Candidate Statement: Angevine Options

[Onasuma]

Fellow Knights,

Thank you deeply for this honour. I appreciate I am known less by many of the more powerful mercenaries compared to those at the other end of the spectrum, so here's an introduction for those who would like one.

My name's Angevine, though I am mostly known as Ange. Im a Paladin of Bacchus (he's also my dad, it's complicated) and member of the Knights of Battle. Being a paladin is a bit of a struggle, but I think struggling to be better is fairly definitive to who I am. I think I've got a good track record of doing the right thing, and helping other people come to do the right thing themself.

I guess the question of why vote me over either of the other two, far more established candidates, is the natural next question. I don't think either of them would be a poor vote, but I feel I bring a different look to the direction of The Knights of The Land. It's not secret that we have fallen from favour amongst the guilds of Primus, and I greatly respect the legacy of those who came before me. That said, we are smaller than we have been in decades and changing how we interact with the world is important.

I want to see Knights not only standing as a defence against the enemies of the existence, but as a guild that teaches others to defend themselves. I want to see Knights of Battle supporting villages in the creation of local militia, in their training and maintenance, to see Knights of the Watch liaising with city watch members, to see Templars filling roles as villages priests, Arcanus researching defenses that can be easily raised, seekers teaching people how to spot signs of oncoming danger and Warmages teaching shatters and plates to anyone who'll learn.

I know this isn't how many people see us but what we are is the best of the best. We're elites but we can't be everywhere. I believe this is the best way to keep Primus safe and, if you agree that finding a way to react and change with the times is how The Knights stay strong, then I hope you'll vote for me.

I welcome questions, either about my specific vision or in general.

Angevine

[DavidFisher]

Ange

Thanks for getting the ball rolling. An old but important question:

Will you allow those of dark or malign outlook to remain in our ranks?

If yes, how does that work with you being a paladin?

Second, I assume you are in your father’s church? I know little of this, can you share the teachings of Bacchus?

Thanks

Perceval

[Dalron]

Angevine

Please can you tell me more about your specific plans to enact that vision - Are you going to call us to muster? There has been a distinct lack of Knights related activity in the two years since my return, and I for one would like to see this change.

Also, though i say this with the greatest of respect to them, the current Lords of the Orders have been in place for some time and only one or two are in any way 'active' of late. Will you look to replace them?

Thank you

Dalron

[Onasuma]

Perceval - I have no intent to push people out of the order for their beliefs. I don't actually think that "Spirit art thou evil?" is a question that tells you about someone - spirits have a narrow view of a complicated world. One of the people I respect most, and hold dearest to me, is a user of dark spirits - he is an admirable knight and one who inspires me to do better. I consider none of these beliefs to conflict with my oaths.

I am a member of my father's cult - the church were larger a long time ago and draw on a very different part of his aspects. We don't codify our teachings, but I am happy to share what we are about.

As a cult we believe that life should be allowed to prosper and live well. This, to me, means respecting nature, defending the weak and sharing the joys of life with each other. You could probably summarise it as a religion of freedom. I welcome everyone to drink round my table, and extend my protection to everyone who would share in the peace. I believe that it is often the right thing to do to drink with your enemies, as if you do it well you might no longer have them.

Angevine

[Onasuma]

Dalron - The exact design for how to implement everything isn't fully worked out. I think likely what I would do is create roles for people to organise the effort in different parts of the empire at first then further afield. Community organisation isn't glamorous but I think it's needed.

I'd also like to have regular musters, as a whole and as individual orders, but you will hear, I am sure, exactly the same from each candidate.

My biggest weakness in this election is, I believe, the lack of experience. I have great energy and a clear vision, but I would want to ensure the lords of order are able to support me as a acclimatise to the role. I would wantlords of orders who want to be there though and would look to ensure a mixture of fresh faces and experience.

Angevine

[Dalron]

Dalron - The exact design for how to implement everything isn't fully worked out. I think likely what I would do is create roles for people to organise the effort in different parts of the empire at first then further afield. Community organisation isn't glamorous but I think it's needed.

I'd also like to have regular musters, as a whole and as individual orders, but you will hear, I am sure, exactly the same from each candidate.

My biggest weakness in this election is, I believe, the lack of experience. I have great energy and a clear vision, but I would want to ensure the lords of order are able to support me as a acclimatise to the role. I would wantlords of orders who want to be there though and would look to ensure a mixture of fresh faces and experience.

Angevine

Thank you Angevine, an honest and succinct reply. I wish you well in this

[Patch]

I have a small number of questions, that I will put to all candidates.

Firstly, The Knights have fallen out of favour with many mercenaries... why do you feel this has happened? and how would you go about changing that?

Secondly, The democratic nature of the Knights is a powerful symbol of inclusion for it's members, but there are clearly drawbacks I would be interested to hear your feelings about this election cycle, it's positive aspects and negative aspects.

Thirdly, please give me an example of your behaviour in a recent mission, that you consider exemplifies your values and acts as an example of why you would be a good Lord Knight.

Lastly, please give me an example of behaviour you have seen amongst your fellow mercenaries, the example need not be of another knight, that you felt was deeply unknightly. How did you challenge that behaviour?

