Musing on the Laws of Man,

[Rahtotep]

I am Rahtotep, Elementalist

Greetings all from yet another Dry and parched day in Azir, capital of Rahadoum,

In my travels through Varisia, Absalom (both above and below) and other lands I have seen many workings of the divine yet never once has it shaken my faith in the Laws of Man signed so many years ago in this fair jewel of the desert.

Yes I am sure you must ask, how can you claim to be a follower of the Ruby Prince when you believe that no power can be higher than man?

I do believe there is a power greater than man. The power that lets one fire jets of flame from ones fingers, the power that lets man control the naked flame, the power that can incinerate fields by bringing fire rain. That power comes from somewhere. Some ascribe that power to the Gods.. those distant powers to themselves who seek to engulf the world in the fire of their own self righteousness.

The same powers remember are born of man. There are so called Gods today who became what they are because of a test in a Cathedral in Absalom. I think no better sign of why Rahadoum did the right thing can be found in this.

Would you want a neighbour to suddenly be one who desired worship,who had cults of crazed worshippers to perform acts in their name?. The same neighbour who had the same vices... as yourself? Just because this neighbour completed a test (no matter how hard the endeavour was) does not entitle them to such power or standing.

Yet we have other powers than I am more familiar with. Being a disciple of the flame, I have spent considerable years studing how the naked flame burns, how it consumes yet how it also purifies. A Natural progression of our rejection of the divine has been to embrace other forms of power. While there are those that seem to dam this power inside of them, others like myself write it down finding that the pages of scroll or volume holds this power for them at arms length.

The path of the Wizard does not limit. There is no divinity impeding study. There is simply man and his quest for knowledge. Man and his quest to learn more about power. To harness it. For man.

To me the Ruby Prince, may his name be honored has done much to earn my respect. He has united Osirion as once again a place of enlightenment and understanding. It was his study of the unknown that has weakened him, we all risk such a fate when we try to understand that which we do not know. That is all he needs to do to earn my respect.

Yet at the end of the day it will be Man that brings our Ruby Prince back to full vigor. For if the Gods were all powerful, then he would be full of vigor now.

[Randolf Culpher]

Repent, Godless one!

You walk the fool's path. You think that man can defend himself against the wrath of a God? You think Man can build towers that stand during cyclones or earthquakes? You think Man can guarantee an endless harvest to keep the people fed and happy, free from famine, death or war?

Your arcane magic has only increased your arrogance. You climb a ladder that has no wall to support it. When a fire is built, I revere it. You dance around it, praising your own name.

I have heard such platitudes before. I have read them in the tomes of the Azlanti, and those of ancient Thassilon.

Repent Rahtotep. You may have avoided the glare of the higher beings thus far, but soon one will lock it's gaze upon your path and you shall fall further than you ever have before.

I ask you now, before Wrath strikes, read the histories and repent.

*makes the sign of the pentagram on his breast before turning and leaving*

[Rahtotep]

I am Rahtotep, Elementalist and son of Azir,

These are my musings on the Laws of Man and how they intertwine with man's greatest enemy.

Man is it's own worst enemy. No Demon, Devil , Genie, Marid or Dragon can ever hope to match the depravity of man. Indeed many such creatures only are formed by the thoughts of man or the death of man or the avarice of man. The history of Thassilon, that ancient empire born from the Wisdom of man but doomed by his sins shows that Man is capable of feats capable of standing the test of time. The Cyphergate, The great sea bridge. Ruins that are still active with power.

These things are a testament to man, to his ingenuity. Sadly they serve a twice function: they are also symbol of what man's pride can do. Half broken they remind us that power is not controlled forever. A Watched fire if left alone can become a raging inferno, eager to devour all around it. There would be no Korvosa, No Magnimar if that power had not corrupted those it touched or if they had not simply acted within boundaries.

The Laws of man do not doubt the existence of the Gods. That would be foolish. Gods obviously exist. Aroden himself a man of Azlant rose in power to the point where he became a God. Perhaps Kalim Onaku could see the future many of us could not. Rahadoum may not have a league of Clerics to call on should famine arise, but neither should it ever need to fear that in the future a despot armed with the so call power of the gods will rise. The Laws of Man thus protect man... from himself.

[Rahtotep]

I am Rahtotep, Elementalist and son of Azir.

I greet you all from Cheliax where I scribe this letter.

Recently I have explored a relic from times past, a city that was once part of the Jitska Imperium. As many of you might know , it occupied much of Rahadoum in the past and also extended into what is now Cheliax.

Now many of you might ask, what does the Imperium have to do with the Rule of Man? Perhaps everything, perhaps nothing. From what knowledge we have we know that the arcanists of the Imperium used a combination of binding and golemcraft to create vast legions of constructs powered by what most would term demonic power.

Such power made the Imperiums armies nigh unbeatable and it is only the coincidence of the cosmos that the Osirion empire was itself also growing. Two such forces were bound to strike each other and they did.

We may never know what was that event that caused the downfall of the imperium but I stood in evidence that such a place existed to begin with just yesterday. I realised one thing. While History interests me to points of obsession, I am not obsessed with repeating it's mistakes. This is something all of mankind should strive to see. We live amongst the ruins of our mistakes, yet our leaders do not see them.

Perhaps it is because my time amongst the Society grows short, perhaps it is because I find that the flame within me burns in a different direction. I know now.

I am sure that Man is the best equipped to decide his own fate. Whilst we can start and wage war, we are also the only ones who can stop it.

[MeriDoc-]

I enjoy law as well as any attorney, but wow you're out there.

[Ragen Gravekeeper]

All who live must face her judgement, quoth Ragen Gravekeeper, Cleric of Pharasma

[Hassam al-Rashid]

Just as I am the master of my house and just as the Ruby Price rules Osirion, Phrasma rules the Boneyard.

I may give my servants food and tools.

The Ruby Prince may give his subject food and tools.

Phrasma may give her followers food and tools.

There is no denying she holds great power and if you wish to enslave yourself to her whims in exchange for a token of that power, you have the freedom to do so.

You are even still welcome in my house. We can break bread together and delve into ancient tombs to recover relics.

We can stand side by side as we work to close the World Wound or defeat Runelords from ages past.

All I ask, is that you not proselytize to myself or my children.

Find your followers elsewhere.

[MeriDoc-]

Asmodeus gives me cute Erinyes to drag my foes to great heights....and release them. I wouldn't call Bambi either a food or a tool. Maybe you just need a better god?