Http://www.uoguide.com/Atlantic: Philosophy of the Ebon Skull

-as presented by the Ebon Skull to a living being who has discovered it.

Ah, another mortal.

Seeking power, tis certain, and I can indeed teach thee of power. Greater power than thine repulsively insignificant mind canst possibly fathom.... thee power of life and death. Thee power of Unlife.

This power that I offer doth come at a price that few are willing to pay. But bide a moment, mortal, and I shall teach thee some few things. Thou hast earned that much at least; gaining an audience with me has proven to be no small feat for those of thine most pathetic ilk.

-The Convergence of Unmaking-

Thou must know, firstly, of thee Convergence of Unmaking. Tis thee unholy union of thee two... thee morbid conflagration of Oblivion and thee eternal serpent of Entropy.

-Oblivion-

To be sure, thou hast heard of what mortals know as thee Vortex, that central core of thee ethereal void... that source of all life, matter, and energy -- and most of what thou knowest as "magic" -- in thine universe. Tis equally sure that thou hast no knowledge of the existense of a black, twisted mirror of this Vortex... a couterclockwise unmaking... a corruption. An ultimate ending point, so to speak. Thee final state of all matter and energy, thee source of what is known to some as the Black Art, Necromancy. Quite simply, Oblivion.

-Entropy-

Ah, thee force Entropy. If not for Entropy's dark, sensuous caress, there would be no Oblivion of which to teach thee. For Oblivion doth hunger, and tis Entropy which doth sate this hunger. Death and decay... thee rotting to nothingness of all that is. All that shall, in time, no longer be. Thee fallen champion on thee field of battle, thee rusted blade, thee once mighty tower which doth now crumble to dust. Thee sable serpent who did beget thee child Oblivion. All this, living one. All this is Entropy.

-Undeath-

Entropy doth make its all-pervading presence felt on your world in many ways. Perhaps thee most reviling to thine kind are the Undead. Once mortal beings like thineself, they passed into Oblivion and were found to have certain... qualities... desireable to thee force of Entropy... which did suit them to thee state of Undeath. Thus these immortal beings were sent back unto thee world of the living in that form. Most undead are what thou mightest call "mad," having retained no trace of sanity in thee transformation to undeath. Thee most powerful, and somewhat less insane, serve me directly, and have no compuction whatsoever about sending their less cognizent brothers back to Oblivion. Save perhaps the Priests, although theirs is another matter entirely, and not for thine ears... yet.

-Shadowlords-

Thee followers of Order would have thee many shards of thine world... "united." Chaos would have them persist as they now do. This thou knowest. Thee true path of thine universe, however, breather, thee path I shall now make known unto thee... is thee consignement, yea the banishment, of each and every one of thine precious shards unto Oblivion. Tis thee process of unmaking through which all worlds pass, and to which thine certainly cannot be immune. Indeed, thou dost know thee truth in mine words, for thee tales of the destruction of shards are known unto thee already; indeed, mayhap thou hast heard aught of thee terrible Shadowlords. If one of thine shards falls unto Oblivion of its own volition rather than being involuntarily destroyed, all thee malevolent energy of its corruption shall coalesce and converge, and it shall emerge from Oblivion in thee pristene form of a Shadowlord, a juggernaut of an undead being which is an immense physical manifestation of thee force of Entropy.

-Eternity-

Thee Convergence of Unmaking, mortal, is eternal, knowing neither beginning nor end; it is thee compulsion for all that exists to progress toward a state of ceasing to exist. Mine followers see that this is thee natural order of thine universe, and act as agents of thee force of Entropy in order to feed Oblivion. They have found that if one serves thee Convergence through me, it has much to offer in return. I shall accept only thee most able of mortals into mine cold embrace, and they know that their true place is within Oblivion, where they alone shall exist, undying, when all is consigned unto it. They are immortal.

And now that thou knowest some small inkling of thee power, breather, thou shouldst know of thee price. To become immortal, to enter into my service, thou must first cast off thine claim to this world of mortality and all that thou hast held dear. Thine life as thou dost know it shall come to an end, whether or not thou dost become one of the Unliving. For although there are mortals whithin mine fold, all are soulless. Thus the price, weak one, is thine soul. Cast it off, embrace me, and discover whether or not thou art of the worthy...