Luria Nova/Culture

Letter from Malus Solari(Approximately December 2012)

Ladies, lords, dames and knights of Sun Hall—

Since our realignment with the Houses of Luria Nova, I have had much time to think. Mostly, I have thought about ale. How it is brewed. How it can be improved. Strengthened. Stuff of great import. Occasionally, I have devoted time to another, singular thought: what does it mean to be Lurian?

Now—For me, at least—I believe I know. It means fighting. Striving. Yearning for something better. Pursuing it at any cost, by violence if necessary. That passion defines us, and when we are not free to express it, calamity or inner death is the result. I have witnessed many calamities in my time, but now I believe we find ourselves at the threshold of a malaise. You shouldn't stand for it. I won't.

In my idle time, I have begun drafting a Lurian code. Not some law that dimwitted bureaucrats enforce with their hammed fists, but a personal code. A way of being. It is the distillation of what made Solaria great for a time combined with my observations of other successful Lurians. It will be the lodestone of Sun Hall, and any who aspire to great things under the banner of this duchy would be well served to consider it, at the least.

What is this code, then? Certainly, it must not interfere with other creeds. It makes no grand claims regarding the divine. It does not tug at your many loyalties. Simply put, it is a code of service. Honor. Perfection in whatever you do. Ignorance should be your greatest shame. Do you march to battle? Do so with a keen understanding of martial tactics. You do not know them? Learn them. Ask. Do you administer the courts? Your task is often thankless. No longer. Your sharp mind will be regarded as equal to the sharpest sword, with all the rewards due to you. Are your talents in the cloth or the granary? A people must have comfort, and armies fight better with full bellies. Your service, however it is given, shall be rewarded. The Lurian code leads to a life of continual striving toward the ideal. Something can always be done better. A machine can always be improved. We are machines made flesh, no? We should strive for perfection of the self. You are not asked to undertake a personal struggle without reward. It is time that you enjoyed greater liberty. But how do we get there?

Ladies and lords shall be required to take up the code. If you find that a life of stagnation meets with your approval, then I wish you a long and happy tenure, because your successor will always be waiting in the wings. For your commitment, you shall have an immediate stake in the future of the duchy. Through referenda, your interests shall collectively become the official policy of Sun Hall. There is no matter too great or small for your consideration. War. Trade. Politics. Sun Hall shall be governed collectively.

For dames and knights, you may expect the largest estates. Immediate elevation to lands and titles when such vacancies occur. Assistance for recruitment. Vigorous defense against your enemies, external and internal. Support for your training in any of the arts.

This is all very sudden and vague, I know. I believe it to be critically important for the restoration of Sun Hall and Greater Luria. Let us demonstrate that we are masters of our own domains and captains of our own fates. By demonstrating the superiority of our ethic, it is likely that such a code will be adopted by the Duchies of Giask and Shinnen, when such time comes. Let this code, this way of being, be the first step toward a genuine cultural and political reform of Luria. Who will take up this mantle with me?

Glory and honor,

Malus Solari

Ambassador of Luria Nova, Duke of Sun Hall, Margrave of Askileon Purlieus, Priest of Sanguis Astroism