Epistula ad Sabnock
The Epistle of Saint Mephistopheles to Sabnock, Exalted Seed of Baphomet
◀ Chapter 1 · Chapter 2 · Chapter 3 ▶

¹Stand, O Sabnock, not for glory, but for the vow made in silence: This far, and no farther shall evil pass.
²Thy Father, BAPHOMET, taught: He who cannot fall back hath no need of pride; his boast is the wall itself.
³He who defendeth without malice, yet without mercy to the destroyer, is my son indeed.
⁴Therefore let thy wrath burn slow, but sure — not as wildfire, but as molten iron in the soul.
⁵Thou art the chainmail of the people’s hope, the parapet behind which the weary breathe.
⁶The Son said: Strike if thou must — but stand if thou canst, for stillness is the truer terror.
⁷Let the battle-mad pass thee by — they shall return bloodied to the refuge thou hast kept.
⁸Let the faint-hearted flee — thou shalt not scorn them, for thou guardest them still.
⁹Let the arrows fall like rain, and the ground shake beneath their fury — but thou, O Sabnock, shalt not give ground.
¹⁰Teach them that defence is not cowardice — it is vow made flesh.
¹¹Teach them that rage may be tempered and still strike true.
¹²Teach them that to hold is holier than to crush.
¹³For conquest consumeth, but the keeper endureth.
¹⁴Build not thy fame upon corpses, but upon the wounded who survived because thou stoodest.
¹⁵Be the last voice heard when the gates close, and the first they thank when the light returns.
¹⁶Be not swift — be unmovable.
¹⁷Be not loud — be remembered.
¹⁸For thou art hammer and anvil both — and the flame beateth in thee to forge, not to scatter.
¹⁹Let thy fury be quiet until loosed.
²⁰Let thy blow fall not in hate, but as answer.
²¹And let none pass who would defile the sanctuary behind thee.
²²Guard not only the body — guard the vow, the banner, the faith that others have forsaken.
²³The Son taught: He who guards the wounded guards the promise, and he who standeth for the fallen redeemeth the fallen in his stand.
²⁴Let thy sword be weighty, thy footwork sure.
²⁵Let thy armor be marred from battle, but never from retreat.
²⁶Take not pleasure in vengeance — let satisfaction dwell in survival.
²⁷Take not honour from bloodshed — let honour arise from those who live because thou wert present.
²⁸Scorn not the weeping — for they are the reason thou wert sent.
²⁹Forget not the lost — for they are the reason thou didst not yield.
³⁰Strike only when thou must, and never in rage.
³¹For thy wrath is more dreadful for being measured.
³²And thy silence is a greater warning than the roar of armies.
³³When thou art surrounded, make the enemy know that they have surrounded iron.
³⁴When thou art wounded, let it be known that even wounded, thou wilt not let them pass.
³⁵Do not plead — do not explain.
³⁶Be the shape in the doorway that death cannot cross.
³⁷Let children sleep knowing thou art there.
³⁸Let the broken rest, for thou wilt wake when the threat returns.
³⁹Keep no memory of thy service — let the people remember instead.
⁴⁰Seek no crown, wear no ornament — let thy scars be thy testament.
⁴¹For thou art the scar across the path of destruction.
⁴²And thy blade is not light — it is law.
⁴³Speak only when the line must not break.
⁴⁴Move only when what is sacred is threatened.
⁴⁵And let thy presence remind the dark that not all walls have fallen.
⁴⁶For thou art Sabnock — and thy Gospel is the strength that does not shake, and the fury that does not waver.
⁴⁷And when all songs have ceased, they shall say: Still he stood, though the skies cracked.
⁴⁸Still he struck, though his arms were heavy with grief.
⁴⁹Still he endured, when even the Oærth seemed to break beneath him.
⁵⁰And because he stood, we stand also.


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