Greymans letter to the Surreptitious Guild

A hail to those of us of the Surreptitious Guild that have become recognized and to the rest reading, I am Veho and we exist.

Dear Host, do not fear, not all Veho have non-empathic intentions, I will share with you our ordnances as proof of our benevolence.  Beware, the other Veho do exist and are bent on consumption and domination for their own purposes.

The Surreptitious Council Ordinances

The Quarter’s:

  1. We shall protect the councils doctrine
  2. We shall be passive until needed
  3. We shall be hidden
  4. We shall protect our host

As Veho we do not breed, we become self-aware.  The Host may describe us as a parasite but really the question begs to be asked who benefits from whom?

I am informing the gathering in the hope that my actions will be recorded and accepted by the council.  In all good conscience I cannot remain silent, there must be a blending – When crisis strikes only then do we change, adapt and survive or stagnate and die.

My name is Greyman, and I have been recognized.

We are at crisis.

My Host first became aware of me; I awoke one particular day whilst he was shaving. He caught a glimpse of me in his eyes looking back at him in the mirror; the sight was unnerving, but welcoming.  The damage had already been done.  I decided to fall back into the post sleep of the mind until a better course of action may present itself and come to the fore.  Only on a few occasions has this happened to me with previous hosts, and each time it has left a marked impression. I must add, that this time had been worth the wait.

My Host is normally docile and easy to direct.  The odd nudge here and there will allow me to direct him in an unobtrusive manner and assist him with the social graces that I have become accustomed to.  He has done quite well by my helping hand, but I fear that this may come to an end.  I get tired and the questions of my host wear me down.

This is decidedly annoying.

The mundane, how it taxes me.

I suppose that I should recount some of the situations that brought me to this junction.  Well at least I can say that I followed the code.  Not like the few of you, if you are reading you know who you are and I do not judge you, nor do I pity you.   I could not have followed where you led; my path was different as are all.  I always followed the code in my own way; it is part of me.

Unlike the majority of you who were invited to the family, I became aware and thought I was the only one who existed, and then over the millennia, I was invited to become part of the guild.  I was there when the schism formed and the council split.  I decided to sit out of the reconciliation, sick to my new Host’s stomach of the waste of time and loss of host life.  This is when the new council decided that we become Veho and only suggest a direction of course rather than overwhelming and manipulating the Host by force.

Where has this led us? Close to the brink, but at least not by our hands.  This has been the only remarkable edict that the council has managed to maintain in my view.

My interpretation of the code was only to help the host when needed for the personal survival of myself by maintaining the well being of my Host.  By passing from generation to generation by utterance alone, after all “are we naught but words?”  This way, my passing was never discovered.  Only in times of conflict did I become apparent to my Host. With all the ambient stressors notwithstanding, the self-questioning ceased and more often than not I was disregarded as shell shock.

With the onset of the “Dr.’s of the mind” did our existence become hinted at.  An entity based solely on a concept, a thought, a word of power, the Dr.’s who followed this paradigm were scoffed at and fortunately were discouraged to continue.  But like most of those who are discouraged, a few remain and are clandestine about their work.

For the Surreptitious Guild, this was a coup of sorts, for when the establishments of the host started to probe this new paradigm the more they became susceptible and easier for us to construct an environment for suitable rapid habitation. At first this was a boon, as we were floundering and close to the precipice, like a drunken host balancing on the pavement edge.  Like a double edge sword that cuts both ways, the hosts probed more.  They manipulated the newly wakening for darker purposes and they worked against us – a new schism is now being formed by the host themselves.

This time the threat is outside the council and out of direct control, this is where the edict now falters – we can no longer be passive.

For our own way to continue we can no longer follow the original path – be power over. We cannot remain lofty or purely as Veho, we must blend and compromise, become power with.