I believe that the scriptures and theology have been modified and interpreted to better fit an external culture which is not Biblical. I believe the nations which have accepted the changes to the theology have been put under condemnation by God. I reject Deuteronomic reforms, Hellenic reforms, Masoretic reforms, and the various cultural interpretations that have formed modern Christianity as cultural heresy. I reject any additions to the autographs as later traditions that are not written by prophetic inspirational. I reject terms like the Almighty and Atonement as such translation errors.
I believe in a God who is not unknowable or unmovable, but kin. I was created in the image of God, thus I look like God, and God looks human, and has human emotions. I can plead unto God and have my appeal heard. I reject the unmoved mover as a Hellenic heresy.
I believe in a God who has a corporeal form and sits in the throne of heaven and dwells in temples on earth. I reject the noncorporeality of God as deuteronomic heresy.
I believe in a God who is not alone, but is surrounded by a council of spiritual beings. My God is a family unit of father, mother, and son. I believe in the divine council of gods. I believe in henotheism and that we are called to monolatry, worship of one Supreme God above all other gods. I believe that Yahweh is given the children of Israel to rule over, one of many gods. I believe that it is only by joining the tribes of Israel by covenant and behavior that we can be saved by Jesus' sacrifice. I reject Yahweh Alone as deuteronomic heresy. I reject universalistic deity as a deuteronomic and Hellenic heresy. I reject monotheism as a deuteronomic heresy.
I believe in salvation through relationship to God, as demonstrated by covenant. I reject salvation through faith alone as protestant and translational heresy. I accept the new covenant as baptism to have replaced the covenant of circumcision.
I believe in marriage as a requirement to re-enter Eden, which is heaven. I believe in a marriage of Israelite origin and standards, where a man is responsible for providing, protecting, and ransoming his bride, and a woman is responsible for loyalty to the marriage and nurturing the resulting children. I reject the Hellenic heresy of celibacy in priests and the Scandinavian heresy of ownership and obedience.
I believe in a priesthood for everyone. I believe that God wants us to be a nation of priests. I believe in multiple forms of priesthood, including levitic, davidic, and psalmic. I believe men and women have different but coequal roles in the preisthood. I reject the Catholic and Deuteronomic heresy of a priest class, the protestant heresy of solar scriptura, and the progressive heresy of ordaining women to male roles.
I believe in patriarchal orders wherein men are responsible for the sins of their generation and the duty of children is to confirm to the standards of their closest covenant-keeping patriarch. I believe in patriarchal and priestood lineage and the authority thereof. I believe in prophetic authority, which was lost with the deaths of the early church fathers, the Muslim invasions and subsequent seizing of power by the bishop of Rome. I reject a closed canon as protestant, Catholic, and dueteronomic heresy as a theological solve for the destruction of prophetic authority. I reject salvation through perfect theology and damnation through heterodoxy. I reject idolatry in the form of scripture, law, or creed.
I believe in a God of mysteries, which is that God dwells in temples, teaches in temples, and does not reveal all to his people outside of the temple. I believe in signs and symbols and necessary saving ordinances. I believe Jesus' ministry was a restoration of the temple ordinances, which is preserved partially, but incompletely in Orthodox and Catholic services. I believe that traditional sacraments are a Hellenic perversion but evidence of true ordinances. I believe the church fathers when they speak about "secret" or mystery gospels for temple initiates. I believe that at least one temple and likely many temples are necessary for Jesus' work on earth. I reject the Gnostic heresy that Jesus is our temple.
I believe in miracles, visions, and angelic encounters. I believe God acts today on this earth. I reject the heresies of an end to miracles, of an end to revelation, and of a closed canon, as these are in place to explain away the fact that the Christian tradition is in condemnation.
I believe in the Messiah. I believe he is the plan, not the emergency plan. I believe the Bible to be heavily edited by anti-messianists and do not accurately depict the true beliefs of First Temple Christianity in a Messiah. I believe the Fall was not God's will being frustrated. I reject the Deuteronomic reform that presents the Fall as an allegory for the Jewish exile and adopt the Garden narrative as demonstrated in Job and Jeremiah as a kingly rite to achieve wisdom and eternal life. I reject the notion of original sin as deuteronomic and gnostic heresy. I reject the condemnation of women writ large for this as Hellenic and Scandinavian heresy. I reject the HMD which dates any extra-biblical text containing Messianic thought as being post-Jesus.
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24 hours later, it's still cracking me up that Amelios and Peles are simultaneously having the same experience that Atticus and Gavrel did of "Morwen don't befriend that guy he's incredibly sket--MORWEN NO. MORWEN STOP!" while Morwen merrily goes on befriending the guy because actually :) she can tell you're biased :) and she's PERFECTLY safe with him.
They're both tearing their metaphorical hair out while trying to convince her that the other has no morals and is going to overwrite her mind while she tries to resist the urge to spray them both with water like misbehaving cats and it's hilarious.
"Perfectly safe" "politically convenient for their current goals" basically the same thing, right?
They're not wrong! Neither really have morals, so much as goals. They're concerned that she may not play into the others goal, which may result in her death, and they both recognize the other person is completely capable of doing that if they wish and they won't be able to stop it.
Hey, Peles has decided she's His, so she's safe with him! Amelios...she's not underestimating how dangerous he is, but she might be overestimating how much value he sets on her person, as opposed to her Titles and her political usefulness. She is wary of what he might try to manipulate her into doing and how he might choose to shape the information she receives, but it hasn't occurred to her that he'd be willing to kill her without a very good reason (of the 'Morwen is now evil now for some reason' type). In fairness to her, I think she's mostly correct that he wouldn't kill her without a very good reason, even though she has definitely overestimated how much he cares about her on a personal level. (I think. It's hard to be sure with that man.)
Interesting. It's probably a good thing for her to keep both of them around, just so that they can (a) keep each other on their toes and (b) warn her if the other one gets up to a Scheme, although how much of that she'll be willing to listen to is...up in the air right now because of their obvious personal animosity.
Sure, she's his, but he has responsibilities, and if those responsibilities and his her conflict, he will have to make a decision. Amelios wouldn't kill her hastily, but he doesn't value anyone highly enough to not kill them if the trouble they cause outweighs the value they add. He'd kill Atticus if he had to. He might go home and weep, and he'd do the deed kindly, maybe even personally, but he'd grit his teeth and see it done. Morwen is not as personal to him as Atticus.
They just might be good to keep close for that purpose! I'm not sure how much keeping each other close will actually prevent, because they're both very similar and would probably be on board with the other's scheming if they thought it would help them.
I mean...fair. He's made no bones about that, either. But I don't think he'd just kill her! Certainly not for the reasons that Amelios seems to think he'd kill her. Um. Amelios. Amelios no. That is deeply concerning and unhealthy. We do not kill our friends when they cease to meet some kind of twisted cost/benefit analysis. You need objective morals. And a hug. And therapy. So much therapy. Is Morwen valued at all for herself as opposed to her uses right now?
He probably wouldn't start with killing. He would try and make as many off ramps as he could to get to something that didn't necessitate war or assassination first. But he would, if he had to.
No, no, that's how the world works. It's a complicated equation of costs and benefits, and if the costs outweigh the benefits, then they should be removed from the board. Nobody really has value beyond their usefulness. Even friendships and alliances are only beneficial so far as you can leverage it to do what needs to be done.
Well, that's fair. Morwen would do the same with him, if they ended up at odds in a way that was headed towards armed conflict. It would tear her up, but she'd do it.
*exasperated Morwen yelling from the housetops voice* ALL SAPIENT BEINGS HAVE INHERENT VALUE AND I'LL KICK YOUR BUTT IF YOU SAY THEY DON'T EVEN IF YOU'RE REFERRING TO YOURSELF
(Does this mean that they're friends now that the two of them are useful to each other?)
That is also true and fair, but in her defence, he's a NICE monster. She will not not. He is Friend. Ah, fair point. I meant as in 'scheming to depose and/or assassinate her', but Morwen is probably going to make some rules that they will both disregard and probably scheme in tandem against. She will definitely be much more restrictive in her rules about who can be assassinated than either of them is comfortable with, though she may make exceptions on a case-by-case basis if they actually explain their reasoning to her. I think they're just as likely to ignore her and go murder people anyway. She will sigh and facepalm.
He's done it before. Don't forget, he killed his own father for the benefit of the whole, and it wasn't just a sire-type relationship where they'd never met. He was mentored by the man, expected to lead armies by him, trained.
Did you hear something? Must've been the wind.
(I'm not sure if I'd say that Amelios has friends, but she's certainly getting closer to whatever his equivalent is.)
They probably will get to a point where they don't even tell her. Amelios will be more likely to use an assassination to manipulate her — the king was assassinated and all the evidence points to that one group we've been having issues with; the solution is war! — but that will grate against Peles because he dislikes outright manipulation (instead of subterfuge), so he might slip her some information otherwise. We'll see.
