Spreading the Way

"You thought you'd finish by quoting the tenets?" said Gerard with a tone that suggested that he did not favour this approach in the slightest.

"I did. I thought it appropriate given the subject matter. It cuts right to the heart of the matter I think." Naomi beamed at her boss. It was never wise to show any weakness in front of the auditor, but in truth she was pleased with the appraisal. She doubted anyone else would be, but that was their problem.

"There's nothing the Empire can commission I see. Usually we have some suggestions for them?" he boss replied, turning the short report over as if trying to find where she might have hidden those details.

"It's full of suggestions!" She grinned. It was a little unprofessional, but really. They'd wanted Lisane for this and maybe they would have done better with her, but Noami didn't think so. She was proud of her work, this one had not been easy.

"Quite. It's a lot of... policy..." The Empire's most senior accountant said that word like it was painful to him. "But there's no actual motions? Nothing the Conclave can do? Surely there must be a mandate or two?"

"On the contrary! There's everything they can do... I just haven't narrowed it down."

The Labyrinth has long been a symbol of the Way of Virtue

Overview

During the Summer Solstice, Rane Shardbearer, Senator for Kallavesa, proposed a motion to appraise how non-Wayist cultures and communities residing within the Empire can be brought into the Way of Virtue. They asked for Lisane de Terresford to conduct the appraisal, but Lisane remains engaged in Sumaah until the start of the Winter Solstice 388YE, so Gerard la Salle selected Naomi of Virtue's Rest as lead prognosticator on this task.

Naomi's response is a little more expansive and a lot less detailed than usual. Her answer might best be summed up as "It depends". Fortunately, for Gerard's temper and Naomi's career prospects, she puts a little more meat on the bone than that...

Caveats

• Naomi starts her appraisal with three important caveats
• The first is that prognosticating issues of faith is always exceptionally difficult
• The second is that there will never be a one-size-fits-all solution
• The third and final point is that the Empire should not expect it to go well

Naomi has a few things to say in her report, but before she gets to that, she has three important caveats to state first. These are key limitations or drawbacks that leaders of the Senate and the Synod must be aware of.

The first is that prognosticating matters of faith is always fraught with difficulty and prone to error. If Naomi wants to calculate the exact amount of white granite needed to build a fortification on a mountain pass in Urizen, there are Day rituals that can provide those answers. If she wants to understand how building a monument to the memory of a fallen Wintermark hero will affect recruitment in a territory, there's a Night ritual for that. But the soul defies divination; it is difficult even to find the right question to ask, and there is almost never a useful answer. Any time faith becomes a factor, prognostication becomes harder. That is not to say that it is impossible - but harder.

Naomi's solution is to recommend breaking things down into small, simple steps. She is confident she won't be able to appraise "how to convince the Sand Fishers to embrace the Way". She might be able to come up with some recommendations, but she would not be certain of their success. But she can appraise "How to encourage the Sand Fishers to engage with priests of the Way" - that is a much easier thing to appraise. And maybe, hopefully, perhaps, once done, it might eventually lead towards the goal of getting the Sand Fishers to embrace the Imperial religion. Of course, it's more than likely to reveal theological problems that are in the way, but arguably that's useful information to. The point is that the Senate would be best advised to break the goal into small parts and try to take it slowly. In this respect, a more circumspect appraisal will give more certain answers.

The second key point is that there will never be a one-size-fits-all solution. There is no commission that the Empire can build which will make the Sand Fishers embrace the Way. And even if there were, you can guarantee that whatever it was, would be completely useless for convincing the Dreamers of the Dark Forest to embrace the Way. If there is a chance of getting the Dreamers to embrace the Imperial faith, whatever the answer is, it won't be any use at all when applied to Faraden merchants.

Every group that the Empire might want to convert, to proselytise, is different. Every problem of this kind is unique - every group is an infinitely complex mélange of history, beliefs, attitudes, assumptions, experiences. Geography, economics, politics - all of these factors can be important for matters of faith. A fortification built in Hahnmark works just as well as a fortification built in Redoubt. That will never be true here - every group the Empire tries to approach will be different - every solution will need to reflect that.

