I set the picture back face-down on the table and placed the linen sheet back over Ulroke's stuff. It was becoming clear to me that the First Sanctum was not only where his life's plans were going to play out, but it also served as a burial ground for his memories. The life that he gave up. He must've felt that to hang onto the past would impede him in his quest to... do what, exactly?

The answer must be around here somewhere.

I went from table to table, looking under the frosted covers and in every nook and cranny for an answer. I recalled one of the last things he said to me in the tavern the night we made our peace with one another: ”Maybe you'll appreciate what this has all been about.” The answer had to be here somewhere...

My gaze drifted to the desk littered with journals, scraps of paper, and writing utensils. Slowly, I made my way over to it. My briar-knit hands hovered over the collection of Lye's writing for the briefest of moments before I threw open the cover to the first book, exposing the first page of the journal to the first light it's seen in ages.

He must have been aware that I would come looking eventually, for that first book contained a manifest of sorts. One written shortly after he was imprisoned and awaiting execution, containing his ruminations on the nature of governments and religions that abuse their power to control their subjects. I spent far too long reading it, but can summarize it like so: Laws are not in place to protect; they are cages used to contain the cattle of society and as a feeble excuse to punish those who dare to achieve greater things. Governments and religious institutions pacify and fail to deliver true justice. Crimes are often committed by those charged to protect. Thus, power should only lie in the hands of the individual. Lye felt if you wanted something, you should take it. If someone wronged you, punish them. If someone put chains on you, either kill them or accept your fate as property.

Lye was sick of those institutions that have been in place since one man strived to attain power over another, and sought to replace them with absolute anarchy.