Faith and Virtue

Faith and Virtue

an open letter

My fellow councillors, my sisters and brothers,

Since the dawn of our nation, since the time when our great Gods were as yet Anticipated, our House has led the people of Veloth. Armed with Faith and shielded with Virtue, we safeguarded the Velothi out of tribal chaos and into the greatest flourishing we have ever known. We are the First House of the Law Determined, and our right to rule cannot be challenged.

Yet, the faithless Telvanni and the wicked Hlaalu grow, fed on stolen bounty of our most holy island. The arrogant Dres, whose sovereignty was bought with our blood, hide in their estates and count the coins they claim not to desire. Without a yoke, the Redoran steer themselves across the plains and sow nothing but their own destruction. In the present age, Resdayn is leaderless.

We must not let House Hlaalu buy the future, to sell it on to their foreign masters.

With our strength and agility, we must seize the future for ourselves, and for all the people of Veloth.

However, to do so, we must make changes. Our retinues depart us, distracted as they are by the name and weight of a Septim. Our order is greatly diminished. We must increase our numbers.

So I say, though I know it will cause offense to you, my sisters and brothers: no longer should we turn away the Houseless and the Outlander, for there are some amongst those unlucky peoples for whom Faith and Virtue are weighed heavier than gold.

We need those who can wield virtuous weapons such as the longsword and the mace in our fight against enemies within and without. They will clad themselves in heavy armor, just as we wear our impenetrable faith. In their right hands they will carry the purifying fires of destruction, and on their brows the soothing light of restoration, to cleanse and heal our home. And they will know the bounty and the alchemy of our gardens, for above all we are Indoril, and it is our careful attention that has made our lands the most beautiful in all of Resdayn.

So I beg of you, my brothers and sisters, command the chaplains of your Chapel-Fortresses to welcome those who once would have been turned away. Command they make him know that our House is not for the venal, the mercantile, or the self-interested, but for those who would see Resdayn flourish as the gorapple blossom. If he be faithful and virtuous, then he may serve us in our crusade.

Yours, in perpetuity,

Indoril Ilvi