ALERT: Recent Paladin Aggression

[ladypeacek]

Recently I participated in an event held by the Nightwatch that involved hunting down as many aggressive enemies who threaten our streets as possible. Though my numbers are not as impressive as some others, I did win that competition. I, too, will station myself at Peacekeeper's Mission 2. I do not require compensation or notoriety, though surely speaking this will gain something from the fellow mouths of citizens. This does not make me better than anyone. I have seen what it takes to be mentally, emotionally, and physically prepared to face these enemies. They are strong, they have more endurance than can be imagined, and they are dangerous. No one should attempt to make contact with them unless they are fully prepared. Please, be safe. Know I am patrolling.


To melanctha: In the event you are reading this, please do not worry about me. Do not think I'm a martyr or that I am carelessly putting myself in harm's way. I am cautious, I am sure, and I am trained. I make this declaration and do this of my own volition because it is the right thing to do. I love you.


Peacekeeper's: You have sounded the alarm and I have heard it. Others will too. I have no doubt that the Nightwatch themselves will soon be offering their hands to help. I believe you and I will help.

I can respect making a choice to defend the defenseless when they are being attacked. I simply need to understand why you feel it right to defend those more than capable of defending themselves against a human truly incapable of killing them, but choosing actively to *demand* the city to do it for them so they can appear clean of blood on their hands.

[Leitha]

I will never be neutral in the sense of gaining that magical protection from the guilds in the city. My ideals regarding the cloak and what it means to me are perhaps not as in line as it would seem with the Peacekeepers'.

I kill hunters and paladins with impunity.

While I have no interest in the higher workings of city politics I can do my small part in keeping my family as safe as possible by killing as many of those that seek to do them harm outside of active combative citizens.

This is not something I would do as volunteer work for strangers that have the exact same capacity of doing the same task themselves.

If you want protection specifically from these denizens of danger, then you should pay for it. In my humble opinion.

[Rubi Roo]

We should preface really.. we aren't doing this to help the peacekeepers. We're doing this to collect our missing toys, Paladins killed the ones we were training to go after those feral werewolves and took the weapons and armor that we made. We don't want money or thanks for cleaning up our own mess. We also have a bone to pick with the paladins in general since they did some things to us that we owe them for. Our reasons are our own, and they're purely selfish. Once our toys have been collected? You're on your own so we suggest you learn how to defend your home.

We tried to arm the food, to fight a bigger problem and take down both at once, it didn't work and we accept fault for this current predicament. You announcing where they've been gathering has taken a lot of work out of chasing them down. We're purely here to rebalance the Scales.

[Ohana]

Thank you to all for your comments and your engagement. While not all of the sentiments shared have been supportive, your concerns are valid, and vocalizing them has helped generate activity and helped boost the alert for all within the areas of The Peacekeeper's Guild's buildings to stay vigilant, as was this thread's originally intended purpose. There are some who believe the Paladins are ultimately a non-threat and others, like Seyda, who have given validity to the concern that the Paladins have been actively attacking people in the city for years, going even so far as to commit an attack on one of her buildings--an attack that never should have happened, and I can't imagine the untold damage caused by it to person and property.

To give a brief update, as of early tonight, following an extensive patrol by Luciano and myself, we did not find any additional Paladin activity within the area of Building 1. At this time, we're awaiting an update from the volunteers who have graciously decided to watch Building 2, and we're awaiting an update from our members at Building 3. I would still caution all in the area to be aware at this time, but if the streets remain quiet in the next couple of days, I'm hopeful that will mean they're no longer patrolling the area in increased numbers.

As I said, I'm currently catching up on all of your comments and concerns, and I wish to expand upon them from my perception, vows, beliefs, and views as a member of The Peacekeeper's Guild of the Neutrality order, not as a member of the High Council or an official capacity. If I happen to miss something stated, I truly do apologize and that is not my intent. If you would like something specifically expanded upon, please do not hesitate to ask again and I would be happy to do so either privately or publicly.

