Sepherim's story, The story of the Founder of the Ordo

[Sepherim.]

Begining of the diaries of Sepherim, first Keter of the Ordo Quaesitoris, back in the Ancient Age of Strife:

My name was Vorten Kystner, and I was born aboard a ship travelling from Amarr Prime to the Ammatarr region. Third son of the Kystner family, my life was never one of hunger. Quite the opposite. My father was the owner of Kystner Slaves Inc, a corporation that had ammounted a good deal of ISK by trafficking with slaves in and around the Empire. It owned a decent fleet of cargo ships, freighters, and other haulers that transported massive amounts of slaves to those places were they were needed, and brought back enormous monetary revenues.

I was raised as a loyal Amarr, taught in the greatness of the Empire, it’s traditions, and laws. We were God’s Chosen, and thus have the greatest of Duties to fulfill in order to be up to His expectations. Still, don’t believe I was raised in an easy going envyroment. Nothing further from truth. My father taught us discipline, pragmatism, and to fight for what we wanted... and I had to prove able in all of them continuously in order to go on. Trials, tests and punishment were continuous, but for that I thank my father, for I grew strong and willfull. I learnt the ways of the words, and how to further my objectives with them.

Still, as we grew a bit, my older brothers saw me as a threat. They wanted to inherit the corporation all for themselves, and new that I was too young to realize the maneuvering taking place in the backstage. But even my brothers weren’t completely aware of what was happening either.

They attempted to get rid of me by murder, and hired a group of assasins to take me out when I was in Nebian with my father. I was boarded by the four murderous individuals when I was walking past the Sykar City Cathedral, just under the golden stone archways of the sacred building. The four of them smiled, being just a kid as I was, it was an easy prey. Easy isk. I faced them with courage, but knew that my death had come. I was no match.

Still, when they were surrounding me, an elder man went out of the Cathedral and confronted them. Against all expectancies, he was not only able to defeat them, but did it with ease. The old man turned to me and I saw he was a noble person, for his eyes had the bright eyes of those that follow the true way of the Empire.

-Young one- he said-, remember this afternoon. It has been the turning in your life, and nothing will ever be the same. I am the Demiurge, and you will hear from me again in time. Use that time wisely, for you will need all your strength for what’s to come.-

Now, after many years, I can still recall the moment with ease. The power in his voice as he spoke, his ease of manners, his latent strength under the rich clothes. The noblesse that he transmited, the honor, the glory. He was all that the Empire resembled.

Still, back then, I didn’t really understand what that moment meant in my life. The strong pounding of my heart in my chest and the adrenaline rushing in my veins kept me from hearing the deep pounding that the turn of Fate’s Wheels had just completed.

[Sepherim.]

(Continues)

I don’t know exactly what made my brothers change their approach. Don’t know why they didn’t send another group of assasins after me, or tried to kill me with venoms. Instead, they turned to my father. In an attempt to secure their succession and keeping me from any attempt at vengeance, they convinced him to send me away to study.

He faced me some nights later, and said that I should package my things, that I had a great destiny to fulfill for the glory of all the family. I had to leave, and go to the Nebiah system to join the Hedion University and be trained as a member of a ships crew. With time, I could come back to the family and help with the engines in our company’s freighters, or something like that. I didn’t hear to much, for at that age, all I understood is that I was being torn away from all I knew, all I understood, all I loved. My world had been shattered and destroyed, and the new one placed before me wasn’t precisely that appealing.

But something changed the turning of events unexpectedly, and only now that I’ve grown in age and comprehension can I start to see the mechanisms that moved then. I did go indeed to the Hedion University, but I wasn’t assigned to the studies my father had paid for. Instead, I was assigned to be Pilot, the most expensive and exclusive in the University, way beyond the economic possibilities of my family.

I was trained for years, learning to talk to the onboard computer, and to interface with the implants and body changes required to enter the pod. I wasn’t a popular student. Coming as I did from a merchant background, those of higer status looked me down, but I did not retreat infront of their insults. Instead, I learned the ways of the leader, and gathered around me a group of other lesser students, ****ed by the attitudes of those that came from better families.

