Codex of Oblivion 2
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: Codex of Oblivion 2
Author: Izrem Verin'Vlos
Finally, Oblivion is freedom. Freedom from yesterday and the fears of tomorrow. The understanding that the very nature of reality is to free us from our lives of warfare and suffering. Where our births may have born us into shackles we could not understand, Oblivion grants us release from that which was forced upon us.
3) Spiritual-------------- Peace, Equality and Freedom are the elements of Oblivion that guide and focus the Order of the Ebon Skull. So too must these same understandings guide and focus the faithful themselves.
Peace, true peace, is the absence of struggle. The faithful are not called to bring "peace" to Sosoria the way most mortals view it. As described earlier, such mortal peace is easily broken and shattered. True peace exists only in Oblivion. The faithful are reminded that they are called to bring Peace to reality. A stillness that can only be formed by a lack of struggle. A struggle brought on by the ignorant and self-absorbed desires of many a man and woman. Only through acceptance of Oblivion as the final end and an effort to emulate that peace, surrendering your mortal wants to the needs of Oblivion, do you receive the quiet within your soul that lets you live and die with the assurance that you served a purpose greater than your own and fought for a cause destined to win, bringing repose to all of creation.
Equality is granted by passing through the veil, yes. But it is also attained while one continues on in the material realm. Whether human or elf, living or undead, demon or celestial, all have their place in assuring the natural order of reality continues on its right path. Mortals and planars alike need not bend on knee before the whims of other narrow-minded and self serving individuals. Oblivion is the natural end and accepts all as they are. So too must the faithful accept that all have their place in the teleology of existence. A recognition that all serve a purpose in the greater scheme of things.
The freedom that Oblivion brings is a release from the bonds and pain of yesterday. It is the gripes of petty mortals that seek vengeance for perceived slights and insults of times past, regardless of their validity. They are slaves to their own anger and foolish need for redress, failing to note that all things end and become nothing by the nature of Oblivion. The faithful acolyte remembers that they are called to something more than the frailties of material existence and steps beyond such low-minded ideas and embraces the liberating precepts of Oblivion that they may never again suffer the pains of bitterness or the fear of failure. Such is the way of Oblivion.
Entropy---------
"I am the thorn in the foot, I am the blur in the sight; I am the worm in the root, I am the thief in the night; I am the rat in the wall, the leper that leers at the gate; I am the ghost in the hall, the herald of horror and hate. I am the rust on the corn, I am the smut on the wheat, Laughing man's labor to scorn, weaving a web for his feet. I am the canker and mildew and blight, danger and death and decay; The rot of the rain by night, the blast of the sun by day. I warp and wither with drought, I work in the swamp's foul yeast; I bring the black plague from the south, And leprosy in from the east. I am the shrill cold spirit that chills the darkness you feel after dark. I am the chaos that tears stars apart. You cannot escape me. You cannot defeat me. You can only embrace me." -Entropic Chant
If you have ever watched
the life of a plant, the
form of a structure or
the history of a nation;
over time you have seen
the work of Entropy.
Entropy is the decay that
takes what exists now
and slowly breaks it down
to nothingness.
Yet entropy too is an often misunderstood precept of the Ebon Skull. Often seen as a tool of wanton chaos and destruction, it is wrongfully viewed as an "evil" force in existence. Again we shall have to look at the word in its most basic understanding. Often referred to by Alchemists and those who practice Chymistry, Entropy is the tendency of matter towards a lower state of energy. That is to say, breaking things down to simpler components. And that is Entropy at its basic level. No anger to it. No hate or malfeasance. It is simply the natural process by which complex things that require maintenance tend towards simpler less complex states.
Let us not fool ourselves into believing that anything of mortal construct does not require maintenance in some form. Whether it be ideas that require someone to apply and pass them on, to societies that must be regulated, to even the simplest of trinkets that much be handled and cleaned lest they clog up or fall apart. Entropy affects all things of mortal construct and a patient eye can note that is affects all things in nature as well. While life certainly has a capacity for regeneration and passing on to the "next generation", it is a cycle that ultimately is claimed by entropy in each round, never to defy the process. And it is the astute acolyte that remembers the lessons of precept Oblivion in regards to the inevitability of all things. Passing on knowledge and lore is fine. Attempting to cheat Entropy by "starting again" is a wasteful effort.
1) Arcane Element-------- Unlike Oblivion which is, by its nature, non-existent (yet still present) Entropy is an active and pervasive force that can be measured, researched and wielded. Qualitatively, the power of Entropy if seen in ways as noted in the Entropic Chant. The decay of matter, the act of the parasite, the smut of disease are all types of Entropy. Entropy, as a force, is capable of breaking down the various forms of matter and reducing them to their root essence. This can go as far as reducing matter to mana, though such a process often requires purposeful effort on the part of a mortal to achieve. The energy released by the decay of an object can be both contained and harnessed, though its purposes can normally only be applied to additionally chaotic ends.
The force to break down reality is rarely easily manipulated to turn around and construct it. Be that as it may, many a wizard of the Ebon Skull have used this power as their central draw; the place from which a mage collects their arcane power. Through patience and careful control, the pathway of the normally chaotic and disruptive forces of Entropy can be channeled to a number of purposes. While use in offensive spells is most commonly known, it has been used to form a number of barriers and fields for various applications in both Caina and the Stygian Grove. It should be noted that if there is one thing that is constant about the force that is raw chaos, it is that it is unpredictable. Many an experiment has consumed the life and existence of an unprepared, unworthy or simply unlucky arcanist, as the presumed controlled stream of energy ripped free of its bounds and overcame the one who desired to employ it.
-Continued in Volume 3-