A strip of light falls over a nondescript box covered in dust. Who can say how long it has been closed? It seems to have been a very, very long time. A figure steps up to it, and blows the dust from it.
Their soft grey eyes regard it for some time. Though their features are young and gentle their gaze betrays not just the weight of years but the strength to bear them. Is it time? Is there anything left that must be done?
No.
Everything they were confident they needed to do has been done. It is time again to consider what comes next. Time again to blind themselves to the noise so that they can hope to see a glimmer of Truth in the dark.
They open the box.
Inside there is a single strip of ragged grey cloth.
– by Conor
The initial resistance of Psychopomp comes in a fury, a desperate flurry of action that barely gives a person time to think. There is nothing to do but coordinate, gather and act. Shadow is embroiled in the action, diligent and focused, driven, fighting hand in hand with countless revolutionaries. When the dust settles, Psychopomp may be broken, physically dismantled, but the philosophy remains.
Countless people have lived deaths centred on shame, on a philosophy of self betterment so rooted in judgement that people internalised entirely that they were failures.
There is value in fostering growth, but nothing will be learnt through shame. And so, Shadow establishes the Organisation of Guides, a collective movement that serves to discredit the pressures of Psychopomp.
Now, at the first meeting of the guides (online, the distance being entirely unreasonable for most to travel), Shadow speaks, looking at countless dedicated faces. Over the nascent hours of this organisation, they construct the principles the guides will operate under, in this reborn world. This time, this way, things will be better.
The Principles of the Guides