I was near completing my studies when the news about the Emperor’s murder was known. There had already been important problems in the Empire before, and I had watched closely as the Emperor had been chosen and all that it did. But His murder was something too terrible. Too obscure. Too puzzling. I knew that something had to be made about it, but had no power to do so.

The union of our small group allowed us to progress and defend ourselves, and some of the group even made it to the end, earning their rank as free pod pilots as the years went by. I was one of them, and on the day I left the station I had taken a decision of importance. I left behind my name, and took a new one, a sign that my past was forgiven, erased, I had more important things to do in the future. Eternity awaited for me.

I so chose the name Sepherim. It was from one of the old scriptures and studies of the occult, one of those strange tomes I read in the University and never really knew how come the University had come to gather them. The studies of God. The Sepherim, each of the domains of reality. The whole existance. The base of the Tree of Life. That would be me from then on.

[Sepherim.]

(Continues)

I left the University in my fresh ship, a new world awaited between the stars. The comunity of pilots opened their communications to my ears, and I listened. Heard about wars, heard about problems. I had been following the events in the Empire since I was a student, but hearing them first hand was very different than reading the news holoreels that reached the University.

It was obvious that it was time to act. And the action found me, before I could look for it.

I was approached by an unknown man in the Nakregde system. He just got near to me and, after greeting me, gave me a message from “an old friend”. Then left, with no answers given, but many questions displayed. Looking at it back from now, it all seems logical and obvious, but while you’re trapped in the vortex of life it wasn’t so clear. All that it said was that I was invited to visit Evergrey Park in Nakregde II to have a chat with that “friend”, that same night.

I took a shuttle down to orbit, and while I entered the dark stone city of Kal-Shatraak I couldn’t but stop my head spinning round. What had just happened? How could they know I would be there if I myself hadn’t known it until little hours before? What was happening? I couldn’t help but feel that my own life’s control had been taken from me, and I was a simple spectator to it’s events.

The park was nearly empty that night, and a lonely elder figure walked by a tranquil lake. He was unknown to me, but had a certain familiarity in his figures that I couldn’t place but made me feel uneasy. He turned to me as I neared him, obviously aware of my presence. There was something in his look, in his eyes. Something too familiar in them. His words were burned into my mind as if they were sculpted with laser.

-Hello Sepherim- he greeted me-, I’m Demiurge.-

I looked him in the eyes, and realized that he was not the man from my childhood, but he did have a strong resemblion of him. A brother, maybe? His words rang true, though, somehow.

-The time has come- he continued, never pausing at all- for you to fulfill your role. Come and walk with me, for We will ensure you can complete your Duty for the Empire.-

We talked for long that night, and the seven nights that followed. As he left that last night, I realized that I had been but a pawn all my life. I had been in Their plans since the begining. And I didn’t regret it. There was much work to be done. My brothers could have the stupid family corporation if they wanted, I was beyond richess. It was time for Duty. The Ordo Quaesitoris had come to existance.

[Sepherim.]

Extract from some of Sepherim's lost shiplogs, considered Apocrypha in front of his own diaries:

It was then, as I was lying in the green protein fluid, that a terrible news reached me. I had lost my latest body, and the clone I was going to use had some cancerigen mutations, so I needed a new one. Will it was grown quickly, my mind was held inside a computer matrix, ready to be inserted into the clone. And it was, as soon as the mind of the clone had completed its growth and my implants placed correctly.

My mind was then free to wander in the IGS as I waited for the rest of my body to grow. I was wondering from one room to another when a dark icon came before me and talked.

-Sepherim, a friend wants to talk to you. If you would please follow me...-

I had plenty of time to spare, so I did, and the icon lead me directly to an old man, who sat idly cross-legged under a grown tree, somewhere deep inside the Amarrian conference matrix space. He looked up at me, and I quickly recognized him. It had been many years since I had last seen Demiurge and still, there was no doubt that it was him, the man who had saved my life so many years ago. He spooke as I observed all in him.

-I'm sure you already know that some of the Ordo's members have chosen other paths now.-

I just nodded. Promethian's departure had been a tough strike, but there was no resent. He had to follow the path he saw best, it was as easy as that.