True. It was a messed-up paternal relationship, but it was a real one. On Peles' side, at least. I wonder how genuine it was on his father's side.
*distant sounds of Morwen screaming and kicking the ground* YOU'RE. MAKING. ME. BEAT. UP. GRASS!
(I'm not sure he's capable of it. I mean, theoretically, I would fight anyone who was doing something wrong even if it was a dear friend, but I don't think of my relationships primarily in those terms, and if he does, that's probably not a friendship. It might be as close as he can come to one. I am still pleased that Morwen is approaching almost-friendship with him. She would also be pleased with that if she knew. He is, after all, getting the full frustration that is inherent in befriending her. It's only fair that he also get the friendship! She will hug him at some point.)
Oh boy. They're going to be menaces together in a completely different sense from Gavrel and Atticus, aren't they? Morwen will be very hurt if Amelios fakes an assassination by another party to bait her into war. See: deeply ingrained hatred of manipulation. That will not be a pleasant conversation. Peles' way will be far more effective on her in the long run. Assuming she ever finds out what Amelios did.
It was... Probably the closest his father could get to a true relationships in his state, and possibly even before he was turned, given his own upbringing as a ruler. There was certainly trust and expectation, and a warped sense of indulgence.
Hmmmmmm... Minor earthquake, perhaps?
(I'm not sure they're exactly friends, by his standard. Closer, yes, but he still feels a sense of... Responsibility, such as an advisor guiding a young lord appointed too soon. They don't have any real sense of partnership yet.)
I think it depends on whether he thought he'd get away with it or not. He might plant evidence that pushes it that way, and then keep his mouth shut, but I'm not sure he knows how much she dislikes manipulation yet.
Indeed they do not, and indeed they do not. (Morwen's trying not to be in the thought spiral! Unfortunately she has lots of new trauma that is causing her to spiral. Throwing dirt around with earth magic is satisfying but its therapeutic value is limited.)
At least they do have someone around to help distract them, because Gavrel is...not doing a great job of that re: Morwen right now.
I suppose there's that. Maybe he's getting in his requisite brooding now so he doesn't have to do as much later?
I am...beginning to pick up on that. He's so good at dealing with things like panic attacks most of the time that I vastly overestimated his emotional capacity to deal with a Morwen who isn't responding to (or able to appreciate) physical touch and does have specific emotional needs in her current situation (namely, treat me as normally as you possibly can). I still have no idea how all this is going to shake out.
As much brooding later... Define later. A day, a month, several centuries? He will pick every possible thought to death.
He thinks he is treating her as normally as she can stand! He hasn't really ever dealt with his own trauma, and when people treated him as normally as possible, it just made him think it wasn't a big deal. So this is a big deal, and she needs special treatment because of it, but he's trying.
...of course he will. Sometimes he really is Gavrel all grown up.
She, meanwhile, is climbing the walls begging for him to stop drawing her attention to the trauma! Stop second-guessing her every word! It takes extra emotional energy to do anything right now so if she says she wants something she wants it! TREAT HER LIKE A CAPABLE ADULT. GAVREL PLEASE. I can see how he wound up thinking that his trauma didn't matter to others because they were treating him as normally as they could, because that's exactly the twisty way his mother seems to have communicated, but they were probably trying their best. Hey, does this mean that Morwen freaking out every time he got hurt actually helped him?
He's old and he's got a lot on his plate to consider; he needs to make sure he's thought everything through.
He's figuring out how to do that. Poorly, but. Ehhhhhhhhhh, ish. He thinks she's awfully overreactive, because that's just how things are here, but if she reacted that way to his parents, he might be stunned.
I have a hypothesis. All of the main characters in Terrafell to date fall into one or more of three categories: Wizard, Warrior, or Wrangler. Only one of these three categories possesses any common sense.
For instance:
Wizard (loses all sense of self preservation in the presence of new magic): Atticus, Peles, Mesinta, Kaera
Warrior (never had any sense of self preservation, as far as I can tell): Gavrel, all the Vanceds
Wrangler (trying very hard to keep everyone else alive): Amelios, Morwen, Casimir, and (surprisingly) Bishop and Izzat
Hey! Only two thirds correct! Wranglers, sans Morwen, only care about keeping themselves and the people they like alive, while hiding their own dark sides of murderousness.
I guess it’s a good thing Morwen’s set herself to make sure everybody lives, then, because she’ll pull the wranglers along with her. XD I thought Amelios, at least, was trying to make sure the world survived in one piece, which requires people to be alive?
Amelios wants the world to be in one piece, but if that means he has to slit a few (hundred) throats to keep it that way, that's the price of stability. They are all Machiavellian, or they would be if Machiavelli lived in Terrafell.
Morwen could make it a crime, if she'd care to. Not cooperating can result in the deaths of thousands, or at least their destitution. Be reasonable.
He's for the highest bidder, in theory, but he's also weird, and currently, he's interested in whatever Morwen is doing. She may live a life unexamined, but she is exciting.
She will do no such thing! He'll have to come up with a better way to phrase that before she'll make it a crime. I mean, yes, sometimes that can be the case, but 'being uncooperative' is far too vague to be a law!
Well, fair enough. He wouldn't be in a murder guild if he didn't have a taste for the exciting, after all! And Things most certainly Happen around and to Morwen. So what I'm hearing is that he's just going to be Around, even if he stops being her bodyguard, and she'll probably take this as friendship, which might...lead to problems...at least she won't hug him, because she knows he dislikes it.
Fine, prioritizing political "wins" over compromise for the welfare of their citizens. Can that be illegal?
I mean, he might be. There are plenty of people that join the Beggars because there simply isn't a better way up in the world. A large portion of their membership are whisper network people, who don't really do any murder or violence so much as just pass on any information they might overhear in exchange for some extra coin to live on. But he absolutely will just be Around, but he probably will just stay on as her bodyguard. It's not so much that he doesn't like touch as that he's cursed himself with toxicness so that his body is constantly exuding poison, and it does sometimes get through his clothes and infect people who touch him or Items he hangs onto for too long. Which he did because he was tortured and now no longer likes touch. So both are correct.
...possibly. Morwen would like that to be illegal. They'll have to workshop the phrasing a bit so it's not too obvious or too broad.
Ah, I see. I do sometimes forget how many Beggars probably joined just to escape poverty. I suppose I assumed that anyone who hit a certain point in the Guild either wanted to be there or had another cogent reason for being protected from assassination. Well, he'll definitely make things interesting for Morwen, as well! Perhaps they'll even manage a rapport, of a kind. He's a deeply strange man. Ouch about the trauma. I mean, I'm not surprised that his poisonous nature is the result of a trauma response, but I am still sad for him.
Certainly not too obvious. But being broad is part of the appeal.
A good chunk. Some people leave, some people stay in. Some people get darker, some people stay surface level but still take the jobs for feeding information to the right people for extra money on the side.
Very strange indeed. But now, all he needs to do to escape is to remove a glove or a sock or his shirt if he absolutely must.
But if they make it too broad it can be weaponised against them! It's a balance!
Inch resting. Makes sense. For some people it would be a springboard to other things; for others it might corrupt them.
It's certainly effective! It vastly cuts down on your ability to enjoy human companionship, but I guess if you never want to be touched ever beyond a brush of shoulders, it works for you.
A balance, yes. Though as the arbiter of laws, everything should be a little broad because she can declare her interpretation for whatever the situation is, so they should be slightly biased to more broad.
And some people use it for good! The Beggars of Baalthirat do a lot of smuggling women and newborns out of the city, the Beggars in Woostercom and Ankh-en-Net forge a lot of documents to get slaves new lives, the Beggars in Umai help with the invasions around Dayu Rai and Qazodesh.
Charter for a Religious Order (which needs a name), under a cut because it MIGHT have spoilers. ( @scleroticstatue I don't think it does, but I'll subject it to your approval before tagging Bri.)
@sunflowergardens-world @kanerallels @sweetcardamom @awwyeah-rambles enjoy a glimpse at one of Morwen's tasks and how she's trying to carry it out in light of Terran morality. Or lack thereof.
Pillars of the order:
Sanctity of life: The capacities of reason and moral freedom can only be received from the God outside all worlds, or the gods of Terrafell. Therefore, any being whose species possesses those capacities (hereafter, 'sapient') is a creation of God or of the gods, and that sapient's life shall be considered precious from the moment of conception to the moment of final, natural death. Age, number of lives remaining, and species are irrelevant to this truth. From this principle proceed the following rules for this Order:
Any sapient who will vow to uphold the principles of the Order and obey its rules may join the Order.
All members of the Order shall support and defend, as much as it lies within their power, the rights of sapients to life, liberty, and property. This includes the right to self-defence and the duty to defend others who cannot protect themselves. This duty shall be carried out regardless of any potential benefit to the brother or sister. This Order shall extend its benefits to rich and poor, slave and free, child, adult, and aged, humanoid and hybrid races, but special care shall be taken of those who do not have the power to protect themselves or to pay others for such protection.
