Greetings, dear seeker on your quest for truth.

I do not know where you found these pages, how it came to be in your possession. It might have been a gift from a honoured mentor, who doesn’t need it in their old age. It might have been given to you by a teacher, hoping to guide you down the right path. Or maybe it was stolen, taken without permission and is now read out of boredom, maybe while sitting on a throne of porcelain. I do not know, and, if I’m honest, I do not care.

Who you are, or why you are reading this matters little, as the lesson contained in these pages is one each and every inhabitant of our wonderful world of Mundus should know. So, maybe you already know what I’m about to impart and will soon use these pages to wipe, as you get off your throne or maybe you will find a novel concept, that will hopefully remain with you for the rest of your days.

What I speak of, is my answer to a question that all should consider, even if they never arrive at an answer. With that in mind, don’t take my answer for the absolute truth, it is merely one of many, even if I obviously am convinced enough to write it down.

The question, you ask? What is good, what is evil.

Some will answer that good is what brings the least suffering to the most people, with evil being the opposite. But is it truly?

Others will reply by quoting a holy book, a message imparted by the Gods, trusting in their Divine Wisdom to tell them right from wrong. But can Divine Wisdom truly be an answer to mortal questions?

Before I tell you my answer, maybe I can guide you to it, so you not only understand the words, as I write them but also the reasons behind them.

Tell me, who was good. A person, a historical figure, you consider to be good. Maybe they are revered as a Saint, maybe they are simply known for their actions and you consider them to be a Paragon of Goodness, someone who changed the world for the better.

One such example might be the White Lady, at least that is the example I’m going to use.

Why was the White Lady seen as such a lofty figure?

Was it her style of clothing, the loosely flowing, simple garment that she wore? No, such a superficial thing could never make someone Good, could it?

Was it the fact that she remained virginal, never knowing one of the opposite sex, staying in a state she considered pure? There are many who would argue that mastering yourself, not giving in to desire, can be a virtue, a sign of Goodness, but self-denial? I do not think so.

Was it the fact that she helped many beings personally and the Hospitals founded in her Memory provided aid to countless more? That might be it, but are just the healers Good?

Maybe it was the fact that, when faced with those who couldn’t be healed by her, the Savages cursed by Mother Moon, that she stood in front of the innocent, her Light sheltering them, even as it burned the Savages and Herself to ashes?

Since that day, the Order of the White Lady has watched the wilds, making sure that the Savages she gave her life to eradicate remain gone. And, remaining gone they have, they have never been seen again, their stain wiped off Mundus.

But, can we really call someone who wiped out a race “Good”? Yes, the Savages preyed on others, had to prey on others, but is the wolf that eats the doe evil? Or is it just following its nature, as creation ordained it? Wouldn’t that make the White Lady evil? Or is there more to it? Read the Chronicles, if you like, and make up your own mind about the White Lady. I, as many people across many nations, did and I see her as Good.

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Maybe we won’t find an answer in this direction, but we might be able to find one, if we come from the other direction and ask, What is evil? If we understand what makes someone evil, maybe we have it easier to understand what makes them good.

Who do you consider Evil?

Not just someone who wronged you in the past, but someone who you think better to never have existed in the first place?

Many people would likely answer that the Sunderer was evil. After all, even the Gods themselves deemed him so wicked that they wiped his name away from history, letting his memory only serve as an example of paths one should avoid?

Now, what do we actually know about him? About his deeds so foul that the Gods themselves cursed his name? Surprisingly little, if I am honest with myself.

We know that he was a devout man, maybe blinded by his devotion. We know that he was powerful, one of the mightiest Mages of all time, even capable of merging the power of the Divine with his own, astral Essence, weaving a spell of unfathomable might. So, is it true that power corrupts? But then, what of the Gods themselves? Are they not more powerful than any mortal, more powerful by orders of magnitude? Or are they just so different, that their Divinity protects them from our mortal frailty?

It makes one wonder, does it not?

But back to the Sunderer, and his actions. He put a stop to an Eternal War, stopping much suffering but he also ended a Golden Age, sending all of Mundus reeling in the cataclysm he invoked, causing a different kind of suffering.

And I think in this, we can see what makes him Evil.

You don’t see it? Maybe I can give another example, giving you another chance to find truth for yourself.

Let’s go with the Dark Queen. Everyone should know her, everyone should fear her. I should know, I tell tales of her dark deeds every year, teaching the children to honour the festival of Light, to keep away the darkness. She also makes a wonderful contrast with the White Lady, Light and Dark and all that. Many might be tempted to say that Light is synonymous with Good and Dark with Evil but I remind you of our second example. A Mage, commanding Fire and Light, harnessing it with more ability than anyone, only for it to singe the roots of the World. No, that cannot be it.

But then, what is?

The Dark Queen, what do we know of her? She brought the winter, the winter that lasted for seven years, bringing with it the hunger, the wolves and the winged Death that feasted on the flesh of the starved. Many died, but she did not wipe out a whole race, even the elves, who took the brunt of her Hate, they are still out there. They were weakened, diminished and decimated, but they recovered, thriving once more.

Three Mages, all born with the ability to change the world, all three changing the world forever. Two infamous, history only remembering their Titles, their names struck from the records, never to be whispered again. One, remembered in Awe and Respect, her name held in our hearts, Salena of the Silver Light, the White Lady.

Three, driven by a noble emotion. One seeking Peace above all else, one driven by Love and, finally, one driven by a desire to protect. All three, driven by a cause they thought righteous. Yet, two are seen as Evil, one is seen as Good.

All three, spilling rivers of Blood for their cause,

Two, honing their magic to a single point, mastering it in ways nobody has dared since, driven only by their single purpose.

One, mastering her magic, not for a single purpose but over the course of a lifetime, a lifetime sadly cut short.

A lifetime returned to the cycle.

And that is what I see as evil. The purity of purpose, the purity of magic. To seek one thing, above all else, to forgo balance and merely strive to the extreme. Without balance, even the noblest of purpose will turn into a consuming flame, burning you in flames of your own making.

Without balance, you will find yourself stumbling on your path, good intentions falling to the wayside as you blindly make your way forward. Forward into infamy, into death and destruction.

That, in my opinion, is evil. A pure Purpose, taken to Extremes. There always has to be a balance, in Life and in Death. For that is Nature.