On Importance
Click to viewThe Abbot Tso believes I should extend my power in the Dying Light. Lau on the other hand would rather see me drawn and quartered. Ellison...who knows where he stands. Ever since the death of Aimnestos, he has remained distant and silent. I would like to believe he is empowering himself by annihilating his Curse further, but there remains doubt within me this is not the case at all. This doubt tells me he is feeling out the political climate.
Santos, "Master" of the Coils, a Judge of the Dying Light. Oh, how the mighty would tremble. Such a thing is that of Ambrose's worst nightmares. I would cast down these moralists, end this plague of timid testing of our waters. Those fools that claim the Coils may be achieved without degradation to humanity would silence themselves in fear of my wrath. The Axe would again enjoy its solemn duty to root out traitors and again bring the fear of ever touching our Work to the other Covenants. War? Such a pathetically mortal word, I would not bring war, I would lead us back to what we were, a collective of scholars that operated outside of the prying eyes of the other Covenants.
Let the Mysteries speak with them, let those we have chosen as our voice act in a diplomatic fashion. Their games of court and dance of standing is meaningless to us. We will play it lip service, because we must, and allow the Mysteries to do their duties, but I would see a new age of fear rise among the younger ranks. Too often they speak against those who have shed more of their Curse. Too often they believe themselves our equals.
They would learn better. They would learn what order, rank, and file truly mean once again. Only then would the Work again continue without these constant interruptions. It is a thought that is as close to beauty as I am capable.
Another concern, the more Coils I obtain, the more distant I become. Not less humane, though that is often a side effect, distant, alien. Things such as comfort and pain mean less to me. Fear becomes less omnipresent, I find only one drive overtaking me. The need for order. The overwhelming desire to make certain that control over the Ordo Dracul is maintained, for as I become closer to ascension, I too become plagued with the Founder's visions of those that transcend running amok. Order must be maintained, for when we are no longer burdened with this Curse, we will have to deal with one another.
Such a thing brings back fear, overwhelming, consuming fear. I have been chosen, she said, but I must act slowly. I must sway the powerful, and together, we will ascend with an Order that is fully dedicated and obedient.
I need Ellison. I need the Abbot and his followers. My beloved Cricket will always be there, but she will not, cannot act, only aid. Dominion will follow my vision, as will Farly and Cullpepper. He has come far, I believe that Chan may become a force within the Covenant as wel soon, so hard he fought for the rights of the naligned, yet now he sees the beauty of the rank and file. Soon he too will be mine.
First, I must learn patience, and for that, I travel to the mountain. Then, to Ellison, this is no longer a matter of Rites, though the Damascene vision is a powerful one, I see now that diplomacy must be engaged, and sacrifices made.
I must ask my beloved child to undertake the most difficult task of all, and it shocks me that it pains me to even think that sending a tool to do its work would affect me. She will not like it, she may claim it impossible, but in the end, she will do it, because she will see the pattern as do I. He is a criminal, and I want his blood fed to a more worthy subject...but sacrifices must be made, and pride is nothing to me. He will rail and has no love for me, but we share a bond through my fallen broodmate.
I truly hope that Exodus is not in league with a higher power or else this may not go quite as planed. I could ask the Oracle's deviations about such an action, but I will not. To hell with such things, I am master of my own destiny, by its own admission, it knows I could ask the proper questions, and discover things beyond what the Order has ever dreamed of, and yet I choose not to, because that would make existence very boring. Succeed or fail, I will not be bound by some higher being's pattern.
-Excerpt from the journal of Santos Esteban y Gutierrez deMadrid, Maestro Penúltimo e Invisible de la Maldición Sangrienta e Indomada, Maestro de la Luz Agonizante