Where it is possible, members of this Order shall seek to deescalate conflict and resolve it through diplomatic means. Do not start fights unnecessarily. Do finish them once they have started.
Members of the Order shall provide for the poor and needy of their communities. This may take the form of covering Guild fees for those who have no means of livelihood, or taking orphaned children as wards of the Order. The Order shall offer substance and shelter to individuals which the Tamed Garden cannot or will not assist, but will not compete with the services offered by the Garden.
Members shall be chaste when unmarried and faithful to their spouse when married.
Obedience to God/the gods: the first duty of all sapients should be to obey the commands of the gods. All members of the Order shall obey these commands above all else.
Obedience to civil authority: in all cases where laws and civil authority do not conflict with the will of the gods, members of the Order shall obey these laws and authority to the full extent of their abilities. Members of the Order shall show all appropriate respect to civil government and governors.
The Order shall not seek to supplant the Tamed Gardens or the Guilds of any location. Training for members, where applicable, shall be sought from the Guilds, healing from the Tamed Gardens, etc. In locations where there are no Guilds or Tamed Gardens, the Order shall offer the services which are needed by the population. Should a Guild later be established in that area, the Order shall arrange to hand off to that Guild the services it provides which the Guild would ordinarily cover. At the discretion of local Guild or Garden Masters, the Order may offer services in addition to those of the Guilds, i.e. sheltering an influx of travellers for whom there is no room at the Garden or Inn. Members whose calling within the Order overlaps with the purpose of a Guild are strongly encouraged to join the appropriate Guild.
Service to the community: this Order does not seek profit. Tithes from members, whether given in specie, goods, or time, shall go first to the maintenance of wards of the order, second, to the provision of necessities to members who have need and to the internal business of the Order, and third to the support of the community. Members who have no other livelihood may receive room and board or stipends, as is most appropriate to their circumstances, and shall be maintained in all reasonable comfort, but without unnecessary luxury.
Order members who are also members of Guilds may and should engage in any forms of trade supported by that Guild, so long as those trades are consistent with the foregoing pillars of the Order. They may and should receive wages for their work, appropriate fees for their goods and services, etc. They shall not charge unreasonable prices nor shall they take advantage of their customers or refuse service to customers who need it and can pay for it.
Members shall distinguish between work done for the Order and work done for the Guilds. Work done for the Guilds is governed, as above, by the rules of the Guild and basic morality. Work done for the Order shall be done for the service of the community and may not be profitable. Members are not expected to impoverish themselves in the service of the Order, but when working in their capacity as members of the Order, they shall place the pillars of the Order above their desire for profit.
Branches:
This Order shall have both lay and consecrated branches. Within each branch, there shall be classifications for those who serve the gods with their various gifts.
Lay:
Lay brothers and sisters may attach themselves to any branch of the Order, but those who believe themselves called to an ascetic life, or any lifelong vow, are encouraged to seek consecration. Individuals who merely wish to engage in a time of contemplation may remain as lay members.
Lay members are expected to contribute 5% of their yearly income to either the Order, or to causes or individuals which support the Order's goals. Contributions may be made as money or goods. Members who have no active income are expected to contribute in the ways in which they are able, such as by gifts of time and work. In general, this contribution shall be taken upon honour. However, in cases where a member is believed to be in default, his or her local abbot or abbess may request some proof that the contribution has been made, and failure to provide this proof, when proceeding from defiance, may lead to censure.
Lay members shall at all times be free to leave the Order at will, though courteous notice given some time before leaving is encouraged.
Lay members are free to marry or be given in marriage, save when already married.
Lay members, if unmarried at the time of joining the Order, may take no more than one spouse at a time while members. Lay members shall not divorce their spouses for any cause less than adultery or abuse. Violation of this rule may lead to censure or expulsion.
Lay members, if married at the time of joining the Order, shall not take additional spouses while members. If a lay member who is married to one spouse loses that spouse to death or to warranted divorce, that member may remarry. Individuals who have multiple spouses may join the Order, but may not marry additional spouses except in the event that all their current spouses die or are divorced for good cause, in which case they may marry one. (Such cases may be investigated for veracity at the discretion of the abbot.)
Lay members may own slaves, where permitted by civil law, but must treat them in accordance with the Order's first pillar, refraining from cruelty or excessive workloads and providing them with adequate food, shelter, medical care, and a feasible method of achieving their freedom should they desire it. At no time should owners of slaves forget that, in the eyes of God, they and their slaves are equals.
Consecrated/set apart:
Consecrated members who have active income are expected to contribute 10% yearly to the Order or some patronage or cause thereof. Outside contributions should be reported in brief to superiors to avoid confusion.
Consecrated members take vows which are binding upon them for life. Should they wantonly break those vows, they will face punishment up to and including expulsion.
Consecrated members shall be considered free to marry or be given in marriage; however, they may take voluntary additional vows of celibacy, for a time or for life, which shall be considered binding upon them by the Order.
No member of the Order shall take an Oath by means of bloodbinding, or any other unbreakable oath. The given word is a solemn thing, but sapients are fallible and may make promises in error. Should a member of the Order become convinced that he or she has taken a vow which it is unwise to keep, that member's superior shall assist him in revising the provisions of the vow or removing it.
Consecrated members may not at any time be married to more than one spouse. Individuals with multiple spouses must remain as lay members, unless they separate from all but one of their spouses. Such separation shall not abrogate any obligation to provide for the separated spouses or any children by them.
Consecrated members may likewise take voluntary vows of poverty, but this is not enjoined upon any. Should they do so, they may choose to donate their wealth directly to others or entrust it to the Order for distribution.
Individuals who own slaves and desire to become consecrated members of the Order must offer freedom to all their slaves before their vows will be accepted. Slaves who, by reason of devotion, do not desire to leave their masters, shall be permitted to remain so long as they will it. All others shall be set free and provided with sufficient goods and training to make their way as free citizens. The Order may assist the former master in providing these things, at the discretion of the abbot or if the master's means are unequal to the task.
Individuals desiring to become consecrated members of the Order shall first enter upon a novitiate, of a duration ranging from one to twenty years, depending on strength of conviction, species, and external circumstances, before swearing lifelong vows. No lifelong vow is recommended without first a temporary vow of a year's duration, at a minimum. Novices may end their novitiate and leave the Order at any time, just as lay members may.
Wards of the Order:
Children who have no parents or guardians capable of caring for them may be taken as wards of the Order until they are adopted, or until they come of age. No binding vows shall be laid upon them until they come of age; however, a ward of the Order who desires to be consecrated may, at the discretion of his superior, have a shortened novitiate period. It is recommended that wards desiring to enter into the Order shall take a period of time to live among the ordinary citizens of Terrafell before making such a decision. The Order shall provide shelter, food, and care for its wards, and shall arrange vocational training for them in the manner most appropriate to their location and gifts.
Wards may be adopted by any married couple who demonstrates both ability and will to provide for them until adulthood. Wards who have reached an age where their preferences can be known shall have those preferences taken into account in any placement with an adoptive family, and may return to the Order in the event that the family proves unsuitable or unwilling to maintain them.
Classifications:
Military: For those whose gifts and training lie towards battle, including combat mages. Military members of the Order shall be organised into units as is most expedient for the needs of the city in which they live. If possible, they shall coordinate with the Adventurers', Wizards', and Crafters' Guilds. They are encouraged to be members of those guilds.
Ascetic/Contemplative: For those who desire to spend their days in prayer, study, and contemplation. They shall follow a schedule of worship, private prayer, and work, which may be set by the abbot or by the head of the Order.
Active civilians: For all those whose gifts lie in craft, farming, healing, etc. Active civilian members shall use their time and talent to advance the Order's purposes as is most appropriate to their gifts. They shall seek to be members of appropriate Guilds and to respect the rules thereof. Members who desire Guild membership but are not able to afford Guild fees may petition to have the Order cover their fees, which shall be done promptly, except in cases where there is some cogent objection.
Discipline:
Wrongdoing by a member of the Order, lay or consecrated, shall be established upon the testimony of two or three sworn witnesses before the member's superior. In cases where no certain verdict can be reached, the accuser and accused shall appeal up the Order's hierarchy, until they reach the current Superior.
Violation of the tenets of the Order will be punished proportionally. Those who steal shall return what was stolen. Those who strike another without justification shall receive a blow themselves.
Corporal punishment may be used for egregious wrongs. Such punishment shall not exceed forty lashes, less one to avoid miscounting.
Members of the Order who have committed such crimes as murder, rape, etc. shall submit to civil justice. If penitent, they shall not be expelled from the Order, but they may be stripped of rank or otherwise censured.
The Order shall be considered obligated to report crimes committed by its members as it becomes aware of them. Where possible, it shall maintain a healthy relationship with local civil authorities.
In cases of miscarriage of justice, the Order may, at its discretion, shelter fugitives. Fugitives who come seeking shelter must disclose the reason for their flight to the abbot as soon as is reasonably possible.