Having been a splinter in my life, with a very specific code that I still very much believe, it is not always cowardice that causes one to leave. Who knows, maybe they still believe in the core values, but an organization doesn't always prove to be the best method to live such principals.

This is a great point. It's not always cowardice that causes one to leave, nor is it cowardice that causes one to join the ranks of The Peacekeeper's Guild. Each member of the Guild joins for their reasons, with their own beliefs and prejudices, and they do so knowingly ascribing to the creed of The Peacekeeper's Guild, which is to cause no unlawful harm to "others" outside of The Peacekeeper's Guild. I'll expand on that later.

To your point, it's my understanding that members of the Battle Cloak order are discussing offering their abilities, based on their own individual codes, to assist warring factions whose opponents may don the Battle Cloak with the intent of escaping active conflict that they may be participating in, however as I am not of the Battle Cloak order, I will leave that to my colleague to expand upon. I do believe that was what she was referring to as far as what she deems to be cowardice. And, to be clear, the discussion to aid warring factions has not been codified in an official capacity of what The Peacekeeper's Guild's expectations are as there are others (myself included) who would argue doing so breaches the definition of what it means to be a neutral faction. But we are a Guild that functions for two opposing beliefs, one that actively participates in battle and one that does not, and so these discussions must be granted the fullest consideration and we actively are.

I have on good authority that hunters and paladins, like many of us, operate under different banners, credos, and factions. If there were paladins targeting the Peacekeepers specifically, I imagine your best bet would be to look for symbols and coats of arms? Tattoos? (Of bunnies?) If you will allow me a moment of whimsy, I might say that this specific faction are confused as to what the Peacekeepers are and do. Perhaps they’ve awful intel people who are confused about how the cloaks work and believe that their protection extends to humans? The mind boggles!

Thank you for this information and for sharing it with us. This is will helpful as we continue to investigate the source and reasoning behind the recent attacks and, I assure all, that we will continue to investigate and work with others who have more intimate knowledge of the Paladins as an entity, but also their factions. When we know more, or when we have solid evidence that points us toward clarity, we'll continue to share with the community. Unlike others, I believe this to be a concern for all in the city, not just a Peacekeeper's Guild.

And I believe that many are confused by the purpose of the cloaks, not just Paladins, so I would like to take the time to expand on them. To be ascribed to the order of Battle Cloak is not the same as to be ascribed to the order of Neutrality. Battle Cloak members, as I said before, adhere to the creed of committing no unlawful harm to "others" outside of The Peacekeeper's Guild. I've put "others" in quotations because this is one of the definitions that we are actively working on redefining for the sake of understanding from the community. Battle Cloak members are warring members of the city, they just can't engage in battle with others that don't adhere to the same code which includes a forced Torpor, as The Peacekeeper's Guild believes in times of necessary war coming to an end and there being a defined victor.

This creed does not extend to hunters, Paladins, or werewolves that attack at the time of the full moon. In fact, no member of The Peacekeeper's Guild (Battle Cloak or Neutrality) is expected to stand down when it comes to defending themselves from attacks from the above and many do not. While I, personally, do refrain from killing hunters, Paladins, and werewolves (except what was necessary to complete training for Perception 1 and 2 with the Allurists' Guild), the same is not true for every other member of The Peacekeeper's Guild. To reiterate for all: being a member of the Guild does not mean that you cannot protect yourself from an attack from them.

Is it not a bit contradictory to espouse peace while promoting and praising the neutralizing of individuals you claim were simply existing in proximity to a location? Per your statement, three of them were merely spotted before being attacked.

The events of what happened were relayed to my colleague second hand, as they happened outside of Building 1 and her office is in Building 3. Therefore, the semantics of her wording is in the context of how they were described to her by my husband. However, it's my understanding that the cunning and cleverness of the Paladin ensures that they are effectively invisible amongst humans until an attack takes place, and they are very well trained in Surprise.

