Good questions merit good answers, and as I read over your open letter
to my city, I feel compelled to answer - not only because mere silence
could be misconstrued as the act of conceding to the points that you
raised, but also because truly, it seems to me that even in the city of
Light, many do not know who, or why they are.

As is often the case, in the circumstances of war, the face of the enemy
is all that we see. Our enemies as friends, as fathers and mothers, or
our enemies as some dark parallel of ourselves - these facets of our
enemies we do often not see. Perhaps these things we do not wish to see:
after all, we fight wars with those with whom there can be no peace.

Celest has warred with the Taint since we brought it upon the world.
This much is true. We regret bringing the touch of the Soulless Gods to
the Basin, and each day, our war with the Taint is our atonement for the
sins of our ancestors.

We are led by a Princess who has written prodigious amounts of
literature in her rich life, and some of us are silly - gallant,
womanizing Celestines whose actions arguably bring disrepute to the
robes he wears. We are prone to challenge each other in all manner of
competitions - whether they be Bombard tournaments, or riddling
contests. We are a city of culture - something which you cannot know
about us by crossing swords with us in battle.

Our existence as a city is not to eradicate the Taint from the Basin. An
existence based on destruction can hardly be said to be an existence at
all. Rather, we hope that one day, we can reunify the Great Celestian
Empire, which until the great tragedy of the Taint, had accomplished so
many wonderful things.

We seek to liberate Magnagora from the Taint that poisons it, so that
the corrupted grasp of the soulless will no longer be felt upon the
Basin. We work towards that goal, as we continue to live our lives not
only as soldiers, but as citizens of Celest, who wish to heal the Basin,
and close the rift that has developed between us and our former cousins,
so that we can once again live together in peace.

We do not blame you for resisting. After all, the Taint is a part of you
with which you probably cannot even fathom parting. It is regrettable
that the act of healing is too often accompanied by pain. However,
consider the conflicting philosophies in our cities. Magnagora embraces
change and conflict, holding to the belief that from conflict, strength
emerges. Celest sees conflict as a path, necessary to achieve a lasting
peace. Strength, we believe, comes from peace and unity.

Which does your heart desire? Of perpetual war, or greater peace, which
would you rather to believe in, given the choice?

In short, when you ask who we are, no easy answer comes forth. The best
I can come up with is thus:

Why, we are you, but different.

Penned by my hand on the 7th of Dioni, in the year 205 CE.