001.

[dashing]

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Hellion Damsel Herian Amsel
RECIPIENT: everyone with a crystal
WHAT: HONOUR!!!
WHEN: Backdated just a little, before the worst family vacation.
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Info post. Herian's background includes themes of violence, torture and death, as well as discrimination and PTSD. While she will not in general be vocal about some of her own prejudices (against anti-Circle apostates and Dalish and nobles as some examples) it is very likely to come up in narrative and could come up in dialogue depending on interactions. Here is an opt out post if you'd rather certain things be avoided, or if you'd like to opt out of interactions with her in general.

( The voice is a unique one; perfectly clear and precise without being loud, soft-spoken without being in danger of losing itself to a gust of wind. It is markedly Starkhaven, tone measured and even and ever-respectful. She does not sound tired, or weak, simply controlled, as if that control is an easy thing, comfortable and well-worn. )

People of the Inquisition.

I fear I have waited overlong in making introductions. I came newly arrived to the Inquisition some months past— I am Herian Amsel, Enchanter of the White Spire, presently I serve amongst your ranks as Knight-Enchanter and member of the Mage Council.

My query is a matter of personal interest - an indulgence, mayhaps.

What means "honour" to you? What significance does it hold? What role have you crafted for it in your life?

Pray forgive me if you deem this an overstep; I simply have a mind to better acquaint myself with those about me, and with whom I share a common cause.

Comments

[samahl]

Why are you asking, if you don't mind the inquiry?

[dashing]

( Thing she considered, but decided to not put her off from using the crystals after literal months: being unable to identify and avoid Dalish, avoid discomfort, avoid the feeling that her heart is fighting its way out of her chest.

Ye Olde YOLO, or something. )

Not at all.

As a Knight-Enchanter, I believe that the tenants of knighthood are just as important, if not moreso, than the power magic grants us. They are a code by which to conduct ourselves, determine what must be done and how we must act, even that path is the more difficult or treacherous terrain. We must be more than ourselves and our own whims or desires. Honour is, I think, key amongst that code, and in its application. Without honour, well might we overlook elements when it best suits us, or warp them to better serve our own interests.

( A pause, then, voice still perfectly even. ) I have also met many who believe honour a fool's concern. It would be... an unhappy thing, by mine own reckoning, if things were considered thus within the Inquisition.

[samahl]

[If Cyril was another sort of man, he might point out how Knight-Enchanters come from an old Elvhen technique, but he doesn't - at least not yet.]

I think you'll find most of the leadership would agree with you then. The goals of the Inquisition are better when we strive to accomplish something greater than ourselves.

[circleprodigy]

I can only speak for myself, but I believe it to be of great significance. Without it, there is only chaos. Honor reminds us to stand up for what is right, keep our word no matter the difficulty, take responsibility for our actions. It reminds us to protect the vulnerable at whatever cost to ourselves.

[dashing]

We are agreed, Warden Serra.

( In part, her contemplation comes from their mission together, from the danger that others were willing to subject so many to when dealing with an abomination, a desire born in compassion but warped with selfishness.

She will not cast the name of any that fought together with her during that Maker forsaken mission in shame or shadow. Not in so public a forum as this. )

If we survive without honour, than what a world will be sculpted? And if we ignore the path of what is right, simply because it is more difficult or dangerous to us— then we cannot hope to save the world. Only to condemn it through stubborn negligence.

[circleprodigy]

[Likewise, Inessa doesn't touch upon the mission itself or those involved even as she doesn't doubt that such memories have contributed to this query.]

Indeed. It's not enough to save the world, if actions taken to do so taint the world that is to come after. I've seen the results of 'the ends justify the means', excuses made not to hold oneself accountable for atrocious deeds. We must always hold ourselves accountable, or we risk heading down that same path.

[thecookery]

It's a pretty word, innit? Mostly used to make yourself feel good and someone else look bad. Or turned about to give yourself the go-ahead for something you wanted to do anyway.

