Heroism
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The Winterfolk admire heroism and believe that it speeds your passage through the [[ | The Winterfolk admire heroism and believe that it speeds your passage through the [[The Labyrinth of Ages and the Paragons and Exemplars|Labyrinth of Ages]]. Although heroism is not one of the seven Virtues, acts of heroism encompass all of them to a different extent. Heroism does not require success, but it does demand that the possibility of triumph exists - there is nothing heroic about wasting your life in a foolhardy charge. Heroism is often easiest to notice in battle, but any noble qualities or outstanding achievements demonstrate heroism. A clever Suaq who outwits an Eternal in a battle of riddles or a wise Kallevesi surgeon whose herb-lore saves a dozen lives are both heroes. | ||
Heroic acts are distinguished by what is achieved or attempted, not how difficult or dangerous they are. Deliberately making an act more difficult than it need be impresses no-one in Wintermark. Equally the heroism is not diminished if the act is accomplished with others, indeed the more people who are involved in act - the more heroic it becomes. It is brave to charge the orc line, but it is heroic to lead the charge. | Heroic acts are distinguished by what is achieved or attempted, not how difficult or dangerous they are. Deliberately making an act more difficult than it need be impresses no-one in Wintermark. Equally the heroism is not diminished if the act is accomplished with others, indeed the more people who are involved in act - the more heroic it becomes. It is brave to charge the orc line, but it is heroic to lead the charge. | ||
Revision as of 14:26, 26 August 2012
The Winterfolk admire heroism and believe that it speeds your passage through the Labyrinth of Ages. Although heroism is not one of the seven Virtues, acts of heroism encompass all of them to a different extent. Heroism does not require success, but it does demand that the possibility of triumph exists - there is nothing heroic about wasting your life in a foolhardy charge. Heroism is often easiest to notice in battle, but any noble qualities or outstanding achievements demonstrate heroism. A clever Suaq who outwits an Eternal in a battle of riddles or a wise Kallevesi surgeon whose herb-lore saves a dozen lives are both heroes.
Heroic acts are distinguished by what is achieved or attempted, not how difficult or dangerous they are. Deliberately making an act more difficult than it need be impresses no-one in Wintermark. Equally the heroism is not diminished if the act is accomplished with others, indeed the more people who are involved in act - the more heroic it becomes. It is brave to charge the orc line, but it is heroic to lead the charge.
The Winterfolk regard heroism as superior to Dawnish ideals of glory. In their eyes glory is needlessly vain, a Winterfolk hero does not need to have other people know of their accomplishments. They believe that the pursuit of glory encourages people to make their challenges needlessly difficult and denies the value of wit and guile. In Wintermark nobody demands that your actions be impressive, it is enough that they are effective.
Many Winterfolk, especially Steinr warriors, seek the good death. For a warrior, heroism is inextricably linked with courage and bravery in battle and to die while fighting against an important and dangerous enemy displays great heroism. This death is preferable to the agony of infected wounds or the weakness of dotage and old age. The Winterfolk do not tolerate weakness and view infirmity as a challenge to be overcome. When the old walk into Sydanjaa they do not imagine it will achieve anything, but there is an acceptance that the alternative would be to succumb to weakness of mind and body in old age, so there is acceptance that people find the good death by challenging the riddle of the endless storm.