Order of the White Rose/History
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Creation of the Order
The Order of the White Rose was founded by the first Grand Master, Saul Tarvitz, in the region of Santoo, Luria Nova with the assistance of Aldrakar Renodin, Viscount of Sulorte, Luria Nova. The Order was created for the purpose of bringing together the nobility of not just Luria Nova, but of the entirety of Dwilight in the hopes that there might become a common standard of honour amongst the nobles.
A manuscript written by the first Seneschal of the Order of the White Rose on Valour. Written in the 28th Year, Spring. By the hand of Aldrakar Renodin.
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Esteemed members of the White Rose,
Today I wished to share with you the Code and the Virtues of the Order as one might find them written in each of the Order Chapter Houses.
The Code of the White Rose
1. To protect the weak and the defenceless
2. To refrain from the wanton giving of offence
3. To live by honour and glory
4. To guard the honour of fellow members of the Order
5. To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
6. At all times to speak the truth
7. To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
8. Never to refuse a challenge from an equal
9. Never to turn the back upon a foe
10.To seek out and vanquish evil wherever it is found
The Values of the White Rose
Justice
Sagacity
Prudence
Temperance
Resolution
Truth
Liberality
Diligence
Hope
Valour
Where I will highlight one of the Values today, it is my hope another will take up this torch and highlight one of the other Values or stipulations of the Code as he or she envisions it. Through this I hope to spark the sharing of wisdom and vision and reach a greater understanding.
I will choose to tell you about Valour.
Valour, that Leonine quality all warriors claim and all that run must lack. Wrong I say onto you. Valour is not vanquishing your foes and riding down the stranglers or rushing in a great horde the few who stand to resist and get utterly shattered. Is it exactly those few that dare to stand, to uphold their believes and stand, come what may, that are valorous.
Do not mistake bravery for Valour either. Where Bravery comes from the heart and some men are born with it and others may be conditioned to it there are few who truly become valorous. Where one may feel the fear of death, of injury and choose to stay and fight or to face the consequences of a tough decision. It is different still. A valorous person may know that there will be pain, he may already foresee that future and know what consequences he must face down the road he must walk upon. Not because that road is easy but because it is hard. That road is the only road he could walk if he wishes to remain in the light.
Valour is knowing, beforehand, that the road you will walk upon will be hard and realize the bad that may befall you. Despite the actions of good that you will take upon this path. A brave man might do the same but never realize he is upon the path and he never knew it was the right one either.
This foreknowing, this sacrifice before the deed is where true valour springs from. Not the heart's passion but the mind's calm. Accepting, knowing and taking the path that is right and leads not into darkness and the cool but into the light where you may take a burn but never shy away from the true. This supersedes bravery and becomes a conscious choice. Seeing a friend in need and realizing there is little hope but riding all the same to his or her aid. Giving a last bread to a starving man, knowing you will go hungry. Giving up a favored sword or helm to a squire whom you desire to survive a coming battle, knowing you will need it just as much.
A woman who tells her fighting man she believes in him and will be waiting for him. Knowing he may perish and realizes that her hidden sorrow and confident words will give him strength.
There are many forms of Valour and many are not displayed on the field of battle. Bravery leaps from the hearts passion to conquer fear.Courage is the repeat of bravery and the Dauntless are conditioned to display courage a dozen times over. Valour comes from the mind and must be chosen.
In this I share my views with you and hope you may see wisdom in them. I also invite discussion and another to continue in this same vein with another Value of the Order of a part of the Code.
With warm regards,
Aldrakar Renodin
Margrave of Giask
Seneschal of Order of the White Rose
A manuscript written by the first Seneschal of the Order of the White Rose on Valour. Written in the 28th Year, Summer. By the hand of Aldrakar Renodin.
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Lord, Initiate Cordun of Luria Nova,
Your words are keen to turn my open invitation onto my own person. I will take up this gauntlet and attempt to share my views.
