A sacred text of the Arialian Conservatism, containing the supposed words and teachings of Ark as transcribed by the early Ikor shamans after the Virian Cataclysm. It serves as the ultimate moral, social, and legal guide for the Central Arial.
Despite it's sacred meaning for the people of Central Arial it is unknown how much the writings truly describe what Ark forced on the people before the Virian Cataclysm.
The Verse of the Three Pillars
"I looked upon the clay and saw it was formless, weak, and blind. So I forged the Mind to dream, the Arm to strike, and the Bone to bear the weight.
Do not say the Mind is greater than the Bone, for without the Bone, the Mind collapses into the dirt and is devoured by the dark. Do not say the Arm is lesser than the Mind, for without the Arm, the Mind is shattered by the wild beasts.
The Ikor shall weave the thought. The Shakor shall guard the border. The Garont shall lay the stone. They are Three, yet they are One. A table with but one leg will tip; a body with but one eye will stumble. They are equal in My eyes, for none can survive without the others. To covet another’s sphere is to covet Chaos."
- The First Canticle, Verse of the Lattice
The Verse of the Spilled Clay
"But the clay was proud. The Mind sought the warmth of the Bone, the Arm sought the cunning of the Mind. They mingled their seeds in defiance of the Geometry, and from the womb came not children, but fractures.
The Sord. The Broken. The Spilled Clay.
They have no Pillar. They are the living, breathing echo of the sin that shattered the world and brought forth the Cataclysm. They are the monument to My wrath. Therefore, they shall not dream, they shall not strike, they shall not build. They shall only serve.
To let them walk free is to invite the Cataclysm anew. Bind them to the dirt they corrupted. Make their meaningless existence the mortar of My kingdom. Let them clean the filth, let them bleed in the deep mines, let them be the shield that breaks before the Shakor. In their servitude, they find their only purpose; in their subjugation, the pure are reminded of the price of sin."
- The Second Canticle, Verse of the Purge
This verse contradicts the information AIR acquired from the Ark himself during the interrogation.
It is possible that the texts were edited so serve the purposes of scarce work force during the times after the Virian Cataclysm at the Arial.
The Verse of the Sovereign Soil
"I gave the earth to be managed, not to be worshipped. The soil does not care whose blood waters it; it only cares whose hands till it.
When the Garont Lord commands the Ikor vassal in the fields of grain, the Ikor bows not to the Garont's flesh, but to the harvest they both serve. When the Shakor Commander orders the Garont smith to forge the spear, the Garont yields not to the Shakor's pride, but to the war that protects his forge.
Swear the Oath of the Lattice: 'I bind my function to your land. I do not bow to your blood, but to the duty Ark has carved into it.'
In the hall of war, the Shakor speaks. In the hall of stone, the Garont speaks. In the hall of stars, the Ikor speaks. The Lord of the land is merely the steward of the sphere. To usurp another's duty is to invite the Chaos."
- The Third Canticle, Verse of the Stewardship
The Verse of the Keystone
"And what of the crown? What of the one who sits at the apex?
I placed the Keystone at the top of the Arch. The Keystone holds the tension, it guides the spirit, it touches the heavens. But the Keystone does not bear the weight alone. The Arch stands only because the Pillars push against it.
The Voice of Ark speaks through the Ikor of the Varros, but the Council of the Three holds the scales. The kayros is the eye of the kingdom, but the Pillars are its hands and feet. To make the Keystone the master of the Pillars is to build a tower of glass that will shatter in the first wind. Let the Kayros guide the soul, but let the Council rule the earth."
- The Fourth Canticle, Verse of the Arch
The Verse of the Broken Arm
"In the days before the Shattering, when the clay was yet unbroken and the Geometry held firm, I raised the Arm to purge the corrupted settlements where the seed had been mingled in defiance of My design.
But one among the Arm, whose name was Ravell, let the weapon fall. He stood between the purge and the fracture, and he looked upon the Spilled Clay and called it whole. He looked upon the Chaos and called it Order. He pitied the defect, and in his pity, he became the defect.
For this, the Arm was severed from the body. Ravell and his warband were struck down, and their names were erased from the stars. But their sin lingered, a wound in the Geometry that would not heal.
Let no Shakor, no Garont, no Ikor, look upon the Spilled Clay and see anything but what it is. To hesitate is to invite the fracture. To pity the defect is to become the defect. To let the Arm go soft is to shatter the Arch.
Do not be as Ravell. Do not let the Arm go soft. Strike true, or be struck down."
- The Fifth Canticle, Verse of the Unyielding Steel