Don Alonzo de Vargas to Bruno Kunnic
(This three-page missive arrives wrapped around a 1” diameter (featureless) lead rod. It is hand delivered to Bruno via courier who arrives moments after sunset, and immediately leaves without a word. The paper is old fashioned coarse grained hand-made parchment. It remains blank until Bruno's shadow falls across it, at which time the shadows swirl and deepen, clinging to the page and forming deep-gray letters. The letter goes on in length in extremely formal and traditional Spanish. Its contents are summarized here.)
My Childe,
It is good to hear that you are making your way in the world, and learning of things that many who consider themselves worldly and wise choose to ignore. You have encountered one of the great and terrible mysteries this world has to offer. Your solution does your training as an Archon credit: You have hit upon the very solution most Princes take centuries to discover, and never move beyond. Many a would-be Magister has paid the ultimate price for his failure to anticipate these unanticipatable servants of God.
And yet, as your own case shows, even followers of false prophets and twisted faiths can be chosen by God as His own favorite servants. Perhaps it is that He has need of servants in all corners of the world, even those where the Enemy holds the greatest sway. The existence of these divine paradoxes is then a test of the faith and understanding to the devout. Perhaps they exist as proof that even the Enemy cannot extinguish all virtue, even where he has held absolute sway for millennia.
Dealing with the truly faithful is one of the greatest challenges our kind can ever face. Incorporating them into the Jyhaad has earned many an incautious elder the righteous wrath of God. It is a shame that this pious woman you describe is so terribly misguided. Such people as you describe are touched by God, and as such have the power to effect true miracles. Most such True Saints never earn the fickle notice of Princes and Justicars: They are focused on doing what they consider good in their communities. It is only when they become convinced that the greatest good they can do is to eliminate the wicked who prey on their fellows that they become the most dangerous enemies a Childe of Cain can ever face. In their zeal, some can then become even more dangerous to their community than the monsters they hunt – but only because they work to make the world safe for the faithful. God calls all kinds: Warriors, Healers, Builders and Leaders. When one falls, either to an early death, or to doubt, the consequences can be great. Even those as crafty and sly as we would do well to take a lesson in humility when God chooses to reveal himself to us so openly.
Do not hesitate to write again: I shall answer as I am able.
Your sire in Darkness, Don Alonzo de Vargas, (etc. etc. etc. His signature and wax-embossed seal)