Thank you for your time

Da'Karte

[Sharperoc]

I'll be asking the same question to all candidates, so my apologies to those who have already read this. It's philosophical in nature, so again apologies but I hope it might spark some conversation that would allow me a greater insight into the candidates.

I've often thought about our order and the presence of dark hearted brothers and sisters within it and that itself has always struck me as a curious thing. This is in no way a slight against those brothers and sisters, as I've always found myself well supported regardless of the colour of their hearts. I might add, this does not apply to those that by their very nature are marked - I think that goes beyond the scope of a reasonable question.

I guess the point I'm getting at, is, those brothers and sisters whose hearts are dark yet capable of change - why has that change often not occured. To me, it would follow logically that by following our oaths, that the Knight who puts the lives of the innocent and the undefended above their own could not possibly find their soul unblackened as a result. I will be the first to admit, I tend to finalise matters with those who I find have butchered innocents - I'm not a second chances, five minute chat sort of Knight, if you were able to make a concious choice and that's the choice you made, the best thing I can do is put you in the ground. Even still, I find no blackness within my heart or mind.

What are your particular thoughts on this?


Ritz
Knight Warmage

[Onasuma]

Da'Karte - The Knights of The Land stood at the helm of Primus for years, it is only natural that those who are forging their own paths in the shadow of our order wish to form their own place in primus. We are in many ways victims of our own successes. It is no secret that The Order of Mercenaries - a guild with fewer expectations of its members and a more versitile offer of training - has taken our place as the most populated guild of primus. I do not begrudge them this, I in fact hold that their creation was the result of people wishing to break up the Knights monopoly.

I personally believe it is too early to make too specific a claim about the change to the way votes are collected. I was no privy to the discussions relating to the changes, and respect the decision making of those involved. Speaking with my gut, I can see the value of a 2 year term, but I think I would like to see the restoration of the election results announced on Knight's Muster as is traditional - I will be disappointed not to share a glass with Kail and Tertius at the culmination of this cycle.

I relish the chance to brag, so Ill thank you for that. I suppose the action that caused my rise to paladinhood is the most honest example of myself I can offer. I am a practitioner of a ritual art known as Geddism (my failure to include an h in this spelling may well be what costs me the election), a technique that draws and exchanges power between the caster and a place known as The Crossroads. I learned this skill while travelling with a group of mercenaries to a series of islands, known as The Screaming Isles, trapped in a ritual bottle. During our exploration of these islands, it became clear that we would be able to rescue and restore parts of the isles to Primus through Geddist ritual. Myself and a superior Gheddist, Akir, created a rite appropriate to this. Geddism works on a series of exchanges, based on the trinkets most loved by the spirits of the crossroads. I took the lead performing this right, but as I stood atop this crossroads, knowing that fueling this ritual would and could not save everyone I thought of what I was offering - The spirits love stories, alcohol and cigars, bitter fruits and I had all of these. But even at its most potent this rite would not save everyone. As I stood atop the sigil, my eyes met with Akir across the circle and his sad eyes made it clear to me I had no decision to make. I burned myself atop that rite, shredded the divine body that I had and spread across that plane. We could not save everyone, but I made sure that everything I could do for every person in that bottle was done.

I think being a knight is a sacrifice, a painful choice. For all our solidarity and our strength, we could find easier, more prosperous lives if we looked for them. But I wouldnt, and I couldnt. I spent a whole life seeing other people make those sacrifices for me, and their inspiration reshaped me. It is my hope that, as Lord Knight, I could in turn be that inspiration for someone else.

Challenging someone for being unknightly is not something I would do. Would I challenge them for cruelty? For endangerment? For malice? Absolutely I would, but there is a reason we are knights and they are not. I hold that the Knights of the Land are the finest example of heroes in the exostance, and it is unkind to berate someone for not reaching our standards.

As a line for an example, when recently on a mercenary hire we encountered a pirate of great skill with ebony magic, and in possession of the Rod of Cancellation. Ill spare you the nuance, but simply put he admitted that he intended to use a ritual relic that had been handed to him by the group to commit mass murder against a group of sirens. They had been antagonistic to me previously, and I had killed several of them, but I was unwilling to allow them to be wiped out for the actions of the few. As members of my group shouted "She does not speak for us" I attempted to reclaim the relic from the man at the end of my sword. Had I more resource left to me, I would likely have tried to subdue him with miracles rather than the blade, but it was the end of a very trying day - anyone present would readily speak to the intense dangers of those damned isles. When I failed to do so, I stayed behind rather than return to the empire with an attempt to warn the Sirens against their upcoming destruction to limited success.

Angevine

[Onasuma]

Ritz - The theology of this absolutely fascinates me.

My personal belief is that "souls" were created by a bunch of different gods, and the colour of your spirit and mind is shaped by that gods outlook. We all know one, often more than one, vile killer who gets away with a grey soul, and likewise I know kind people with black ones. My theory is that while most gods are moderate in how they view the world if you got a soul from, for example, The Lady of the Stars, she is much more quick to label someone evil and has a much higher standard for good. Likewise, if your soul was created by Dunatsis, just a regular old killing might be considered a benign act compared to the torture that would be expected. This doesnt mean people cant grow and change, it doesnt mean they cant strive to do better. All it means is that it cant be seen by a glance.

