Chronicles: Virtues of Our Villains
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: Chronicles: Virtues of our Villans
Author: Ronefaer Velderi
In Ultima V, Lord Blackthorn, the tyrant who ruled in absence of Lord British, codified the "8 Virtues" into a set of draconian laws.
Lets look at how virtue has been Misused. Virtue Law:
Honesty - Thou shalt not lie, or thou shalt lose thy tongue.
Compassion - Thou shalt help those in need, or thou shalt suffer the same need.
Valor - Thou shalt fight to the death if challenged, or thou shalt be banished as a coward.
Justice - Thou shalt confess thy crime and pay its pennance, or thou shalt be put to death.
Sacrifice - Thou shalt donate half of thy income to charity, or thou shalt have no income.
Honor - If thou dost lose thine own honour, thou shalt take thine own life.
Spirituality - Thou shalt enforce the laws of virtue, or thou shalt die as a heretic.
Humility - Thou shalt humble thyself to thy superiors, or thou shalt suffer their wrath.
Blackthorn's Code has shown that you can use manipulation of laws, and lawmen to alter how good things people believe in can be twisted to the most evil concepts.
This can happen when morals are instituted into law because when a law is written, future generations may alter the context of its usage and implimentation.
In Ultima V, each of the three Shadowlords opposed one of the three virtue Principles.
Nosfentor was Cowardice, Vice of Courage.
Astaroth was Hatred, Vice of Love.
Faulinei was Falsehood, Vice of Truth.
In the realm of The Underworld, their twisted set of virtue principles was used to taint the virtues with a different kind of corruption, by corrupting the faith people use to communicate to the belif. This would not stand as The Avatar kills The Shadowlords. It would take much more work though to cleanse the virtues and for people to re-learn the basic ideas underlying the principle of virtue itself.
The Virtues of Mandrake:
In Ultima VI, Mandrake was a bard who had a more laid back sense of virtue. He did not bend it to wicked means but its still funny.
Virtue Principles:
Wine
Women
Song
Eight of the virtues are derived from these three principles:
Drunkenness - Wine
Sensuality - Women
Harmony - Song
Lust - Wine, Women
Laziness - Wine, Song
Dance - Women, Song
Indulgence - All Three.
Happiness - None of it.
Ok, so this comedic character isnt quite a villan, but is it villanous against what virtue stands for to bend it for means of Vanity.?
But villans can believe in honor among thieves, as the code of Batlin, Abraham and Elizabeth better known as "The Fellowship". This code is called the Triad of Inner Strength.
1. Strive For Unity.
2. Trust Thy Brother.
3. Worthiness Precedes Reward.
Though villans indeed, The Fellowship followed a strict code that many good aligned faiths could only dream of. This is because in the hearts of evil, still lies enough brain to know a need for a "law of loyalty" among brothers. No despotism is complete without it!
Now, we drop fame as sacrifice, do only menial escorts of compassion and honor only to kill or benefit self. Justice is blind, rewarding many criminals as well. We wonder why UO has no true Spirituality, Humility, or Honesty. How can we? We bend virtues to gain items, which is Falsehood. At all times we look for that next kill. Does that make us the evil savages?