From the desk of the Herald
Jun 30, 2016 6:05:42 GMT
Rule Hound and Jaak Alemayehu, Shango Kholo like this
Post by Sokrates Salonikas on Jun 30, 2016 6:05:42 GMT
SPECIFICALLY:
On boons and the social order:
My fellow Cainites of Gaul,
We are all bound in this domain together, and rise and fall as its fortunes rise and fall. To those who would fracture its whole with petty bickering and secret grabs for power by dead of night behind locked doors, I ask you this: on the night all your perceived enemies lie broken and defeated before you, what then? Would you be master of an empty wasteland, lord of an ashen charnel house with none but the sighs of the dead and the moaning of the wind your only company? Do you think we the only power in the night? I have heard it said that the night is dark and full of terrors, and there are many more worse than us out there slavering at the gates, merely awaiting their opportunity, a single moment of weakness to seize what we have all worked so long and hard to build. Your rash and selfish actions hand them that opportunity anew every gather upon fresh platter. The Ard Rhi has spoken, and he wishes strength and unity where there is now squabbling discord. I would have you think on this.
Further, we all nightly struggle to keep the Beast at bay to one degree or another, to varying degrees of success. One of the pillars in this effort is the structure of our society, the base principles that govern our interactions with, amongst, and towards each other. The very sinews of that collective body are to give boons when appropriate for the aid of another, and to pay boons when owed. Exalted title or station does not excuse you from this obligation. You cannot lord over the smallfolk as though they are without merit or value. The Low Clans have worth; yes, there are limits to their presence in polite society by dint of caste and station, but their services when given in good faith are worth the exact same value as those of the mightiest lord among us.
Case in point: Johan the Smith. I know the Tremere regard his kind as thrall and he may, in fact, not even possess free will of his own as demonstrated by the good Lord Etrius last gather. Yet while Johan remains part of our society he will, as far as I am concerned, have the same rights and privileges due his station. He has recently been declared Dedicated for his contributions to his dukedom and our society and I myself further declare him Dignified for his peerless masterworks of craft, for he is indeed fearfully and wonderfully named, a smith without peer.
One further matter: when services are rendered in good faith, appropriate boons are to be extended in good faith at the earliest possible convenience (if not immediately upon satisfactory performance of said service for some reason). To delay in hope of pressing advantage is dishonourable, to say the least. None among you should have to go begging, hat in hand, for what is due. The rights and responsibilities of both parties in such arrangement are clear and defined. I perform a service for you at no harm or inconvenience to myself, you grant me a trivial or minor boon. If such service involves my time or abilities to a greater degree, you grant me a major. I shed blood for blood, and save life for life, and so on. While I could summarily decide in the several situations I have been made aware of, the Ard Rhi is also merciful, so I grant the following amnesty:
Any among you believed to be in this situation must rectify this situation within the next year. I leave it to you to recognize who you are, and give you this one last opportunity to do the right thing. I suspect that you already know who you are if this is at all relevant to you. If you do not fulfill your social obligations to the satisfaction of all parties concerned by the time of our next gather, I can and will rule on the matter. At the very least, you will owe double what you owe now, and/or a higher category, at my discretion. Do the right thing with the time I have allowed you to have. Do not tempt the fangs of the vipers of court, for I am merely the least of their number. My offices in Klagenfurt remain open to all who wish to discuss these or any other matters they wish. Go now, with my thanks.
The Herald has spoken.
On boons and the social order:
My fellow Cainites of Gaul,
We are all bound in this domain together, and rise and fall as its fortunes rise and fall. To those who would fracture its whole with petty bickering and secret grabs for power by dead of night behind locked doors, I ask you this: on the night all your perceived enemies lie broken and defeated before you, what then? Would you be master of an empty wasteland, lord of an ashen charnel house with none but the sighs of the dead and the moaning of the wind your only company? Do you think we the only power in the night? I have heard it said that the night is dark and full of terrors, and there are many more worse than us out there slavering at the gates, merely awaiting their opportunity, a single moment of weakness to seize what we have all worked so long and hard to build. Your rash and selfish actions hand them that opportunity anew every gather upon fresh platter. The Ard Rhi has spoken, and he wishes strength and unity where there is now squabbling discord. I would have you think on this.
Further, we all nightly struggle to keep the Beast at bay to one degree or another, to varying degrees of success. One of the pillars in this effort is the structure of our society, the base principles that govern our interactions with, amongst, and towards each other. The very sinews of that collective body are to give boons when appropriate for the aid of another, and to pay boons when owed. Exalted title or station does not excuse you from this obligation. You cannot lord over the smallfolk as though they are without merit or value. The Low Clans have worth; yes, there are limits to their presence in polite society by dint of caste and station, but their services when given in good faith are worth the exact same value as those of the mightiest lord among us.
Case in point: Johan the Smith. I know the Tremere regard his kind as thrall and he may, in fact, not even possess free will of his own as demonstrated by the good Lord Etrius last gather. Yet while Johan remains part of our society he will, as far as I am concerned, have the same rights and privileges due his station. He has recently been declared Dedicated for his contributions to his dukedom and our society and I myself further declare him Dignified for his peerless masterworks of craft, for he is indeed fearfully and wonderfully named, a smith without peer.
One further matter: when services are rendered in good faith, appropriate boons are to be extended in good faith at the earliest possible convenience (if not immediately upon satisfactory performance of said service for some reason). To delay in hope of pressing advantage is dishonourable, to say the least. None among you should have to go begging, hat in hand, for what is due. The rights and responsibilities of both parties in such arrangement are clear and defined. I perform a service for you at no harm or inconvenience to myself, you grant me a trivial or minor boon. If such service involves my time or abilities to a greater degree, you grant me a major. I shed blood for blood, and save life for life, and so on. While I could summarily decide in the several situations I have been made aware of, the Ard Rhi is also merciful, so I grant the following amnesty:
Any among you believed to be in this situation must rectify this situation within the next year. I leave it to you to recognize who you are, and give you this one last opportunity to do the right thing. I suspect that you already know who you are if this is at all relevant to you. If you do not fulfill your social obligations to the satisfaction of all parties concerned by the time of our next gather, I can and will rule on the matter. At the very least, you will owe double what you owe now, and/or a higher category, at my discretion. Do the right thing with the time I have allowed you to have. Do not tempt the fangs of the vipers of court, for I am merely the least of their number. My offices in Klagenfurt remain open to all who wish to discuss these or any other matters they wish. Go now, with my thanks.
The Herald has spoken.