At this time, I don't believe that the guilds have caught up to being able to train against spotting Paladins safely from a distance, which would allow some, like myself, to avoid them altogether. When confronted by a Paladin, the only things we're presented with are to fight or to flee. Their methods do not lend well to a "live and let live" mentality.

We'll sit round here until we get bored.

Peacekeeper's: You have sounded the alarm and I have heard it. Others will too. I have no doubt that the Nightwatch themselves will soon be offering their hands to help. I believe you and I will help.

I thank you for your readiness to defend others against these attacks that would harm them. Whether The Nightwatch joins us in patrolling the areas to make sure the coordinated attacks are disbanded (and it is not expected, demanded, or even asked that they do), Luciano and I look forward to working with both of you until the immediate danger to unsuspecting citizens has passed.

And while everyone is capable of making their own decisions and choices, please understand that volunteering your time and energy to patrolling with The Peacekeeper's Guild does not take precedence over your alignment with other obligations and affiliations, such as your families, your clans, your factions, etc.

If I may ask, before my childe is robbed of blood and energy, doing this for you, what other measures did you attempt before this? Have you even tried to mediate, to determine what it is they are after or were you really and truly fine with their demise, for what...attacking an unkillable creature? They cannot kill you. You not only abide their death, but *recruit* for it.

As referred to above, though I'll be happy to expand upon it here, no, The Peacekeeper's Guild has not attempted mediation with the Paladins coordinating these attacks in an official or unofficial capacity. It is not expected of anyone to break bread with hunters, Paladins, or werewolves that attack others blindly, though if that is something that you advocate for, The Peacekeeper's Guild will not think you any less deserving of respect. Personally, I would be intrigued to know what those conversations would be like.

And I would like to say, as you mentioned before that you've not had any dealings with the Paladins thus far, I hope that your fortune continues and you remain safe. It's unfair to not credit their capabilities and all that they're capable of (regardless of what others, vampire or not, are capable of.) Not all vampires are made the same, Mayor Pea, and not all citizens that your office serves are made vampires. Not all are invincible, and death comes for most eventually. I believe most hunters, Paladins, and werewolves not in control of themselves would take pride in being the reason for that death.

You speak of missions and core values, yet you have not defined them. You speak of neutralization and purging people from your own ranks who do not espouse these values. What are these values? Who died and made you whatever your titles are? How did you come into power? For all we know, you staged a hostile takeover and are using the Peacekeepers as a front.

I've mentioned it previously, if you happened to read this entire expansion of thought on what's been brought forward, but will reiterate just in case you haven't, as I understand that this explanation has become quite long. Our quest to define, redefine, and expand upon our laws for not just the members of The Peacekeepers Guild, but also the community as a whole, is an ongoing process that we're still, currently and actively, working on and I look forward to the time that we can bring them to everyone as a unified Guild.

No one died and appointed us as members of the High Council, and to stage a hostile takeover would mean that some semblance of organization would have to already have been in place to assume control of anything. Councilor Matsuda and I assembled a formal affiliation of a High Council within The Peacekeeper's Guild to establish an organization for this long-standing, proud Guild within this city. Previously, the lack of organization, was a general association of members, the Guildmasters (akin to those that run the Allurists' Guild, Immolators' Guild, etc), and RavenBlack at the top of the hierarchy, where he remains still.

Why was your first big introduction as a group marketed around your exclusive jewelry that is nothing more than a status symbol? Why was your first real advertising leveraging Dresden's death as a marketing ploy and pointing to various city events like you had anything to do with them at all?

Thank you for the questions. Our introduction aligned with the introduction of our Harmony Brooch for a specific reason: to reflect to all members of The Peacekeeper's Guild, past and present, that they, we, deserve an organized Guild worthy of respect, of strength, and honor. It was a call to all who may have taken the order of Battle Cloak or Neutrality years ago and may no longer be as active. The introduction of our Harmony Brooch was to garner interest from current members to participate in this structuring of our Guild, to help define what being a member means to them, and to be part of the presenting our unified laws and oaths to the community as a whole.

