of Light