Sanguis Astroism/The Magistratum/Garret/Evidence
| Letter from Garret Artemesia | |||||||
| Message sent to Bengt Algotsson, Mathurin Hossenfeffer, Melania Rahl, Timast Solacesta | |||||||
| High Inquisitor Stormcrow,
When I offered the federation of Aquilegia and Corsanctum, it was to grant the Church its eyes and ears, its cloaks and daggers, from the shadows and the light. In daylight shadows follow everyone. In twilight ghostly glows illuminate those who think they can conceal themselves from the light. This organization, for all intents and purposes, does not exist. Any attempt to speak of it to anyone but myself will be met with likely confusion, followed by my denial. However, it is a most useful resource. For example, the Phantoms allowed me to catch whispers of a plan that the Grandmaster of Morek and the Alpha Imperator of Raivan Empire both confirmed. From the words of Alpha Imperator Raiva:
Before this I had correspondence from the Grandmaster of Morek also supporting the "whispers" I heard. What resulted then was a rather interesting set of events where I had to consider whether risking Allison's ire, or staying silent. I think it is clear what choice I pursued. I have selected you to establish a meeting place silently in Corsanctum. Having a central nexus of operations in the core of the Church would help the operatives relay necessary information quickly and effectively, in all areas in any and all things that require sensitive intelligence. Especially because you are the High Inquisitor of Corsanctum, I believe it would be very appropriate that you would be one of those who might network some operatives, such as to gain information not easily or readily gained otherwise, about members within the Church. After all, the rebellion in Niselur, and the situation in Averoth have shown that some members are only part of the Church for personal gain. It is time some of us demonstrated that even in the darkness deeds will come to light. But let us not confuse this with honorless work of common infiltrators and assassins. We are the silent and concealed guardians of the Church, whose work goes unknown and unappreciated, but who protect the integrity of the faith. Regards, | |||||||
| Garret Artemesia (Asterion of Aquilegia, Marshal of the Covenant of Phantoms of Aquilegia) | |||||||
Letter from Garret Artemesia (1 day, 14 hours ago) (Personal message to Mervin Vetinari) Kalos Vetinari,
It appears I had been rather careless in monitoring the status of the advertisement I sent around.
I had sent out something called an "Excellence Treatise", true, and we debated about some things. Although, you had some strange parts about a Maddening star and something. I had been a little confused, but I was more...angry, should we say, that you seemed to have gotten the wrong idea of the message. I see now that not long after drafting that stub which was to have only introduced a concept of a Trinity inseparable of the Bloodstars along with secular means of excellence, something happened. Someone, or something, altered parts of the text to introduce concepts of the stars that were not in keeping with the original treatise. Furthermore, it was done without the Illumination, which is the first book of the series.
Illumination, Voyage, Sanctum, Herald, Construction, Altercation, Pandemonium, Reconciliation. Those are the eight volumes, in that order. Sanctum, Herald, and Reconciliation were lost, and I had reconstructed them. It appears that the parts about the stars were from Sanctum and Herald. The idea of the Supreme Balance came from Reconciliation, but...this is all very surprising.
What bothers me is this: The rebel leader who has called for disarmament was a leading member of the safehouse that, among other things, guarded the sermons of the Prophet along with the true Treatise of the Scarlet Trinity. I do not know how long he was afflicted, and I fear for the integrity of the documents, as I personally provided him with the key to access the vaults.
This...is not very good. I cannot wait until I can just pass the torch on to you.
Regards, Garret Artemesia Asterion of Aquilegia, Marshal of the Covenant of Phantoms of Aquilegia
Letter from Garret Artemesia (1 day, 12 hours ago) Message sent to: Branthorpe Silverbear, Medugnatos Stormcrow, Mervin Vetinari High Inquisitor Stormcrow,
My testimony is being compiled by the Royal Archives. When Allison visited Vesuvis to donate gold for temples, there were whispers about a vault being opened. At the time, I trusted Duke Adriddae with the sole key to the Flowrestown safehouse that kept the Scarlet Trinity.
Eight volumes: Four in Balance's Retreat; Four in Flowrestown. Two were sent directly, by someone other than myself, from Flowrestown to Mimer. I was told, at the time, three months ago, that they had arrived. So when the heresy charges were brought against me, I had though that it was over the two that leaked in Corsanctum. The two that were sent were volume two: Sanctum, and volume three: Herald. Both were the rewritten versions of the originals, which had been assumed destroyed by monsters in Turbul, as I found several torn pages scattered in my pursuit of them. They also happened to steal my imperial seal but one of my agents said he retrieved what was left of it, and gave me a twisted piece of metal. Those two volumes, other than the Illumination, were the only volumes that even mentioned the Bloodstars in any way. The rest is all secular, legends of Aquilegia's past, deeds of heroes, philosophy dealing with human decisions. There was no need to send you those.
What you need to understand is that the actual Scarlet Trinity Treatise is mostly stories of Aquilegia's past that teach moral lessons. The only parts that deal with the Bloodstars, that I could give you at the time, was the Illumination. That was an excerpt, even, written from memory, as the full manuscript was locked away in Flowrestown.
