Intergalactic Summit

Then why not just come out and say it? You're not bothering to filter your thoughts on much else here lately.

I dated Del'thul, Aldrith. I'm not her. I don't want to see your Empire burn. I don't want to see your children put at risk. I don't want to see my kin endangered. I've never said I care about the sanctity of the Empress. I care about my friends, and I get annoyed by hypocrisy. That's it. That's all I've said. I'm curious about Amarr theology, and interested in it as an academic matter, but I've never claimed to be seeking something to believe in or otherwise invested in it. You want to call me a liar, maybe you should fecking come up with an actual lie.



And there's the essence of your real objection here: you know I'm right, and the idea that the Empress and the Theology Council can make a move grounded in expedience and realpolitik threatens your faith. Is it so weak as to believe that a God that can create all of existence can't make crass political calculus serve his ends?

And yes, you get to have a soul, if you believe in one. They never had the ability to take it from you. Either they are right, or they are wrong. If they are right, you always had a soul. If they're wrong, you still don't have one. You don't 'get' to have a soul. Either you do, or you don't, and since they cannot now, and never could actually prove that you don't, if you want one, claim one! Mittens' Kittens, boy, don't act like a whipped cur for their pleasure. If you're a man, be a damned man. Stand on your own, without worrying about the approval of some bunch of dried up birth canals and follicle-depleted scalps.



How hard is it for you to accept responsibility for your own life, your own faith, and your own understanding of your God, instead of insisting on your right to remain a child, forever coddled and directed by mommy and daddy on the Council?

The inquisitors? What power has the Inquisition ever had over the Kingdom? I mean, okay, the Theology Council struck Khanid from the Book of Records and Emperor Heideran declared war on him. That seemed to do a whole lot of good, seeing as he's now back in the Empire, with all the rights and none of the responsibilities since his precious kingdom keeps on getting special exemptions for its heresies. He was allowed to compete in the Succession Trials and nearly became Emperor of Amarr (the only heir to ever get two chances!). Think about that. Think about what would have happened if Garkeh Khanid, the single biggest traitor to Amarr, had become emperor. And if he's doing what everyone knows he's doing, then he's going to try again, and again, and again, until he wins.

It is time we stop trying to whitewash failings and instead correct them. The devil is competing for the crown, and the only thing we seem to be worried about is the impropriety of calling him the devil.

I would look to the late Lord Kor-Azor for an example. Should the people he wronged not have spoken against him? Should they have kept their place, because he was the Emperor's son and an heir?

NO!

It is only by the cries of the faithful that Lord Kor-Azor was brought back into the faithful. Without those that he wronged speaking out, bearing witness did the Speakers of Truth investigate, judge, punish, and ultimately help redeem him. We should look to their example and give voice to the wrong, so long as it is respectful and proper, so that it may be corrected and the wayward child brought back into the flock.

Let us just all calm down and meet-in person for our next exchange. I think that would be most helpful.

The desperate fervor and uncertainty this announcement has inspired in the enemies of the Empire and those who lack faith is only further proof that this decision is the right one.

I look forward to seeing you there, Ms. Arrendis. No need to bring anything.

We cast out our sinners, and have paid for their transgressions. We don't welcome them back to the table or give them the heirdom.

And we absolutely should remember it, so that we don't fall prey to repeating the same mistakes.

The welcome back to the light was for the Khanid, not for Khanid. I think you are making Garkeh larger than he was by demonizing him so. All of the economic and military might of the kingdom, all its people, and all its systems and worlds now belong again to the Throne.

One degenerate King who died anyway is a small price to pay.

I'm.....troubled, a little.

King Khanid II, rest he in light and peace, no matter what else he did, brought us back to the fold and gave us the chance to rejoice fully again in our trillions of sisters and brothers in faith. I don't think anyone who hasn't been a lifelong Kingdom citizen can understand the little ways that separation affects someone. There are a lot of us--Khanid, I mean. Who here can claim to have helped so many back to the door that opens once?

He was complicated. I won't argue it. I hope you won't argue it with me. But he was ours, he was truly ours, and when he died I hope he was able to imagine half the gratitude we owed him for making Ours mean Khanid and Amarr both. I was born into a time of fear, when no one could be sure if that would be true again. Now we are sure. I will NEVER stop being grateful, both to His Former Majesty and to the Empress, long may she reign in splendor.

God bless us ALL with the ability to turn the mistakes we make into a benediction, as he did.

...please stop being horrible about him.