The Legacy of Heroes; or, How Chivalry, Honor and Codes of Conduct Manifest in a Setting of Many Cultures
An essay on chivalric codes in Palanor, as requested by The Brothers Krynn
As stated above, upon the release of his own essay on the subject chivalric codes, Joe of
requested that I, along with a handful of other writers such as and , consider writing similar essays regarding such codes within our own fictional settings. I quickly found myself intrigued by this idea. Codes of honor and conduct are certainly things which exist in the nations of Palanor, the continent upon which most of the stories I share here are set.Yes, that includes Gaiur the Valdunite’s ongoing saga. Stenise, the expansive wintry land over which she’s wandered across my current five stories with her1, represents the northernmost reaches of this continent. Being that it’s now the region which I’ve written about the most, one would think its culture would provide the easiest answer for the challenge posed. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and this is the reason why Joe’s challenge has resonated with me - my work doesn’t just follow one character from one culture.
Including my webcomic, Phoenix Rising, (which I sadly doubt will ever reach completion at this point,) I’ve written in and about no less than six distinct cultures and peoples when it comes to my setting; cultures which hold a variety views on ethics, morality, and honor. The people of the vast and resource rich coasts and plains of Oasyris are not the same as the desert dwelling New Bayelans, who themselves are the remnants of this land’s last great empire; nor are either alike to the hardy and fierce peoples of Stenise’s myriad townships and Jarldoms; and none are akin to the debauched and decadent Khavosans of the Eastern Badlands.
I know that, to most of you, these names mean very little. You’ve seen me reference them there and there if you’ve read my stories, but you don’t have the sense of what or where these places are in my world yet because you’ve never encountered them2. Nevertheless, I feel the above still illustrates the challenge set before me: of the cultures which have something resembling a chivalric code, which am I to choose from, and how am I to present it?
I’m sure you’ve gathered already that a myriad of cultures also means a myriad of faiths. Those of you who’ve read my stories will already be aware of some of them. The people of Gaiur’s homeland worship a polytheistic collection of ancient Pagan gods. The most notable among these are Luthmor, the Great Father, who commands and speaks through storms, who holds sway over the seas, the skies, and all of the bounties to be found within each; and Shelyn, Matron of All Men and Beasts, who watches over mothers and their children and who’s face can be seen in the moon. There is Craich, the Warrior, who is revered for his strength and bear-like constitution, who looks kindly on steeds and mead and loves contests of strength and physical prowess. There’s also the most ancient of the currently worshipped Stenisian gods, the Night Walker, Beshabba. She’s believed to have gifted mankind with herb lore and medicinal knowledge, granted the far-seeing völva their sight, but is also seen as a fickle being who birthed some of the world’s darkest monstrosities.
There are other, more esoteric entities of worship among the peoples of Stenise, too. Smaller or more isolated clans, such as the people of Gaiur’s home village, Valdun, also pay reverence to things like forest and animal spirits. Even entities which could be considered elemental, such as the malicious wind spirit she encounters in “The Storm’s Child”, are seen as things to be revered despite the danger they pose. However, these views wouldn’t necessarily be shared by the citizens of a city like Halvfjord, the current setting for most of The Jarl’s Son. This rule extends to the greater Ostock Jarldom as well. The farmers, ranchers, hunters, and so on that live far outside Halvfjord’s pallisade walls share in reverence for the Stenisian gods, but aren’t reverential to spirits in the same way Gaiur is.
Naturally, this truth expands even further when we move to other cultures. The Misty Valley that’s found in the nation of Riverre, the location in which The Castle on the Hill is set, holds an entirely separate culture and system of worship from the people of Stenise. Speaking of, sincere apologies for the long delay on that story. A break was necessary in the face of projects and work outside of Substack, but it shall return.
As I was saying, the people of Riverre, as well as their neighbors and allies in Bergosia for that matter, hold a separate culture and system of worship from the Stenisians. On a cultural level, there are numerous minor and major differences between these two nations, too, but they are very close in terms of their faith. In fact, outside of a few exceptions, most of the people from the Palanor continent who live south of Stenise have this in common, thanks to a dominant faith which emerged amongst these varied peoples after the collapse of the Bayelan Empire.