Unrepentant and persistent violation of the Order's tenets may, at the discretion of a member's superior in consultation with two or three others, lead to expulsion.
Expulsion shall not be permanent. An expelled member shall be restored to the Order's ranks upon clear demonstration of penitence, though at the discretion of his or her superior, that member may be stripped of rank at this rejoining and begin again as a novice.
XD I think people in the fictional world may be thinking that I’m part of a cult as well! Atticus already got an inkling of it once, but Gavrel intervened to keep him from grilling Morwen too hard about it.
Totally meant Morwen is going to make people think she's in a cult again. She's had a few warnings of it already. It's the one God thing, but it's also... All the rest.
Knowing a little more of Amelios' history with the Tamed Garden now, I am very curious about what he's going to think of Morwen's new probably-military order. Which may end up losing the clauses about not competing with the Tamed Garden, depending on how badly certain things go in the near future...
He doesn't believe in the gods and he will really struggle with it. Does he stop it because it's preying on false belief? Does he encourage it because it will undercut the power structure of the current religious order? Can he use it to his own advantage, somehow? Questions, questions.
I'm glad he actually has some qualms of conscience about the whole thing. I am also amused at the sheer quantity of questions and stress Morwen seems to be causing the poor man. XD I know it's enrichment for him, so I won't feel guilty. She does, though.
...ah. Well. I see. Does he have a conscience, or have his goals subsumed that? You've mentioned in other posts that he's trying to be a good person in some sense of the word. What does that mean to him, if that isn't a spoiler?
What's a conscience, per your definition? Oh, being a good person is based on the game's Alignment mechanism; selfless, naturally, as well as being an insider and preferable swinging to diplomatic, but at least neutral.
I suppose I would posit a twofold definition of a conscience: it is both the internal sense that tells you whether something's right or wrong, and the desire to follow that sense. Ooh...hmm...yes, I can see how that would lend itself to some interestingly skewed ethics. Such as his.
Nope, neither of those. He has goals, he has his range of methods to see it done, and the smaller subset of methods that are feasible, won't cause problems down the road, and won't cause problems right now. And the way the alignment system works, every action has the same weight, so there are no big moral stances that are more important than how you live daily. Commit a murder, give a child some candy. Neutral alignment.
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24 hours later, it's still cracking me up that Amelios and Peles are simultaneously having the same experience that Atticus and Gavrel did of "Morwen don't befriend that guy he's incredibly sket--MORWEN NO. MORWEN STOP!" while Morwen merrily goes on befriending the guy because actually :) she can tell you're biased :) and she's PERFECTLY safe with him.
They're both tearing their metaphorical hair out while trying to convince her that the other has no morals and is going to overwrite her mind while she tries to resist the urge to spray them both with water like misbehaving cats and it's hilarious.
"Perfectly safe" "politically convenient for their current goals" basically the same thing, right?
They're not wrong! Neither really have morals, so much as goals. They're concerned that she may not play into the others goal, which may result in her death, and they both recognize the other person is completely capable of doing that if they wish and they won't be able to stop it.
Hey, Peles has decided she's His, so she's safe with him! Amelios...she's not underestimating how dangerous he is, but she might be overestimating how much value he sets on her person, as opposed to her Titles and her political usefulness. She is wary of what he might try to manipulate her into doing and how he might choose to shape the information she receives, but it hasn't occurred to her that he'd be willing to kill her without a very good reason (of the 'Morwen is now evil now for some reason' type). In fairness to her, I think she's mostly correct that he wouldn't kill her without a very good reason, even though she has definitely overestimated how much he cares about her on a personal level. (I think. It's hard to be sure with that man.)
Interesting. It's probably a good thing for her to keep both of them around, just so that they can (a) keep each other on their toes and (b) warn her if the other one gets up to a Scheme, although how much of that she'll be willing to listen to is...up in the air right now because of their obvious personal animosity.
Sure, she's his, but he has responsibilities, and if those responsibilities and his her conflict, he will have to make a decision. Amelios wouldn't kill her hastily, but he doesn't value anyone highly enough to not kill them if the trouble they cause outweighs the value they add. He'd kill Atticus if he had to. He might go home and weep, and he'd do the deed kindly, maybe even personally, but he'd grit his teeth and see it done. Morwen is not as personal to him as Atticus.
They just might be good to keep close for that purpose! I'm not sure how much keeping each other close will actually prevent, because they're both very similar and would probably be on board with the other's scheming if they thought it would help them.
I mean...fair. He's made no bones about that, either. But I don't think he'd just kill her! Certainly not for the reasons that Amelios seems to think he'd kill her. Um. Amelios. Amelios no. That is deeply concerning and unhealthy. We do not kill our friends when they cease to meet some kind of twisted cost/benefit analysis. You need objective morals. And a hug. And therapy. So much therapy. Is Morwen valued at all for herself as opposed to her uses right now?
He probably wouldn't start with killing. He would try and make as many off ramps as he could to get to something that didn't necessitate war or assassination first. But he would, if he had to.
No, no, that's how the world works. It's a complicated equation of costs and benefits, and if the costs outweigh the benefits, then they should be removed from the board. Nobody really has value beyond their usefulness. Even friendships and alliances are only beneficial so far as you can leverage it to do what needs to be done.
Well, that's fair. Morwen would do the same with him, if they ended up at odds in a way that was headed towards armed conflict. It would tear her up, but she'd do it.
*exasperated Morwen yelling from the housetops voice* ALL SAPIENT BEINGS HAVE INHERENT VALUE AND I'LL KICK YOUR BUTT IF YOU SAY THEY DON'T EVEN IF YOU'RE REFERRING TO YOURSELF
(Does this mean that they're friends now that the two of them are useful to each other?)
That is also true and fair, but in her defence, he's a NICE monster. She will not not. He is Friend. Ah, fair point. I meant as in 'scheming to depose and/or assassinate her', but Morwen is probably going to make some rules that they will both disregard and probably scheme in tandem against. She will definitely be much more restrictive in her rules about who can be assassinated than either of them is comfortable with, though she may make exceptions on a case-by-case basis if they actually explain their reasoning to her. I think they're just as likely to ignore her and go murder people anyway. She will sigh and facepalm.
He's done it before. Don't forget, he killed his own father for the benefit of the whole, and it wasn't just a sire-type relationship where they'd never met. He was mentored by the man, expected to lead armies by him, trained.
Did you hear something? Must've been the wind.
(I'm not sure if I'd say that Amelios has friends, but she's certainly getting closer to whatever his equivalent is.)
They probably will get to a point where they don't even tell her. Amelios will be more likely to use an assassination to manipulate her — the king was assassinated and all the evidence points to that one group we've been having issues with; the solution is war! — but that will grate against Peles because he dislikes outright manipulation (instead of subterfuge), so he might slip her some information otherwise. We'll see.
Indeed they do not, and indeed they do not. (Morwen's trying not to be in the thought spiral! Unfortunately she has lots of new trauma that is causing her to spiral. Throwing dirt around with earth magic is satisfying but its therapeutic value is limited.)
At least they do have someone around to help distract them, because Gavrel is...not doing a great job of that re: Morwen right now.
I suppose there's that. Maybe he's getting in his requisite brooding now so he doesn't have to do as much later?
I am...beginning to pick up on that. He's so good at dealing with things like panic attacks most of the time that I vastly overestimated his emotional capacity to deal with a Morwen who isn't responding to (or able to appreciate) physical touch and does have specific emotional needs in her current situation (namely, treat me as normally as you possibly can). I still have no idea how all this is going to shake out.
As much brooding later... Define later. A day, a month, several centuries? He will pick every possible thought to death.
He thinks he is treating her as normally as she can stand! He hasn't really ever dealt with his own trauma, and when people treated him as normally as possible, it just made him think it wasn't a big deal. So this is a big deal, and she needs special treatment because of it, but he's trying.
I have a hypothesis. All of the main characters in Terrafell to date fall into one or more of three categories: Wizard, Warrior, or Wrangler. Only one of these three categories possesses any common sense.
For instance:
Wizard (loses all sense of self preservation in the presence of new magic): Atticus, Peles, Mesinta, Kaera
Warrior (never had any sense of self preservation, as far as I can tell): Gavrel, all the Vanceds
Wrangler (trying very hard to keep everyone else alive): Amelios, Morwen, Casimir, and (surprisingly) Bishop and Izzat
Hey! Only two thirds correct! Wranglers, sans Morwen, only care about keeping themselves and the people they like alive, while hiding their own dark sides of murderousness.
I guess it’s a good thing Morwen’s set herself to make sure everybody lives, then, because she’ll pull the wranglers along with her. XD I thought Amelios, at least, was trying to make sure the world survived in one piece, which requires people to be alive?
Amelios wants the world to be in one piece, but if that means he has to slit a few (hundred) throats to keep it that way, that's the price of stability. They are all Machiavellian, or they would be if Machiavelli lived in Terrafell.
Morwen could make it a crime, if she'd care to. Not cooperating can result in the deaths of thousands, or at least their destitution. Be reasonable.