Our hearts remain with The Nightwatch while they process and recover from the recent news of their standing Commander taking to rest indefinitely, and we stand beside them in a formal capacity if aid would be needed while the transition of power took place. I personally apologize to any who believed upon reading my words that I was using that news as a marketing ploy. Our intention was to make clear, in an official capacity, that we (all active High Council members of The Peacekeeper's Guild) stand beside The Nightwatch regardless of our capacity to announce the progress of our organization at that time. If it were just myself and Carrot to lend aid, we would do so if asked.

Separately, any references made to events that have happened within the last year were not to assume I, Ohana Fuentes, or The Peacekeeper's Guild have had any involvement with them, and I would hope that anyone who took the time to follow the threads referenced would see that lack of involvement for themselves. I do not possess the ability to inject myself into past events or conflicts, as it were. However, it's my belief (and perhaps mine alone) that I do not have to be actively involved in something to support it in some capacity. I don't have to actively teach at The Angelarium to support, respect, and sing the praises of what that entity has offered and continues to offer to the city and its quest for education. I don't have to agree, word for word, with "The Cloaking" to understand that, despite the demeaning sentiments toward Neutrality and Battle Cloak, that there is value in presenting these orders as a viable path for any non-warring citizens here, as they are often forgotten. And I do not have to be a warring citizen to understand that war defeats stagnation, and I will support and amplify those voices that state as much. There should be balance in all things. In Varietate Concordia. Harmony in Diversity.

You only care now because they're on your block? You feel you're being personally targeted by a group that literally blew up one of my owned buildings, thus you think it's appropriate to sound the alarm and beg the city's citizens for assistance? What is your value add to US? Why would we WANT to help you?

I believe the original intention of this alert has become skewed by miscommunication, bias, and misunderstanding, but I assure you and I assure all that our only intention was to make the general population aware, including any members of The Peacekeeper's Guild, who may be coming by Building 1 or Building 3 for their brooches as was previously advertised. We stated that we were incapable of maintaining a perimeter around Building 2 with full transparency, despite the potential that this forum could be utilized by this faction of Paladins to stage attacks where an opportunity arose.

We did so without demanding any response for aid.

We did so solely with the intent of providing information in an active event. If you or anyone does not want to provide that aid without compensation of some kind, by all means. There will be balance, and there are those that are willing to provide assistance without monetary gain.

Further, your attitude is rather arrogant, and if you truly want the support of the city around you, it should be adjusted immediately. You're talking about neutralization, purges, talking about the true neutrals, and essentially staring down your nose at everyone who is not you when people barely know who the fuck you even are. You, who was so full of ego flexing your precious brooch around in a bar that you got finessed by a fucking bird? That's what we know about you. So, please tell me. What makes YOU any different than ME? You, who will sit running your face hole knowing that you are shrouded in pink and blue protection from any real retribution if your face flaps too much versus someone like me, who is willing to do whatever I have to do to keep MY people safe, give them a measure of peace, and is capable of facing actual consequences from that?

As mentioned above but reiterated, every member of The Peacekeepers Guild has their own core beliefs, values, attitudes, and what they deem worthy of respect or disrespect, no different than you. With that in mind, I can and will only speak from my perception. The brooch is symbolic of my badge of office. Whether you respect that office or not is truly not for me to argue with you, and so I will not. I understand as I have understood that the perception of The Peacekeepers Guild as an entity has always been relatively poor, generally speaking, especially by warring clans and families, which make up the majority of the population in this city. I find it hard to understand how I or any member of the Guild looks down upon anyone when we continue having to work for the same respects provided to anyone not a member of the Guild.

The wearing of my brooch as a symbol of the work I continue to do is not an attempt to say that I'm better than you or anyone else. If someone was curious about who I was or the work that I do, I was--am--happy to discuss that with them, publicly or privately. When you were curious about my association with the Guild, I was happy to explain. And when Fera, not just some "fucking bird", was curious about it, I was happy to let her take a look.