And finally, the Empire must not expect the outcome to go well. There is a common assumption that if a group embrace the Way, then they will embrace the Empire. History mocks those assumptions - loudly. The Empire has a good - relatively speaking - relationship with Sumaah, but that relationship has been rocky - it's only a few years ago that Sumaah were at war with the Empire, even if it didn't come to much. A more telling example is the experiences with the Lasambrians, where the Empire converted them to the Way... haltingly at first, but they soon embraced it with fervour. And then they promptly went and joined the Jotun.

Embracing the Virtues encourages you to be Ambitious - to strive for the things you desire. It doesn't encourage you to compromise and accept a solution you don't like. It encourages you to be Courageous and fight for the things you believe in - it doesn't encourage you to submit to a more powerful neighbour. It makes you Loyal! - but usually to your companions, not to the Empire. And most of all, it makes you Proud - it tells you to take Pride in your identity and your place in the world - it doesn't encourage you to give that up and join an Empire.

None of that is to say that the Empire can't have harmonious relations with groups that they convert to the Way - but it does mean that it isn't a given that it will be any easier to have good relations with them. In Naomi's view, if relations are good or strong or positive, then sharing the Way can take advantage of that. But if relations are difficult or strained, then a group embracing the Way will only lean into that conflict.

Taken together, this is why the appraisal cannot be answered, says Naomi. There is nothing that will help in all situations, so she cannot provide an appraisal of any one common method or approach because no such method exists. She can't report what a generic approach might do, because that goal is too expansive in scope, too general. Because faith is hard to prognosticate, she can't say what might work or what might not in general terms. Like an arcane projection, she can only look at a specific case. And finally, whatever she does recommend could all go badly wrong - she can't say what the outcome could be because it will be different every time, so there will always be pitfalls with any appraisal of this kind, but with something so general, it's impossible to even guess what they might be.

Approaches

Rather than try to appraise a generic solution to the problem - which Naomi says would be impossible - she has instead produced some ideas for possible approaches the Empire could consider. The aim is to provide citizens with ways to think about how the Empire might go about this, in the hope that this will provide them with a framework for considering the possibilities - a way to advance some goals, or employ an approach without the help of the prognosticators' office.

The key in Naomi's mind is to break it down into three different approaches

Aura Led

• Priests and others could take the lead using liao and mandates to spread the Way using auras

Auras can be incredibly effective in showing people the power of the Way. They are most effective on peoples without access to liao who have never experienced similar forces before - or at least not similar positive forces. Active, tangible miracles that are personally uplifting can be incredibly moving for some people. Imperial citizens are often profoundly moved by the power of true auras in particular, like the consecration of the marshes of Kallavesa or the Capodomus Cathedral. But in a way, every single liao aura is a miracle, a way to create a font of Virtue, something that uplifts and motivates all those who experience it. A cynical League bravo might scoff at being anointed with the Drive of Ambition, but people who have never experienced the power of the Way, the power of the auras, are likely to be impressed by them.

Naomi points to Imperial experiences with the Sand Fishers - a group of people who had lived for generations under the crushing auras of miasma created by the Druj. They were intimately familiar with auras - every single one of them had never known a time when they weren't exposed to the fear and dread the pillars spread. When the Empire showed them the auras, the results were electrifying, partly because it released them from that fear; it gave them a way to counter it for the first time in their lives. And partly because it gave them something Virtuous to experience instead.

Of course it doesn't always end well. Naomi points to the examples of the Barrens septs who experienced the auras of Freedom, courtesy of the Montanians. The auras they created uplifted the orcs; it made them believe they could be free, and it made them want to fight for it. It gave them the will to rebel and try to seize the Barrens for themselves - so they could live free. The rebellion of three Druj armies was disastrous for the enemy - but it didn't exactly bode well for the Empire either. Once the Barrens septs had a taste of Freedom, they wanted to be free of the Empire every bit as much as the Druj. And that didn't end well for anybody.

An aura-led approach would be less useful with a group like the Axiou who have just as much experience with the auras as the Empire do, if not more. Auras could be used to motivate Imperial missionaries, but no aura in creation is going to be enough to convince the Axiou to give up their mad ideas about the Creator.