While I’ve briefly made mention of this faith in The Castle on the Hill, it’s my short story, “The Thief and the Minister”, which features it most prominently - worship of the deity commonly called the Highfather. I imagine that most of you who’ve read these stories have probably reached the conclusion that this faith is a general reflection of Christianity, and you’d be correct in that assumption. In terms of how worship of the Highfather is approached by his adherents, it depends on a number of factors such as the prevailing culture, where they live, the hardships faced by the various communities of worship, proximity to warlike neighbors, interpretations of scripture, and so on. Like real world Christianity, these unique factors have led to a variety of sects within the greater faith, though the original orthodoxy remains home to the majority of worshippers.
Much of this information - most of it, in fact - is going to be new to those of you who’ve read my work. The obvious reason for this is because most of what I’ve written on this Stack doesn’t have to do with these southern nations and peoples. Most of my stories have been about Gaiur’s travels and trials across the vastness that is the mountains, glaciers, plains, and fjords of Stenise. What can I say? I like my Scandinavian inspired fiction. These are peoples who tend to be more passive in their worship of their gods, especially compared to places like Oasyris, Riverre, Bergosia, or the scattered communities across unincorporated regions like the Golden Plains or Raghor Highlands. (Pronounced “Rafor”, use the gh like you would in laugh.) Keep this name in mind, I’ll be touching back on it a bit later.
When it comes to the chivalric codes and knightly tenets that are often birthed from such faiths, these are something that haven’t been fully explored in my stories yet. This isn’t due to a lack of desire, but rather the simple fact that the stories where such is planned are either very early in development, or are being worked on and simply haven’t reached the stage where this deeper exploration begins. As mentioned already, the closest I’ve currently come to these here is “The Thief and the Minister”, and that doesn’t quite meet the same qualifications since the minister in question, Osmund, is far from a knight. In fact, he used to be a reaver, one of the most violent and vicious of his day. Through various means - the wisdom that comes with age, the witnessing of greater atrocities by his mentor, personal tragedies, etc. - he came to recognize the wrongness of his actions and has been making attempts to repent for his past ever since.
After surrendering his ill gotten wealth, Osmund chose to walk the world with little more than the clothes on his back, the sword on his belt, and the faith in his heart. He travels in search of people who might require his ministrations, and sometimes, the protection of a now righteous man with a skilled sword arm. One can see the semblance of a chivalric code in how Osmund tries to comport himself: protect those who can’t protect themselves; be charitable to the poor; act mercifully to those who might wrong you; and so on.
Phoenix Rising offers another glimpse into the generalities of such a code through the adventuring wizard Ahote de Zhanos and his pyromancer lover, Regina Doran. Their relationship forms one of the cornerstones of the webcomic’s story so far and, while this aspect isn’t actively explored, one of the commonalities they share is their faith in the Highfather, something they’ve both demonstrated since they were young.
However, their shared faith is something of a lucky thing, as both of them hail from very different regions of central Palanor. Ahote is Oasyrian, as indicated by his fair skin and silvery hair, both of which are extremely common traits among a people who quite literally harbor a touch of celestial divinity within them. A classically trained wizard who studied his craft in Oasyris’ Venice-like capital, Alegria, he exemplifies something of the studious city boy. He’s intelligent, witty, and resourceful, but he’s also someone who’s had to learn to cope with the particular challenges and dangers of adventuring and life outside a major city.
On the other hand, Regina hails much further afield, the mountainous Raghor Highlands, which forms the natural border between the desert city-state New Bayel to the southwest, and Oasyris and the Golden Plains to the north. The lives led by Raghor Highlanders are closer to what’s been shown in my stories about Gaiur. These are mostly peasant and merchant folk, tradesmen and their families who ply their particular crafts and will travel great distances to trade in the wealthy city markets of the nations their craggy range borders. In the case of Regina, she comes from a family of loggers and lumberjacks, and was raised on a mill that was first built by her thrice-great grandfather.