-On your quest for your Holy Grail- he continued-, you know you will need nine more knights. Your own Round Table.-

I knew what all those references meant. They came from very old mythology, and had something to do with honour, and a mission so wild that noone would deem it possible. Still, the complete sense of his words was beyond my understanding at the time.

-Seek in the light, for only those pure are worthy of such a quest. Come here: understand.-

Even now, many years later, I can't really explain what happened there. It was like when you download info from your computer into your brain, maybe about quantum physics, or the improved use of spaceship's guns. Still, it was deep and dark, secrets of old mythology that came back to face me. Knowledge of such things like the Quabbalah, and the Amarr Scriptures Apocripha. Dark words, that opened my mind to deeper and darker realities. The path to the Grail.

Then, in a blink of an eye, he was gone, leaving me standing under a quickly-dying tree. Putrefaction spread quickly in the matrix space, as if his only pressence was what had created the digital place in the IGS. I still remained two more days confined in my mind, away from my body, but he didn't come back. All he had to say at the time, had been said.

[Sepherim.]

Excerpt from the diaries of Sepherim, First Keter of the Ordo Quaesitoris, back in the Ancient Age of Strife:

It's been a few days since my last entry in this diary, I know, but I've been inmensely occupied. Since I met him in the Hedion University station, months ago, I've been trailing after little tidbits of information regarding Demiurge, in an attempt to understand what he expects of me, what is my mission, anmd why he chose me. I feel this little answers could shed some light in the planned destiny of the Ordo, so I've been devoting some time to it everyday.

Still, it wasn't until four days ago that I caught a serious lead. Somewhere to start pulling from. A start. I've been following that small trails for days now, and some think I've become a tad distant and hard to locate. But I can't tell them, not yet, what this is all about. Don't think I'll ever will.

I finally catched the trail in the Nebian system, in the outskirts of Empire territory. Ironic. The first location chosen for our headquarters. He was so near all this time! I gathered a small squad of marines, and left the ship in our office, taking a quick shuttle down to Nebian II. It took me a couple days there to track him again and restart the search, and that's why I haven't been able to write here in the last days. Still, today we catched up to him.

Demiurge, Lord Veer Causen, is dead. He has been so for the last fifty years, before I was born, even. All the work was for nothing, as I found out standing there, with acid rain falling on me. His tomb sat there, defiant, a tribute to mortality of those unwilling to use clones.

Veer seemed like the man so much! He had been an important member of the Imperial Families, back in the time, and so very little public knowledge existed on him! And then, the doubt struck me. If this Demiurge wasn't the Demiurge I'd known, who was he at all?

I left the planet filled in doubts. I still am, as I write this in the old fashioned way, it soothes my nerves. Is this a trial he has set before me? A screen of smoke and masks to test my hability? Or is it the first hint that the truth was darker than I thought?

[Sepherim.]

Extract from Sepherim's letters to Kaileena:

Finally, the time had come to prove what I was worth. It was back when the crisis of the Bleak Lands erupted, before the times of the wars. The Ordo was small yet back then, and hadn't yet done anything important. It was yet a promise of what it would one day turn to be.

Back then, I listened to many comm channels in my search for info. It was then when Commander Lallara Zhuul, then leader of PIE, contacted me and told me that the Imperial Navy was gathering a fleet to participate in the Bleak Lands crisis, and offered me the chance to join such a fleet. It would be my baptism of fire, and the Ordo's too.

Of course, I didn't doubt in saying I'd gladly join them. The interview with the Colonnel in charge of the operation was something I'll never forget. I was quite nervous then, being in the presence of such high people as there were, and getting the info first hand for the first time. I had finally made it, I would be able to prove what the Ordo was and that our loyalty was more than words!

On the next days, we flew several times, and the Ordo participated in all the action to the fullest of its small capacity. It was a tremendously exciting moment, with that passion and ingenuity that all begins have, before the dark problems that the future brought. A promise. A sweet promise.

[Sepherim.]

