Let the trouble come, let the hard rain fall, let it make me strong. Bring it on.
((Written, as ever, while hunched over his bench in the Court of the Sun.))
THE SECOND MEETING OF THE MAGISTERIAL COUNCIL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE TRYING THAN THE FIRST. SO MANY PEOPLE DECIDED TO SHOW UP (COMPLETELY FUCKING UNINVITED, MIND YOU, DESPITE ANY CLAIMS TO THE CONTRARY) AND SO MANY VOICES JOSTLED TO BE HEARD THAT IT WAS TRULY A MIRACLE THAT ANY BUSINESS WAS DONE AT ALL. YET BUSINESS WAS IN FACT DONE--AND NOT MERELY BUSINESS, BUT JUSTICE.
NOW YOU MUST UNDERSTAND. DISCOURSE, PARTICULARLY THE DISCOURSE OF THE GOVERNMENT, MUST BE TRANSPARENT AND READILY AVAILABLE TO THE PEOPLE IF THEY SO WISH. THEY SHOULD ALSO HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE. GOVERNMENT IS ABOUT SERVING THE NEEDS AND WILL OF THE PEOPLE AND THUS THEIR ACTUAL VOICES ARE CRUCIAL. HOWEVER, AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE, ANARCHY IS ONLY A FAVORABLE STATE WHEN ALL INVOLVED PARTIES ARE REASONABLE AND CALM ENOUGH TO HAVE SOME MEASURE OF BASIC
FUCKING DECENCY, AND THAT WAS SORELY LACKING FROM THE ASSEMBLED RABBLE.
I DO NOT THINK THAT THE MAGISTRY MEETINGS SHOULD BE CLOSED-OFF, SECRETIVE AFFAIRS CONDUCTED BEHIND A HEAVY VELVET DRAPE. NO, PRECISELY THE OPPOSITE. BUT BECAUSE WE AS A SOCIETY ARE DREADFULLY IMMATURE, THERE MUST BE SOME MEASURE OF ORDER TO THE PROCEEDINGS, IF ONLY FOR THE SAKE OF PROGRESSION.
I MEDITATED FOR SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE I WENT TO THE MEETING AND I'M GLAD I DID; IT WAS ONLY BECAUSE OF THAT ENFORCED CALMING THAT I WAS (GENERALLY) ABLE TO HOLD MY TONGUE THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE CACOPHONY. WE WERE NOT REALLY ABLE TO SPEAK FREELY AMONG OURSELVES AT ALL AND WERE IN FACT ONLY ABLE TO CONSIDER ONE MATTER THOROUGHLY, THAT BEING THE MATTER OF THE NOW-DEPOSED KNIGHT-LORD. I HAVE SO LITTLE FAITH IN THIS MAN THAT I AM NOT EVEN GOING TO WRITE HIS NAME UPON THESE PAGES; INSTEAD I SHALL REFER TO HIM AS 'THE TYRANT', FOR THAT IS WHAT HE IS: NOTHING MORE THAN A CHILDISH, WHINING, DESPICABLE DESPOT WHO WIELDS HIS POWER LIKE A FAT MAN TRYING TO STUFF HIMSELF INTO A CHAIR DESIGNED FOR GNOMES: AWKWARDLY, VIOLENTLY, AND WITH LITTLE REGARD FOR SENSE.
UNDERSTAND THAT I CAME TO THESE JUDGMENTS EVEN BEFORE THE TESTIMONIES PRESENTED AT THE MEETING, TESTIMONIES WHICH INDICTED THIS TYRANT AS BEING NOT ONLY A CHILDISH BRUTE BUT ALSO AN INSANE CHILDISH BRUTE. THERE WAS SOME TALK OF BLAMING HIS BEHAVIOR ON SARONITE POISONING, BUT I INVITE THOSE OF YOU WHO HOLD THAT OPINION TO KINDLY GO AND FUCK YOURSELVES DIRECTLY IN YOUR SMALLEST AND TIGHTEST ORIFICE. ANYONE WHO'S SET FOOT INTO THE MINES IN THE STORM PEAKS CAN TELL YOU THAT THE EFFECTS OF SARONITE ARE IMMEDIATE AND OBVIOUS, AND FURTHERMORE, ANY GOOD LEADER WHO EXPOSED HIMSELF TO RAW SARONITE LONG ENOUGH TO EVEN POSSIBLY COME UNDER ITS INFLUENCE SHOULD HAVE HAD THE WHEREWITHAL TO RECUSE HIMSELF UNTIL SUCH TIME AS HE RECOVERED OR OTHERWISE DIAGNOSED HIMSELF ACCURATELY. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THE KIND OF COMPLETE PARANOID INSANITY THAT I HEARD TELL OF, NOR WAS THERE ANY EXCUSE FOR THIS MAN'S BABYISH FLAILING ABOUT ON THE NIGHT BEFORE THE MEETING. IT DOES NOT SURPRISE ME IN THE LEAST THAT HE ACCUSED THE MAGISTRY OF CONSPIRACY AND ATTEMPTED TO PLOT OUR DEATHS--IT IS THE WAY OF TYRANTS TO FIRST RECOIL AND HOWL IN DESPAIR WHEN THEY SEE THE HAND OF JUSTICE COMING TOWARDS THEM AND THEN TO DO ALL THEY CAN TO BREAK THAT MIGHTY HAND'S FINGERS BEFORE IT
CAN CLOSE 'ROUND THEIR INQUITOUS THROATS.