Despite this difference in region and culture, Regina and Ahote nevertheless share in their orthodox worship of the Highfather. Granted, this isn’t something that’s actively touched on in the comic up to where it is now but, as with Osmund’s actions, we can look at how Ahote and Regina carry themselves to get an idea of the sorts of tenets that might be displayed by the ordered knights and paladins that serve in the names of the Highfather and their Kings or Queens3.
The best example of this comes in the first three installments of chapter 3, which covers a flashback sequence wherein we witness a major event in the earlier years of Ahote and Regina’s adventuring. These scenes exist to give answers to some questions within the story. Firstly, it shows us the origins of the spiral burn scar Regina reveals in the first few installments of the comic. Secondly, it shows the key reason why the primary villain of the story, the New Bayelan aristocrat Djedkarse Seht, is so adamant about capturing her for himself. Among these events, however, we also see examples of the honorable ideals that Osmund adopted upon leaving his live as a reaver behind him.
The chapter opens with Ahote and Regina riding down a forest road in their covered wagon, discussing plans which are revealed to be their strategy for dealing with a group of bandits that’ve been haranguing travelers coming and going from Wystram, a nearby village. Now, one might think that since the group of bandits has been violent, this pair of skilled magi would just kill them and be done with it, but that’s not their way. They want to see the men brought to justice, and that means allowing the people of the village to try them for their crimes.
As such, they stick to strictly non-lethal methods of capture. Dramatically playing possum to lure the bandits close, Regina blinds them with smoke while Ahote uses his spells to capture and bind the men in shackles of stone. There’s no question that these men are criminals, and violent ones. Ahote is well aware of this, and as such pushes to exercise caution. Regina, being the more brash and confident of the pair, handwaves the danger off despite her recognition of it. This is an old game for them, one that hasn’t always gone to plan, but which they’re now well practiced in. As such, these men are shown a modicum of mercy, and that mercy ends up paying off when they return to the town to find it under attack by one of the most dangerous monsters in the region - a colossal mountain troll.
Well, I say it pays off, but that’s not entirely true. We’ll see why soon.
Upon catching a whiff of smoke on the air, both magi are struck with the feeling that something is wrong in Wystram. Riding hard to reach the town, they discover that their instincts are correct. During his rampage, the mountain troll sparked a fire that’s now engulfing the town. Knowing that they’re the only people around who might be able to drive the beast off, if not slay it, Ahote and Regina quickly come up with a plan, one which will require them to enlist the aid of the recently captured bandits.
Naturally, these men aren’t keen to help. Their leader practically spits in the face of their offer to free them in exchange for their help keeping the troll busy, and the rest of his men aren’t exactly jumping at the chance to play hero. This is of little surprise to either of them, especially Regina, who was quick to point out that they can’t be trusted. Her desire to help defend the villagers wins out, though, and she agrees to help Ahote strike his bargain with them.
The problem arises when Ahote finds he’s out of his depth. Regina swiftly recognizes this, as well as the reason for it. She understands that these men aren’t just brigands, but rural folk like herself. They lack the sort of classical education someone like Ahote has, seeing him as a puffed-up fool. His logical reasoning, as well as his appeals to justice and their better nature, won’t reach them. Instead, they need someone who’ll speak to their level, and so Regina steps in.
As she lays out their crimes to them, she promises that if they refuse to help, if they abandon this chance to do what’s right and possibly earn some redemption from the people they’ve tormented in the process, that she and Ahote will take the horses and flee, leaving their fates in the hands of the monster. It’s not something she’d ever truly do since she still wishes to help the villagers, but the bandits don’t know that and quickly begin arguing with their boss about the idea.
Ultimately, the bandits agree, albeit under duress. They sneak into the town, spreading out so they can act as distractions for the troll and allow any remaining villagers to make their escape. Ahote will support them with his magic as they do so, attempting to damage the troll by slinging massive stone spikes at it, effectively turning himself into a living ballista. While he does that, Regina makes use of her command of fire to draw the blaze engulfing the town into herself, at which time she’ll turn the flames back on the monster so that, hopefully, their combined attack will drive it away.
Where just a short while ago these bandits were a scourge upon the village, they quickly begin taking their role on with courage and pride. These men have never really played the hero before, and while their job is a simple one, each takes it seriously. Each, that is, except their traitorous leader, who takes full advantage of a situation that suddenly sees the breaking of a failsafe Ahote put in place to protect himself and Regina from a double cross.