The Code of the White Rose
1. To protect the weak and the defenceless
2. To refrain from the wanton giving of offence
3. To live by honour and glory
4. To guard the honour of fellow members of the Order
5. To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
6. At all times to speak the truth
7. To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
8. Never to refuse a challenge from an equal
9. Never to turn the back upon a foe
10.To seek out and vanquish evil wherever it is found
The Values of the White Rose
Justice
Sagacity
Prudence
Temperance
Resolution
Truth
Liberality
Diligence
Hope
Valour
Lord Cordun asked me to give my own views on the matter of Justice. It is true that I was recently appointed Imperial Magistrate of Luria Nova. It is the position of the Highest Judge. Not a very simple position with so many powerful Nobles inside Luria Nova. Justice, the ideal to render onto each their due deserved and allow for a balance to be struck between action and consequence. I find it a most difficult subject.
As Lord Cordun puts it, is the Law of a Realm above that of a personal Code or it the ultimate justice derived from duty to one's realm. I reckon tied into this question lies what consequences are acceptable, when does justice break laws and when the sword becomes the instrument to play the last melody. Punishment is another side of this consideration and then instantly we find ourselves tangled in culture and expectation. I will attempt to bring it down to what I believe is justice and will welcome any of your to add or bring forth other points.
Justice for me is to see right being done. To see the wrong and wicked brought to accountability and allow the land tranquility as the rule of law is enabled. Allow me to state that I see Law and Justice as separate entities. A law may be unjust and justice dispensed without a court or a lawyer. The two should in an ideal world be married happily and its offspring be peace, order and happiness.
There are many ways to be just and many ways to be wrong or bad. When looking at that I would state that actions borne from Kindness have a tendency to be just and those borne from Greed or self-interest a tendency to Injustice. A selfless act does not need to be just and neither an attempt to help one self to be cruel or wicked.
Helping and its counterpart, to torment, are perhaps the beginning principles of Justice. The Laws of men are devoid of Justice when they reward the wicked and punish the just, but it happens. A man sharing his bounty can be generous but also just when the one that helped him gain that bounty saw his own bounty wither away due to negligence. The helper should be awarded a part, equal to his effort. This is a just concept. A law may state that the receiver of the help needs not share his bounty and if the man chooses not to share he will be seen as greedy.
Courtesy is a form of justice for to act with respect and offer opportunity can be just. A fair chance given to a man or woman to prove themselves is a just act. Justice is the recognition of those acts that are fair, that enable a true chance, that see a rightly proportion of reward, a balance given between struggle and reward. Any disruption to the equal balance between these two we call injustice and can usually be done by the powerful. Those without power have no influence over these transactions and are at the mercy of those able to be just. A mother and a child, a father and his family, a master and his journeymen, a steward and his city, a Lord and his vassals, a King and his realm.
Justice would mean the opportunity to prove yourself, to be rewarded to the extend of your efforts and the grace given when you make honest mistakes. A kind heart is where Justice flows from and is taken away by greedy hands or a fearful mind.
I encourage you all to discuss these words and write upon other virtues or codes of the White Rose. Let us share in our combined knowledge and strive towards greater understanding of that which we seek to attain and master.
With warm regards,
Aldrakar Renodin
Imperial Magistrate of Luria Nova
Margrave of Giask
Seneschal of Order of the White Rose
A manuscript written by the first Seneschal of the Order of the White Rose on Valour. Written in the 28th Year, Early Winter. By the hand of Aldrakar Renodin.
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Esteemed members of the White Rose,
Today I wished to share with you the Code and the Virtues of the Order as one might find them written in each of the Order Chapter Houses. Followed will be a new piece written by my hand on the subject of Unification.