Extract from the diaries of Sepherim, First Keter of the Ordo Quaesitoris, back in the Ancient Age of Strife:

I fell out of the pod and into the metal floor, vomiting bilis as I had never before. My arms ached from the tension, my eyes were damaged from trying to open them in the liquid goo, my arms were hurt from moving and bumping against something, my head ached from the stress of processing everything... but nothing hurted me like my heart.

It felt like it had died, and it's loss was too terrible.

I had heard their cries of death, of glorious death in battle, why I simply stood by my assigned gate keeping watch. Keeping watch! We couild have gone in and... do something! Yes, we would have died too, probably for nothing, but.... that reasoning is pointless, I know, but my heart hurts, and my head keeps on going through it once and once again. Like a viced circle.

After tonight's op, something has died inside me. Now I have seen the price to pay with my own eyes. I've seen laser tear ships and hulls, killing good men, loyal men. I will never fail, for my failure is a failure to them, to the Empire. I will prevent something like that from ever happening again, and if it does happen, I'll see to it being avenged adequately.

Tonight, for the fist time in my life, I really hate the Minmatarr... and I'll hate them for hours, for I know sleep will not come to meet me as much as I'd like it to.

[Sepherim.]

Extract from the shiplogs of the Shadowrunner, Sepherim's Punisher class Frigate:

I have had a very interesting meeting tonight. Well, actually it was some nights ago, but have been reflecting on it since. It took place in the Maison, that digital space the Fraction put up. Interesting lot there. In any case, I still have a metalic briefcase, present won there, to prove it, with several delicious strawberries inside.

Small pause.

It all got me remembering those old times, back in the childhood. Even now, so many years later, I still find it hard to talk about them. Some say it's too common in pod pilots to have tragic stories behind. Well, in a certain sense, I am no exception.

I do have some good memories of my parents. Yes, my father was strict, and his insistence on learning good manners was always too heavy on us. But he was fair in his own way. My mother was kind, nice, probably the one to support us all. Her bussiness savvy was a great add to my father's own, and her way to treat us was always one to praise and sustain us. I still cherish as one of my best memories the times when we simply sat together and chatted, maybe while she prepared some of her loved tea, or while she reviewed some economic data.

Of course, my older brothers were another issue completely. Even before learning the concepts of ambition and heritage, they always bullied me. I was the one who had to do their duties, and and works, or else they maid me suffer for it. I still recall specially the Dark Games. That's how we called them, of course, though I guess they must have many other names.

They were games in which we bet different things, always important ones. Simple games could include betting meals, or some minor object on probabilistic things, such as "raining that day", or a roll of dice. Anything served. But as we grew, games become more interesting they say... I say they became terrible. Specially when they were starting to notice that they had to get rid of me. We started to bet more important things, such as the meals of the whole week, or objects we cherished. And the games themselves become a bet, a gamble with the worst consequences. We played games in which terrible actions had to be done in order to succeed, from attacking others to accept being beaten. Worst, we started to play with death, specially when we discovered that one poisonous vegetable that grew in Sehmy System was easily mistakeable with one that wasn't poisonous that grew in Hedion. We would make them into pieces and then eat them on turn, until someone got sick. I recall that, one day short before the assasination attempt came, one of the other boys with whom we were playing died; experiencing someting so close to death was terrible and exciting, and I had nightmares for several days. Still, we played again afterwards, even though I didn't want to: they forced me.

Indeed, it was a terrible chilhood probably. It still made me the strong and determined man I am now.

[Sepherim.]

Extract from the diarias of Sepherim, first Keter of the Ordo Quaesitoris, back in the Ancient Age of Strife:

Why do such noble Houses as the Miyan and Danabi fight among themselves on such pety little things? I understand honor and glory, of course, but there's is a stupid battle, one to fight against themselves.

Yet, it has taken some meddling, some manipulation and some work, but we're in. I have arranged it so House Danabi's leader names me, and thus the Ordo, the ones in charge of creating peace with House Miyan. Still, the Miyan Lord is such a...! Arg! He's too fond of himself! Though he accepted my position without problem, his claims are impossible to obtain without a war. I'm afraid I'll have to be more intelligent than both to be able to solve this mess with the least blood shed, specially now that we're in the Crinsom Week.