I have been unable to access the vault since my first argument with Allison, as Vesuvis took leave for some time and refused anyone the key. Thus, I could not tell you about that, as even had I, what then? If it is as I suspected, and now know for certain, the possessed Duke would have destroyed the key, and ordered the destruction of the volumes. I had mentioned briefly to him once that the documents were very important in bringing a more moderate mindset, and finally breaking Aquilegia from Allison's shadow. I hinted that without at least on volume of the Treatise, I would lose all.
I had to keep silent at the moment, to preserve the possibility of providing the truth of the Treatise. To have it destroyed would have meant no proof whatsoever for me, save for the scraps of the Illumination volume.
When this rebellion is over, and I have access to the vault of the safehouse in Flowrestown, I will try to recover the two volumes in Flowrestown, and track down the two that were lost en route to Corsanctum.
Even now, I ask that we keep this silent. The rebel leader Adriddae was ousted from the safehouse, but he still has his key. I have people watching him, to make sure he does not enter the safehouse, but I do not know what might happen if desperation takes root.
If the original Treatise is destroyed, and no volumes left, then all will be for naught. For my future, and for the future of the ideas of the Scarlet Trinity, I had to bite my tongue, even if it meant that the Magistratum would not react happily.
Regards, Garret Artemesia Asterion of Aquilegia, Marshal of the Covenant of Phantoms of Aquilegia
Letter from Garret Artemesia (1 day, 12 hours ago) (Personal message to Medugnatos Stormcrow) High Inquisitor Stormcrow,
I had hoped that the Magistratum would have waited until after the demon-possessed duke was contained. For, like I said, and like you know very well, the Treatise is kept in the safehouse of the Phantoms. And despite all efforts of banning Vesuvis from the place, he does have the key. And a skilled infiltrator can still get inside.
You understand, I was being extorted by threats from Allison and talk of rebellion amongst the nobles, as well as isolated protest. And most troubling, the Duke had become very distant at the time, which makes everything clearer now. Had I asked any more of him, I feel as though he would have destroyed everything, called a rebellion, and then denounced me as a heretic. At the time, he was already showing some antagonism towards me, asking me what my "excuse" was for avoiding destruction from Allison, and being less...open than usual.
I'm sorry, my friend, but the Treatise is too important to lose. There are four still safe in Balance's Retreat, but those have nothing to do with the Bloodstars. There was no way to prove anything by showing you those. It would be the equivalent of defending my heresy charge by giving you a book on jousting. So I was backed into a corner, and I had no way out. Even now, I wonder at the state of the Illumination and Reconciliation in Flowrestown.
Regards, Garret Artemesia Asterion of Aquilegia, Marshal of the Covenant of Phantoms of Aquilegia
Letter from Garret Artemesia (17 hours, 49 minutes ago) (Personal message to Mervin Vetinari) Heresy is a word thrown about very often these days by some rather ignorant and stuck up foreigners, don't you think?
In any case, I could not access the true Scarlet Trinity Treatise, which was held in the Covenant of Phantoms guildhouse in Flowrestown, and which, as you know, was kept by Vesuvis alone. Whatever, if they do not exist, then so be it. I've seen the Church let too many things happen to be very much contented with it by this point.
Virovene was allowed to be destroyed without a word, Allison was allowed to threaten Aquilegia without a single breath of revulsion. And now, only now, when people are talking about some fake book, do we get concerted opposition?
By the way, I assumed you are saying that the "lie" is based on this, right? Dwilight University/Project Submissions/Falsebound Trinity. I must say I am very surprised at its existence, as I had not ever seen it before, but now everything with the stolen seal and the operative who disappeared makes sense.
By the way, tell Medugnatos and Branthorpe that I always thought they were referring to this: Sanguis Astroism/Excellence Treatise Lite, which has been up for over two months, like I said, and which I had assumed you all decided not to talk about overtly by name because, well...I wrote it for commoners... Garret Artemesia Asterion of Aquilegia, Marshal of the Covenant of Phantoms of Aquilegia
Letter from Garret Artemesia (17 hours, 31 minutes ago) (Personal message to Mervin Vetinari) Hm, it looks like I have to be very slow with you, since it looks like it might take a while.
The only written treatise I ever released dealing with the Scarlet Trinity was Sanguis Astroism/Excellence Treatise Lite. I had assumed you were talking about that, and while the true Treatise actually detailing the Scarlet Trinity is still locked away in Flowrestown, among other places scattered about, there should have been no reason anyone, especially not Anabellium, would have seen the true Treatise and thus charge me with heresy over it.
So, my conclusion was that you all had read my work for commoners and dull people. It was a method of teaching the peasants of Aquilegia who had no idea about the Churches. After all, that was the only work dealing with any aspects of the Stars that ever came out of Aquilegia officially. Garret Artemesia Asterion of Aquilegia, Marshal of the Covenant of Phantoms of Aquilegia
Letter from Garret Artemesia (17 hours, 21 minutes ago) (Personal message to Mervin Vetinari) You and I both read it, Kalos Mervin. Are you here to tell me you remember something else?
