My battle ends

To all my friends.

Starting today, I shall not be used for any aggressive actions no matter the situation. I will not go off with you in search of a fight, I will not aid in the destruction of any thinking or feeling being. I will only draw my blade for three reasons. The first is to teach a lesson in its use. The second is if I have need to cut something. The third reason is if I need to defend myself or the people around me. I will not take any form of combat against anything or anyone no matter the reason.

Let us all strive for a brighter generation.

Amen, Mr. Strong.

I kin tell you this, sometimes those who keep that blade sheathed kin be the most impressive killer I have ever seen once they draw that blade......or they are complete rubbish. I for one take yer oath to be a very honorable thing.

Dominic,

I wish I could take such a vow, but war and fighting seems to be all I know. I do respect your choice, as long as you know when the time is that you need to fight. And to add a little more to this. One's battle never truly ends until their thread is cut. So as your physical battle ends, enter your spiritual one.

Signed, With Truth,
Jack Dimms.

See you at the Focus.


-S

**Not Caelvan**

Dominic,
Next time we are both at the Baronial feast perhaps we could speak? I look forward to this discussion, as it will be one of the first of these discussions that I will be having with some of the Travancian heroes I have heard about back home.

I hope we can have this discussion,
-Merikh

My instincts are detecting hints of a scam here... or a paradox... its sometimes hard to differentiate the two as one is commonly used as a tool to instigate the other, but i digress...

First of all in regards to your second reasoning for drawing your weapon (for your benefit i will assume the object you are attempting to "cut" is inorganic) there are 2 concerns:

1. using a tool such as a sword to cut an object is a form of aggression perpetrated against said object contradicting your first point

2. as a sword's intended purpose is essentially for combat use, wielding it to deal damage to an object, cutting it, can be considered "taking a form of combat" on something thus contradicting your concluding statement.

secondly in regards to drawing your sword in the defense of others, as using it on the perpetrator would deviate from your objective of not "taking any form of combat against anyone or anything" and would as such "be used for aggressive action" thus breaking two points in your oath, it makes me wonder how you intend to defend said individuals i can only assume rather comically that you intend to fight using harsh language.

This brings me to the my instinctual conclusion of a scam: as even the use of harsh language would be considered an act in verbal combat, the only actual option left available in accordance with your own creed is to drop said sword and surrender however that would force you to be unable to defend the people you just swore to protect.

With this i will conclude with my deductions and response should they be remotely correct:

1. You are attempting to scam members of Trevance into believing you will not defend yourself thus maing them vulnerable to whatever heinous intent lies behind the ruse.

-Should this be the case i will respond by saying that you won't deceive me quite so easily.

2. Some sort of psychosis has taken root in your mind causing you make paradoxical oaths which cannot possibly be kept except under abnormal circumstances.

-If this is the case i can refer you to a great shrink who can really help you

3. you made a mistake with your announcement

-In this case i recommend a revision of your oath before some one paranoid of having a knife stuck in their back such as myself comes to outrageous conclusions... well it might be a bit late for that suggestion but a good revision would still be in your best interest should this be the case.

*At the bottom right of the parchment posted by "S" there now appears to be a bloody fingerprint smearing to the left*

Mrikh- As I would be more than happy to discuss with you my moral oath however I must make one point very clear my friend. I am not a hero, far from it actually. I have to much innocent blood on my hands to be considered anything of the sort.

And to Alexander, you really need to calm down. My only plan with this oath is to fight only when I absolutely have to. I understand your suspicions but I have no reason to, or desire to cause any more trouble for anyone.

Dominick,

Rest Easy, lad... Some folks nae can figger out when someone is either tired of looking for danger or simply no' able to be out and about anymore either fighting, drinking or wenching... There comes that time for every one... and yours just happened to come now.

Know that I get it and I know what happened tae ye... and if anyone is tae give you grief, send them tae me and I will do my best to explain why this choice of yours was made. I think I can find enough simple words tae make them understand in a diplomatic way.

Its a brave man who knows when tae say when. Far too many never figure that point out.

-D. MacKenzie

A correction to Mr. Silvers:

Cutting an inanimate object is in no ways necessarily an act of aggression. Aggression implies a certain hostility and one needs not feel hostility towards, let us say, a log, in order to chop said log into firewood.

If you are to make overly pedantic corrections about what someone else has said, please do at least check to be sure all your suppositions are valid.

As for you, Mr. Dominic, I look forward to seeing where you go and what this oath shall become for you.

May Chronicler help us see the story,
Illyrin Soral

As long as you live the battle never ends. It may change its form but it does not end. Healers heal the battle is against death. The warrior fights the battle is against many things. A defender defends but the battle us simply defensive. Your battle has changed with your decision. It may well change again and again. I can not count on both my hands how many times my battle has changed over the many years. Fight on your own terms but please know you fight regardless. Be well stay safe guard those you love.

This is denial in it's purest form. Accept what you are and continue to fight.

-Ava

Ava, I refuse to accept this as what I am. I refuse to accept being a blade of blood, a warrior of death creating only destruction. I will not live my life knowing the only thing I leave behind is a trail of innocent bodies.

Inaction will breed just as large of a trail.

The only difference will be that it was not your hand that created it and instead of hunting monsters you will allow them to roam free killing as they please until they somehow "prove" that they are not innocent.

If you are content with giving up your will, I cannot stop you, only point out that a person who has no will to fight is just as much a monster as those he or she first swore to defeat.

