Resolve is a carefully hand-bound book, the bindings made to specifications more typical of jewelers than bookbinders. The paper of the internal pages are pressed with grapeleaves and calligraphed with an artisan's skill.
I will answer to one authority first, before all others. My blood sings of what is right and honorable, and in obedience to that I will not fail. This is the true core of the Code of Blood, above the rules, beyond the authority, over the steel and blood, exceeding the history.
My name is Roberto deFlourent. I have little hope that my name will be remembered beyond the count of my own years, but it is possible that this book, my own attempt to grasp at the very nature of Honor, may survive me and capture the interest of those who follow me into the next Age. So I will tell briefly of myself, in hopes that my words may bear some perspective to my point. I am known as a merchant, an occultist of both High Magic and Crux Magic, and a hero of Sokar's War. The sword I bear close to my heart has tasted, by my hand, the blood of a Child of Aten, which fell to it. I am, and have been since before the dawn of the second century after Paraceln had his Dream, a devotee of the Code of Blood. I have, as of the time of this writing, not announced this before the Royal Council.
Nor shall I. The Council's value as an arbiter of that Code is passed, swept away by corruption of spirit and ambivalence. The Royal Council has more important things to tend to than the survival of honor. I therefore do not consider it any longer important to what it means to be devoted to the Code, but will instead place myself and my fellow devotees in authority over ourselves, for none who does not bear the weight of our Oath should stand in judgement over it.
This is a poor, terrifying, tragic time for honor. There are too few who understand even rudimentarily what the Code is, or what it is to have honor as a non-devotee. Therefore, before I can safely wade in the waters of my own self-dedication, I must first illuminate my readers to the heart of honor.
The Code of Blood
The Code demands, specifically, four things. Many know these things even today, but that is not universally true, and time has eroded even this understanding to uncertain and vague shapes.
* First, to offer mercy to a bested foe.
* Second, to nurture the land entrusted to you.
* Third, to defend those incapable of defending themselves
* Fourth, to remain true to your sworn word.
These may be named the essential tenets of the Code of Blood, but in fact they are only the universal rules, those that all on the Code are expected to adhere to. As most things in this world, it is not so simple as a plain statement of rules. The Code and one's personal honor - whether an adherent of the Code of Blood or not - is not a plain ink on paper set of rules. It is a living, breathing thing, a thing of spirit and of blood. It courses through the honorable man's veins and invigorates his daily life, giving meaning to all that he does. It is his air and food and drink, but it is also the blood that he spills in it's defense, even as that same blood is passed to his children who bear the same burden of honor as did their parents.
And, like all living things, it grows. It is born with self-acknowledgment. It achieves adulthood with declaration. It quests throughout it's life for self-meaning, seeking to improve and understand better it's own nature. And, upon death, it continues on nevertheless, in the heart of children, the minds of scholars, and the spirits of those who take up the same challenge as you yourself did. When I say it is a quest, I mean that a man who may claim honor may not sit still, certain in his own righteousness. The world is a complex place, and no single set of rules can apply to all situations. I am not saying that a situation may ever justify a dishonorable act. I am saying that one's definition of honor, over the years, will take on new facets and consider new elements. This quest is never truly ended.
But there are epiphanies. There are moments of revelation or enlightenment which lend one to a sudden understanding of things that he did not til that moment know vexed him. Because honor deals with more than the basic rules of the Code of Blood, these moments will occur often to a man or woman who seeks actively to be enlightened by his own spirit.
My Oath
And now is when I make my declarations. These are made for myself and for those who, in this day, devote themselves to the Code with the convictions of their lives and blood. These are not made to demand that this is as it must be for all, although this will seem to be belied by what you will read in the following.
On the issue of the peasantry: I am responsible, ultimately, for the well-being of my entrusted people. The folk of Viscounty Vincoeur flourish because I encourage it, and they falter because I have failed them. I have given them the tools to fend for themselves, but if their defense failed it is because I did not give to them enough with which to work. I am immovably bound to those who look to me for their lives and livelihoods, and I will not forsake this trust.
Should any person entrusted to me come to harm, I will avenge him. If any come to harm another, it is I who will provide justice, the Magistrates notwithstanding. I welcome the Magistrates, and encourage them to oversee as they will, but as my people look to me for protection, so must I give it.
I am, to a lesser extent, responsible for enforcement of my fellow nobles to ensure that they treat with their people as they should, as honor demands. Misuse, mistreatment; should either come to my attention, I will hold responsible their lord and bring upon him justice by the sword.
Which brings me to duelling. Much has been made of it among my peers. There is a whole society wrapped about the institution of the Duel of Honor. The common rules for such a duel are the use of seconds, the right of the challenger to set the terms, the right of the challenged to determine choice of weapon, and so on.
I will not abide it as a steadfast rule. Where appropriate, I will encourage this behavior, but it is not a necessity of my Oath. What I will do is insist that my opponent in a duel be armed. But I will not allow cowardice to circumvent honor. Your blood is your honor, your spirit is your honor. Your champion is only a means of making for a 'fair fight'. That is not the same thing as honor, and I will not confuse the two. If you are challenged by me, there will be a reason. If you are given no warning, no time to seek a champion, and no choice of choosing a weapon more to your liking, the reason will be clear.
I will abide by the result of any duel in which I participate. I will not lessen the result of a duel from it's stated terms, nor will I abide a more drastic result than is called for in the terms. If a duel is fought over words cruelly spoken, upon losing such a duel I will recall those words, and not speak them again in public. Conversely, I will enforce this in any duel in which I participate, witness or am fully made aware of. The Duel of Honor will not be trivialized, and its results will not be ignored.
I will accept any challenge to a duel by combat that is honorably delivered.
I will not, again, participate in a duel by any other method.
I will champion no cause I do not fully grasp, and I will challenge any who champions a cause they do not fully comprehend themselves. This applies to duels primarily, but secondarily to other causes as well, including that of family, alliance or association.
Persons beholden to the Code of Blood will bear my vigilance especially. Too little has been made of this dire Oath in recent years, and I will see an end to this trend. If you are Sworn, you will not only obey the universal rules. You will comport yourself honorably and you will actively adhere to and live your Oath. If you do not, I will come to offer you the chance to renew your honor by way of Challenge.
I will make an effort to guide others to the Code. It is by our honor that we are worthy of our titles and responsibilities as nobles. Once sworn, the Oath holds me until death. No minutiae of detail will diminish this, even in the face of resurrection by Theurgy, nor by ritual 'death' of personality. I am Sworn until the day that I can no longer walk the face of Mourn, and if it is possible, I am Sworn even if my spirit ascends on the Last Day. What's more, this applies to all who have Sworn. Forswearing this Code of Blood will not get you free of it. I will defend the Oath itself. I have heard it spoken of harshly once, and that time resulted in a duel. Likewise, I will act in such a way as to support my fellow Oathbound in pursuit of matters of honor.
My honor is my own to defend. Unless I am unable, I will not ask for a champion to shed his blood for me. I will not ask for a champion even in cases where pistols are called for by the challenged party. My honor is my blood, no one else's.
I do not make this declaration to the Royal Council. They are a political machine, and modern politics seem to have no room left for honor. I make this declaration to my brothers and sisters of the Oath. I encourage you to likewise publish your Oaths, when you have brought them to adulthood. I welcome you to embrace my own, if that is your wish, but most emphatically I encourage you to declare to your fellow Sworn where you draw your line. The Royal Council no longer cares, my brothers and sisters. We Oathbound are all that are left.
Viscount Vincoeur