The Synodic Inquiry into the Vale of Sleep

From: High Canon Archivist Thalorine, Church of Westrun

To: Master Seraphel Vire, Lyceum of Resonant Histories

Master Vire,

Your recent treatise, On the Passage of Lady Carma Through the Vale of Sleep, has been formally reviewed by the Synodic Archivum and brought before the Council of Orthodoxy.

While the Church recognizes your longstanding contributions to planar historiography and bardic scholarship, several assertions within your work are deemed doctrinally irresponsible and potentially destabilizing to the faithful.

Specifically, the Synod notes with concern the following claims:

1. That faith may operate independently of direct divine will, implying a metaphysical agency in mortal belief itself.

2. That despair constitutes an autonomous metaphysical entity, rather than a moral and spiritual failing of mortals.

3. That the Holy Sword borne by Lady Carma represents a spontaneous theological manifestation, rather than a relic sanctified by divine act, celestial artisan, or ecclesiastical rite.

These propositions border upon heterodox metaphysics and risk encouraging speculative theologies beyond the Church’s guiding authority. While inquiry is not forbidden, public dissemination of such conjecture—particularly when attached to a living paladin of the Church—may confuse the laity and invite dangerous misinterpretation.

Accordingly, you are hereby requested to submit:

• Your planar divination transcripts

• Resonance scan records

• Witness interviews and corroborative bardic memory matrices

These materials will be reviewed by the Synod for doctrinal compliance and archival classification.

We trust you will understand the necessity of this review in preserving unity of faith and orthodoxy of teaching.

In Light and Order,
High Canon Archivist Thalorine
Office of Sacred Records and Doctrinal Integrity
Church of Westrun

From: Master Seraphel Vire, Lyceum of Resonant Histories
To: High Canon Archivist Thalorine

Honored Canon Thalorine,

I thank the Synod for its careful reading of my treatise and for the courtesy of formal correspondence rather than quiet censure. In my experience, the latter tends to make matters far more interesting than intended.

Permit me to clarify my intent.

My work is speculative only insofar as observed reality appears increasingly unwilling to conform to established doctrine. Lady Carma’s testimony was not sought as theological provocation but as a case study in liminal metaphysics, a field in which empirical data is regrettably scarce and frequently deceased.

Regarding the three points of concern:

On faith operating independently of divine will:
I do not contend that mortal faith supersedes the gods. Rather, I suggest that faith may be a delegated metaphysical mechanism, a distributed divine function allowing mortal agency to participate in sacred causality. In other words, if the gods are omnipresent administrators of existence, it would be inefficient for them to personally micromanage every miracle.

On despair as an autonomous entity:
The fallen paladins encountered by Lady Carma exhibited coordinated rhetorical patterns, shared affective resonance, and a unified persuasive agenda. If despair is not a singular being, it is at least an organized committee with remarkably effective messaging. The metaphysical distinction may be academic, but the danger is not.

On the Holy Sword as a spontaneous manifestation:
No record of celestial forging, divine consecration, or ecclesiastical blessing has yet been found. This absence may indicate oversight, secrecy, or a phenomenon beyond existing taxonomy. It is the scholar’s duty to catalog anomalies, not ignore them for fear they lack a filing cabinet.

I will, of course, submit my divination logs, resonance matrices, and witness statements for Synodic review. I would, however, appreciate assurance that these materials will not be filed under the increasingly large and ambiguously labeled category of “Blasphemy and Other Inconveniences.”

Respectfully and with sincere admiration for the Church’s custodianship of truth,
Seraphel Vire
Senior Chronicler, Lyceum of Resonant Histories
Fellow of the Sapphire Collegium

From: The Synod of Orthodoxy, Church of Westrun
To: Master Seraphel Vire

Master Vire,

Your response has been received and circulated among the members of the Synod.

Your tone is noted.

The Church acknowledges the value of speculative inquiry. However, speculation becomes doctrine in the mouths of the faithful, and doctrine becomes action. Action, as history repeatedly demonstrates, has consequences.

For clarity, the Synod reiterates the following positions:

1. Relics do not self-manifest. All sacred artifacts originate from divine act, celestial intermediaries, or sanctified mortal rite. Any appearance to the contrary must be treated as anomaly, illusion, or unknown divine mechanism.

2. Despair is a moral failing, not an ontological force. To reify despair is to absolve mortals of responsibility for their spiritual state, which is doctrinally unacceptable.

3. No paladin may generate holy artifacts without divine approval. Any implication otherwise risks destabilizing the sacramental authority upon which the Church is built.

While your treatise will not be formally condemned at this time, further public dissemination of these theories is discouraged pending doctrinal review. Copies held by the Lyceum will be cataloged under Restricted Theological Inquiry, and citation without ecclesiastical context is not advised.

The Church values your scholarship. It also values unity, stability, and the preservation of sacred hierarchies.

May you remain in doctrinal alignment and academic prudence.

—The Synod of Orthodoxy
Sealed Session Record, Council IX
Church of Westrun