Auras of Pride

Of all those who have sat on the Throne she may well have been the greatest. She was not named for the golden charge on her banner but because she outshone the sun.

Eddard of House Cassilon, Legend of the Golden Throne

Overview

An aura is a persistent spiritual effect on a person, location or item. The auras listed here are created by priests dedicated to the virtue of Pride who use the relevant ceremonial skill. A character who is dedicated to Pride must pick one of the following auras when they perform the relevant ceremony. A priest of the Way may also use the Dreams of Pride when they use the dedication ceremony to provide a pilgrim with a visionary dream.

The names used for each aura are simply the most common ones used in the Empire. For example, the Wellspring of Pride may be called The Glass Wheel by a Freeborn corsair. This is especially true with those auras that are named after paragons and exemplars; all these auras would have had different names before the exceptional individual they are named for was recognised by the Synod. The Hallowing of Richilde for example was commonly called the Hallowing of the Nightingale before the Empress' recognition as a paragon of Pride.

Study of these auras helped the founders of the Way to create the Path of Pride. Some lay persons assume that the Imperial Synod created these auras in some fashion to encourage adherence to orthodoxy, but according to theological scholars the situation is the other way around. The auras came first, then the tenets of the Path of Pride.

Anointing

Anointing involves a short ceremony to create a personal aura on a mortal being. Anointing always requires the consent of the subject.

The Affirmation of Pride

• You feel a keen awareness of self-worth, and of the worth of other people. You find it difficult to tolerate disrespect, rudeness, or insults.

Description: The path of Pride is not about airs and graces, but pilgrims who embody Pride expect to be treated with courtesy and respect. Crucially the path teaches that the virtuous inspire others, they do not demean them. Those who benefit from this aura feel driven to help those around them find Pride in who they are and what they do and to defend them against those who seek to belittle or tear down their fellow citizens.

The Experience of Pride

• When anointed you were asked to name a personal quality which you are proud of. You feel an urge to exemplify that quality in everything you do.

Description: This anointing can be used to help pilgrims experience the benefits of Pride, allowing them to focus on a source of the virtue within themselves. However it is also invaluable for encouraging pilgrims to embody Pride in their actions. The Way teaches that Virtue is about action not words; Pride is not about vainglorious or egotistical boasting. It is about acting in ways that make you and others proud.

The Wellspring of Pride

• You feel an urge to embody the culture and customs of your home. Abandoning your traditions or compromising on your peoples' beliefs feels shameful.

Description: The path of Pride stretches in both directions and pilgrims are often required to reflect on where they have come from, as well as where they are going to. This anointing emphasizes tradition, encouraging the pilgrim to embrace their past and defend the values of their home. It is popular across the Empire, especially among those who seek help in staying firm in defence of their traditional values in the face of calls for compromise or sacrifice. It is invaluable for helping Imperial citizens resist pressure to abandon their cultural traditions. This anointing is also called The Touch of Kethry, in recognition of that paragon's achievements in keeping their nation's traditions alive and inspiring others to embrace them.

The Strength of Pride

• You feel an urge to do what you say you will do. Whenever you face a challenge to your commitment, you feel a surge of inner strength.

Description: One of the key teachings of Pride is the importance of commitment. Those who strive to be virtuous must become forthright and resolute. Every pilgrim is different but those who have Pride must be clear what they stand for and they must clearly stand for it. There is no tolerance for the half-hearted, the uncommitted, or the pretender. Finding such strength of purpose is difficult, so this anointing exists to aid pilgrims giving them the strength to remain on the path of Pride by staying true to themselves.

Pride in small things, loyalty to great ones.

Marcher Proverb

Consecration

Consecration is the ceremony used to create an aura on a clearly defined location. There is only one aura for each virtue, and all priests create the same one when they use this skill.

Partner of Greatness

• You feel a profound sense of self-esteem, that who you are and what you do is significant. You are the foundation on which the future will be built.

Description: This powerful aura of Pride fills those who experience it with a deep sense of their own relevance. Every pilgrim finds Pride in different things, but the aura uplifts all of them the same. It reminds them of the profound importance of their actions to the fate of the Empire - and the importance of passing on the things that inspire Pride to future generations.

Dedication

Dedication is the ceremony used to link a pilgrim's soul to the virtue. It can also be used to create vivid oracular dreams.

Dreams of Pride

• The next time you sleep you experience a vivid dream incorporating elements from your past that make you proud. The dream will often show you striving to improve on the achievements of the past, working to make them greater still. Sometimes your dream will show you something new, in the vision you feel proud of this thing even though you may not have experienced it before. Often the dream will involve others you know, working with you to achieve something worthy.

Hallow

Hallow is used to create an aura on an item, such as a weapon, implement, shield or suit of armour. It is not possible to use hallow to create an aura on large immobile objects. Hallows do not provide a source of supernatural strength, but are durable and can last for a year (or potentially forever in the case of an artefact hallowed with true liao).

Hallowing of Lepidus

• You feel an urge to demonstrate your worth, inspiring others to follow your example.

Hallowing of Richilde

• You feel an urge to create art, to fill the world with wonder and exalt the souls of others.

Hallowing of the Inquisitor

• You feel a desire to expose false claims, revealing spurious and empty boasts for what they are.

Hallowing of the Conqueror

• You feel driven to convert others, and feel certain that everyone should embrace your traditions and ideals.

Hallowing of the Diplomat

• You feel driven to treat people with respect. Disrespect by others, even towards your enemies, grates on your nerves.

Hallowing of the Advocate

• You feel driven to refute unwarranted criticism, especially by those who tear down others from bias or self-interest.

Hallowing of The Throne

• You feel an urge to stand by your decisions. You sense instinctively that the choices you have made are the right ones.

Hallowing of the Cicisbeo

• You feel driven to exalt your companions; their confidence and dignity reflects on you.

The Ten Things

It is obviously down to the individual which qualities make them proud, but each of the Imperial nations can be associated with a single common idea that is often referred to as a source of Pride. The Navarr writer Cerin of Winter Trees referred to them as the Nine Things in the early years of the Empire. They were still in use over three hundred years later when the Imperial Orc philosopher Jakaj added her own people to the list during a speech given at the funeral of Emperor Ahraz. Following a recitation of the Nine Things, she appended her own people, and since then the list has been referred to by its current name.

For the Freeborn it is honesty; in Dawn it is glory (of course); in Highguard it is certainty; among the Imperial Orcs it is strength; in the League it is cleverness; in the Marches it is either practicality or stubbornness (depending who you are speaking to); among the Navarr it is sacrifice; in Urizen, excellence; in Varushka the idea of wisdom; and among the Winterfolk heroism.

Further Reading

• Auras
  • Ambition
  • Courage
  • Loyalty
  • Pride
  • Prosperity
  • Vigilance
  • Wisdom
• Additional Information
  • Religious skills
  • The Way
  • Imperial Synod