Shadow Canon of Gorundia: Strategic, Political & Suel-Rooted Realpolitik Texts
The Nine Silken Threads
Author: Attributed to Vrasil of Suloise
Summary: A treatise written in exile by a Suel spymaster following the Rain of Colorless Fire. Each "thread" is a principle of subtle dominion, ranging from “Rule the One Who Sleeps Beside the Crown” to “Break the Oath Without Snapping the Cord.” Read by both noble tutors and professional poisoners.
“Control begins not with the sword, but with the silence that follows it.”
Whispers to Ash: The Doctrine of Collapse
Author: Anonymous (Suel, possibly High Magus Drenel)
Summary: A terrifying manual on how to dismantle a government using diplomacy, trade, and rumor. Banned in at least three duchies. Closely studied by certain rogue ministers and borderline cultists of Beltar. Suggested to be the template for some of the Dominion’s subversive agents.
“No need to crush a tower if you can convince the masons to turn their chisels inward.”
The Gold Hand & the Black Knife
Author: Ser Martran Lestel (Gorundian, 3rd century CY)
Summary: A pragmatic knight’s exploration of two paths to power: through generosity and the shaping of loyalty (Gold Hand), and through fear, coercion, and assassination (Black Knife). Cited by both chancellors and cutthroats. The final chapter suggests the ideal ruler must master both, but never use them simultaneously.
“A kingdom does not fear a blade in the dark. It fears not knowing who gave the order.”
On the Leashing of Gods
Author: Velanthia of Erelhei, Suel heretic-priestess
Summary: A blasphemous theological-political fusion exploring how faith can be weaponized to bind the masses—and how clergy can be "harvested" to serve statecraft. Popular among secular lords and forbidden among most churches. Known to have deeply influenced a few Tri-Part inquisitors.
“It is better to appear pious than to kneel. Faith is most powerful when never truly possessed.”
The Cipher of the Silent War
Author: Unknown, attributed to the Pale Hand cabal
Summary: A coded journal supposedly written by multiple Suel agents across decades, detailing infiltration techniques, long-term sleeper cell strategies, and the art of replacing leadership without war. If real, it may explain several dynastic collapses in the early kingdom era. Only fragments exist—some say Theron Sylvanranth has the full manuscript.
“The perfect war ends before the first blade is drawn. The corpse simply never wakes.”
The Thorn of Elegance
Author: Lady Aelinys Tyr, elven noble (written in High Elvish and Suel)
Summary: An etiquette guide for courts, duels, and public humiliation—disguised as a manners book, but truly a tactical manifesto on using grace, wit, and passive-aggressive perfectionism to dominate social structures. Required reading for ambitious ladies-in-waiting, and possibly Lady Nienor’s favorite bedtime book. “A sneer concealed behind a compliment leaves no wound that can be challenged… but bleeds all the same.”
Author: Attributed to Vrasil of Suloise
Summary: A treatise written in exile by a Suel spymaster following the Rain of Colorless Fire. Each "thread" is a principle of subtle dominion, ranging from “Rule the One Who Sleeps Beside the Crown” to “Break the Oath Without Snapping the Cord.” Read by both noble tutors and professional poisoners.
“Control begins not with the sword, but with the silence that follows it.”
Whispers to Ash: The Doctrine of Collapse
Author: Anonymous (Suel, possibly High Magus Drenel)
Summary: A terrifying manual on how to dismantle a government using diplomacy, trade, and rumor. Banned in at least three duchies. Closely studied by certain rogue ministers and borderline cultists of Beltar. Suggested to be the template for some of the Dominion’s subversive agents.
“No need to crush a tower if you can convince the masons to turn their chisels inward.”
The Gold Hand & the Black Knife
Author: Ser Martran Lestel (Gorundian, 3rd century CY)
Summary: A pragmatic knight’s exploration of two paths to power: through generosity and the shaping of loyalty (Gold Hand), and through fear, coercion, and assassination (Black Knife). Cited by both chancellors and cutthroats. The final chapter suggests the ideal ruler must master both, but never use them simultaneously.
“A kingdom does not fear a blade in the dark. It fears not knowing who gave the order.”
On the Leashing of Gods
Author: Velanthia of Erelhei, Suel heretic-priestess
Summary: A blasphemous theological-political fusion exploring how faith can be weaponized to bind the masses—and how clergy can be "harvested" to serve statecraft. Popular among secular lords and forbidden among most churches. Known to have deeply influenced a few Tri-Part inquisitors.
“It is better to appear pious than to kneel. Faith is most powerful when never truly possessed.”
The Cipher of the Silent War
Author: Unknown, attributed to the Pale Hand cabal
Summary: A coded journal supposedly written by multiple Suel agents across decades, detailing infiltration techniques, long-term sleeper cell strategies, and the art of replacing leadership without war. If real, it may explain several dynastic collapses in the early kingdom era. Only fragments exist—some say Theron Sylvanranth has the full manuscript.
“The perfect war ends before the first blade is drawn. The corpse simply never wakes.”
The Thorn of Elegance
Author: Lady Aelinys Tyr, elven noble (written in High Elvish and Suel)
Summary: An etiquette guide for courts, duels, and public humiliation—disguised as a manners book, but truly a tactical manifesto on using grace, wit, and passive-aggressive perfectionism to dominate social structures. Required reading for ambitious ladies-in-waiting, and possibly Lady Nienor’s favorite bedtime book. “A sneer concealed behind a compliment leaves no wound that can be challenged… but bleeds all the same.”
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