The approach with the Sand Fishers worked remarkably well, but Naomi argues that the Empire got lucky. The Sand Fishers were especially open to conversion, having few strongly held religious beliefs of their own. And, crucially, the Empire had just given the Sand Fishers a home, a place away from the Druj in a land they recognised where they could live and prosper and rule themselves. The Empire gave them the auras and the Virtues at the same time that they gave them everything else. The Sand Fishers were enormously well inclined to the Empire after they were given Misericorde for their own.

The best approach is likely to pick one or two virtues to start with - ideally the ones that most strongly align with the cultural norms of a group. The Karass are secretive and defensive - perhaps the Virtue of Vigilance would be something they would embrace? The Great Forest Orcs seem to place a lot of emphasis on Loyalty to the community - perhaps that is a way to approach them? The better the Empire knows a sept, the more they can refine the approach. Naomi likens attempting to use auras to convince a group of complete strangers to embrace the Way as akin to a general ordering his army into a territory for which there is no map of any kind. If you go in blind, you risk doing more harm than good.

Doctrine Led

• Scholars and Philosophers could take the lead using doctrine and debate

Demanding a group follow the Doctrines of the Way is usually a sure-fire way to get them to reject the faith. Independent groups with no reason to embrace the Way are unlikely to react positively to the imposition of a catechism and a set of rules. This is particularly true for groups with little in the way of any organised religion and no unified religious beliefs. A better approach can be to send scholars and philosophers to debate the Way and to demonstrate why the way of life laid out by the Doctrines is superior. This approach is what the Highborn missionaries employed in Urizen centuries ago.

A more formal, rules-based approach, might be effective when dealing with a group that already has an organised religion. The Jotun, for example, clearly have a coherent set of religious beliefs; they have churches, and worship of their ancestors is an integral part of their lives. They treat their priests, their ghodi, with enormous respect. The idea of religious beliefs and religious laws is normal to them. It would be incredibly difficult to convince the Jotun to embrace the Way and incredibly dangerous, but the most effective way to attempt it would be a doctrine-led approach, especially if the Doctrines of the Way presented an encompassing vision of Orc life.

The Surrani are the prime example of a nation where a doctrine-led approach would have the best chance of success. Converting the Iron Confederacy would be incredibly difficult - they are very standoffish with the Empire, but they loathe the Imperial religion. It's not that a doctrine-led approach would be easy - rather, the approach would be easier than other options. They have an established priest class, with a population used to taking instruction from their priests. If those priests could be supplanted, replaced or removed, then they would be more receptive to a doctrine-led approach - certainly more than an aura-led approach, which they would be bound to denounce as the work of Dumon.

Another situation where a doctrine-led approach might work is where a group has been conquered. If they accept their defeat, they accept that they have been beaten, by which Naomi means they are no longer trying to rebel or fight back, then it becomes much easier to implement a doctrine led approach. It might sound callous to spread the way by force of arms, the Doctrines can be used to show people that everyone in the Empire is equal in the eyes of the Way - that the same Doctrines apply to everyone. When used with tact, an approach that invites people to embrace the doctrines will be more successful than an approach which tries to convince them of what to do by pushing the effects of auras on them.

Culture Led

• Diplomats and merchants can take the lead demonstrating the advantages of allying with the Empire to spread the Way

The Empire could persuade some groups to embrace the Way by demonstrating the benefits that it provides. By illustrating the political and cultural advantages that it confers. It might not sound very spiritual, but people will gravitate to the Way if the Empire shows them how they will benefit as a result. Clever diplomats can offer benefits to those groups who are prepared to align themselves with the Empire, merchants can trade ideas as easily as they trade wares when they travel among a group.

The Apulian Orcs are a fine example of how this worked in practice. They had some significant theological differences with the Imperial Way - they embraced the Seven Virtues - just not the same seven Virtues as the Empire. When faced with this contradiction, their desire to become part of the Empire quickly saw them abandon their religious convictions. Political advancement in the Empire was more than enough to persuade them of the importance of embracing the Virtues.

Cynics might argue that this form of conversion lacks conviction - that it demeans the Way to reduce it to such material concerns. Naomi disagrees, arguing that the first job of any missionary is to get a person to accept new religious ideas - to get them to give up their old beliefs in favour of the new. It's true that some former Grendel may wear their religious beliefs like a loose cloak, but they still hold them. It's the job of other priests to shore up their Virtue and urge them to embrace their new beliefs. There's no reason why the next generation of League Orcs shouldn't grow up to be bishops as far as Naomi s concerned.

