The right question

Hazelelponi of the Shattered Tower is the Lepidean Librarian, who guides the research of the Lepidean University and whose controversial researches has challenged centuries of accepted wisdom regarding inspirational figures.

Introduction

In Spring 387YE Hazelelponi of the Shattered Tower, the Lepidean Librarian, charged us with researching "the origins of exemplars in our faith". We thank the Librarian for the opportunity to consider this important subject, we will do our best to collate what facts we can from the records in the hope that it will prove useful. This subject has long been one that has challenged the Empire since exemplars are not mentioned in the Doctrines of the Faith and scholars have debated their place and purpose.

Heirs of Lepidus, people look to the Synod for guidance, we may be in crisis, but Wisdom comes from asking the right questions. Through asking those questions, we made the Doctrine of Enlightenment, so I guide you to research the origins of exemplars in our faith, so that we may bolster all in our Empire.

Lepidean Librarian, Spring 387YE

The Paragons

We know for certain that the paragons were widely recognised as inspirational figures well before the codification of the Doctrines of the Faith. A figure like the Sentinel demonstrates this. The fortifications, structures, towers, and keeps that were ascribed to the Sentinel predate the Empire by a millennia or more. These buildings are not Terunael in style or construction and indeed they are referenced as being old in the few surviving Terunael texts currently in the Great Library of Hacynian. There is a fragment of a surviving book, the Aluvian, which refers to the Five Towers of the Stars in the hills of Operus. The most common translation describes the towers surmounting five great peaks "chained together in the shape of the stars". In 239YE, Emelius of Canterspire was able to identify these towers - five long-abandoned watchtowers laid out in a pattern that seems reminiscent of that of the constellation known as the Chain.

The Terunael text talks of the towers being "raised from the earth to the stars by the Creator's servant". This unusual turn of phrase is not unique to the Aluvian, it crops up in other texts and always in the context of a great builder or architect. The turn of phrase, and the context in which it is used by the Terunael, is almost always in the most reverential tones that suggest a god-like figure. The only known exception to that is a translation provided by a Navarr guide from before the formation of the Empire who claimed to have translated a Iaith text describing the being who made the foundation of the Silent Sentinel as "the Creator's slave". Given how little we know about this author, it is safest to assume that they mistranslated the text they reference.

Whatever the matter, the point is that the majority of the paragons are figures of extraordinary importance from before the formation of the Empire and the codification of the Doctrines of Faith. In a few cases these figures were worshipped as gods, at other times they are described as legendary foundational figures, described in similar terms to those used by the Suaq when speaking about the legendary Sermersuaq.

However, nobody called them "paragons" then. There are no references to paragons in any Terunael writings and none in the writings of the people who followed them. The first mention of the paragons is during the Highborn civil war. One text from that time talks of the virtues and the dream of becoming a "paragon of virtue" to escape the bonds of the mortal world. The few surviving records from the war all use the same references; they never mention a paragon by name. Even when they talk of Atun or Atuman, they always refer to them as "navigators" not as actual paragons. But they did describe the quest to become a paragon - that is seen as something of singular importance to many of the first Highborn chapters. One of the earliest chapters was called the Seekers of Wisdom. The only thing that survives from their chapterhouse is a stone plaque with still bears their name beneath which it simply states "We search for the way - the path to become paragons of virtue."

It was this yearning, this search for a way to become a paragon, that appears to have been the driving animus behind the foundation of several of the chapters. Despite this, they didn't name any paragons at that time, they seemed to believe it was a spiritual journey that they were on together, rather than a path that others had trod in the past.

The Foundation of the Way

This focus had clearly shifted by the time of the foundation of the Way. By this point, Highborn wayfarers had already spread the virtues far and wide, even reaching distant Wintermark (although it would be some time before the Way itself was widely adopted in the north-west). It appears that many of the people to whom they took the virtues found it easiest to understand the idea of the Way in terms of local heroes or figures of importance they could view as paragons. Good Walder is an obvious example. Many of the early monks and friars in the Marches appear to have enthusiastically embraced the idea of Good Walder as a paragon of Prosperity, someone who exhibited all the finest qualities of the Marches and whose virtue knew no bounds.