[dashing]

One might contend that weilding honour to the ends of denigrating another is not honour, at all. Respectfully I disagree. There have been a good many times when acting according to my wants or instinct conflicts with how how honour dictates I must.

[thecookery]

And if there's more of the kind of "honourable men" I've met than the kind you are? Are you still right about what it means anymore?

[apostafuckyou]

If you try to do the right thing on the things that are important, that's honor.

[A simple definition. He knows a lot of people will split it seventy different ways, that there's complex rules and expectations, but this is what seems like it should matter.]

[dashing]

In it's simplest form. That is the soul of it, although I find myself curious, Councillor, as to what matters might be defined as too trivial for honour. It seems a dangerous line, and one like to be warped and muddied.

[apostafuckyou]

I'm not gonna beat myself up for stealin' a bite off a friend's plate.

[More seriously:] I suppose I'd know it when I saw it. I trust myself to be moral without needin' to be told when I've crossed a line.

I guess that involves a lot of faith, but it seems as though any version of this would.

[apologist]

According to Aceline Masson-- [ She's some sort of scholar from the University. ] --it is the social opposite of shame. The personal opposite of shame is dignity--a man can act dishonorably and still hold himself forth with dignity, if he believes he is correct and society is wrong, and hold his chin high in the gallows as he is pelted with fruit.

But the social opposite is honor. It is when your actions align with what the people around you value and respect--a man who no one wishes to see hung--though if we are lucky, law and honor will coincide. I have seen a silent hanging. I would not like to see another.

[dashing]

( Orlesian; scholarly, perhaps, or simply one well read - not a peasant, a commonor, she suspected. More like a noble or one placed in the care of the Chantry, as was she.

Common folk were not all illiterate as she had been before she was taken to Circle, from her understanding, but it seemed inevitable that there were limitations enough that she is more inclined to consider him other.

One would win more favour from her oc the choice between nobility and Chantry-dedicated, but neither would she be quick to dismiss. Doubly so when it was they who acquiesced to engage with her query. )

I would hazard a guess she is a woman of some education, this Aceline Masson.

I know not that my thoughts are like to reconcile with hers. They seem to account little for how much our society is divided, or to assume that honour must be subjective, rather than absolute. Cruelty is no more honourable in Starkhaven than Val Royeaux, cowardice no less repugnant.

It seems either remiss or a greatly innocent means of thinking, by mine own experience, to assume that there will not be times when people can stir each other to acts of cruelty and celebrate it. In such cases as that, adhering to what has been deemed respectable or valued, as you say, would surely be dishonorable.

What make you of it?

[apologist]

She is a woman of some publications, [ Jehan says. Whether that's meant as a complimentary expansion on her resume or as an implication that being published and being educated are two different things--well. There's no telling from his tone. ]

I have not thought much of it before, myself, but I cannot claim to know any law that is absolute and universal save the Maker's, and some would be very happy to disagree with even that.

From what I have seen myself, as I've traveled, there are places where to insult a man and then refuse to answer his challenge to duel is a matter of great shame. Not a day's walk away there may be a place where killing a man solely for injury to one's reputation is considered barbaric, and the man who refuses to fight seen as even-tempered and dignified--and that is only among civilized societies, to say nothing of the variation among tribes. There is a sense of honor even among thieves and pirates. It is not the same honor that guides a knight, but it is a kind of honor nonetheless.

As something separate from morality, and ethics, and justice, perhaps honor is specifically the word for the obligation of a specific person to right specific wrongs. For most, it is a matter of honor to defend themselves and their families from harm or humiliation. It is not a responsibility that can be set aside without shame. Adopting a code expands what is considered yours to defend and uphold. I would not task a peasant with coming between a cruel man and a beaten wife--it may be brave of him to do so, but he may have children who would be ill-served if he never came home to them. I would not say he is obligated to stop or dishonorable to keep walking. For a knight not to stop, however--that is another matter.

