Greetings, City of Light.

It is with a somewhat saddened and incredulous bent of mind that I pen this missive to you.

The 10815th letter in Shallam's archives demonstrates a line of thought which has somewhat deeper implications than are immediately apparent.

Hastily written as I suspect it was in a moment of anger, much of it would likely not be meant had the author considered his words; for example, the thought behind such a statement as "I for one did not join this city to be told when and where and how to act, regardless of the reason" is an attitude which seems to defy the leadership of our fair City and .  The sentiment here is that each knows what is in the best interest of the Light, and that each man his his own master.

I submit to you, in words as true now as they have always been:  no servant is a master.

This trend is one I noticed some time ago, in fact, up to and including when the honour code was instituted in our City.

The simple matter is that whether or not one is inclined to agree, the leaders of the City of Light are chosen for their dedication and rule by the grace of the Te'Serra.  The idea that I submit that this is not the case, that democracy in its own time has heralded naught but pandering to the masses and our growing lax in discipline.

It demonstrates the folly of indulging in such baser emotions as wrath.  There is no glory to the Light contained therein, nor is there any advancement of our cause to be found.  Instead, these emotions obfuscate our

Never must we forget our place in this world, as proponents of a greater Good; never must we act in a manner which needlessly affords our enemies the arrows which may be our undoing.

Nevertheless, the points addressed therein demand a response.   was a number of things addressing the few points needing addressing and submitting that we, as servants of Creation, cannot afford to indulge in such a thing as wrath.  There is no glory to the Light contained therein, nor is there any advancement of our cause to be found.

Are we, as advocates of the Light, held to a 'professional' standard?

Absolutely, definitively, and without a moment's hesitation, I say:  yes, we are.

The Light is our cause, its truth evident to us.  To those who roam our streets or patron our businesses, or those whom we encounter in our day-to-day affairs, or those friends of ours in Cities allied against a common enemy if not behind a common goal, or even those who seek to raze our fair walls and ascend to dragonhood upon the blood of our citizens, though, it is simply 'another' cause.  Their perception of what it means to serve the Light and, hence, Creation, is shaped in no small part by what we, as servants, do.

In short, the battle against our enemies is only half of the war against our enemies.  The way in which we win it is the other half.  That is, after all, why we limit ourselves in the spirit of asecetic discipline to the Light, reaffirmed every day that we do not betray our honour or lose our composure.  The respect one garners in maintaining one's composure even when fighting a losing skirmish - the respect gained when one freshly fallen arises and marches


Shallamese, which shall it be?  Shall we be a City of Light, a City of Good, or merely a City of Good Intentions?

As those held to a higher standard, we have been graced with leaders and those who have been appointed as being voices of authority.  This is generally a beneficial thing, for this attitude - that each man is his own master - defies the entire concept of a community of the Light.  We have seen what happens when Shallam


There may be those who leave, or those who threaten to leave, who prophecy that Shallam will lose its support, and that a disciplined approach is against the spirit of the Light.  This is a tactic which, although perhaps not intentionally, is ordered around the selfish notion that one is so important that one's loss will incapacitate the Light.  I do want to let people know that