(20 March 3049)

Birth is painful, sickness is painful, wounds in battle are painful, old age is painful, death is painful. This is the noble truth that leads to the cessation of all pain: the meaning of life will not be found through individual striving, but by becoming part of the web of society.

I glance up from my reading as a monk enters the small library. His red robe with its ivory mantle, light blue boots and knotted belt proclaim him a traveling monk; the dusty hem speaks even louder of his vocation. The man (or woman, impossible to tell in the voluminous outfit with its one-way mirror visor) passes sedately by, heading deeper into the library. My fingers twitch with desire, but I refrain from interrupting the smooth flow of his purpose.

Instead, my thoughts return to the massive scroll before me and its five companion scrolls on the shelf across from me. The scents of fine parchment and ink evoke happier memories of a younger self. While usually bound as books across the breadth of the Combine, here, in the Order of the Five Pillars’ own sanctum, the Dictum Honorium—the bedrock of Combine society—receives exquisite care, with a set of exceptionally illustrated scrolls. As though in homage to the finest illustrated Christian Bibles penned during the Dark Ages of ancient Terra, modern-day monks have spent multiple lifetimes crafting these exquisite works of art.

Like any upstanding citizen of the Combine, I’ve read the Dictum Honorium in its entirety; though some volumes speak more to me than others, such as the passage just read. And how could this not be, as the Dictum has roots firmly planted in Shintoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and even Taoism. Millennia of culture and beliefs distilled to fill the life of every Combine citizen with a purpose appropriate to their station.

I have found that purpose, as have all who live a life single-mindedly devoted to the greater glory of the Dragon. My heart fills with compassion and thanks to First Keeper of the Family Honor, Omi Kurita, who worked her entire life to craft this vessel of empowerment for our society, as well as to all the Keepers through seven centuries of guarding our honor.

—Shintaro Maku, Combine Press