[ He could talk forever, but he does at least pause for breath. ]

[fightorfright]

( Here, have a decidedly Tantervale voice speaking out in return. )

Doubt anyone will be offended by your innocuous question. These stones have seen worse muck. ( Yes, she's referring to all the innuendo-laden 'games' that surface from time to time. )

Honour doesn't really mean much of anything to me. Always seemed to matter more to those who were well off enough to be able to acquire it, if you ask me.

[dashing]

( A quiet breath, at that, though it does not quite make it to being audibly amused. Muck, now. She did not see the harm in certain types of games, so long as certain things were kept in consideration. That said, she was in no rush to participate. )

Honour is not a commodity to be purchased. By my estimation, to be of noble rank does not render a heart noble, and plentiful coin can buy many things, but honour is based in decisions made and actions taken.

[fightorfright]

Right. ( She's just... going to pretend that made sense to her, even though it totally didn't. ) Alright, however one becomes honourable - - what is the point, exactly? It seems more to get people into trouble they don't want than anything else.

[foxsays]

Where I am from, honour matters enough that you might find yourself fighting a duel if you feel yours has been slighted.

[That first bit is hopefully enough to clue Herian to the fact that this is Araceli rather than some other random.]

We are what we are seen to be in the eyes of other people. Honour has put steel in my spine and tried to draw blood from me. A person is always given a chance to regain their honour, at least in a duel, that's the whole point of the thing. Of course nobility had a far easier time of that than many of us.

[Which is why her pirate father had his duellist best friend teach his only daughter when her temper became apparent.]

[dashing]

( She recognises the voice, and the words reassure her deduction. ) Lady Bonaventura, I am glad to hear you well.

( Considering what's she's said for a moment before carrying on, Herian weighs the words, turning them over in her mind. )

A trait not unique to your home. Though— I am curious if you mean that nobility have some inherent cause in acting honourably, or simply that they are better placed to become able duellists than many others.

[foxsays]

Gracias for your gift, Señora Amsel, it was appreciated more than I can say.

Both. Better placed to become duellists; a blade is expensive, lessons moreso, and it takes hours of dedication that most do not have when they have to work to put food on the table and a roof over their head - all too often the choice is one or the other, not both. [Herian does not need to know what a pistol is, even still a touch rattled as she is she knows alarm bells when she hears them.] Nobles can sometimes take even a look in their direction as a slight upon their honour. Walking in their part of the city or the country can be taken as a challenge.

Too often, there is very little that is noble at all about nobles. [That is perhaps the most openly catty thing Araceli has said on the sending crystals, congratulations Herian.] I found myself saddened but unsurprised to see it repeated in Thedas.

[stabsbooks]

Honor is what drives us to fulfill our duty as best we can, to strive always for justice and truth. It is not a quality that is inherent in one's person, but one that must be fought for, every day, and constantly maintained. It is equally important to recognize one's own missteps and learn from them as to consider and craft one's own picture of what is right.

As for its significance, it should be vitally important to us all. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

[dashing]

There no part of what you say with which I do not agree. There are a good many who consider honour easily discarded, and any who deem themselves honourable without fault.... more than like their arrogance undercuts their ability to be truly watchful of their actions.

[unsullies]

[ Hmmm. ]

Honor is... following what you - believe to be right. Adhering to a personal code. Staying true to one's own path.

[ "It's complicated," or something. ]

There is a lot said about honor in my world, the code of knights and lords and kings. Unfortunately, more of them than not are dishonorable, I think.

[dashing]

I have been musing along a similar vein with another. If honour means simply to do what is right, then better we consider the perspective of those who are defining it. ( She pauses a moment, trying to explain. )

There are a good many things we might consider right, rooted in our own feelings and instincts, that are not honourable. ( She has a good many, herself. )
There are those who would consider the condition of elves right, by virtue of their being human and elves being considered lesser. A Fereldan might deem it right to sling unprovoked offence at an Orlesian for a past invasion. Honour though, demands that all be treated with kindness and respect, and that offence that is reckless or for our own satisfaction cannot be condoned. It cannot be entirely personal, when the personal can lead us to be so— self-serving.