THE FATAL FLAW OF THIS TYRANT--AND MANY OTHERS BEFORE HIM--IS, OF COURSE, HUBRIS. I DEMAND MUCH OF THOSE WHO WOULD BE LEADERS, BECAUSE LEADERSHIP IS A DEMANDING TASK. THE TRULY FLAWLESS LEADER WILL ALWAYS BE QUICK TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE OR SHE IS NOT FLAWLESS. FLAWLESS LEADERS KNOW, BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE, THAT THEY ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW. THAT, INDEED, THOSE WHO CREATE AND ENFORCE THE LAW MUST BE THE ONES MOST RIGIDLY SUBJECT TO ITS STRICTURES, ELSEWISE THE LAW ITSELF IS DEGRADED AND EVENTUALLY COMES TO HAVE NO MEANING TO ANYONE. AND IF THE LAW MEANS NOTHING TO THE PEOPLE, IT ALSO MEANS NOTHING TO THE STATE, AND FROM THERE WE SINK EVER DEEPER INTO A MORASS OF CORRUPTION. WE FIND OURSELVES, I'M SORRY TO SAY, MIRED IN THAT CORRUPTION AT PRESENT.
MUCH HAS BEEN MADE OF THIS TYRANT'S EFFECTIVENESS AT REDUCING CRIME, AND THAT I'LL GRANT. BUT AT WHAT COST, I MUST ASK? THOSE WHO WOULD SACRIFICE FREEDOM FOR SAFETY DESERVE NEITHER. THEY NEVER HAVE AND NEVER WILL. IT MAY BE THAT CRIME IS ONLY SO REDUCED BECAUSE ALL THE CITIZENS ARE TOO TERRIFIED EVEN TO BREATHE, FOR IT SEEMS IN THE EYES OF THIS TYRANT THAT EVEN BREATHING WRONGLY IN HIS DIRECTION IS CONSIDERED PUNISHABLE BY
TIME IN THAT ABHORRENT TORTURE CHAMBER HE USES AS A JAIL.
I HAVE SOME MODICUM OF RESPECT FOR THIS TYRANT'S BROTHER, A MAN WHO IS ALSO A MAGISTER. I UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS DIFFICULT TO FACE THE EVILS OF THOSE WE CARE FOR, THOSE WE CONSIDER OUR FAMILY. LIGHT PRESERVE ME, I UNDERSTAND IT. BUT I WILL NOT NOW, NOR EVER, ACCEPT THAT TYRANT AS A MAN OF AUTHORITY. HE IS A CHILD, AND WHILE CHILDREN ARE FINE AND GOOD IN THEIR OWN WAYS, THERE IS A REASON WE DO NOT APPOINT THEM TO POSITIONS OF POWER.
SPEAKING OF CHILDREN, MY DAUGHTER IS BECOMING MORE ADORABLE BY THE DAY. THOUGH I DO WISH SHE WOULD STOP BLINKING OUT OF MY GRASP WHENEVER I TRY TO FEED HER ANYTHING THAT ISN'T JUICE AND TARTS.
I'D ALSO BE APPRECIATIVE IF MY WIFE WERE WILLING TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH HER. SHE SEEMS TO REGARD ALRUNE AS ONE MIGHT A RARE AND CURIOUS INSECT--WITH A MIXTURE OF BOTH TREPIDATION AND INTEREST. BUT AT LEAST AVALI HAS AGREED TO STOP CONSTANTLY DENOUNCING THE LIGHT WHEN WE CONVERSE WITH STRANGERS. SHE HAS AGREED TO REDUCE HER COMPLAINTS BY HALF AND I ADMIT THAT SHE IS TRYING. I KNOW THAT SHE SEES THE LIGHT AND ITS PRECEPTS AS SO MANY CRUTCHES, SO MANY BLOCKADES AGAINST THE FORMATION OF A POWERFUL INNER WILL, BUT I FEEL THAT I MYSELF AM PROOF AGAINST THAT CLAIM. FOR THOUGH MY BODY IS FRAGILE (INDEED I AM EVEN NOW RECOVERING FROM YET MORE RECENTLY HEALED FRACTURES ALONG MY
HIP AND JAWLINE), I FEEL THAT MY WILL IS STRONG. NOT INDOMITABLE, NECESSARILY, AS I AM A MAN AND THUS INHERENTLY FALLIBLE IN ALL WAYS, BUT SURELY RESILIENT. AND I DO CREDIT THIS RESILIENCE TO THE COMFORT AND CALMING STRENGTH I FIND IN THE LIGHT. ITS GRACE HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES, AFTER ALL.
AS A FINAL NOTE, I HAVE DELIVERED THE REQUESTED PAPERS TO THAT FOOL MAGELING, CHRYSETH. THE MATTER IS OUT OF MY HANDS NOW, AND I'LL BE CONDUCTING NO MORE RESEARCH IN THE SCRYERS' FACILITIES.
THOUGH I HAVE TO SAY THAT WHAT I DID UNCOVER WAS MORE THAN ENOUGH TO KEEP ANY INQUIRING MIND OCCUPIED FOR A GOOD LONG TIME, ESPECIALLY IF THAT MIND IS AT ALL ACQUAINTED WITH THE PEOPLE TO WHOM ITS NEWLY UNCOVERED INFORMATION REFERS.