I think I would know what I write.
Garret Artemesia Asterion of Aquilegia, Marshal of the Covenant of Phantoms of Aquilegia
Letter from Garret Artemesia (16 hours, 53 minutes ago) (Personal message to Mervin Vetinari) The only pamphlet I sent out at any point in the past was the one I just sent to you. There were no others sent under my name. All others I will be quite quick to prove are not my writings, as my Royal Archivist can also attest that no other official texts pertaining to the Scarlet Trinity have ever been made public. Garret Artemesia Asterion of Aquilegia, Marshal of the Covenant of Phantoms of Aquilegia
Letter from Garret Artemesia (14 hours, 21 minutes ago) Message sent to: Branthorpe Silverbear, Mathurin Hossenfeffer, Medugnatos Stormcrow, Mervin Vetinari You know, it would have been nice for the Magistratum to send me the letter of the charges brought against me. I had to hear it second-hand what the charges were.
Now, I think I can put to rest some questions, but open up a whole slew of other questions. I hope you are ready.
So the "treatise" as Anabellium was quoting from is indeed part of the writings I had authored. It was, however, released under a restricted license. No one could access it unless he or she were in Flowrestown. And even then, the only ones ever allowed to view it were the former Duke Vesuvis, who at the time, generously donated the private library that would hold, among other books, the one and only original copy of that treatise, excerpts of which Anabellium used against me.
Now here is where things get interesting. To my knowledge, only Vesuvis read it, and perhaps Kalos Mervin, as he has been arguing with me about how he remembers a different text, which I have been arguing never was never written. I now finally know what he is talking about, after receiving an anonymous bundle of that text myself from the Dwilight University.
This is a crime against my realm, to whomever illegally made copies from the library. The text was not meant to be published for public use, and its access was highly restricted. That anyone outside Aquilegia, nay, anyone outside the Senate of Aquilegia could have access of it should be impossible.
As for the texts you asked of me during your disclosure of charges, they were rather imprecise. I had been most confused about whether you asked me about the pamphlet I wrote for Aquilegian peasant use, which was made public, or the secret volumes that I had already explained I could not access since the first conflict with Allison.
Now, here I remind you of the charge that seems to have fallen on deaf ears. I caught Allison forging my letters, with my name and seal applied. Does no one care about that at all, and simply attribute anything a foreigner might say about me as truth? Come on. Garret Artemesia Asterion of Aquilegia, Marshal of the Covenant of Phantoms of Aquilegia
Letter from Garret Artemesia (7 hours, 56 minutes ago) Message sent to: Branthorpe Silverbear, Medugnatos Stormcrow, Mervin Vetinari Alright, here's a summary in case some of you have goten lost in this ever-thickening web.
First, I wrote an 'Excellence Treatise'. However, noting the inflammatory nature and potentially contradicting overtures, I wrote a 'lite' version, which dealt with less conroversial topics. The 'lite' version, I ordered my archivists to send public through the Church. The 'Excellence Treatise', I ordered kept in a restricted section of Flowrestown's Imperial Library. To date, only Kalos Mervin, Duke Adriddae, and High Inquisitor Stormcrow have seen the original 'Excellence Treatise'. I had no idea what treatise, exactly, I was being charged for. The 'Scarlet Trinity Treatise' was an eight-volume work written earlier, never released, and kept in secret vaults in Flowrestown. Only myself and Duke Adriddae had the keys. Even so, I was physically unable to acces the vault during the investigation, and I now know, through nobles I tasked to pose as potential rebels report to me that as early as Allison sent gold for temples, a rebellion was in the works. 400 gold was given to Vesuvis. 150 went to Viscount Caxias for temple construction. The rest were never mentioned again. But that is not the point. I was locked out of my own safehouse.
However, the version of the 'Excellence Treatise' I showed High Inquisitor Stormcrow was genuine. How Anabellium came to possess it is beyond me to speculate. I know I sent the order to the Royal Archives to secure it in the restricted section, and not to let it leak. They employed one of the assistants for the task, Jameson, I believe. New kid, but I was told he was pretty reliable.
I wanted to transport the two remaining volumes in Flowrestown to Corsanctum via secure lines, but then the rebellion occurred, Sandra challenged my place in the elders, heresy charges were talked about, leading ultimately to what I believe was a premature verdict before I could send High Inquisitor Stormcrow all texts I had written dealing with the Trinity. As security is reached in Flowrestown, I can once more access the vaults and send them over.
As for the text Anabellium quoted from, I believe she used an unlawfully copied version. I frown on document piracy, and my assertion is that only I have the genuine copy, which Kalos Mervin read a long time ago, and which High Inquisitor Stormcrow read during his visit.
Any further questions? Garret Artemesia Asterion of Aquilegia, Marshal of the Covenant of Phantoms of Aquilegia