He's for the highest bidder, in theory, but he's also weird, and currently, he's interested in whatever Morwen is doing. She may live a life unexamined, but she is exciting.
She will do no such thing! He'll have to come up with a better way to phrase that before she'll make it a crime. I mean, yes, sometimes that can be the case, but 'being uncooperative' is far too vague to be a law!
Well, fair enough. He wouldn't be in a murder guild if he didn't have a taste for the exciting, after all! And Things most certainly Happen around and to Morwen. So what I'm hearing is that he's just going to be Around, even if he stops being her bodyguard, and she'll probably take this as friendship, which might...lead to problems...at least she won't hug him, because she knows he dislikes it.
Fine, prioritizing political "wins" over compromise for the welfare of their citizens. Can that be illegal?
I mean, he might be. There are plenty of people that join the Beggars because there simply isn't a better way up in the world. A large portion of their membership are whisper network people, who don't really do any murder or violence so much as just pass on any information they might overhear in exchange for some extra coin to live on. But he absolutely will just be Around, but he probably will just stay on as her bodyguard. It's not so much that he doesn't like touch as that he's cursed himself with toxicness so that his body is constantly exuding poison, and it does sometimes get through his clothes and infect people who touch him or Items he hangs onto for too long. Which he did because he was tortured and now no longer likes touch. So both are correct.
...possibly. Morwen would like that to be illegal. They'll have to workshop the phrasing a bit so it's not too obvious or too broad.
Ah, I see. I do sometimes forget how many Beggars probably joined just to escape poverty. I suppose I assumed that anyone who hit a certain point in the Guild either wanted to be there or had another cogent reason for being protected from assassination. Well, he'll definitely make things interesting for Morwen, as well! Perhaps they'll even manage a rapport, of a kind. He's a deeply strange man. Ouch about the trauma. I mean, I'm not surprised that his poisonous nature is the result of a trauma response, but I am still sad for him.
Certainly not too obvious. But being broad is part of the appeal.
A good chunk. Some people leave, some people stay in. Some people get darker, some people stay surface level but still take the jobs for feeding information to the right people for extra money on the side.
Very strange indeed. But now, all he needs to do to escape is to remove a glove or a sock or his shirt if he absolutely must.
Charter for a Religious Order (which needs a name), under a cut because it MIGHT have spoilers. ( @scleroticstatue I don't think it does, but I'll subject it to your approval before tagging Bri.)
@sunflowergardens-world @kanerallels @sweetcardamom @awwyeah-rambles enjoy a glimpse at one of Morwen's tasks and how she's trying to carry it out in light of Terran morality. Or lack thereof.
Pillars of the order:
Sanctity of life: The capacities of reason and moral freedom can only be received from the God outside all worlds, or the gods of Terrafell. Therefore, any being whose species possesses those capacities (hereafter, 'sapient') is a creation of God or of the gods, and that sapient's life shall be considered precious from the moment of conception to the moment of final, natural death. Age, number of lives remaining, and species are irrelevant to this truth. From this principle proceed the following rules for this Order:
Any sapient who will vow to uphold the principles of the Order and obey its rules may join the Order.
All members of the Order shall support and defend, as much as it lies within their power, the rights of sapients to life, liberty, and property. This includes the right to self-defence and the duty to defend others who cannot protect themselves. This duty shall be carried out regardless of any potential benefit to the brother or sister. This Order shall extend its benefits to rich and poor, slave and free, child, adult, and aged, humanoid and hybrid races, but special care shall be taken of those who do not have the power to protect themselves or to pay others for such protection.
Where it is possible, members of this Order shall seek to deescalate conflict and resolve it through diplomatic means. Do not start fights unnecessarily. Do finish them once they have started.
Members of the Order shall provide for the poor and needy of their communities. This may take the form of covering Guild fees for those who have no means of livelihood, or taking orphaned children as wards of the Order. The Order shall offer substance and shelter to individuals which the Tamed Garden cannot or will not assist, but will not compete with the services offered by the Garden.
Members shall be chaste when unmarried and faithful to their spouse when married.
Obedience to God/the gods: the first duty of all sapients should be to obey the commands of the gods. All members of the Order shall obey these commands above all else.
Obedience to civil authority: in all cases where laws and civil authority do not conflict with the will of the gods, members of the Order shall obey these laws and authority to the full extent of their abilities. Members of the Order shall show all appropriate respect to civil government and governors.
The Order shall not seek to supplant the Tamed Gardens or the Guilds of any location. Training for members, where applicable, shall be sought from the Guilds, healing from the Tamed Gardens, etc. In locations where there are no Guilds or Tamed Gardens, the Order shall offer the services which are needed by the population. Should a Guild later be established in that area, the Order shall arrange to hand off to that Guild the services it provides which the Guild would ordinarily cover. At the discretion of local Guild or Garden Masters, the Order may offer services in addition to those of the Guilds, i.e. sheltering an influx of travellers for whom there is no room at the Garden or Inn. Members whose calling within the Order overlaps with the purpose of a Guild are strongly encouraged to join the appropriate Guild.
Service to the community: this Order does not seek profit. Tithes from members, whether given in specie, goods, or time, shall go first to the maintenance of wards of the order, second, to the provision of necessities to members who have need and to the internal business of the Order, and third to the support of the community. Members who have no other livelihood may receive room and board or stipends, as is most appropriate to their circumstances, and shall be maintained in all reasonable comfort, but without unnecessary luxury.
Order members who are also members of Guilds may and should engage in any forms of trade supported by that Guild, so long as those trades are consistent with the foregoing pillars of the Order. They may and should receive wages for their work, appropriate fees for their goods and services, etc. They shall not charge unreasonable prices nor shall they take advantage of their customers or refuse service to customers who need it and can pay for it.
Members shall distinguish between work done for the Order and work done for the Guilds. Work done for the Guilds is governed, as above, by the rules of the Guild and basic morality. Work done for the Order shall be done for the service of the community and may not be profitable. Members are not expected to impoverish themselves in the service of the Order, but when working in their capacity as members of the Order, they shall place the pillars of the Order above their desire for profit.
Branches:
This Order shall have both lay and consecrated branches. Within each branch, there shall be classifications for those who serve the gods with their various gifts.
Lay:
Lay brothers and sisters may attach themselves to any branch of the Order, but those who believe themselves called to an ascetic life, or any lifelong vow, are encouraged to seek consecration. Individuals who merely wish to engage in a time of contemplation may remain as lay members.
Lay members are expected to contribute 5% of their yearly income to either the Order, or to causes or individuals which support the Order's goals. Contributions may be made as money or goods. Members who have no active income are expected to contribute in the ways in which they are able, such as by gifts of time and work. In general, this contribution shall be taken upon honour. However, in cases where a member is believed to be in default, his or her local abbot or abbess may request some proof that the contribution has been made, and failure to provide this proof, when proceeding from defiance, may lead to censure.
Lay members shall at all times be free to leave the Order at will, though courteous notice given some time before leaving is encouraged.
Lay members are free to marry or be given in marriage, save when already married.
Lay members, if unmarried at the time of joining the Order, may take no more than one spouse at a time while members. Lay members shall not divorce their spouses for any cause less than adultery or abuse. Violation of this rule may lead to censure or expulsion.
Lay members, if married at the time of joining the Order, shall not take additional spouses while members. If a lay member who is married to one spouse loses that spouse to death or to warranted divorce, that member may remarry. Individuals who have multiple spouses may join the Order, but may not marry additional spouses except in the event that all their current spouses die or are divorced for good cause, in which case they may marry one. (Such cases may be investigated for veracity at the discretion of the abbot.)
Lay members may own slaves, where permitted by civil law, but must treat them in accordance with the Order's first pillar, refraining from cruelty or excessive workloads and providing them with adequate food, shelter, medical care, and a feasible method of achieving their freedom should they desire it. At no time should owners of slaves forget that, in the eyes of God, they and their slaves are equals.
Consecrated/set apart:
Consecrated members who have active income are expected to contribute 10% yearly to the Order or some patronage or cause thereof. Outside contributions should be reported in brief to superiors to avoid confusion.
Consecrated members take vows which are binding upon them for life. Should they wantonly break those vows, they will face punishment up to and including expulsion.
Consecrated members shall be considered free to marry or be given in marriage; however, they may take voluntary additional vows of celibacy, for a time or for life, which shall be considered binding upon them by the Order.
No member of the Order shall take an Oath by means of bloodbinding, or any other unbreakable oath. The given word is a solemn thing, but sapients are fallible and may make promises in error. Should a member of the Order become convinced that he or she has taken a vow which it is unwise to keep, that member's superior shall assist him in revising the provisions of the vow or removing it.
Consecrated members may not at any time be married to more than one spouse. Individuals with multiple spouses must remain as lay members, unless they separate from all but one of their spouses. Such separation shall not abrogate any obligation to provide for the separated spouses or any children by them.