When these people came together there was a general clamour to have these figures recognised as paragons by nations outside Highguard. The creation of the Doctrine of the Paragons seems to be an explicit attempt to make sense of this chaos by identifying which figures were actual Paragons and which were not. The records suggest some extraordinarily bitter disagreements at this time. Copies of judgements from this period exist that include denunciation of specific paragons from other nations in terms that may well appear unseemly to our modern sensibilities. It was apparently not uncommon for the early Synod to accept judgements that employed very earthy language.

Where the Doctrine of Paragons came from is beyond the scope of this work - not least because it would require a thorough examination of the eight signs of the paragon. That information is definitely contained in some of the historical records in the Library and other chapters, spires and similar - but to gather it all together would require a season's work all by itself.

What is crucial to note is that there is no record of any attempts to recognise exemplars at this time. The Doctrines of the Faith - which were painfully argued over and agreed in the years following the Foundation of the Empire - include the idea of becoming a paragon, but exemplars are not mentioned in any of the Doctrines, neither those that passed, nor those that failed.

The First Exemplar

The first recorded exemplar is Lady Elayne Silverlark who was recognised by the Imperial Synod in 18YE. The common histories state that she had been recognised as an exemplar of Loyalty by the Highborn Assembly of the Virtuous in pre-Imperial Highguard, but that turns out to be a little... simplistic.

Elayne's performances had a powerful impact on the composure of those Highborn who experienced them. She demonstrated a personal commitment to Loyalty that many Highborn found deeply moving - and her music and poetry was said to stir the soul. The Highborn claimed it lifted the souls of those who heard it to act with Loyalty in their hearts and helped them to overcome vice. At a time when many Highborn were unsure if a nation like Dawn were virtuous enough to embrace the Way, Elayne Silverlark demonstrated a strength of Loyalty that inspired everyone who met her.

There is no evidence that the Highborn thought of Lady Elayne Silverlark as an exemplar, a word that is rarely used before the foundation of the Empire. As far as we can tell the Highborn at the time were clear that the Silverlark was a paragon - someone whose supreme virtue had enabled them to escape the Labyrinth.

The Silverlark, the virtuous soul born Lady Elayne Silverlark, exemplifies the virtue of Loyalty. It is long past time her virtue was recognised beyond Highguard. We call on this Assembly to grant this paragon of Loyalty the recognition they deserve. The seven signs are:

• Recognition: The deeds of the Silverlark are recognised in half the nations of the Empire
• Benevolence: Elayne's support for Godric is the perfect example of virtue untainted by personal advantage
• Inspiration: The stories, songs and poems created by the Silverlark have been an inspiration to all
• Miracles: The music of the Silverlark was a source of spiritual strength to many how heard it
• Pilgrimage: To Bastion where the Lady performed The Flowers of Auvanne outside the gates of the Basilica of Seven Doors
• Salvation: Lady Elayne's embodiment of Loyalty help to bring the nation of Dawn to the Way
• Legacy: The songs and poems she wrote stand as her legacy.

Eve of Soul's Rest

In 17YE, the Highborn delegation to the Synod didn't present the Silverlark as an exemplar, but as a paragon. What followed was a contentious and vibrant debate of the Silverlark's status in which a number of assemblies disputed her virtue in ways that other priests publicly decried as nakedly political. Elayne's recognition as a paragon received strong support from Highguard and Dawn and to a lesser extent Wintermark, but priests of the Marches were virulently opposed and were able to draw on support from the League, the Brass Coast, and Varushka.

The Synod in those days was much smaller, and it was more common for priests to submit judgements directly attacking the arguments put forward by other priests. Thus we have records of the Marcher priests making very pointed claims that Elayne Silverlark was little more than a figurehead to justify the subservient place of yeofolk in Dawnish society. This produced a spate of judgements questioning the virtue of the Marcher priests who had disdained the Silverlark.