And I'll be happy to tell you, that's who I am, since you asked. Quote, "please tell me. What makes YOU any different than ME?" That is what makes us different. I am and continue to be willing to engage to understand you, to respect who you are, no different than I'm willing to extend the same courtesy to anyone. I'm willing to take at face value that I have prejudices and that these prejudices can be unfair. That until you actually do "run your face hole", I'd be willing to believe you're above it, and that you do have a core belief system that goes beyond just antagonizing for the sake of antagonizing.

Or maybe you don't. But our differences do not make us enemies. They just make us different.

This is not something I would do as volunteer work for strangers that have the exact same capacity of doing the same task themselves.

If you want protection specifically from these denizens of danger, then you should pay for it. In my humble opinion.

I mentioned this above, but for the same reasons as above, I would understand if you were only finding the parts that may pertain to you so I want to make sure it's visible here as well. You're not the only Peacekeeper who actively hunts or defends against hunters, Paladins, and werewolves that have no control of themselves during the full moon. I'm unsure exactly where the misconception started that The Peacekeeper's Guild requires any member not to participate in the defense against these enemies or to protect oneself, but it seemed impertinent to clarify.

And there are active members currently trying to root out any patrols around the buildings, however, we are only so many, with only so much energy. To patrol all three places at once for the sake of other members could limit our abilities to defend ourselves safely. To not jeopardize the safety of the few of us, we have extended the information of our weak points should anyone be compelled to answer. I understand that there are many citizens who actively hunt hunters and Paladins with the expectation that the compensation of what they carry on them is enough, but they're unwilling to do so now, as is their prerogative. We can only provide the information that we have and express gratitude for those of the community who have taken our extended hand.

As far as compensation goes, and I understand that this has not been explicitly defined at this time, as someone who is a part of the order of Neutrality, it's explicitly written within this code that I do not participate in exchanging coins for services from other non-Neutral citizens. This is to protect the sanctity of that order for Neutrality, so that we might not hire mercenaries to carry out attacks on our behalf against any citizen, and it's one that I do extend also to hiring services of protection against hunters, Paladins, etc.

We placed this alert with the intention of making the wider community aware of the activity that we saw in our immediate vicinity. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read that alert, to make others aware, and to reach out with concerns. If I missed something, please reiterate your point and I'll do my best to expand on it when I have the time, or, as always, feel free to reach out privately if you would prefer.

In Varietate Concordia.

[Seyda]

That was an awful lot of words to prove my point. Yikes.

[Rubi Roo]

... no, The Peacekeeper's Guild has not attempted mediation with the Paladins coordinating these attacks in an official or unofficial capacity. It is not expected of anyone to break bread with hunters, Paladins, or werewolves that attack others blindly, though if that is something that you advocate for, The Peacekeeper's Guild will not think you any less deserving of respect. Personally, I would be intrigued to know what those conversations would be like.

And I would like to say, as you mentioned before that you've not had any dealings with the Paladins thus far, I hope that your fortune continues and you remain safe. It's unfair to not credit their capabilities and all that they're capable of (regardless of what others, vampire or not, are capable of.) Not all vampires are made the same, Mayor Pea, and not all citizens that your office serves are made vampires. Not all are invincible, and death comes for most eventually. I believe most hunters, Paladins, and werewolves not in control of themselves would take pride in being the reason for that death.

We're the reason they have what they have.. You won't spot them until they've already hit. They're more organised than the hunters and better armed too. We know their swords, we know their armor, and we know any of them wearing a rabbit tattoo is a fraud, any of them wearing armor bearing the rabbit crest are wearing stolen armor, and the reason Pea doesn't deal with them is because we worked hard to keep them from our sire's door.

