The Book of Saints

Editor's Note: What follows is a synopsis of the Book of Saints. Golden Circle copyright agreements, as well as limited IFS space, prevent the book from being presented here in it's entirety. In brief, for the audience's reference, this book is a near-complete synthesis Machiavelli's _The Prince_ with the code of chivalry, prophetic parts of the Bible, the Talmud, the Confessions of Augustine, _The Social Contract_, any number of martial books Sung-tzu's Art of War, and the Five Rings, and a good heaping helping of Miss Manners, and who knows what other shadow influences that this editor is unaware of. --MH

The book of saints is divided into Nine Chapters

Chapter 1 The Qualities of a Saint
Chapter 2 The Duties of a Saint
Chapter 3 The Knowledge of a Saint
Chapter 4 The Skills of a Saint
Chapter 5 The Works of a Saint
Chapter 6 The Methods of a Saint
Chapter 7 The Bearing of a Saint
Chapter 8 The Faith of the Saints
Chapter 9 The Future

Written by "Raphael, Priest of the Unicorn."

Chapter One: The Qualities of a Saint

"Let it never be said that the Unicorn loves any one of her children more than another. Her eyes are open to both our merits and our flaws, and her love is for all that we contain. She loves those of us that are flawed as well as those of us that have merit, and she loves in times when we are flawed, and in times when we have merit. Wherefore should she not? She created us out of Chaos, and created in us all imperfection, and when she redeemed us from Chaos, she forever fixed us in an imperfect state.

"With this realization in hand, we stand at a crossroads; knowing that it is impossible to be absolute in flaw or merit (or good or evil, if you will), we must therefore walk the road between both. There is no other choice.

"Why then, the regulation of behavior? Why the Church, why the aspiration towards Sainthood, if we are condemned for the span of our mortal lives to be inabsolute?"

The answer is, of course, that Saints do not strive to be absolute; Raphael argues through the entire chapter that Saints do (and all members of the Church should) strive to keep the Unicorn's place in the Universe both sacred and high; because she has fixed us in this state only through the Arc of Time. Eventually the Arc will be shattered, and we will have the chance to gain an absolute state. So on, and so forth. In the first chapter, "the Shattering of the Arc of Time" is alluded to only once. This argument section is quite short, actually, and the book quickly moves on to the actual qualities of a Saint. Those are about as you'd expect:

A Saint has:
-faith in the Unicorn
-faith in the church and his superiors
-faith in his duty
-faith in himself
-knowledge of the world around him
-knowledge of the Book of the Unicorn
-knowledge of the Church's teachings
-knowledge of how to conduct himself
etc, etc, etc.

In this you can see the basis of Chapters 2-8. --MH

Chapter Two: The Duties of a Saint

In this chapter on duties, Raphael explains that when the Arc of Time is shattered, the Unicorn will stand alone against the other forces of the Universe, and that we must be prepared to stand with her. This is one of the primary duties of a Saint. -- MH

Other duties:

-protecting the faithful
-spreading the faith
-defending the faith
-"reclaiming the now despoiled, once holy lands for the faithful."

Chapter Three: The Knowledge of a Saint

In the chapter on knowledge, he explains that it takes faith to know the mind of the Unicorn. In addition, he lays out a course of study on things both physical and metaphysical that every Saint should undertake. A well-rounded Saint should be familiar with both Old and New Thari, as well as be able to read and write. -- MH

Chapter Four: The Skills of a Saint

In the chapter on skills, emphasis is placed on both training for the mind, and the body. Especially weapons training. He or she should be able to handle at least one weapon well enough to defend him or herself and the weaker children of the Unicorn. A Saint should also be able to feed himself-- either be a good hunter, fisher or farmer, or have a truly useful and marketable skill that will allow him to barter for food. -- MH

"The lessons of history teach that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed."

Chapter Five: The Works of a Saint

Chapter Six: The Methods of a Saint

"When you are fighting for faith, it is not acceptable to hire mercenaries. Faith will feed a man in famine, and is more satisfying than any food."

"Cruelty, when used, should be well-employed."

Chapter Seven: The Bearing of a Saint

"...for since men for the most part follow in the footsteps and imitate the actions of others, and are yet unable to adhere exactly to those whom they resemble, the wise should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the Great."

Examples of those "Great" are given: Oberon (though he is considered Very Flawed), his wife Rilga, King Lir of Rebma, Prince Adon of Rebma, Rufus of Glen, Larik of Glen, Laran of Nors. --MH

Chapter Eight: The Faith of a Saint

In the chapter on faith, the author explains that those who are close to the mind of the Unicorn are the Prophets; and since very few in the world are capable of knowing that mind (and all who do go somewhat mad), it is better for Saints to hear the Prophets than to become Prophets themselves. -- MH

Chapter Nine: The Future

Three times will the Blood fall in the First World.
Three times will parents make the sacrifice of sons and daughters to war.
A dark cloud will swallow the sun,
And darkness will cover the shadow lands.
This too will happen no less than three times.
Each time, the Darkness will be greater.

Before the first time of despair,
nine of the Blood will be called to the swords.
That which is neither God nor Man will become Angel.
Nine Angels shall rise.

Nine Angels with blazing swords will lead the Saints
into the coming time of trouble.
Nine Angels from ancient lands made holy once more
will walk forth with nine times a thousand Saints at their backs,
to hold the line against the storm.
Saints and Angels, with swords like torches,
will triumph, and drive back the enemy.

Before the second time of despair,
nine Angels with blazing swords will mourn the loss of the fallen.
They will seek the answers to three thousand questions,
And will only find six thousand more.
An Ancient Enemy will rise out of the Darkness beyond the One Tree
at the urging of the words of great demons from beyond all darkness.
These demons, with mouths rimmed with blood, will speak in silent voices,
and kings will fall before their venomous breath.
Gods will be forgotten. The Saints must hold fast.
The clash when the swords of the Angels meets the swords of the Ancient Enemy
will drown the sound of the coming storm.
It will end in blood and fire, and chaos will swallow the fallen.

Before the third time of despair
there will be only quietness and terror.
Nine Angels with blazing swords will stand with the Saints against the storm.
Swords will break.
Angels will fall.
Saints will die.
And the Storm will cover the land in Darkness,
while the waters and the air and the earth run thick with blood.
Every moment will mean life and death for great gods,
until the arc of time is shattered,
and a new covenant is born.
Prithee are still standing when it is made.