Other nations were more fragmented in their opposition. A group of wise ones from the Vale of Ozketcha claimed that the stories of the Silverlark presented a dangerously unwise story because of the suggestion they contain that a deal with a sovereign can help one escape a foolish bargain. There was criticism from Freeborn sutannir who claimed that the Silverlark's message of Loyalty was flawed because it was not reciprocated - a claim that is vituperously denied by the Dawnish who used their own judgements to accuse the Freeborn priests of having been paid to make these claims by the Marchers.

According to one account from the time, these arguments continued for the best part of a year, with attempts to recognise the Silverlark as a paragon failing on two separate occasions. Each time the issue was raised and fell short, Dawnish troubadours and Marcher priests would issue a volley of judgements casting aspersions on the other's judgements in highly personal terms. There is some sign that the Synod were wearying of the issue, the votes on all these judgements attracted less and less priests either in favour or against.

A Political Compromise

By 18YE the Empire appeared to have adopted a political compromise. Rather than accept that Lady Elayne Silverlark was a paragon, a judgement that required a greater majority of the Assembly to agree, the Synod called on members to recognise that the Silverlark was an exemplar of Loyalty.

This Synod accepts that the virtue of the paragons can often be hard for the clouded eyes of lesser mortals to perceive. But what cannot be denied is that Lady Elayne Silverlark, was an inspiration to all who encountered her or her story. The signs are:

• Inspiration: The music, poetry, and poems created by the Silverlark remain an inspiration to all
• Pilgrimage: Lady Elayne journeyed to Bastion to perform The Flowers of Auvanne outside the Basilica of Seven Doors
• Legacy: The songs and poems she wrote represent her legacy.
• Salvation: Lady Elayne's embodiment of Loyalty brought Dawn to the Way

We call on this Synod to recognise her as an exemplar of Loyalty.

Alayne du Rion

This judgement had narrow majority in favour - which was enough for it to pass. The passionate opposition of the Marchers had been enough to prevent Lady Elayne being declared a paragon - but the compromise to that appears to have been the creation of a lesser status - a recognition that the Silverlark had achieved something extraordinary, even if the Synod were not ready to accept that they had become a paragon.

There is a curious legacy of this ancient twist still buried in Imperial law which explicitly states that, "A judgement to recognize a paragon that passes the General Assembly with a lesser majority but fails to achieve a greater majority is considered to fail - it does not pass as an exemplar.". This is quite unusual - Imperial law rarely states that a judgement, motion or declaration that fails to pass, does not produce a different outcome instead. That is normally implicit in the nature of the law. In this case, where priests saw being recognised as an exemplar as a compromise for failing to agree someone was a paragon, the law has to be explicit lest people assume that the lesser majority meant the lesser status was granted.

Current Times

Since that day, the Empire has recognised scores of new exemplars, but it has often hesitated to add new paragons to the roster of inspirations. These early theologians saw no conflict at all between the Doctrines of the Faith and their failure to mention exemplars. That mystery has been a source of increasing concern in recent times, but the early Synod understand that an exemplar was simply a virtuous human being whose story inspired others and exemplified a virtue. They were someone who was on the Way to becoming a paragon, someone who would eventually escape the Labyrinth. On the rare occasion that the priests of the Synod could all agree that someone was a paragon, their name would be added to the list of the most virtuous. If agreement could not be reached, the Synod could compromise and recognise them as an exemplar instead.

There is an odd echo with modern times here. The Imperial Senate has only very recently created the judgement of exaltation, allowing a priest to exalt a citizen who has not yet been recognised as a paragon or even an exemplar, but whose deeds are clearly virtuous. While the Senate did not take this path, but they could have chosen to demand the Synod identify two signs of the paragons and exemplars that would prove their virtuous status. That would certainly create an elegant symmetry.

The common view for many years is that exemplars are less important figures than the paragons - that they are not as virtuous, or that the paragons have reached a zenith of virtue which exemplars have not yet attained. A more recent interpretation of the exemplars is that they are more inspirational than the paragons because they seem more human, more normal, more relatable. Their deeds are fundamentally mortal, they are something that anyone might hope to achieve - and that achievability makes them more inspirational figures than paragons.