This kind of approach requires the Empire to have a positive relationship with the group. Arguably any approach benefits from that, but here it is essential. The group don't have to like the Empire, but they do have to admire them, they have to want to emulate them, otherwise it cannot succeed. Championing this approach can involve methods to share cultural and political benefits with a group. The Empire elected not to give Imperial Lore to the Sand Fishers - that was clearly the Vigilant decision. The risk of it falling in to the hands of the Druj was high. But there's no doubt that if the Empire had shared Imperial Lore with the sept then it would have inevitably brought them even further into Imperial life. It would have shown them the advantages of embracing the Empire - and by extension embracing the Way.

This approach can be expensive and difficult and require sacrifice. The willingness of the League to give up land to the Sand Fishers was pivotal in bringing that group closer to the Empire. Paying for their children's education was expensive - but it virtually guarantees that the next generation of Sand Fishers are going to be Imperial citizens - and the Way will follow. Naomi's point is that giving someone your culture is expensive - there is often a cost in land and money to be paid for that. The Highborn armed and trained the Dreamers of the Dark Forest - that show of trust, that Prosperous generosity will have helped to spread the Way to the Dreamers.

Of course the alternative is to try and export your culture without their agreement as the Empire is trying to do in Asavea. The Plenum know exactly what the Empire are doing - inciting a revolution against their rule that will overthrow them - and their priests - in the hope that they are replaced by something closer to the Empire. It could work - but it will be incredibly expensive and difficult. Naomi points out how little progress has actually been made on that gargantuan effort, compared with how much pain it has wrought.

If the Empire wants to overthrow the Plenum, cast out the Asavean priests, tear down their temples and put the Way in their place, they can do it. Nothing is impossible for those who follow the Way - but it will be incredibly difficult, incredibly expensive and incredibly painful. The response of the Asavean Plenum so far is trivial compared to what they will do as the threat grows. Once it becomes existential for them, they will throw everything they have at the Empire to try and stop them.

However, this cultural approach is, however difficult, the only option that has any real chance of success. The Empire could convert some Asaveans to the Way by demonstrating the power of auras, the Sumaah can spread the Way through their slaves by promising to uplift them, but the only way the Asavean Empire will embrace the Way is if the Empire tears the entire thing down and rebuilds it in its own likeness.

Conclusion

Virtue is contagious

Highborn saying

There is no commission that Naomi can propose that would be effective across the Empire with all groups. As such there is no easy way to answer the appraisal - arguably there is no answer to the appraisal. There simply isn't a way to do the thing the appraisal asks for. To achieve it the Empire would need to break it down, look at individual groups, and devise the best strategy to approach them and try to convert them. The Synod will likely take the lead of course - especially with any way that is aura led - but the Senate will be important, the Conclave, the Military Council, even the Bourse have a role to play. Even the new Imperial sodalities could have a part to play in this.

But each body will have to take small careful steps to achieve the goal - there is no single action that is going to convert any group. Often the prognosticators won't even be aware that something will help - few of the benefits of working with the Sand Fishers that were analysed by the civil service revealed that they would bring the sept closer to the Way, but that happened none-the-less. That process is far from complete, but the movement was incremental and often incidental to other purposes. Often it's impossible to know that any progress is being made at all, until things suddenly change. There may be no signs that a group are engaging with the Way or enamoured of it - not until it happens.

The Empire can use appraisal as a tool to help spread the Way, but to do so any future appraisal would need to focus on a specific group and provide simple goals that could be met. Appraise a way to spread the Way to the world won't produce useful answers, Appraise how to convince Skoura to let the Empire build a church of the Way in their lands would.

In the end though, the best approach is likely one that enables the people the Empire want to convert to embody the Virtues. Take a lesson from the tenets of Loyalty suggests Naomi.

The Virtuous build up their fellows; they do not tear them down.

Tenets of Loyalty

The best way to spread the Virtues is to be Virtuous - by finding ways to build up their fellows, not tear them down.