Shadows over Sigil - The Deva Spark

Harmonious Thoughts

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest;

Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."

motto above the entrance to Okina's dojo

Fourth Void Day of Narciss, 126 HR

Kiyoshi sat on the mattress of his bed and looked at the many pages of parchment spread out next to him. Each of these sheets was densely covered with Kamigawa's kanji, small works of art drawn with ink and brush, which looked like small beds from which the growing grass cast fine shadows. His notes from the teachings of decuria Amariel-sensei, which ended today as part of his basic training. He would be tested on it for an entire week starting tomorrow, on Clerks Day, before he was allowed to go on his first patrol. As he pulled out his notes from the second week, in which he had studied the Book of the Harmonium together with decuria Amariel-sensei, he immediately thought he heard the voice of his honorable factol's adjutant again.

"The original version is said to have been written by the scholar Jhary of Heka, who was also the first head of the Harmonium. Even today, the sages of Ortho expand the book and in some cases adapt it to existing circumstances. It explains the highest goal of the Harmonium, namely to bring peace through harmony to the entire multiverse. Once everyone follows the principles of the Harmonium, everyone is united and there is no longer any reason for disharmony or discord," the blonde woman had explained as she had placed the thick book in front of him. "Why don't you start reading it?"

Kiyoshi had nodded, opened the red leather-bound cover of the book and began with the first words: "The multiverse has always needed someone like us."

Kiyoshi studied his notes and when he came to a certain passage, he remembered the first time decuria Amariel-sensei had prompted him to give his thoughts on the book. It had been about the Pax Benevola , the ten laws laid down by the good and lawful gods as a basis for moral behavior.

Kiyoshi had turned another page of the Book of the Harmonium, read a little and suddenly he had stopped writing.

"Is something wrong, soldier?"

Kiyoshi had looked up and hesitated before speaking. "Forgive my ignorance, decuria Amariel-sensei, but I don't understand one of these paragraphs here."

Obviously she had already been warned by Factol Sarin, that there was no way Kiyoshi would doubt or question anything, but instead always would act as if he didn't understand. So with angelic calm, she asked him: "What exactly don't you understand, soldier?"

"It says that we are not to defile the purity of Ortho. I'm not sure I understand this commandment in its entirety, because I'm not sure how a single person is supposed to defile the purity of an entire world when they haven't even seen that world. Can you explain this rule to me in more detail, decuria Amariel-sensei?"

She grinned and replied: "Ah yes. Well, the interpretation of this law is a controversial one, not only between the planar and prime wings of the Harmonium, but also within the planar wing. There are more moderate and very strict interpretations of this rule. According to the strict rules, a transgression would already be to speak negatively about the Homeworld of the Harmonium, or to associate with half-elves, for example this Lady Elanie Lanthania you told me about, regardless of how these beings themselves behave. They would also distrust me or my brother, a legate of the Harmonium, simply because of our origins. Factol Sarin has a different opinion here, although he does not approve of anyone unnecessarily criticizing the Homeworld. He also believes that a person's actions and thoughts in the here and now are more important than something that happened before they entered the Harmonium, or what the person's ancestors once did."

Kiyoshi had looked up, hardly believing what he had been hearing.

The young soldier continued to leaf through his papers and separated the pile as the records of the second week ended and those of the third week began: the laws of Sigil as well as dealing with criminals. He had marked the most important laws thickly. The worship of the Lady of Pain and the god she had slayed, Aoskar, who had been a god of portals, as well as violence against the Lady's servants, the dabus. All of this seemed to arouse the Lady's wrath, often resulting in the loss of many lives, and was therefore punishable by immediate execution, which could be carried out by the Harmonium itself, even without a hearing before a court. This was exceptional as otherwise punishments were carried out by the faction of the Mercykillers and only after a conviction by the Fraternity of Order, as in cases of public violence, anarchy or the manipulation and destruction of portals. Overall, Sigil's laws were various, complex and involved so many exceptions, special cases and precedents that Kiyoshi was glad that there was always the possibility of arresting someone for resistance to the Harmonium if that person resisted arrest. Kiyoshi put his papers aside and went to make himself a good cup of tea. While he heated the water to pour over the kukicha leaves in the kyusu, the earthenware pot, he thought about the fourth week, when he had been introduced to the streets and wards of Sigil, the most problematic week for him. He glanced at the map and shuddered. The maze that was Sigil was even more confusing to him than the laws of the city, or the connections between the fourteen factions. Fifteen, if you added in the Anarchists. And he would have to give an account of these too in the coming week. With a sigh, he took the kukicha leaves out of the kyusu and filled it with gyokuro leaves instead. This was going to be a long night of studying and he would need all the help he could get to stay awake.

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This chapter was written by Kiyoshis player.