Dawn religious beliefs
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The Dawnish have little interest in impersonal sermons. They believe that a priest should move their congregation, to inspire them to greatness. | The Dawnish have little interest in impersonal sermons. They believe that a priest should move their congregation, to inspire them to greatness. Most noble houses desire to have a [[Troubadours|troubadour]], who can perform tales and poems of the great Dawn legends. No Dawn inhabitant, [[Dawnish Yeomen|yeoman]] or noble can fail to be stirred to action when hearing the glorious tales of the heroes of the past. | ||
Troubadours provide moral guidance filling the role of priests, as well as acting as historians, bards and keepers of legend. There exists an informal relationship between troubadours and the people, and generally fairly little ceremony between them. The tales recounted by troubadours often include reference to their hero or heroine's mistakes, follies, and even defeats before they reach the conclusion. A good troubadour wants their audience to identify with the subject of the verse and if they romanticize the tales a little, the goal is to make their subject seem glorious not perfect. | Troubadours provide moral guidance filling the role of priests, as well as acting as historians, bards and keepers of legend. There exists an informal relationship between troubadours and the people, and generally fairly little ceremony between them. The tales recounted by troubadours often include reference to their hero or heroine's mistakes, follies, and even defeats before they reach the conclusion. A good troubadour wants their audience to identify with the subject of the verse and if they romanticize the tales a little, the goal is to make their subject seem glorious not perfect. | ||
Revision as of 13:00, 7 August 2012
The Dawnish have little interest in impersonal sermons. They believe that a priest should move their congregation, to inspire them to greatness. Most noble houses desire to have a troubadour, who can perform tales and poems of the great Dawn legends. No Dawn inhabitant, yeoman or noble can fail to be stirred to action when hearing the glorious tales of the heroes of the past.
Troubadours provide moral guidance filling the role of priests, as well as acting as historians, bards and keepers of legend. There exists an informal relationship between troubadours and the people, and generally fairly little ceremony between them. The tales recounted by troubadours often include reference to their hero or heroine's mistakes, follies, and even defeats before they reach the conclusion. A good troubadour wants their audience to identify with the subject of the verse and if they romanticize the tales a little, the goal is to make their subject seem glorious not perfect.
Troubadous in the largest Dawn houses tend to study the history of their house's own heroes alongside the tales and legends of the paragons. The best are adept at creating recitals that leave the listener in no doubt about the divine provenance of the house's heroes. Some in the Imperial Synod consider this mix of personal history with official cannon to be nothing short of blasphemous, but the Dawnish vigorously defend their traditions and their troubadours are careful to avoid ever explicitly claiming paragon status for a hero without the sanction of the Synod.
Bands of Knights-errant and Questing Knights usually include a troubadour where possible, to inspire them to glory and to record their accomplishments for posterity. The Dawn Assembly of the Imperial Synod is somewhat notorious for its competing troubadours seeking to use the Synod to validate and immortalise the subjects of their tales in fame - or sometimes in infamy. While some troubadours engage in the other business of the Synod, the majority put the interests of their own house ahead of any other duty or responsibility.
Embodiment is an important tradition for pious nobles of all kinds. A pious noble seeks to be recognised as a Champion of Virtue, embodying one of the Virtues to its greatest extent. Most nobles who aspire to be Champion of Virtue are Knights, especially Questing Knights. Each year during Summer, aspirants who seek to be acknowledged as a Champion of Virtue meet with other aspirant Champions and the troubadours to share tales of their exploits. The decision falls to the troubadours there assembled to award the accolade to the seven nobles who they feel best embody the Imperial Virtues - a position of great honour in Dawn. Lists are kept by the troubadours, who make a special point to repeat the tales of these pious individuals and encourage them to exemplify the Virtues not only to the people of Dawn but also to the rest of the Empire. Several Exemplars are known to have come from among the Dawnish Champions of Virtue, and at least one Paragon.
As with many positions of honour in Dawn, yeomen are not considered as aspiring Champions. If they had it in them to become honoured in this manner, they would be part of a noble house. .
As far as the Imperial Synod is concerned, Dawn is one step away from being a hotbed of heresy. The people have adopted the Imperial Faith with gusto, but they continue to hold glory as the greatest calling, and often see virtue merely as a means to that end.
I write as one burdened by failure and shame. The Dawnish
embrace their immortality far more readily than they do the Seven Paths
of Virtue. Time and again, I have told them: Passion is not a Virtue;
Glory is not a Virtue; Greatness is the product of Virtue, not its purpose.
Yet, for all my efforts, many see virtue as a means to an end,
not an end itself. The Dawnish may aspire to match or exceed
the Paragons’ deeds, but only for the sake of their own Legends.
I am returning to the Chapter, but I bring with me a score of
Troubadours who would have their knight recognised as an
Exemplar, if not identified as one of the Paragon’s reborn.
Simeon the Wayfarer, taken from Epistles to the Winds of Virtue, 14 BE