02
A Note of an Olive-Blooded Scribe
Principle of Great Importance #33: Modesty
Many have gotten far by promoting themselves, but they still have to pander to their audience. One wrong-doing and they will be purged of their dignity. I have witnessed this with my Mentor, Purlit Rowlin, under pseudonym of Leo Lionus. He was once a renowned author whose name was known and respected throughout all of Alternia despite his status as mid-blood. He would write inspiring tales about the wildness, the freedom, the fierceness, the nobility of the Olive-Bloods before they became part of modern Alternian society, but explaining was not enough for him, for with each novel he put in more controversial subtexts about discontent regarding the Hemospectrum-Class Order. As soon as the high-bloods discovered this, every manuscript, book, poem, anecdote, novella, and script with his signature was burned and a bounty was placed on his head. Yet here he is now, safe under the guise of a monk offering lessons to aspiring scribes like me. I've always been afraid of speaking my opinion, for I know at least one person out there will resent me for my thoughts. Yet I want my feelings to be considered, discussed, agreed with. As a scribe, I could directly let a similar stance reach the public eye without the repercussions felt by the author. It is quite cowardly, I know, and I have so much potential too, yet I have to cage myself in a box because I am uncertain if I will live or die after escape. I confide this to no one, feeling shame that one would have such a pitiful, stupid, irrational fear. The only one I ever admitted this to was a stranger who had a similar phobia when I was but a few sweeps old. Of course I told no one of this chance encounter, a scandal would most definitely form over a rendezvous between an Olive-Blood and an Indigo-Blood.