Quotes / Kherishdar

I am the Calligrapher, and I serve Civilization. You know my people as the Ai-Naidar; my empire as Kherishdar. It is a society that spans five worlds and several thousand years, with laws and customs that have served us for as long as we have walked these earths.

The Aphorisms of Kherishdar, Introduction

These are not my stories. If I had my way, you would never see them. I have read your books. I have walked unseen through your streets. You call my empire rigid and unforgiving, but you visit the most unspeakable cruelties on those who violate your unwritten laws. You speak of the value of the individual, yet your society casually disposes of those it considers unsalvageable. You speak of redemption and redeem no one.

You call our ways unkind. But your kindness is torture.

I am the altar upon which society sacrifices its murderers, its thieves, its wayward spirits. I am their Correction... or their destruction. I serve Shame. Without me, there is no Civilization.

The Admonishments of Kherisdar, Introduction