That's just a theory, but I think it explains what evidence we have pretty well. It also allows a bit of space for those churches who worship the same being as a goodly or a neutral divinity - My Dad's church is one of neutral Law, while the cult is chaos and good. Same with the different aspects of, for example, The Empress.

Angevine

[Whybover]

So my questions to start for the nominees:
Q1. Will you commit to a 1 life term, and instruct your voice/unity/lords that if you are to fall for a final time a new lord knight should be elected.
It has occurred more than once in the past decade the Lord Knight has been reborn (3 times I believe if not more) and each time they have held onto power through death.
I do not believe this is correct, a vote is for that Knight in that form and body not their soul or similar.
Q2: Will you commit to a regular review of the activeness of your nominated Lords of Order and state you are more than prepared to refresh your Lords and promote/appoint new ones during your term.
We are all aware there are many times Lords of Orders are not seen at all during their appointment and it is a poor showing in leadership in my opinion that this never has consequences.
Q3: Do you understand and agree that the order was formed in Legend, that the Oath is to defend all worlds not just Primus and that all worlds should be treated with the same garvity and import and not “sacrificed” for the good of Primus.

Transcribed by myself, Tydarch, on behalf of Amorphus.

[Onasuma]

Q1. Will you commit to a 1 life term, and instruct your voice/unity/lords that if you are to fall for a final time a new lord knight should be elected.
It has occurred more than once in the past decade the Lord Knight has been reborn (3 times I believe if not more) and each time they have held onto power through death.
I do not believe this is correct, a vote is for that Knight in that form and body not their soul or similar.

Q2: Will you commit to a regular review of the activeness of your nominated Lords of Order and state you are more than prepared to refresh your Lords and promote/appoint new ones during your term.
We are all aware there are many times Lords of Orders are not seen at all during their appointment and it is a poor showing in leadership in my opinion that this never has consequences.

Q3: Do you understand and agree that the order was formed in Legend, that the Oath is to defend all worlds not just Primus and that all worlds should be treated with the same gravity and import and not “sacrificed” for the good of Primus.

Amorphus: While I intend not to die forever any time soon, I will gladly commit to this idea in principle. I am distinctly different to who I was before I turned on the wheel. Depending on how close to the next election cycle, I would either ask a Lord of Order to stand in for a few months, or to begin a new election cycle for the remainder of my term.

I am conscious that lords of order are often acting in ways not publicly seen. I am comfortable with the idea that I should be supporting the Lords in being active, but I do not think that this is limited to exclusively the mercenary trail. Indeed a lot of my specific vision of the Knights is based on expanding our role beyond this. I would not be looking to push people from their seats due to limited work, though I want engaged, proactive members for the seats. If people accept a role from me, I want them to agree that that is who they are, and would expect them to be honest about their capacity if it changes. I will intervene if needed, but I hope to avoid it.

While I appreciate the literal wording of our oath will have us protect "The Land" and in fact my own religion is one that wishes to spread verdant life where it can, I do not think worlds are in and of themselves worth protecting; People are. I have sadly had to reflect on the value of Primus' place in the exostance and I do believe that with my goal of protecting people Primus is in a uniquely important role. I dont like that this is the situation, but as we remember Sirac's Sacrifice it is not possible to ignore it. As a result I cannot say honestly that there are never situations where another world would need to be lost for the good of Primus - It is a unique situation. I'm unwilling to lie or mislead you about this stance as easy as it would be to say "No, never", but I do want to be clear that that is never something I would want to come to pass. Sometimes situations present themselves to you where you just lose - I in fact think they happen far more to paladins than to anyone else - and pretending such things dont exist would be dishonest.

With the above said, I believe that it is the duty of The Knights to defend every people that need our defense. I burned myself to ash to save the lives of people whos soldiers I had been fighting for days, as an impulse. Every people from every plane deserve the right to exist freely, to blossom and grow. The only time this is not my primary motivation is when that freedom is a threat to others.

Angevine.

[Dave]

Soooo

Simple and short.

1)The orders, there are always extra classes for Battle and Watch seem fairly busy..The others are emprty, any ideas to change to lessons? Had a quick look and the lessons are boring

2)Knightly Artefacts, The order of easiness, seem to have lots of little ones more suited to newer people, not since the Land of Legend times have the Knights had lots of powerful arteacfts.

Do you see one big, lots of little ones to be better?

Or just none associated to guild...

3) FUN QUESTION...Whats your favourite spell?

Snow

[Onasuma]

Snow - I think that's a question for The Lord Of The Orders. I have no great attachment to the training of the other orders, so if people have an appetite for change I'd welcome and support them. I don't think it's a hard ask

Artefacts wise, small versitile trinkets are my favourite style. I wear a dozen or more rings which do all sorts. That said I would love to see The Banner restored and renewed. Symbolism is important.

I use white magic myself, and I rarely find myself in need of a spell other than bedazzle. A sabre is more satisfying, but so is surviving long enough to use it.

Ange