| abstract
| - "The Administs make their claims, some Mods have fallen to Bob, and many claim to know their stories. The truth is shrouded in lore, but among the mists there is truth. "This is the knowledge of Justitia. "That in the time of the Old Forum, Admin called up to his service many, giving them great power. Some live on; Sword of Estel, The Mod, Vivi, TopCat and others. Many have left us; Deep Blue, Mod of War, The Fireman, Euroslavia, Smith. And in this time He also called up Justitia, making her a student of the mods. Fueled by her love of Admin's Law, and guided by other Mods, Justitia grew in confidence, wielding her fearful blade against those who strayed from it, but also granting lenience to those who conformed to it. In time, not even the most active Mods came within two thirds of Justitia's actions. Admin and the Mods saw her diligence and strengthened her with the powers of Senior Staff. "As the New Forum dawned, Justitia longed for a new dimension to her judgement--time among the rulers. So she created Justy's Bar, descending from the Temple of Justice to be among the rulers and learn their names and ways. Her experience among us created the counterweight upon her scale. "When the rulers lamented the loss of the Team Forums, she heard their frustrations and created the Trade Harbor. But, in the days before the Karma War, Justitia's face was darkened, her mouth drawn in contemplation. A great question drew on her strength, straining her light spirit. She hid her face from Admin then, and left the rulers and the Mods. None can say whither she withdrew, or if she will return." Those are the words the old man spoke to me when I found him at the base of the Temple of Justice, Justitia's once-glorious home. The tips of his fingers were stained with earth, his face aged as a grape in the sun. He wore the clothes of a groundskeeper, but his eyes burned with a secret. _____________ Having time to myself after Vox dissolved, I had turned my shadow focus to that sweetest angel, but the Moderators are beyond my dark sight. I resolved, then, to leave my mountain hall; to go there physically, and touch the flagstones she trod upon, to breathe the air she breathed, to see the glorious temple even if the Glory is gone. I found only ruin there. Only the scattered tell-tale signs of former greatness. Oh, the temple was there, but it was grey and dead. The silence was oppressive, closing in and strangling the sound of my footsteps as I wandered through the sacred halls. The temple was immense, but the scale hid intricate architecture. Great halls and vast gathering areas set the stage for a perfect illusion of design, themselves becoming hiding places for networks of halls and chambers. Exploring these dark passages, here I came upon a ritual bath, there I passed a study. By and by, I came into a room that shone but had no light, a hazy warmth issued from it, and drew me in. Upon the wall was a mural, the only lively thing I had seen in the place, the only thing there that could stir joy in my dark heart. There she stood before me as I has known her--face serene, eyes blinded. White robes and flaxen hair the very vision of the purity of Admin's Law. I trembled at the blade held ready in her right hand; I knew its dreadful blow. I wondered at the scale, at the impartiality and promise it held. I wondered at her beauty. _____________ As I turned from the old man I dwelled on the things I had seen--the bleakness of the empty temple, the warmth of Justitia's image--and on the history he had revealed. My body returned to Schloss Eggenberg, my conciousness I directed to rebuilding, but my mind rebelled. It remained in the temple, in that room, her face filling my mind, her presence pulling my heart, her power awakening my sense of duty. In the gothic stone of my castle I saw the decay of Her temple, and I knew that it must never become such a foreboding place as this. I thought on the rulers of Digiterra, and I knew that in this new future we cannot forget Her steadfast figure. So I found this Cult of Justitia. Here in her Temple of Justice we shall cloister ourselves, dedicating our pursuits to her memory.
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