Your council holds dominion over one-third of Aetherius' forests in an
iron grip. Rather than deal with the issue responsibly you instead
choose to bar entrance into your territories to anyone who may be a
threat. By forest enemying the people who attempt to fell, you remove
any real chance for resolution to the issue. All you do is add fuel to
the fire of the situation.
The Ithaquans you have enemied did not harm the forest. Your Emeris
claims these trees are natural and affecting them is harming nature. But
if that were the case, why do Celidonian townes exist in the middle of
the forest? Surely some land must have been cleared to form them. You
have coexisted with woodcutters in your forests in the past. How is this
different?
The only thing different this time is that people were felling the
Arboreals' magickal trees. These trees are not some innocuous as the
Arboreals would have you think. They are weapons of war, and there has
been a steady creep of them throughout Aetherius. As any right thinking
Aetherian would do, they objected. Celidon is not a magickal place by
nature unlike Khandava, though it has citizens that practice magick. It
could remain a final bastion along with Ithaqua as a bastion of purity.
All that needs done is not let the taint take root within it. Those
trees are the creeping fingers of that taint.
On top of all of this, Celidon is allowing a Mage guild be founded in
its walls. Not just any mage guild, but the Flameweavers, a guild based
upon the strength and chaos of fire. A guild patroned by Nemesis. I'll
repeat this, a guild patroned by Nemesis and filled with several former
demoners who were removed from Stavenn for various reasons and holed up
in Celidon to get by. Aye, they gave up their demoner ways, but they
instead traded it for the slow boat to corruption, instead of the
slippery slope they were on before. In fact, I believe one of them,
Aakrin was the first man to ever exterminate in a forest. Think on that.
I scoff at your claims about needing to protect nature.
We only ask for a few small favours that way we can happily go back to
the status quo.
First, unenemy all Ithaquans from the Celidon forests. We do not care
about towne or council enemy status. Forest enemy status is unnecessary.
If you are not willing to defend it yourself, it is not worth holding
onto.
Second, force the Flameweavers to forsake their Demonic Patron.
Third, no trees be planted by your citizenry east of the Waelin and
north of the Vandarian Highlands. This does not apply to townes. Trees
that currently exist there will be removed by Ithaquans with no penalty
in the future.
Fourth, revise your laws so that you must stand up to defend what is
yours. Remove the forest enemy punishment for felling in the future.
Fifth, accept no rogues of Ithaquan affiliated professions as citizens
of your council. That means rogue Rangers, Predators, and Amazons. This
would be retroactive.
Until such a time as this occurs Celidon, or until such a time as member
of your council's leadership approaches me with rational terms, consider
this a state of war.
Selthis, Wildgraf of Ithaqua
Penned by my hand on the 8th of Naturalis, in the year 517 AD.
