Parchment - A Grand Stratagem

Description

An ancient parchment discussing the creation of a new celebration. Found in a Vault of Forbidden Knowledge in Acasa Marshes.

Inspection Text

Just imagine if they believed it a custom! A tradition! If they thought it a jubilee, a time of joyous revelry, a sacred festival of kin and country! All our poor, cherished Hadeans, trapped unknowingly within our mistake, could be temporarily saved.

They must perform the celebrations each Cycle. Each time It Wakes.

Yet they are to know nothing of the real reason. Nothing of the true weight of that moment, the most calamitous, the most dreadful instant of all their lives. For all they do know is this: It is the time of their grandest celebration.

Exuberance and mirth! Followed by a week of solemn peace. And peace - peace above all! - is the holiest decree of this most sacred time. From laborer to baron, from beggar to king, none may raise a hand in violence. Truces are sworn and held fast, for it is their most beloved holiday. This rare and precious commemoration, gracing them but a handful of times every century. And thus, they cherish it all the more.

Yet we who know the truth understand it for what it is. The only means, in our Order’s long and harrowing existence, to force an artificial halt to it all.

Now, just imagine if such a grand illusion could be woven upon our people, upon all the souls within our precious provinces. If it were to arise not from decree, but from belief, so that they themselves embraced it as their own. A custom born not of law, but of faith. A festival heralded by both Churches, until its origins faded into mere whisper and wonder.

And because of this, the celebration itself would never be questioned. Never be broken. Never be missed.
This… this could serve us well.

The Eight Pupils of the Eye