As the bandits in the town call out to warn the two magi that the troll’s attention is fully on them, Regina turns what flames she’s gathered on the beast as it charges. However, taking advantage of their distraction, the bandit leader sneaks up on them from behind. He drives his axe into Regina’s shoulder and readies to turn against Ahote as well. Unfortunately for all of them, this results in a horrible disaster, one which sees this cur’s treachery duly paid.
Severely wounded, Regina’s control over her spell fails and the magic starts to go wild. Fire bursts from the wound on her back, cauterizing it, but scarring her body as it spins and spirals out of control. She conflagrates, and as the fires rage around her Ahote desperately attempts to find a spell of his own to help her. Meanwhile, the bandit leader, who was ready to kill Ahote just seconds before, flees in fear for his life. He doesn’t get far. The fire surges, erupting from Regina with such intensity that the land and the village are scoured. Both the troll and the bandit leader are reduced to little more than ashes.
It’s not revealed directly in the ending of this sequence, but the four bandits who did assist them survive. They arrive shortly after Regina begins to conflagrate, just in time to witness their leader fleeing. Knowing that he can’t stop her surging magic, Ahote instead moves to protect himself and those men, using his magic to shelter underground until the worst has passed. The reason for this should be clear: while they haven’t fully recanted their crimes, these men did a good deed, putting their lives on the line to help the people they’d made such trouble for. It’s a first step towards redemption for them, thus it feels appropriate that they be given a chance to live and learn, while the traitor and the monster are slain.
As I’ve already mentioned, none of the characters in question here are knights or paladins or similar men. They are, for the most part, fairly average people, Ahote and Regina excluded by virtue of their magical acumen, of course. Yet even with that extraordinary trait taken into account, their beliefs and actions aren’t outlandish. They aren’t oath sworn defenders or holy warriors. Instead, they’re a pair of adventurers, choosing to live that nomadic life partly in expression of their young love, but also because they know the good that might be done with their gifts. It is the actions of a treacherous man that turns their good deed into calamity.
Honesty. Charity. Self sacrifice. Defense of the weak. Honor. Courage. Love. These are the building blocks which traditionally make a hero. We often see these same ideals presented in the various tenets or codes of conduct that the knights, paladins, samurai, and so on of our fictional worlds are held to. While I’ve yet to explore these in a more direct manner within my fiction, I do intend to do so at some point in the near future. Likely it’ll come when I finally resume The Castle on the Hill. While not a knight chevalier in his own right, the story’s male lead, Paul Tarnesian, exhibits many traits of a budding hero and-
Well, perhaps its best I stop here. I wouldn’t want to spoil any of the ideas I’ve been working with for that story just yet.
Regardless, while I’ve not explored the idea of chivalric codes directly, I’d like to think that the examples I’ve given from my setting show that these concepts are very much alive in my world. They don’t always look the same from place to place, person to person, but they are present and ready to be shown by any and all who hold to the heroic ideal. Will these characters always manage to do so? No. All the characters I’ve shown have failed in this regard in some way. Osmund, as already mentioned, used to be a terrible reaver who caused a great deal of pain and suffering. Regina’s boldness has, at times, led her to act recklessly, causing unintended harm to the people and things around her. And for as cautious and collected as he tends to be, Ahote’s been known to give himself to arrogance and anger, even going so far as to maim an unarmed enemy for information when Regina’s life was in danger at one point. They’re not perfect by any means. They have their flaws and make their errors, as we all do. However, they also try their best to be decent people who do right by others.
Personally, I think there’s a lot of value to be had in characters like that.
Two novellas in The Demon from Beyond the Stars and In the Giant’s Shadow, two novelettes in “The Storm’s Child” and “A Shroud of Ink and Stars”, and an ongoing novel with The Jarl’s Son.
Unless you happened to read what’s currently available for my webcomic, that is.
Such examination can also prove fruitful in studying the conduct of other established warrior orders, such as the remnant Mage Hunters of New Bayel, through both contrast and comparison.
Interesting material! Clearly, I need to start reading your Palanor material. The world sounds fascinating.