-Ava

How far is to far? At what point does ones desire to protect others from darkness become the opposite? In my desire to protect those around me I have committed many terrible crimes that would get any normal person executed. Ending lives before they even began. As I look back at all I have done, all I have become I am ashamed. So much death, so much destruction. I am no protector, I am no hero. Its this realization that brought me to this conclusion. I am worse than the very monsters I once hunted.

I am no adviser. If you seek advice on how you should absolve your "crimes" you should talk to either a noble or clergy. One who is willing to compare your "crimes" to a system of "law"

However such questions do not concern me.

You waste a lot of time thinking about these points and lines that do not exist beyond the words that man has given them. Your "lines" differ from my "lines". For all I know you stole a sweet roll from a child and are now calling yourself a monster.

We can agree on one thing however, you are certainly not a protector. A protector would not decide to sit idle and allow more people to die.

-Ava

Sometimes an event happens that brings about a change in our pattern of thought. Sometimes it's for the better, sometimes it's not.

Dominic, I may not know terribly much about you, but I know that there is a fire inside of you that will burn despite your attempt (or anyone else's) to squelch it. I have seen you in action. You love what you do.

We have all made mistakes. I actually lied once. I apologized in pretty short order, but I still feel the guilt. Some things will never wash away, but they are part of us. It doesn't make us awful. It makes us fallible. We are all fallible! We ALL do things we later regret. Such is life. Life is learning and learning comes with experience. Experience comes from mistakes!

You are a good man. You fight for Travance. What is there to apologize for? What is there to punish yourself for? We need every one of us, including you.

I understand my past cannot be changed. That all decisions I have made are final. But it is not regret that curses my mind, but...... I will speak no more of this.

(OOG note you see this letter is torn at the bottom)

This world is not black, nor is it white. It does not always run red with the blood violence, for there are other ways. If we are indeed talking of "monsters" that are sentient, feeling, and empathy capable beings there are other paths you can take. Rather than live in a kill or be killed world, I have chosen to find reason in my assailants actions. Disarm them, or otherwise disable them, and ask... why? Why do you seek to kill me, when I mean you no harm?
A few moons ago, armed by this very outlook, I managed to uncover an Illithid trick meant to turn ordinary men against us. Had I chose to do nothing, others would have suffered. Had I killed them for their violence, they would have died in a prison of their own mind.
I think the real question comes when their answer is undebatable. If they seek to attack you for their own good reason, and you still seek peace over death, what should you do? This is the question that we who seek to live a moral existence must ask ourselves. If you stand by and watch them kill, you are just as guilty. If you shield your allies, who slaughter them, you are also just as guilty. It is hard, but you cannot simply live on one side or another. You must choose, or you are guilty of far worse than having blood on your hands.
The idle hand is the devil's playground. Never let inaction be the shield for your morality.

In service to Lord Aleister,
Squire Philidin Ienbura

Dominic - you are young and have yet to fully find yourself. Most of us have more than one aspect to their personalities. Some have the warrior aspect, others tht of healer, scholar, servant of a god, and many more. With these various aspects come attributes, tools, if you will that allow one to be a better whatever. The combination in which these aspect and attributes are employed define us as a person. Only if one exclusively takes on a particular aspect and constantly wields the same aspect will one be considered to be that and nothing more.

I do not deny all o who I am. I am more than just a killer, more than just a fighter. I do what I do for it is part of who I am. But if my instincts lead me to mindlessly slaughter innocents then I have the choice to deny and change hat aspect of myself. I will become something better, I will not be the cause of anymore tragedy.

If I may be so bold, Mister Strong. Might I inquire into your "mindless slaughter" of innocent people? I feel as though that aspect has gone largely unattended to in this debate. Mr. Strong, have you just confessed to murder on multiple accounts? If this is indeed so, I strongly advise you to turn yourself in to the Guard at the earliest opportunity. While your pledge here perhaps is some due atonement, it is not justice. If the blood you have spilled is truly innocent blood, then I have to agree that your rescinding of aggression is for the best.

With concern,

do what you want,its your choice,most people dont have that luxury...and if others dont understand then to the nine hells with them

Nobody is innocent.

-Ava

Squire Piper, while I understand your concerns please know that it is more complicated then you believe. It is a longer story to be told.

Such talk of "complicated" situations is not the talk of one who wishes to atone for crimes because surely crimes of this nature would result in execution. Perhaps you should keep your quill and tongue still until you have decided what has transpired. Unless you sincerely just want to die.

-Ava

Pup, until you taste the meat, you cannot call it spoiled and tough.

-Kanas

I am woefully surprised at what I'm reading here. Spurning someone who is trying to find their place in the world is abhorrent.
It rakes time to find where one belongs in the world. It was years of terrible mistakes before I found out where I belonged.

I support Dominic's choice of pacifism. I have heard more passion in his voice than I have seen put behind a sword or mace by many others in town. It is a terrible mistake to stifle such potential, so much that I take it as an affront to myself.

Dominic is still learning and so is everyone else.
One would be a terrible fool to think they were ever finished.

Lord Tartaros,

Understand that I have no intention of preventing Dominic of following whatever path he desires as I had written previously. I merely wish to inform him what possibilities exist because of his choice. As someone who sees possibilities everywhere I find he should be fully informed and not just shown one side.

If this is the path he wishes to take so be it, I cannot and have no desire to prevent him from following his path. I just wish to see how dedicated he is to it. One should embrace who they are and their path, as well as their past and not regret or shove it away or pretend it did not exist.

-Ava