The Code of the White Rose
1. To protect the weak and the defenceless
2. To refrain from the wanton giving of offence
3. To live by honour and glory
4. To guard the honour of fellow members of the Order
5. To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
6. At all times to speak the truth
7. To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
8. Never to refuse a challenge from an equal
9. Never to turn the back upon a foe
10.To seek out and vanquish evil wherever it is found
The Values of the White Rose
Justice
Sagacity
Prudence
Temperance
Resolution
Truth
Liberality
Diligence
Hope
Valour
Spread the word, teach the way and be the example.
With warm regards,
Aldrakar Renodin
Imperial Magistrate of Luria Nova
Margrave of Giask
Seneschal of Order of the White Rose
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Esteemed members of the White Rose,
This day I submit to you a manuscript about Unification.
The very word has many implications and to simply take it at face value would be a grave mistake. Tied into delving of this word I will embroider the thought of Compromise and ultimately the goal of Cooperation. It are these three masts that capture the wind of my sails as I glide over the ocean of thought.
First I shall dispense with the obvious and attempt to wrest from your mind the adjectives and assumed meanings that may spring to mind. The act of unification seems one of either Aggression or Great Compassion. There are Kings that war among themselves until one is ultimately the winner and unifies all the lands. This is obviously an aggressive implication. Then there is the unification borne from Great Compassion. Where two families join their children in matrimony or where a collection of villages declare a cohesion that starts to look a lot like Culture.
These two very different approaches are both examples of unification but there are more angles to this shape. When peoples from various realms come together and set aside differences and focus on shared values, is this not unification also? It needs not be through aggression or compassion that this is done, it could be through understanding or through necessity. When we look at our world we may perceive a great war, it also unified.
Where we should squint and take particular care is when we look at the effects of unification. It blasts away the particulars, minorities get droned out and the fabric is made smooth of the wrinkles of deviation. This very effect causes disunity. It drives away from the herd those that fail to assimilate, those that would find their world choked of air. Where this is segregation caused by unification it is also a far flung side effect from which new unification springs. This dynamic and small paradox causes our world to exist in a constant state of flux.
It is why we of the White Rose must understand that never will everyone be good for if we were to unify the land through our ideals we will strengthen the forces of evil for they would unify against us and seek one another out. The more we would unify the greater we would feel discord internal and the more widespread would be the crumbling of our ideals.
Our efforts are not in vain however. As with all forces is the middle ground the greatest. If we can sway the center to swing slightly into our direction we will have bettered the world a great deal. Small steps until we sense the counter unification we seek. Careful acts and big moves that cause little effect on the freedom of others.This is how we should achieve unification.
Personally have I invested a lot of time into diplomacy. Is diplomacy a form of Unification? Yes, I believe it is. We use speech and reason and flattery and all those other tools we posses to attempt and unify the goals and ideals of others to be in alignment with our own. What other is a Compromise but a small display of unification. Is it benign or is it hostile? it can be either and there are quite a few shades of grey as well.
While we like to use simple words and nuance, when we shed all those words without truly unique meaning we find a true repertoire.
I see no reason why the White Rose couldn't unify further and grow beyond the confines of being an Order. It could grow to be a Realm, it could be all that and more. It could solidify into a place where even the sun would be rivaled in its brightness but we should consider what we just read and know the counter effects that will have. Let the potential dark not stop us from bringing light however.
When reason breaks down, when power corrupts, when greed supersedes justice we find that to return to being true we must adhere to a code. Some call it law, some call it principle and some other still call it righteousness. It is our shared value for Chivalric Virtues that Unifies us and it is that which will enable us to do great things in that given area.
It is through realization and critical thought like this that the flower of Hope blooms. It is with people like you and me that find a way to leap over that imaginary border of rules and oppression and come together. To build, to laugh to share and to leave a better future for when we are but dust in the wind.
I thank you for reading.
Aldrakar Renodin
Imperial Magistrate of Luria Nova
Margrave of Giask
Seneschal of Order of the White Rose
There are many blank pages in the Codex awaiting ink written with wisdom.
