Commands and Oaths

As introduced in Fatal Vine: Sun Maker Book Three

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  1. Hearken, citizens of the Empire, for I am Temperance, and my gaze falls upon all. Hearken citizens from the inner worlds; and you who dwell upon the outer worlds, listen together.

  2. The voice of Temperance is unto all. None may escape my reach. All eyes will see, all ears will hear, and all hearts will feel my reach.

  3. The Enemies of the Empire shall fall before me. I shall reveal their secret acts of rebellion. Their sedition shall be spoken of in every ptolis in every inhabited system.

  4. I offer a warning unto all which shall be echoed by the voices of my chosen few. I will give them my Commands and Oaths and they will go forth unto every system and proclaim them.

  5. The voice of Temperance is unto all: Prepare for that which is to come—

  6. Wherefore, fear me and tremble before me. For what I, Temperance, have decreed will come to pass.

  7. Knowing the Ruin that shall befall the Empire, I appoint unto you an heir, even an Heir of Temperance. He shall be my voice and my scepter, and you shall hearken to his voice even as you have hearkened unto mine.

  8. I will send my priests and servants to make this known unto every civilization and every citizen. There shall be a great Ruin, unlike anything this Empire has seen.

  9. On a far off day, the weakest of the Empire shall come forth and break down the mighty. No counsel or trust shall stand in that day, for, I Temperance, have seen it.

  10. But that everyone will speak of the Heir of Temperance, even the inheritor of the Empire, that my Commands and Oaths may be fulfilled and established throughout the universe.

  11. That the weak ones of the universe might become thorns in the palms of the corrupt inheritors of my Empire.

  12. I am Temperance and I am he who speaks these words, that these Commands and Oaths are sent among you and are never lost.

  13. And if these records are lost, it is because of the erring of my priests and servants. Inasmuch as they err, it shall be known. Inasmuch as they seek wisdom, they will find it.

  14. O inhabitants of the Empire: I Temperance shall make these things known unto all. The Ruin speedily approaches when peace is taken from the universe and Tyranny shall have power over his own dominion.

  15. But the Heir of Temperance shall have power and shall reign in their midst. He shall come down in judgment upon the inherited Empire.

  16. What I have spoken, I redact not.

  17. Though the Empire of Temperance pass away, my words shall not. All shall be fulfilled. Whether spoken by myself or by my Heir, it is the same.

  18. I and the Heir of Temperance are One.

  19. Concerning the power and origin of Temperance, I will not make mention only that it is eternal and it is mine.

  20. The works and purposes of Temperance cannot be impeded, neither can they be ignored.

  21. I will not vary from that which I have said.

  22. It is not my rule which shall be destroyed, but the rule of my Enemies.

  23. Although there are many mighty leaders and organizations who stand against Temperance, yet they boast against a power they cannot understand and must incur vengeance upon them.

  24. To my wayward servant I say this: you have been entrusted with these words. Remember my Commands and Oaths and know how strict they are. Remember your rewards if you follow them exactly.

  25. But how often will you deviate from them? You have gone to my Enemies in anger and in grief.

  26. Do not fear my Enemies more than me. They haven’t seen what I have seen—

  27. You ought to have remained faithful to your office, to my Heir. He would have supported you against the oncoming Ruin. He would have remained true to the end.

  28. To my Heir I say this: you were chosen to replace me when the time comes. Do not deviate from that path or you will fall.

  29. To fall is not the end. Return again from the void. Even now you are the chosen Heir of Temperance.

  30. If you remain in the void, you will be swallowed up and destroyed.

  31. When you fled and gave yourself up to the inherited Empire, you gave Temperance to the evil and corrupt—

  32. To a government that rejoices in the death of my Empire, boasts in the capturing of his son and heir, and uses his power to coerce devotion—

  33. Reclaim it, my son. Take your rightful place in my seat of power. Make right these wrongs in my name—else all is lost.

  34. Nevertheless, the knowledge of Temperance will survive and return to the universe. Even as that knowledge came from my voice, it shall come through yours as well.

  35. And it shall go forth even until the last star. And the people there shall hear my voice through you.

  36. And then the Heir of Temperance shall draw together all the peoples of the worlds into one.

  37. For this reason, these Commands and Oaths shall never be lost, but shall be preserved and hidden within the Arrows and their minds of metal—that my promises to them will all be fulfilled.

  38. Which promises shall be fulfilled at the last conjunction when the minds of metal shall return whole.

  39. Behold, a Ruin is about to fall upon the Empire.

  40. Therefore, O ye servants of Temperance who remember my Commands and Oaths, scatter throughout the universe so that you might be ready and blameless.

  41. If you have desires to serve my Heir, you are called upon to help him in his time of need.

  42. The time of his return is nigh at hand. He that aids my Heir shall not perish when the universe fades and Tyranny reigns.

  43. He that loves life and hates injustice is called upon by the voice of my Heir.

  44. Remember that Tyranny cannot win in the face of hope and faith in the ideals of Temperance. Even when I am gone, they cannot hope to win. Aithende.

—Chapters 1-3 of Commands and Oaths,

Dictated between the months of Gateway and Purification