Consecrated members may likewise take voluntary vows of poverty, but this is not enjoined upon any. Should they do so, they may choose to donate their wealth directly to others or entrust it to the Order for distribution.
Individuals who own slaves and desire to become consecrated members of the Order must offer freedom to all their slaves before their vows will be accepted. Slaves who, by reason of devotion, do not desire to leave their masters, shall be permitted to remain so long as they will it. All others shall be set free and provided with sufficient goods and training to make their way as free citizens. The Order may assist the former master in providing these things, at the discretion of the abbot or if the master's means are unequal to the task.
Individuals desiring to become consecrated members of the Order shall first enter upon a novitiate, of a duration ranging from one to twenty years, depending on strength of conviction, species, and external circumstances, before swearing lifelong vows. No lifelong vow is recommended without first a temporary vow of a year's duration, at a minimum. Novices may end their novitiate and leave the Order at any time, just as lay members may.
Wards of the Order:
Children who have no parents or guardians capable of caring for them may be taken as wards of the Order until they are adopted, or until they come of age. No binding vows shall be laid upon them until they come of age; however, a ward of the Order who desires to be consecrated may, at the discretion of his superior, have a shortened novitiate period. It is recommended that wards desiring to enter into the Order shall take a period of time to live among the ordinary citizens of Terrafell before making such a decision. The Order shall provide shelter, food, and care for its wards, and shall arrange vocational training for them in the manner most appropriate to their location and gifts.
Wards may be adopted by any married couple who demonstrates both ability and will to provide for them until adulthood. Wards who have reached an age where their preferences can be known shall have those preferences taken into account in any placement with an adoptive family, and may return to the Order in the event that the family proves unsuitable or unwilling to maintain them.
Classifications:
Military: For those whose gifts and training lie towards battle, including combat mages. Military members of the Order shall be organised into units as is most expedient for the needs of the city in which they live. If possible, they shall coordinate with the Adventurers', Wizards', and Crafters' Guilds. They are encouraged to be members of those guilds.
Ascetic/Contemplative: For those who desire to spend their days in prayer, study, and contemplation. They shall follow a schedule of worship, private prayer, and work, which may be set by the abbot or by the head of the Order.
Active civilians: For all those whose gifts lie in craft, farming, healing, etc. Active civilian members shall use their time and talent to advance the Order's purposes as is most appropriate to their gifts. They shall seek to be members of appropriate Guilds and to respect the rules thereof. Members who desire Guild membership but are not able to afford Guild fees may petition to have the Order cover their fees, which shall be done promptly, except in cases where there is some cogent objection.
Discipline:
Wrongdoing by a member of the Order, lay or consecrated, shall be established upon the testimony of two or three sworn witnesses before the member's superior. In cases where no certain verdict can be reached, the accuser and accused shall appeal up the Order's hierarchy, until they reach the current Superior.
Violation of the tenets of the Order will be punished proportionally. Those who steal shall return what was stolen. Those who strike another without justification shall receive a blow themselves.
Corporal punishment may be used for egregious wrongs. Such punishment shall not exceed forty lashes, less one to avoid miscounting.
Members of the Order who have committed such crimes as murder, rape, etc. shall submit to civil justice. If penitent, they shall not be expelled from the Order, but they may be stripped of rank or otherwise censured.
The Order shall be considered obligated to report crimes committed by its members as it becomes aware of them. Where possible, it shall maintain a healthy relationship with local civil authorities.
In cases of miscarriage of justice, the Order may, at its discretion, shelter fugitives. Fugitives who come seeking shelter must disclose the reason for their flight to the abbot as soon as is reasonably possible.
Unrepentant and persistent violation of the Order's tenets may, at the discretion of a member's superior in consultation with two or three others, lead to expulsion.
Expulsion shall not be permanent. An expelled member shall be restored to the Order's ranks upon clear demonstration of penitence, though at the discretion of his or her superior, that member may be stripped of rank at this rejoining and begin again as a novice.
XD I think people in the fictional world may be thinking that I’m part of a cult as well! Atticus already got an inkling of it once, but Gavrel intervened to keep him from grilling Morwen too hard about it.
Totally meant Morwen is going to make people think she's in a cult again. She's had a few warnings of it already. It's the one God thing, but it's also... All the rest.
Knowing a little more of Amelios' history with the Tamed Garden now, I am very curious about what he's going to think of Morwen's new probably-military order. Which may end up losing the clauses about not competing with the Tamed Garden, depending on how badly certain things go in the near future...
He doesn't believe in the gods and he will really struggle with it. Does he stop it because it's preying on false belief? Does he encourage it because it will undercut the power structure of the current religious order? Can he use it to his own advantage, somehow? Questions, questions.
I'm glad he actually has some qualms of conscience about the whole thing. I am also amused at the sheer quantity of questions and stress Morwen seems to be causing the poor man. XD I know it's enrichment for him, so I won't feel guilty. She does, though.
...ah. Well. I see. Does he have a conscience, or have his goals subsumed that? You've mentioned in other posts that he's trying to be a good person in some sense of the word. What does that mean to him, if that isn't a spoiler?
What's a conscience, per your definition? Oh, being a good person is based on the game's Alignment mechanism; selfless, naturally, as well as being an insider and preferable swinging to diplomatic, but at least neutral.
24 hours later, it's still cracking me up that Amelios and Peles are simultaneously having the same experience that Atticus and Gavrel did of "Morwen don't befriend that guy he's incredibly sket--MORWEN NO. MORWEN STOP!" while Morwen merrily goes on befriending the guy because actually :) she can tell you're biased :) and she's PERFECTLY safe with him.
They're both tearing their metaphorical hair out while trying to convince her that the other has no morals and is going to overwrite her mind while she tries to resist the urge to spray them both with water like misbehaving cats and it's hilarious.
"Perfectly safe" "politically convenient for their current goals" basically the same thing, right?
They're not wrong! Neither really have morals, so much as goals. They're concerned that she may not play into the others goal, which may result in her death, and they both recognize the other person is completely capable of doing that if they wish and they won't be able to stop it.
Hey, Peles has decided she's His, so she's safe with him! Amelios...she's not underestimating how dangerous he is, but she might be overestimating how much value he sets on her person, as opposed to her Titles and her political usefulness. She is wary of what he might try to manipulate her into doing and how he might choose to shape the information she receives, but it hasn't occurred to her that he'd be willing to kill her without a very good reason (of the 'Morwen is now evil now for some reason' type). In fairness to her, I think she's mostly correct that he wouldn't kill her without a very good reason, even though she has definitely overestimated how much he cares about her on a personal level. (I think. It's hard to be sure with that man.)
Interesting. It's probably a good thing for her to keep both of them around, just so that they can (a) keep each other on their toes and (b) warn her if the other one gets up to a Scheme, although how much of that she'll be willing to listen to is...up in the air right now because of their obvious personal animosity.
Sure, she's his, but he has responsibilities, and if those responsibilities and his her conflict, he will have to make a decision. Amelios wouldn't kill her hastily, but he doesn't value anyone highly enough to not kill them if the trouble they cause outweighs the value they add. He'd kill Atticus if he had to. He might go home and weep, and he'd do the deed kindly, maybe even personally, but he'd grit his teeth and see it done. Morwen is not as personal to him as Atticus.
They just might be good to keep close for that purpose! I'm not sure how much keeping each other close will actually prevent, because they're both very similar and would probably be on board with the other's scheming if they thought it would help them.
I mean...fair. He's made no bones about that, either. But I don't think he'd just kill her! Certainly not for the reasons that Amelios seems to think he'd kill her. Um. Amelios. Amelios no. That is deeply concerning and unhealthy. We do not kill our friends when they cease to meet some kind of twisted cost/benefit analysis. You need objective morals. And a hug. And therapy. So much therapy. Is Morwen valued at all for herself as opposed to her uses right now?
He probably wouldn't start with killing. He would try and make as many off ramps as he could to get to something that didn't necessitate war or assassination first. But he would, if he had to.
No, no, that's how the world works. It's a complicated equation of costs and benefits, and if the costs outweigh the benefits, then they should be removed from the board. Nobody really has value beyond their usefulness. Even friendships and alliances are only beneficial so far as you can leverage it to do what needs to be done.
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Indeed they do not, and indeed they do not. (Morwen's trying not to be in the thought spiral! Unfortunately she has lots of new trauma that is causing her to spiral. Throwing dirt around with earth magic is satisfying but its therapeutic value is limited.)
At least they do have someone around to help distract them, because Gavrel is...not doing a great job of that re: Morwen right now.
I have a hypothesis. All of the main characters in Terrafell to date fall into one or more of three categories: Wizard, Warrior, or Wrangler. Only one of these three categories possesses any common sense.
For instance:
Wizard (loses all sense of self preservation in the presence of new magic): Atticus, Peles, Mesinta, Kaera
Warrior (never had any sense of self preservation, as far as I can tell): Gavrel, all the Vanceds
Wrangler (trying very hard to keep everyone else alive): Amelios, Morwen, Casimir, and (surprisingly) Bishop and Izzat
Hey! Only two thirds correct! Wranglers, sans Morwen, only care about keeping themselves and the people they like alive, while hiding their own dark sides of murderousness.