May God guide us now, we'll need his divine inspiration.

[Sepherim.]

From the diaries of Sepherim, first Keter of the Ordo Quaesitoris, back in the Ancient Age of Strife:

Eight Jaguar had just completed his signing of the documents that granted him entrance into the Ordo as an Acolyte when the alarm of my wrist went off. Something was just happening regarding the noble House conflict. The communication system was beeping strongly, and he checked it. A Colonel was gathering pilots to move right now, no time to wait.

I picked up my communicator and got in line with Myron Valkov. All of us would meet in Kor-Azor Prime, there was no time to wait. The cause of peace was a difficult one, in which we could not leave any opportunity. We took Eight Jaguar with us, debriefing him quickly while we paid attention to all that was said on several channels. It seemed as the communications had gone mad alltogether.

With ease, the small fleet of the Ordo Quaesitoris had assembled, a collection of small ships together with Jaguar's mighty ship. Hardly an impressive sight, but it already showed the strength of the potential of what it would become in time. We left, and the mission seemed simple: diversion, to guide some loyal Miyan forces out of their position.

Something went wrong then, terribly wrong.

When we reached the position, we were informed that the original goal was no longer the one that mattered. We were to engage and defeat the enemy forces. We were astonished! We, all the podpilots assembled, had gathered a weak but mobile force, we were not ready to engage! And then, Miyan forces showed their strengths, not only a Battleshhip, but also some support ships to go with it. A terrible and mighty sight indeed.

We never stood a chance. With little organization and wrong equipment, the destroyed ships gathered and only a few of us survived with more than the pod. What had happened? Had we been betrayed? Was it an error? Had we been sold? Was it simply a case of misinformation? Was the information lost somewhere in the chain of command?

In those crucial moments, just after the battle, all I knew is that I had failed my men. My ship was the only one standing, and that only because I had been expelled from the Fllet de to a communications problem and couldn't engage the enemy without CONCORD taking me as a criminal. Shadowrunner, my Punisher, had sustained severe armor damage, but no hull one. And yet, all my men had gone to the nearest station... in a pod. In my first fleet mission as second in command, I couldn't save them. I had failed them. They were dead and I... I was alive.

Tears ran down from my eyes even in the dense fluid of the pod, irritating them. But no, the day wasn't over. That dark day of tests, still had more to bring. And still, as much as took place that day, I had failed, utterly, and no good I did later would change that simple truth. I had failed at what I supposedly was: a leader. How could I guide the Ordo now? Where to? Death?

[Sepherim.]

Extract from some of Sepherim's lost shiplogs, considered Apocrypha in front of his own diaries:

Some say I don't have honor, and I guess it's right. I always have thought that honor always gets in the way of duty, specially in our line of work. Honor is for those who can allow it's costs, and those have to be admired for it. Why do I think about it now?

Well, I just sent one of the officials out the shaft. I hate killing, but when someone tries to take the ship from you, such rebellion can only be met with death. The fault is indeed partially mine. I choose my men to be cult and intelligent, but they are no members of the Ordo and so, don't have access to what we really do and think. He thought too much on his own, and didn't have faith in me. Out the shaft.

The event that triggered this is probably most innocent in a certain way, but I can see they don't thnik of it as I do. A visit. A party. But of course, what's important is not wether I go to parties or not, but with whom I do. It took place in one of the resorts of the Verisum family, and terrorists, traitors and asssasins were gathered there. In a certain sense, I was quite a rare man in that group. People like Miss Naphtalia, leader of the Blakc Rabbits, or The Cosmopolite, one of the leaders of the Star Fraction, were there, among many others.

My second in command didn't understand. He'll have time to think about it in the afterlife, I guess.

[Sepherim.]

Notes from the Editor:

I have been asked many times about the nature of this compillation I've been working on for such long time. Unrooting events from such old times, and from a strange and shady figure as Sepherim is always complicated. Thus, instead of presenting a unified text corrupted by my own way of understanding this complex man, I thought it would be most interesting to collect the deeds and facts that took place in his life, as he himself gathered them. Thus, a few different fonts are used, and it's important to understand the difference between them. Too many other scientists and specialists question me about them, and so, for sake of being clear, I'll explain them here briefly.

