hey hey hey, let’s talk about honor! specifically, a chevalier’s honor, and the code by which gaspard lives!
what honor is not: it is not a nebulous, poetic, romanticized vision of moral purity and utter lack of anything resembling ‘problematic’ behavior, especially if the moral code we’re basing it on is a contemporary western one. this isn’t Prince Charming territory, with singing bluebirds and fluffy bunnies and kindness and generosity to all and sundry. we’re not talking about some fluffy concept of chivalry ripped right out of King Arthur (seriously, read up on it, that type of ‘chivalry’ has never really existed in society and has always been a romanticized ideal.)
what honor is: a strict set of behaviors and values which have literally been codified by the order of chevaliers in order to govern their members’ behavior in battle and in dealing with the nobility. dealings with peasants, servants, serfs, middle class merchants, elves of any stripe...? not, explicitly or otherwise, covered under the code of honor.
got that much? so here’s the basics of the code, as gaspard explains it or displays it over the course of TME, helpfully bulleted for your edification!
a chevalier will answer without hesitation when given direct challenge by another chevalier;
a chevalier will not retreat without order from their commanding officer;
a chevalier will not kill a lord or lady outside the heat of battle unless it is a legal execution in the name of the empire;
a chevalier is not an assassin;
a chevalier will not rise up against the rightful authority while wearing house colors;
a chevalier will not break a truce or attack an ally, however temporary that truce/ ally might be;
a chevalier will not resort to torture
now, of course there’s more to it than that, but here we have some of the basics. there are other rules which govern duels themselves, etc. but worth noting, of course, is that oft-repeated line, honor does not preclude tactics. that means that chevaliers are allowed to be smart soldiers. in fact, they’re expected to be.
what that means is that chevaliers can, and will, set ambushes, use trickery and misdirection on the battlefield, manipulate rumor and make use of deception in court dealings, make use of enchanted items and a mage’s hexes and buffs, use the best possible armor and equipment, etc. none of that breaks the code of honor.
in effect, what we have here is a group of nobles with a great degree of temporal power already, and now we’ve got them mounted on horses, wearing full armor and bearing weapons, and extremely well-trained in how to use those weapons. if you were one of the nobles who didn’t, or couldn’t for some reason, bear a sword, might you not be a little worried about now?
basically, the code of honor is a way to set checks on the behavior of the chevaliers in their dealings with other nobles. full stop. it’s trained into them, using at times very harsh methods, and quite a number of tests of loyalty. but it’s ultimately not for the protection of anyone but other nobles.