The exemplars of Vigilance lived and died in history, that of our nations, Their legacies are writ in stone, not story. You may visit the home of Major Benson, meet his descendants, stand up on his grave. You may see Berechiah's actions and his virtuous crimes in Imperial record. Make pilgrimage to their tombs. Reflect that these were people like you, heroes, not legends. Renew your faith.

Martin Orchard, General Assembly, Autumn Equinox 386YE, Vote: 1730-130

Inspiration

Regardless, what is now clear is that at least some of the first Highborn who embraced virtue, saw the Way as a route to become a paragon of virtue. Many of them appeared to have little interest in who had become a paragon and who had not. There was little evidence that they thought anyone had achieved this - what little writing survives tend to suggest the opposite. They regarded themselves as pioneers discovering fundamental truths about the nature of the human soul and the purpose of life - they believed they were setting forth on a path down which no human had ever gone before. They saw themselves as trailblazers, they were dedicated to the Way as the path to become paragons of virtue.

The notion of inspirational figures was crucial for the early Highborn missionaries. The ready willingness of the wayfarers to recognise paragons among the people they shared the virtues with helped to spread acceptance of the Way. For the people they spoke to, it was easier to embrace the Way when they could see the place that important national or local heroes occupied within the faith. Many of the missionaries spreading the Way were more than content to accept these new paragons, because they were unconcerned with who was or was not a paragon. What was crucial to them was the idea of being inspired to emulate virtue figures - they wanted to spread the idea that to pursue the Way you must pursue virtue. These figures were important because they made it easier for people to be inspired.

In the years that followed, both before and after the Way of Virtue was foundational to the creation of the Empire, the idea that one might draw inspiration from the virtue of others came to be seen as crucial. People became fascinated with the idea of identifying who had become paragons because they demonstrated commitment to virtue that was admirable, and because they showed how virtue might be embraced. Richilde demonstrates a form of Pride that people simply had not considered to be an expression of the virtue before it was recognised by the Synod.

Inevitably people fell to arguing over who was a paragon and who was not. Where people could not agree that someone had been sufficiently virtuous to be described as a paragon, but it was inarguable that the person had been virtuous and inspirational to others, then they would be recognised as an exemplar. The recent tradition creating the status of exalted, is arguably no different to the work of the early Synod in this regard. A very human need to classify and recognise the virtue of others.

A great irony here is that this work was partly triggered by the revelations that Vardas was a fictional figure, but the original Highborn wayfarers would have considered that to be utterly irrelevant. What they cared about was that people were inspired by Vardas, that they were driven to pursue Vigilance because of the example that Vardas represented. The fundamental focus of these early Highborn missionaries was on the individual and what they accomplished - they saw the Way as a profoundly personal faith. The role of others was not to be venerated but simply to inspire each human being to strive to achieve virtue.

The philosophical counterpoint to this view is the one that has developed in the centuries since, right up to the present day. That paragons, exemplars, and now exalted are central to an understanding of the Way because their lives demonstrate what virtue looks like. The teachings of the virtues are easy to recite but it can be exceptionally hard to understand how they should be applied. The lives of inspirational figures demonstrate how those compromises can be squared, they show what it actually means to live a life of virtue - and that makes it easier for others to imitate.

Further Questions

After delving into the origin of the exemplars and paragons, and what exemplars are for, the Heirs of Lepidus remind the Librarian that they are still available to research the other two questions raised following the publication of Life of Vardas. Specifically, the question of where the signs of the paragons and exemplars come from, and why paragons display only one virtue. While the aftershocks following the revelation of Vardas' true nature have subsided, the Heirs caution that the "crisis" has merely gone quiet and is by no means completely resolved.

Further Reading

• Paragons and exemplars
• Recognition
• Life of Vardas - controversial 386YE Spring historical research inspiring wider discussion of paragons and exemplars
• Pride and paragons - 386YE Winter wind of fortune discussing potential avenues of study regarding paragons and exemplars