I guess it’s a good thing Morwen’s set herself to make sure everybody lives, then, because she’ll pull the wranglers along with her. XD I thought Amelios, at least, was trying to make sure the world survived in one piece, which requires people to be alive?
Amelios wants the world to be in one piece, but if that means he has to slit a few (hundred) throats to keep it that way, that's the price of stability. They are all Machiavellian, or they would be if Machiavelli lived in Terrafell.
Morwen could make it a crime, if she'd care to. Not cooperating can result in the deaths of thousands, or at least their destitution. Be reasonable.
He's for the highest bidder, in theory, but he's also weird, and currently, he's interested in whatever Morwen is doing. She may live a life unexamined, but she is exciting.
She will do no such thing! He'll have to come up with a better way to phrase that before she'll make it a crime. I mean, yes, sometimes that can be the case, but 'being uncooperative' is far too vague to be a law!
Well, fair enough. He wouldn't be in a murder guild if he didn't have a taste for the exciting, after all! And Things most certainly Happen around and to Morwen. So what I'm hearing is that he's just going to be Around, even if he stops being her bodyguard, and she'll probably take this as friendship, which might...lead to problems...at least she won't hug him, because she knows he dislikes it.
Fine, prioritizing political "wins" over compromise for the welfare of their citizens. Can that be illegal?
I mean, he might be. There are plenty of people that join the Beggars because there simply isn't a better way up in the world. A large portion of their membership are whisper network people, who don't really do any murder or violence so much as just pass on any information they might overhear in exchange for some extra coin to live on. But he absolutely will just be Around, but he probably will just stay on as her bodyguard. It's not so much that he doesn't like touch as that he's cursed himself with toxicness so that his body is constantly exuding poison, and it does sometimes get through his clothes and infect people who touch him or Items he hangs onto for too long. Which he did because he was tortured and now no longer likes touch. So both are correct.
Charter for a Religious Order (which needs a name), under a cut because it MIGHT have spoilers. ( @scleroticstatue I don't think it does, but I'll subject it to your approval before tagging Bri.)
@sunflowergardens-world @kanerallels @sweetcardamom @awwyeah-rambles enjoy a glimpse at one of Morwen's tasks and how she's trying to carry it out in light of Terran morality. Or lack thereof.
Pillars of the order:
Sanctity of life: The capacities of reason and moral freedom can only be received from the God outside all worlds, or the gods of Terrafell. Therefore, any being whose species possesses those capacities (hereafter, 'sapient') is a creation of God or of the gods, and that sapient's life shall be considered precious from the moment of conception to the moment of final, natural death. Age, number of lives remaining, and species are irrelevant to this truth. From this principle proceed the following rules for this Order:
Any sapient who will vow to uphold the principles of the Order and obey its rules may join the Order.
All members of the Order shall support and defend, as much as it lies within their power, the rights of sapients to life, liberty, and property. This includes the right to self-defence and the duty to defend others who cannot protect themselves. This duty shall be carried out regardless of any potential benefit to the brother or sister. This Order shall extend its benefits to rich and poor, slave and free, child, adult, and aged, humanoid and hybrid races, but special care shall be taken of those who do not have the power to protect themselves or to pay others for such protection.
Where it is possible, members of this Order shall seek to deescalate conflict and resolve it through diplomatic means. Do not start fights unnecessarily. Do finish them once they have started.
Members of the Order shall provide for the poor and needy of their communities. This may take the form of covering Guild fees for those who have no means of livelihood, or taking orphaned children as wards of the Order. The Order shall offer substance and shelter to individuals which the Tamed Garden cannot or will not assist, but will not compete with the services offered by the Garden.
Members shall be chaste when unmarried and faithful to their spouse when married.
Obedience to God/the gods: the first duty of all sapients should be to obey the commands of the gods. All members of the Order shall obey these commands above all else.
Obedience to civil authority: in all cases where laws and civil authority do not conflict with the will of the gods, members of the Order shall obey these laws and authority to the full extent of their abilities. Members of the Order shall show all appropriate respect to civil government and governors.
The Order shall not seek to supplant the Tamed Gardens or the Guilds of any location. Training for members, where applicable, shall be sought from the Guilds, healing from the Tamed Gardens, etc. In locations where there are no Guilds or Tamed Gardens, the Order shall offer the services which are needed by the population. Should a Guild later be established in that area, the Order shall arrange to hand off to that Guild the services it provides which the Guild would ordinarily cover. At the discretion of local Guild or Garden Masters, the Order may offer services in addition to those of the Guilds, i.e. sheltering an influx of travellers for whom there is no room at the Garden or Inn. Members whose calling within the Order overlaps with the purpose of a Guild are strongly encouraged to join the appropriate Guild.
Service to the community: this Order does not seek profit. Tithes from members, whether given in specie, goods, or time, shall go first to the maintenance of wards of the order, second, to the provision of necessities to members who have need and to the internal business of the Order, and third to the support of the community. Members who have no other livelihood may receive room and board or stipends, as is most appropriate to their circumstances, and shall be maintained in all reasonable comfort, but without unnecessary luxury.
Order members who are also members of Guilds may and should engage in any forms of trade supported by that Guild, so long as those trades are consistent with the foregoing pillars of the Order. They may and should receive wages for their work, appropriate fees for their goods and services, etc. They shall not charge unreasonable prices nor shall they take advantage of their customers or refuse service to customers who need it and can pay for it.
Members shall distinguish between work done for the Order and work done for the Guilds. Work done for the Guilds is governed, as above, by the rules of the Guild and basic morality. Work done for the Order shall be done for the service of the community and may not be profitable. Members are not expected to impoverish themselves in the service of the Order, but when working in their capacity as members of the Order, they shall place the pillars of the Order above their desire for profit.
Branches:
This Order shall have both lay and consecrated branches. Within each branch, there shall be classifications for those who serve the gods with their various gifts.
Lay:
Lay brothers and sisters may attach themselves to any branch of the Order, but those who believe themselves called to an ascetic life, or any lifelong vow, are encouraged to seek consecration. Individuals who merely wish to engage in a time of contemplation may remain as lay members.
Lay members are expected to contribute 5% of their yearly income to either the Order, or to causes or individuals which support the Order's goals. Contributions may be made as money or goods. Members who have no active income are expected to contribute in the ways in which they are able, such as by gifts of time and work. In general, this contribution shall be taken upon honour. However, in cases where a member is believed to be in default, his or her local abbot or abbess may request some proof that the contribution has been made, and failure to provide this proof, when proceeding from defiance, may lead to censure.
Lay members shall at all times be free to leave the Order at will, though courteous notice given some time before leaving is encouraged.
Lay members are free to marry or be given in marriage, save when already married.
Lay members, if unmarried at the time of joining the Order, may take no more than one spouse at a time while members. Lay members shall not divorce their spouses for any cause less than adultery or abuse. Violation of this rule may lead to censure or expulsion.
Lay members, if married at the time of joining the Order, shall not take additional spouses while members. If a lay member who is married to one spouse loses that spouse to death or to warranted divorce, that member may remarry. Individuals who have multiple spouses may join the Order, but may not marry additional spouses except in the event that all their current spouses die or are divorced for good cause, in which case they may marry one. (Such cases may be investigated for veracity at the discretion of the abbot.)
Lay members may own slaves, where permitted by civil law, but must treat them in accordance with the Order's first pillar, refraining from cruelty or excessive workloads and providing them with adequate food, shelter, medical care, and a feasible method of achieving their freedom should they desire it. At no time should owners of slaves forget that, in the eyes of God, they and their slaves are equals.
Consecrated/set apart:
Consecrated members who have active income are expected to contribute 10% yearly to the Order or some patronage or cause thereof. Outside contributions should be reported in brief to superiors to avoid confusion.
Consecrated members take vows which are binding upon them for life. Should they wantonly break those vows, they will face punishment up to and including expulsion.
Consecrated members shall be considered free to marry or be given in marriage; however, they may take voluntary additional vows of celibacy, for a time or for life, which shall be considered binding upon them by the Order.
No member of the Order shall take an Oath by means of bloodbinding, or any other unbreakable oath. The given word is a solemn thing, but sapients are fallible and may make promises in error. Should a member of the Order become convinced that he or she has taken a vow which it is unwise to keep, that member's superior shall assist him in revising the provisions of the vow or removing it.
Consecrated members may not at any time be married to more than one spouse. Individuals with multiple spouses must remain as lay members, unless they separate from all but one of their spouses. Such separation shall not abrogate any obligation to provide for the separated spouses or any children by them.
Consecrated members may likewise take voluntary vows of poverty, but this is not enjoined upon any. Should they do so, they may choose to donate their wealth directly to others or entrust it to the Order for distribution.