Sepherim's diaries are the main collection. Usually they were written a little time after the main events told there, so they are usually less emotive and more rational. Sepherim has always been portrayed as quite the racionalist man, and the fact that he becomes distant with his own experiences in these diaries show how reflexive he was, constantly re-thinking himself.

The shiplogs of his ships are usually briefer notes, taking very shortly after the action has taken place. They show us the more humane side of Sepherim, his doubts, pains and sorrows, without the distance he himself drew in his diaries. They have been compiled over a source many consider to have been faked over the centuries; some come from an unidentified ship of his, while others are identified.

Together with them we have collection of lost shiplogs, recovered in strange circumstances. Many people believe this things never took place, and it's never been possible to really be sure if they are a forgery or not. That's why many consider them irreal, mere apocrypha in his legend. Still, they bring some light into some of the more dubious and strange events in his life, and to sides of his personality some fear could have been true.

Finally I gathered a collection of his letters to different people, specially Kaileena. Strangely enough, no one really knows who this woman was, maybe it was justa pseudonim or a friend's name. We don't really know, but it is clear that this are the best texts to understand what was happening. Something between the diaries and the normal shiplogs, these letters offer us the insight of a man trying to explain himself to other, be it a trusted friend or maybe a lover. Still, there are hints of something else, small ones, but there present. Specially when he referrs to her as Autorictas. Is that a reference to her being one of his teachers? Or maybe a child's game? Or is it a reference to her profession?

Together with this, some tidbits of information and documents found elsewhere will also be added if usefull.

I hope this clears up the reading a bit. I'll add my own conclusions at the end of the book, together with an analysis of how it all affected the events that unfolded in those times, some of which still affect us now, so many centuries later.

[Sepherim.]

Found in the secret archives of the Ordo, when some of the information on Sepherim was finally cleared, two hundred years after his death. Some consider this forged, because some answers seem unpropriate for the time before he left the University, yet all confirmations and investigations have revealed no such act of forgery:

[Psychometric profiling questionnaire to assess pilot stability. Analysis made by CONCORD prior to accepting a new pilot from taking his license.]

Describe the perfect room.
A dark bar, where information is exchanged. Interesting people to meet, and a certain degree of danger. Or maybe a room full of communication relays and information.

What is more important: status, personal gain or self-satisfaction?
None are really important, only a consequence.

What is the perfect time of day? Weather?
Night, with a soft rain that makes the earth smell clean and nice.

What era of history most intrigues you? What would you have been doing if you had lived in that period?
The Rise of the Empire away from Amarr Prime. What a glorious time of innoncence and possiblities! I would have been an explorer, for certain.

What kind of animal would you be?
An owl, or a snake, depends on what mythological perspective you have.

Describe the perfect mate.
I can't. Don't have time for that.

What is more important: honor or success at all costs?
Honour.

Describe your most vivid memory, dream or daydream from childhood.
My father's freighter ship. I remember being in the kitchen while my mother prepared some of her fine tea. One of the few moments of quiet and peace I had.

What is the perfect musical form?
Something powerfull and epic, classical though. The sound of electric tubas, and syncro-violines is unsurpassable.

If you were to go on an expedition what three items would you pack first?
My personal computer, a long-distance communications device, and some of my books of mythology (Including our Scriptures the first).

What part of your body best represents you as a person?
My body is but a carcass. It's my mind that matters, and that can't be a representation for it is the true thing.

What is your most recurring dream?
I don't dream usually.

What is the perfect vehicle? Colour? Options?
Vehicles are just objects. Don't have preferences with them as long as they complete their mission.

]Describe the perfect meal.
Something energetic and light. With tea.

What is your favourite colour?
Black.

How far could you be pushed before becoming violent?
I can't be pushed to be violent. I only become violent if I have to for greater reasons. Violence is the failure of the mind.

