Flow of the Balance/Archives of September 1013

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11 September

Sermon to Duke Meristenzio of Oligarch by Priestess Brigdha Dubhaine, Margravine of Negev

My Lord Meristenzio,

It's my great pleasure to finally meet you in person. It's thanks to your good will in former times that Negev was able to peacefully join the Republic and I never have had the opportunity to thank you properly, so please let me now offer you the gift which I have found most precious in war and peace since first I received it. The knowledge of The Flow.

I hesitate to describe our faith as a religion in the mundane sense, though certainly communion with the divine sits squarely at its heart. We know the divine as The Lilith in memory of the first chosen of The Balance, and when we find its reflection in ourselves this is The Lilith Within (not to be mistaken for the pantheism or self-serving avatarism of other faiths). The Lilith Within is the shadow of our higher consciousness, itself but one of many active across the infinite realities of the multiverse and all bound by the judgements of The Balance.

Which of course raises the question of what The Balance is, that it exists independently of both The Lilith and the many Lilith Within. By way of analogy we often refer to The Balance as The High Firmament or The Ocean and just as eddies flow through the firmaments of the world around us, so the deeds of all sentients flow through the Balance. This is the essence of The Flow, the dynamic principle by which we sentients find communion with The Lilith and The Lilith maintains the cosmic order.

The majority of those following the teachings of The Flow will never develop more than a vague understanding of these deep spiritual truths, preferring to focus on exercises in ethics and personal discipline. There is an unfortunate tendency for individuals on this path to assume that through such practices they can somehow attain a mystical gnosis when the sad truth is that only a few of us can ever find The Lilith Within and only as The Lilith herself decrees. This is the Flow of the Tranquilence and to the outside world the legalism it encourages is often mistake for an innate holiness, which it most certainly is not.

However it must be said that the associated meditative practices have a number of practical applications, not least to the arts of war. In former times the faith boasted a number of warrior monastic orders which developed these to a high standard, the most notable being the Paladins of Darton from Dulbin who were the backbone of Fontan's famous Guild of Lions. Whilst that tradition passed with a previous generation I still make use of many of the same techniques when training Negev's more adept warriors.

There is another path amongst our teachings, often seen by outsiders as dark and destructive though the real situation is much more complicated. This is the Flow of the Turbulence, a raging tempest of uninhibited passion. To the uninitiated this is often seen as an evil path, characterised by such Formatiin as the Kinseys who allow their passions to consume them, though in practice Turbulence is as much associated with creation of the novel as with the quest for destruction. The true adept seeks to master both disciplines, the better to serve the will of The Lilith.

This gift of knowledge is freely given, and as such it is now yours to do with as you will. May The Balance look favourably upon your choice.