We also know you really don't want to be a part of any civilised conversations with them. They will try to trip you over your own words and use it as an excuse. And given how much you speak.. you'll be prime pickings for that little trick.

Again, what we're doing here is not helping you out of the goodness of our heart. We're collecting our stolen toys and going home again. The Lepus cluster was dismantled and destroyed; we're simply cleaning up.

[Yawa]

To your point, it's my understanding that members of the Battle Cloak order are discussing offering their abilities, based on their own individual codes, to assist warring factions whose opponents may don the Battle Cloak with the intent of escaping active conflict that they may be participating in...

Into it. Now we're talking. Fight for what you believe in.

Though there seems to be a lot of confusion and debate in your own ranks about what you can and can't do and what "neutrality" even means. What does it mean? Is pinkness about PH balance. Is blueness about...

You know, I don't know. I want to know. I'd like to know. I want to know what a guild is and how it's different from a clan. I want to know why the Peacekeepers designed these "tools" and for what purpose. Right now the cloaks seem to me to do nothing but divide us—make us untouchable to each other—make vampires blind to their true potential and power, yadda yadda. But then again, I don't know exactly what you believe in, so I guess, forgive me for the interpretation. Mea culpa?

I want to know what "neutrality" means. I keep asking what the hell it means and nobody seems to be able to answer me other than to say, "Well, I don't fight [other vampires]" (I use "vampires" as a catch-all term for supernaturals because it sounds cooler. Sue me).

I want to know what all this fear is about.

The city is under no threat from paladins and hunters (who, I will repeat, generally do not give a fuck if you're about peace and neutrality because to them you are nothing but vampires. Although, I bet I'm going to hear an argument that says #notallhunters at some point in my life). And even if it were, I think our city's denizens have proven able to come together under different banners to save it and ourselves.

Make no mistake: we are on the brink of extinction. But it's not hunters or paladins that will end us.

The only true threat is within.

I'm waiting for those moral and ethical codes. Hope to see them soon.

[Isidorian]

Is it not a bit contradictory to espouse peace while promoting and praising the neutralizing of individuals you claim were simply existing in proximity to a location? Per your statement, three of them were merely spotted before being attacked.

The events of what happened were relayed to my colleague second hand, as they happened outside of Building 1 and her office is in Building 3. Therefore, the semantics of her wording is in the context of how they were described to her by my husband. However, it's my understanding that the cunning and cleverness of the Paladin ensures that they are effectively invisible amongst humans until an attack takes place, and they are very well trained in Surprise.

At this time, I don't believe that the guilds have caught up to being able to train against spotting Paladins safely from a distance, which would allow some, like myself, to avoid them altogether. When confronted by a Paladin, the only things we're presented with are to fight or to flee. Their methods do not lend well to a "live and let live" mentality.

In Varietate Concordia.

In Varietate Concordia means to be united in diversity. I do not condone the prejudice and lack of good faith of the paladins, but intolerance breeds intolerance. It's particularly uncomfortable that someone claiming to be a peacekeeper chooses violence when the option to walk away is valid and open. If you walk away, they do not follow.

So united in diversity, but only the diversity you accept?

And I repeat: safety for whom?

[Rubi Roo]

In Varietate Concordia means to be united in diversity. I do not condone the prejudice and lack of good faith of the paladins, but intolerance breeds intolerance. It's particularly uncomfortable that someone claiming to be a peacekeeper chooses violence when the option to walk away is valid and open. If you walk away, they do not follow.

We.. we know you don't mean the Paladins right? You know they might not follow YOU if you walk away, but they'll go find a new thing to swing on. They're intolerant of your existence, you're not obligated to tolerate their's. If anything that's probably worse coz they will just go beat up a baby

[Yawa]

"They're intolerant of your existence, you're not obligated to tolerate theirs."



Kinda with the rabbit chick on this one, mate.

Addendum: If you're talking about fledglings, don't worry about the "babies." The "babies" will come into their power eventually. They'll learn. If you coddle them, they never will.

Be not afraid.