Describe the Creation of the Universe.
The Scriptures detail it pretty neatly, so there's no use in repeating those sacred words.

What is the purpose of war?
Solve the mistakes of diplomacy, enlighten the blind, and extend the Empire for His Glory.

Describe the perfect weapon.
Words can destroy empire while weapons can only kill.

In your last 24 hours of life, what would you most want to accomplish?
To be able to look back at the Empire and now it's stronger than it was when I entered the pod for a first time.

What is your preferred method of attacking the enemy: a full frontal assault or sneaking up from behind?
Sneak assault. Minimizes losses for both sides, but maximizes the effect.

What Gods could you have descended from (by your personality etc)?
This question is pointless. There is only one God, even for those that deny him.

What emotions are acceptable to display in public?
All can be shown, if you retain control of yourself. Etiquette should not be breached.

What is the worst crime a person can perform?
Fail on his duty.

Who is your greatest hero and why?
I don't have one hero, I forge my path on my own example. I do believe many other pilots are more enlightened than me, or other wise men, and learn from them, but wouldn't consider them heroes.

Is it more satisfying to achieve success or to strive towards it?
Both. To strive for it without achieving it is failing, but achieving it without learning from your own path is pointless.

What traits in others can you really not tolerate?
I can tolerate all traits, but a lack of education. And even that I can tolerate sometimes.

What quality in others do you respect the most?
Wisdom and duty.

Describe the perfect trap.
A half-truth.

What is sin?
The Scriptures are pretty clear on this issue.

If the FTL comms buzzed in the middle of the night, who would you hope it would be?
Don't have anyone special. News, important ones, though.

What do you fear the most?
Failing.

What is your most irresistible motivation?
Curiosity and duty.

((copied from Here since it seemed pretty interesting. Thanks!))

[Sepherim.]

From the Diaries of Sepherim, First Keter of the Ordo Quaesitoris in the Ancient Times of the Strife:

It's sad to see how fate deals its terrible hands of cards. How time strikes, and we are but mere tools in its hands. For time and fate are nothing more than facets of God. What is the message, My Lord? Why take away, instead of giving?

For that is what has just happened. Promethian Child has turned into a declared enemy of the Ordo. Promethian! Who was nothing less than the other founder! I should have seen it coming though, I saw him change under the influnce of the ISS. I saw him listen to the words of unfaithfull Amarr, and the words of unrespectfull foreigners. I saw him twist and turn, beyond the grasp of my hand, but he still remained loyal inside.

But then the ISS sent him out, on a wolf-pack, and he built the UDT for that. That was the end. At the head of his own men, the corruption of power grew inside, and made him forget all that had taken him to the PIE channel when I first met him.

And still, a small ray of hope existed, as he approached us to build an alliance. I put him again through the tests of loyalty and faith, weary of whom he seemed o have turned to. He failed them. He had turned to darkness, and his desire for light was tainted. He had become a traitor at heart, a heretic.

Now we have both declared our stances. Next time we meet it will be on the battlefield. And, still, my heart mourns for the price of my errors. I will have to solve them.

[Sepherim.]

Extract from Sepherim's letters to Kaileena:

I must admit I'm puzzled. Miss Neferis, in an unpredicted movement, has given me one of her rings of Celebrity. Many seek them quite actively and I have done nothing to get them, and still there it is, the Inquisitio Haereticae awarded to me. It's strange.

There are much more noble and worthy pilots for such a ring. Gran Inquisitor Gaius Kador, for once, would deserve much more such a title. Inquisitio Haereticae.

I have replied the truth, I don't deserve it, and still Miss Naphtalia quickly replied to asy the opposite. It is a great recognition and honor, sure, but one I don't deserve. Why me and not Lord Kador, or Lord Archbishop, or Lord Graelyn? They have done much more to be celebrities, to the Empire, much more than me in my short time serving since I left Hedion University in Sehmy.

I link to you a reference to where that appeared. I knwo you trust my word, but still, I'd like you to reply after reading the original thread. I need your counsel on this, Autoritas. http://myeve.eve-online.com/ingameboard.as...D=457301&page=4

Have my best wishes with you, as always.