Individuals who own slaves and desire to become consecrated members of the Order must offer freedom to all their slaves before their vows will be accepted. Slaves who, by reason of devotion, do not desire to leave their masters, shall be permitted to remain so long as they will it. All others shall be set free and provided with sufficient goods and training to make their way as free citizens. The Order may assist the former master in providing these things, at the discretion of the abbot or if the master's means are unequal to the task.
Individuals desiring to become consecrated members of the Order shall first enter upon a novitiate, of a duration ranging from one to twenty years, depending on strength of conviction, species, and external circumstances, before swearing lifelong vows. No lifelong vow is recommended without first a temporary vow of a year's duration, at a minimum. Novices may end their novitiate and leave the Order at any time, just as lay members may.
Wards of the Order:
Children who have no parents or guardians capable of caring for them may be taken as wards of the Order until they are adopted, or until they come of age. No binding vows shall be laid upon them until they come of age; however, a ward of the Order who desires to be consecrated may, at the discretion of his superior, have a shortened novitiate period. It is recommended that wards desiring to enter into the Order shall take a period of time to live among the ordinary citizens of Terrafell before making such a decision. The Order shall provide shelter, food, and care for its wards, and shall arrange vocational training for them in the manner most appropriate to their location and gifts.
Wards may be adopted by any married couple who demonstrates both ability and will to provide for them until adulthood. Wards who have reached an age where their preferences can be known shall have those preferences taken into account in any placement with an adoptive family, and may return to the Order in the event that the family proves unsuitable or unwilling to maintain them.
Classifications:
Military: For those whose gifts and training lie towards battle, including combat mages. Military members of the Order shall be organised into units as is most expedient for the needs of the city in which they live. If possible, they shall coordinate with the Adventurers', Wizards', and Crafters' Guilds. They are encouraged to be members of those guilds.
Ascetic/Contemplative: For those who desire to spend their days in prayer, study, and contemplation. They shall follow a schedule of worship, private prayer, and work, which may be set by the abbot or by the head of the Order.
Active civilians: For all those whose gifts lie in craft, farming, healing, etc. Active civilian members shall use their time and talent to advance the Order's purposes as is most appropriate to their gifts. They shall seek to be members of appropriate Guilds and to respect the rules thereof. Members who desire Guild membership but are not able to afford Guild fees may petition to have the Order cover their fees, which shall be done promptly, except in cases where there is some cogent objection.
Discipline:
Wrongdoing by a member of the Order, lay or consecrated, shall be established upon the testimony of two or three sworn witnesses before the member's superior. In cases where no certain verdict can be reached, the accuser and accused shall appeal up the Order's hierarchy, until they reach the current Superior.
Violation of the tenets of the Order will be punished proportionally. Those who steal shall return what was stolen. Those who strike another without justification shall receive a blow themselves.
Corporal punishment may be used for egregious wrongs. Such punishment shall not exceed forty lashes, less one to avoid miscounting.
Members of the Order who have committed such crimes as murder, rape, etc. shall submit to civil justice. If penitent, they shall not be expelled from the Order, but they may be stripped of rank or otherwise censured.
The Order shall be considered obligated to report crimes committed by its members as it becomes aware of them. Where possible, it shall maintain a healthy relationship with local civil authorities.
In cases of miscarriage of justice, the Order may, at its discretion, shelter fugitives. Fugitives who come seeking shelter must disclose the reason for their flight to the abbot as soon as is reasonably possible.
Unrepentant and persistent violation of the Order's tenets may, at the discretion of a member's superior in consultation with two or three others, lead to expulsion.
Expulsion shall not be permanent. An expelled member shall be restored to the Order's ranks upon clear demonstration of penitence, though at the discretion of his or her superior, that member may be stripped of rank at this rejoining and begin again as a novice.
XD I think people in the fictional world may be thinking that I’m part of a cult as well! Atticus already got an inkling of it once, but Gavrel intervened to keep him from grilling Morwen too hard about it.
Totally meant Morwen is going to make people think she's in a cult again. She's had a few warnings of it already. It's the one God thing, but it's also... All the rest.
Knowing a little more of Amelios' history with the Tamed Garden now, I am very curious about what he's going to think of Morwen's new probably-military order. Which may end up losing the clauses about not competing with the Tamed Garden, depending on how badly certain things go in the near future...
He doesn't believe in the gods and he will really struggle with it. Does he stop it because it's preying on false belief? Does he encourage it because it will undercut the power structure of the current religious order? Can he use it to his own advantage, somehow? Questions, questions.
I'm glad he actually has some qualms of conscience about the whole thing. I am also amused at the sheer quantity of questions and stress Morwen seems to be causing the poor man. XD I know it's enrichment for him, so I won't feel guilty. She does, though.
24 hours later, it's still cracking me up that Amelios and Peles are simultaneously having the same experience that Atticus and Gavrel did of "Morwen don't befriend that guy he's incredibly sket--MORWEN NO. MORWEN STOP!" while Morwen merrily goes on befriending the guy because actually :) she can tell you're biased :) and she's PERFECTLY safe with him.
They're both tearing their metaphorical hair out while trying to convince her that the other has no morals and is going to overwrite her mind while she tries to resist the urge to spray them both with water like misbehaving cats and it's hilarious.
"Perfectly safe" "politically convenient for their current goals" basically the same thing, right?
They're not wrong! Neither really have morals, so much as goals. They're concerned that she may not play into the others goal, which may result in her death, and they both recognize the other person is completely capable of doing that if they wish and they won't be able to stop it.
Hey, Peles has decided she's His, so she's safe with him! Amelios...she's not underestimating how dangerous he is, but she might be overestimating how much value he sets on her person, as opposed to her Titles and her political usefulness. She is wary of what he might try to manipulate her into doing and how he might choose to shape the information she receives, but it hasn't occurred to her that he'd be willing to kill her without a very good reason (of the 'Morwen is now evil now for some reason' type). In fairness to her, I think she's mostly correct that he wouldn't kill her without a very good reason, even though she has definitely overestimated how much he cares about her on a personal level. (I think. It's hard to be sure with that man.)
Interesting. It's probably a good thing for her to keep both of them around, just so that they can (a) keep each other on their toes and (b) warn her if the other one gets up to a Scheme, although how much of that she'll be willing to listen to is...up in the air right now because of their obvious personal animosity.
Sure, she's his, but he has responsibilities, and if those responsibilities and his her conflict, he will have to make a decision. Amelios wouldn't kill her hastily, but he doesn't value anyone highly enough to not kill them if the trouble they cause outweighs the value they add. He'd kill Atticus if he had to. He might go home and weep, and he'd do the deed kindly, maybe even personally, but he'd grit his teeth and see it done. Morwen is not as personal to him as Atticus.
They just might be good to keep close for that purpose! I'm not sure how much keeping each other close will actually prevent, because they're both very similar and would probably be on board with the other's scheming if they thought it would help them.
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I have a hypothesis. All of the main characters in Terrafell to date fall into one or more of three categories: Wizard, Warrior, or Wrangler. Only one of these three categories possesses any common sense.
For instance:
Wizard (loses all sense of self preservation in the presence of new magic): Atticus, Peles, Mesinta, Kaera
Warrior (never had any sense of self preservation, as far as I can tell): Gavrel, all the Vanceds
Wrangler (trying very hard to keep everyone else alive): Amelios, Morwen, Casimir, and (surprisingly) Bishop and Izzat
Hey! Only two thirds correct! Wranglers, sans Morwen, only care about keeping themselves and the people they like alive, while hiding their own dark sides of murderousness.
I guess it’s a good thing Morwen’s set herself to make sure everybody lives, then, because she’ll pull the wranglers along with her. XD I thought Amelios, at least, was trying to make sure the world survived in one piece, which requires people to be alive?
Amelios wants the world to be in one piece, but if that means he has to slit a few (hundred) throats to keep it that way, that's the price of stability. They are all Machiavellian, or they would be if Machiavelli lived in Terrafell.
Morwen could make it a crime, if she'd care to. Not cooperating can result in the deaths of thousands, or at least their destitution. Be reasonable.
He's for the highest bidder, in theory, but he's also weird, and currently, he's interested in whatever Morwen is doing. She may live a life unexamined, but she is exciting.
24 hours later, it's still cracking me up that Amelios and Peles are simultaneously having the same experience that Atticus and Gavrel did of "Morwen don't befriend that guy he's incredibly sket--MORWEN NO. MORWEN STOP!" while Morwen merrily goes on befriending the guy because actually :) she can tell you're biased :) and she's PERFECTLY safe with him.
They're both tearing their metaphorical hair out while trying to convince her that the other has no morals and is going to overwrite her mind while she tries to resist the urge to spray them both with water like misbehaving cats and it's hilarious.
"Perfectly safe" "politically convenient for their current goals" basically the same thing, right?
They're not wrong! Neither really have morals, so much as goals. They're concerned that she may not play into the others goal, which may result in her death, and they both recognize the other person is completely capable of doing that if they wish and they won't be able to stop it.
