Role

Chapter 6

There was an occasion of late when Vutzig, during a moment of quiet, of no
mages or other enemies to hunt or training to do, when he was engaged in
conversation by one of the tribunals. Order, he said, is not the same as
the law. Order, he said, is a universal concept, a state of being and
environment, often thought in opposition to chaos. Law, he continued, in
specific the tribunal law, is simply a concocted collection of rules that
some people decided to make up, for certain small spaces in certain parts
of the world. Rules to make people do things or not do things and rules to
set penalties for those that break these made up rules. But these fabricated
decrees are not themselves Order, nor does following or not following them
make one Orderly, or even lawful, unless you equate lawful with those few
specific "laws", which isn't necessary, the "laws" of nature are just as much
if not more "laws" and they've been around a lot longer for sure. So then,
Vutzig went on, he prizes Order, but has no particular feeling one way or the
other tribunal's laws. Perhaps they do some good, but they also do some bad
and they have no claim on his allegiance or adherence. However, he does prize
Order, and that is demonstrated in strict adherence to various codes, various
systems of behavior. In some ways he is very predictable, and indeed that
can be a downside, a vulnerability that can be exploited by enemies. But it's
a price he pays willingly, and really doesn't even see as a price. He follows
the Order of his chosen allegiance to the Village. He follows the Order of his
chosen lord, Fjarn. And of course he follows the Order, the behavior demanded,
by his devotion to Honor. None of these demand or even desire adherence to
tribunal rules, and he does not disagree.