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[TESTIMONIA ECCLESIAE]

[FONT="Georgia"][SIZE="7"]TESTIMONIA    ECCLESIAE[/SIZE][/FONT]

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An Account of the Miracles Bestowed by Antonio Madrigal, Most Holy Prophet of the One True Church, as Testified by the Congregation[/FONT]

I’m looking for several people who are seriously interested in a monstrous group concept.
 
The subrace I have in mind is somewhat unusual to the setting.

Feel free to PM or hit me up on IRC â€" Bonescreech  
 
 

[Self-sacrifice]

Self-sacrifice
Penned by Hanzou Akamatsu

"Utilitarianism is a moral philosophy, generally operating on the belief that the utility (happiness or satisfaction) of different people can not only be measured but also meaningfully summed over people and that utility comparisons between people are meaningful. That makes it possible to achieve a well-defined societal optimum in allocations, production, and other decisions, and achieve the goal the greatest good for the greatest number."

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"Self-sacrifice, the act of deliberately following a course of action that has a high risk or certainty of suffering, personal loss or death (which could otherwise be avoided), in order to achieve a perceived benefit for self or others, is a powerful ideal with a well-established place in many cultures, myths, and societies. Self-sacrifice may also be more broadly defined as selflessness, or the readiness to inflict pain upon yourself to save others."

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The themes mentioned above are but a few of the philosophies I have come across upon my travels. Utilitarianism and self-sacrifice can be argued to be closely related or running in parallel however in this piece of writing I shall briefly elaborate further upon the definition of self-sacrifice for it is something that each and everyone one of us relate to within our daily lives.
 
It is these definitions of self-sacrifice I shall detail the behaviour of an ant colony as a comparison to our own human and psychological behaviour in order to further emphasize the positive correlation.
 
Naturists, rangers and druids alike have seen and documented a species of ants that sends out a number of its workers each evening on a suicidal mission of importance in the sense that this mission ensures the continued survival of the ant colony. The worker ants sent out are said to make a nightly ritual of covering the entrance to the nest with sand. To be sure that the entrance is sealed shut tightly, however a few ants remain outside each evening to complete the covering of sand over the hole, hence the ants that remain stuck outside die to predation, are blown away in the wind or simply die from the low temperatures of the night.
 
If such seemingly cold and calculated means of throwing away a life for the benefit of the ant population are normal within the natural world, therefore why is it that other methods such as Lord Harvix’s proposal to defend the Colony with the use of necromancy where are upon?
 
It is the willingness for self-sacrifice to serve the greater good that has been documented within the history of our Colony and those who have done such an honourable and noble act have been forever immortalized. For example when the Governor Erasmus Ortred and a countless others died protecting the colony during the times of Red Eleint and also the defenders of present who constantly put their lives at risk in our defence against the threats that surround us.
 
Therefore it is significant that the interests of the colony should be placed above our own selfish pursuits, ethics and moral dispositions in the sense we must make use of all available means to further protect our fellow citizen through the employment of methods which may be considered controversial, however necessary for the greater good of our Colony.

[Unlocking The Mind Within]

Unlocking The Mind Within

penned by Hanzou Akamatsu

Look within yourself and you will find what you seek. Our past ancestors speak to us; they are within us. All information, created or gathered since the beginning of time has been passed down to us from generation to generation as a new child is born. However, we have lost the aptitude to access this wisdom as we rely upon our conscious mind or intellect far too often. Frequently we will experience advice through dreams or by hearing the words of a divine deity, or by some other means. However, quite often this advice will come from our ancestors within oneself. Call it clairvoyance, or instinct, it matters little, for we receive advice from within ourselves and when we do not listen to these advice things happen to make us listen. Mostly in the revelation of the consequences followed.
 
We only have to look at the creatures of the realms to see the truth. For example, take a deer from the island of Ymph, how does it know where go to when life threatening dangers such as extreme drought affects the life of the herd? By no means may the deer have had reason to travel the long distances to where the water is located in times of drought, but the leader of the herd takes his family to exactly where his ancestors have told him to go. How does he know this? The wisdom is within this deer, for it has been passed on from generation to generation until the time it is needed. All creatures have this ability, or hidden information and they are able to tap into it sub-consciously at any time, which may come as a manifestation of a routine in accordance with the seasons e.g. mating rituals. In fact it is true that much more information than just being able to find one’s way to new source of water is stored deep within the confines of the mind, spirit and body.
 
