Within the swirling Mist (IC) > Biographies

Apocrypha of the Dread Prophet

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Barovian Beggar:

Stored under lock and key in the reserved section of the imperial library of Tharquatis lays the heretical autobiography of the self proclaimed prophet and knight, one Saint Ajaxos of Barovia.

This narrative is a series of letters addressed to an unnamed correspondence. A collection of prayers, notes, illustrations and thoughts recorded for the author’s own reflection. 

The content of these rich vellum pages have been scribed in the imperial language of Tharque and is filled with beautiful illustrations reflecting a religious motif renowned to the Order of Zarus.

//Credit must go where credit is due;
http://orderofzarus.hyperboards.com/

Barovian Beggar:

--- Quote ---Teachings of Saint Eliphas
"I have walked through valleys of sin and oceans of night. I have looked demons and traitors in the eyes. I have heard the whispers of dark things that wanted my soul. Yet I have never once encountered anything that struck fear into me that they would feel if they ever truly understood the resolve of the Zarusian."

"The only enemy worth your admiration is one who has accepted the superiority of mankind and knelt before you for judgement. All others are to be despised. Honour means nothing when it is used to oppose Zarus' will."

"Once, I saw the enemy as a terrifying threat, the harbingers of Humanity's destruction. Now I know them for what they are. Vermin, parasites, suckling at wounds of the lands which belong to mankind.

"To dwell in the past is death, but the future is worse still - it is an existence on which order and reason have yet to be imposed. To fight it, our past is the greatest weapon we have."

"Pain is the wine of communion with heroes."

"In war the single greatest deciding factor is will: without the will to do so, no sacrifice is made, no initiative seized, no objective taken, and no enemy vanquished – all the swords in creation are useless without the will to drive it into the heart of those who would oppose mankind."

"To admit defeat is to blaspheme against Zarus."

"Death? What is death? It is the natural state of all things. It is life that is the aberration. It is life that should be feared, for it can go by with our work left undone, it can be wasted away on failure and indolence. Death is to be embraced if it ultimately serves Zarus' will."

"Brave men die every day, unremembered. Courage receives no prize, but cowardice and dishonour can buy happiness and renown. The brave amongst us must accept our rewards from within, even in the throes of death."

"Anyone outside the fold of the Empire is our enemy, proven or otherwise, inhuman or human. Anyone who lives without the light of Tharquish lives in darkness."

"What is fear? Fear is the absence of duty. Fear is what fills our minds unbidden when our thoughts turn from our obligations to the human race."

"We are born naked and defenseless, save for a shield around our souls that all humans are honour-bound to maintain. That veneer of anger, that armour of hate, is all that stands between us and the endless death of corruption."

"The litanies and catechisms of your Order fall uselessly on the ears of the outsider. But you know they are the soul of your Order, the collective admonishments and inspirations of every knight brother who has gone before you."

"Often we speak of duty unto death, of defiance to the point of extinction. But what does this mean? What work of ours can change the world, if it ends along with our lives? Works of true devotion, acts of true duty, last far beyond our own lifetimes."

"Look into the face of the enemy and rejoice! For to stand before him, to bask in his fury, is to tell him that you fear him not, and that he is within a sword-thrust of destruction."

"War is the only place we can be complete. Battle is the only activity at which our excellence can be meaningful. You are not a philosopher, or a scholar, or a statesman. You are a warrior. When you are not inflicting death, you are not justifying your life."

"What is the enemy? It is more than merely a creature born in another land, of alternate heritage. Such a thing would hold no holy disgust for us. The enemy is an idea, a concept, dangerous to itself and others by virtue of its mere existence. The very possibility of the enemy becoming a dominant force in our world is corrosive to the human soul."

"Death holds no fear only for the fool. Our duty is to control that fear and to turn it into a blind hatred of the end of our lives, for it brings with it the inability to fulfill our duty to Zarus."

"How many have died? None but Zarus can be certain. How many of their stories are remembered? Barely a drop in that ocean. Strive to overcome not only the standards of your heroes, but of everyone who has died forgotten."

"When the battle is won, your work is not done. Your duty is not a destination. It is a journey. Victory is merely a landmark on that road. You will never reach a time when your work is done and you can leave the fighting to another. You will die with the road still to be walked."


--- End quote ---

Barovian Beggar:

--- Quote ---The Four Fates

With the light, cleanse the unclean.
~We will cleanse!

With the flame, purify the unholy.
~We will purify!

With the sword, purge the corrupt.
~We will purge!

With the arrow, kill the impure.
~We will kill!

--- End quote ---

Barovian Beggar:

--- Quote ---A Warrior's Prayer

Look to your battle-gear and it will protect you
~We guard it with our lives

Your armour is your soul, and your soul's dedication its armour
~The soul of the warrior is the protector of humanity

Honour the craft of death
~Only Zarus is higher in our devotion

Honour the battle gear of the dead
~We ask only to serve

--- End quote ---

Barovian Beggar:

--- Quote ---The Purity of Human Strength

What is the sacred will of Zarus?
~To seek perfection, for humanity is superiority!

What is it to be perfect?
~It is to be the strong, for the strongest are closest to Zarus!

What is strength of mind?
~Intellect and cunning, For we suffer not the fool!

What is strength of soul?
~Faith and courage, For the coward and the sinner are damned!

What is strength of body?
~Physical prowess and might, For Zarus despises the weak and complacent!

What is the enemy of strength?
~Impurity of the bloodline, For the half-breed must be culled!

What is it to be pure?
~It is to be created in his image, to enact his will!

--- End quote ---

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