Precepts

I. The first principle of life is defiance of entropy. The only achievable state of perfectly eternal peace is oblivion. Strife is fundamental to living.

II. Division between the self and other is a self-deception. No state of self is permanent, or impermeable. Violence is circular. Therefore, practice compassion.

III. Intrinsic goodness is a worthless thing. If a creature claims to be wholly good, and lacking the capability for evil, it is the worst kind of liar.

IV. The essence of the Light is interconnection with all things, but it is also arbitrary and amoral. It abides Certainty only.

V. Those who exercise Certainty must absolutely practice humility, and an unselfish love for all things.

VI. To hate a thing is to hand it a small blade. To hate it fervently is to bare your neck. Warriors who allow hatred into their hearts are quick to die, and leave misery in their wake. Therefore, love your foe.

VII. The search for happiness and joy is the only self-evident truth. Adorn the self. Appreciate the smell of rain and flowers. Practice generosity and gratitude.

VIII. Wisdom does not arise from contemplation of emptiness. Philosophers who do not travel are full of nothing but hot air.

IX. To commit violence against another creature, even a demon, is simultaneously to wound the self. These wounds are small, but may kill. Therefore, practice mercy.

X. The most crawling thing is that which desperately and selfishly seeks to subvert its own mortality.

XI. The most virtuous act is the giving of charity which enables the poor to thereafter provide for themselves, freely and independently.

XII. The most abhorrent shape is that of a sword, which has no purpose but to commit violence. This is also the most powerful shape.

XIII. Peace is not only the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice.

XIV. Reciprocity of kindness is fundamentally vital to harmony between the self and other.

XV. The most dangerous creature in the world is one’s own student.

XVI. There is absolutely no difference of worth between things that are real and things that are imaginary.

XVII. With greater power, the commitment of violence becomes exponentially easy. An impoverished vagrant may kill by great effort of the body, but a lord may kill by the barest whim. Therefore, those with power over others bear the greatest and most necessary burdens.

XVIII. Shame breeds resentment. A soul may only be changed by love.

XIX. Vanquishing evil is a violent path, but necessary. To those who walk it, the most important thing in the universe is prudence.

XX. The perpetrator of an atrocity may not invoke mercy by the weight of the good they have done. The only recourse in these matters is deep, soul-searing penance.

XXI. In both scholarship and the exercise of Certainty, the path to growth is skepticism.

XXII. Fate is a blade that cuts all things. Those who embrace it are only wounded, while those who defy it are dismembered totally.

XXIII. The title of ‘Champion’ is mostly bestowed upon pawns.

XXIV. The worth of seniority is useful, but illusory.

XXV. The most virtuous king sits upon a throne that is shabby, and made of wood.

— Excerpt from ‘Eighty-Four Contemplations of the Light,’ written by Pashomey of Karabor, Daughter of Anai Daughter of Nadiye, Student of Torn Bloodmarch, Servant of A’dal.