Then such a philosophy leads to another question; how is it that the deer knows how to tap into this source of knowledge? It simply does not. It does not consciously ask itself “Where is this wisdom?” since this knowledge is always there for the deer is not looking for it. The deer is always empty of being, while we humanoids are full of being, forever asking questions, attempting to find out why.
 
By doing such, we lock the gates of the inner mind, causing us to rely solely upon our conscious mind for survival. We humanoids at times, like to think of ourselves of being a sage or an enlightened being, but the animal does not even know or think to be such things, it simply just is. Animals never ask why, they just do. We, on the other hand, always ask why, and then incline towards rebellion at the things that we are predestined to do.
 
We humanoids hold this knowledge for use in times of danger and we can access this by simply listening by not listening for example gut instincts. By becoming empty, we are able to listen to what is being said to us. These philosophies and basic principles are but a small fraction of the path of the monk.
 
We hold a physical body and a metaphysical mind and a spirit. However these three elements must come into harmony, for instance when one meditates, we are only using a part. It is my belief that we must meditate the mind, body and spirit, which causes many changes within the corporeal body, allowing the key of the inner mind to be turned, therefore opening the gates, allowing us access to the passed down information lost within us. Hence it is why many bards of our time have gained their most valuable information when going on a long walk in the forest; as by doing so, they allowed their minds to be emptied, so they could be filled again with new philosophies or concepts.

[Unlocking The Mind Within]

Unlocking The Mind Within

penned by Hanzou Akamatsu

Look within yourself and you will find what you seek. Our past ancestors speak to us; they are within us. All information, created or gathered since the beginning of time has been passed down to us from generation to generation as a new child is born. However, we have lost the aptitude to access this wisdom as we rely upon our conscious mind or intellect far too often. Frequently we will experience advice through dreams or by hearing the words of a divine deity, or by some other means. However, quite often this advice will come from our ancestors within oneself. Call it clairvoyance, or instinct, it matters little, for we receive advice from within ourselves and when we do not listen to these advice things happen to make us listen. Mostly in the revelation of the consequences followed.
 
We only have to look at the creatures of the realms to see the truth. For example, take a deer from the island of Ymph, how does it know where go to when life threatening dangers such as extreme drought affects the life of the herd? By no means may the deer have had reason to travel the long distances to where the water is located in times of drought, but the leader of the herd takes his family to exactly where her ancestors have told her to go. How does she know this? The wisdom is within this deer, for it has been passed on from generation to generation until the time it is needed. All creatures have this ability, or hidden information and they are able to tap into it sub-consciously at any time, which may come as a manifestation of a routine in accordance with the seasons e.g. mating rituals. In fact it is true that much more information than just being able to find one’s way to new source of water is stored deep within the confines of the mind, spirit and body.
 
Then such a philosophy leads to another question; how is it that the deer knows how to tap into this source of knowledge? It simply does not. It does not consciously ask itself “Where is this wisdom?” since this knowledge is always there for the deer is not looking for it. The deer is always empty of being, while we humanoids are full of being, forever asking questions, attempting to find out why.
 
By doing such, we lock the gates of the inner mind, causing us to rely solely upon our conscious mind for survival. We humanoids at times, like to think of ourselves of being a sage or an enlightened being, but the animal does not even know or think to be such things, it simply just is. Animals never ask why, they just do. We, on the other hand, always ask why, and then incline towards rebellion at the things that we are predestined to do.
 
We humanoids hold this knowledge for use in times of danger and we can access this by simply listening by not listening for example gut instincts. By becoming empty, we are able to listen to what is being said to us. These philosophies and basic principles are but a small fraction of the path of the monk.
 
We hold a physical body and a metaphysical mind and a spirit. However these three elements must come into harmony, for instance when one meditates, we are only using a part. It is my belief that we must meditate the mind, body and spirit, which causes many changes within the corporeal body, allowing the key of the inner mind to be turned, therefore opening the gates, allowing us access to the passed down information lost within us. Hence it is why many bards of our time have gained their most valuable information when going on a long walk in the forest; as by doing so, they allowed their minds to be emptied, so they could be filled again with new philosophies or concepts.

If someone has a concept in mind and is in need of a henchman, shoot me a PM.

An issue I had a few minutes ago, I was killed due to a subdual death on the Harpies quest and then was then DM respawned due to respawning issues. I understand that upon death two packs are dropped, the one with your corpse items, and another with your inventory but however my corpse items were duplicated but there was no pack drop for my inventory, as a result all items that would be in my inventory completely disappeared.