A Declaration of Honor: Slavery and Raiding

[Lojo613 1445]

Spoiler

 

Who defines honor? Is it within the hands of society to claim alone? Is it the decree of a Rex or Wargoth that defines the bounds of an honorable Uruk? Honor is inherent to every Uruk, and every Uruk shall feel his own sense of truth and morality. Prior to the collapse of the War Nation of Krugmar, slavery, raiding, sacrficing descendants, and violence were acceptable and honorable. Now, in the Iron’Uzg, these things are forbidden and, under threat of law, condemned as dishonorable. I declare that the measure of honor can only come from one source alone, the Great Gatekeeper & Judge of the Dead, Kor.

 

We know that brothers who slaved reside past Kor’s Gates in the Stargush’Stroh. We know that brothers who raided and plundered reside past Kor’s Gates in the Stargush’Stroh. We know that brothers who have lived in violence, tasted the flesh of descendants, and brought them upon altars, reside in the Stargush’Stroh. It is not these acts alone that are dishonorable, but how they are conducted. Violence is not simply a means to an end, it IS the end. Life and all its struggles are given to us to weave forth our legends, to tell our stories and win our glory. Through our violence, our honor is born. We never hear of halfling honor, because halflings do not fight. A man who has never had the chance to test his honor cannot be considered honorable. Honor is a shadow cast by the flames of war. 

In this Iron’Uzg, the Uruks in charge have made deals with other nations on behalf of all brothers. It is our honorable duty to uphold these deals. This does not mean we must conform to the definitions of honor imposed upon us by other peoples or other Uruks. To be alive is to fight, and nowhere in nature does peace prevail. Just as the great beasts stalk the jungles that they may eat, so too do Uruks hunt for combat that they may taste victory, adventure, and glory.

 

What is dishonorable, we can know in simple terms based on a shared conviction all Uruks have. To slaughter the innocent is dishonorable. To fight those unable to properly resist is dishonorable. To torture the weak is dishonorable. To treat the other descendants like cattle is dishonorable. To desecrate the grave is dishonorable. To strike down a surrendered opponent is dishonorable. To lie is dishonorable. These are things which we know that Kor despises, and that will result in a denial from the Stargush’Stroh. 

 

When these fundamental terms are placed in more complex situations, we must understand that in all life there will be acts which derive from these that are dishonorable. To kill kubs is dishonorable. To kill unconscious opponents who have yet had the chance to fight or are unable to fight is dishonorable. To beat slaves is dishonorable. To work slaves to death is dishonorable. To kill slaves is dishonorable. To keep slaves within your bondage forever, with no hope of recourse, is dishonorable. To treat slaves as less than descendants is dishonorable. To eat slaves, or those descendants who did not have the capacity to fight back, is dishonorable. To destroy graves or deny a proper burial when requested is dishonorable. To trick descendants into surrender through deception is dishonorable. To kill one who begs for their lives or surrenders is dishonorable. 

 

Given the many ways in which a brother may fall to dishonor in the keeping of slaves, it is understandable that the Rex has banned the practice, not just to appease other nations but to keep less intelligent brothers from falling to the temptation of dishonor. To take slaves is not dishonorable, so long as the slavery is not intentionally lifelong and these slaves are put onto a path to becoming an honorary orc. I disagree that the permanent state of affairs should bar all Uruks from keeping slaves forever, but I agree that the practice as it was only brought dishonor upon more brothers than it had conferred honor to through the creation of honorary orcs.

 

It is through violence that our honor is proven, our glory won, our bloodlust sated, and our path to the Stargush’Stroh paved. This cannot be done by sitting within the walls of our goi, it must be sought out in the wider world. To plunder and raid is not dishonorable, for it is no more wrong to hunt for battle and riches than it is to hunt for game. That the wealth we seek may be divested from our quarry without the need for slaughter and consumption is all the difference and the matter of honor. Should those we demand ransom from be unable to pay, and decide to fight back, then it is the flames of this battle which shall test the honor of the Uruk. To take through a challenge of strength is not dishonorable, it is the way of nature and the way of the Uruk. As noted above, the Rex has designated who can and cannot be plundered, which at this moment falls upon a wide range of peoples. As he is the representative of all of us, it would be dishonorable and a lie to break these pacts that he has made, as we too are bound by them.

 

I make this declaration to help my brothers who disagree with the acts of the Rex come to understand him, and know that there has been no rewriting of our most fundamental codes of honor, but instead a series of pacts, treaties, and pragmatic decisions which has governed the current policy of the Iron’Uzg.

 

Kor-Ur,

Kulthark’Izig, formerly known as Krawz

Edited October 10, 2021 by Lojo613

[herculean_wud 3661]

AN URUK, since cast from his home, trawled through desert sands. His robes rippled in the wind - a chill from the north - that carried with it a great many of these flyers. He read one amongst the many with amusement, "There is only one conception of honour. That which can be successfully defended with tusk and steel." He screwed it up and threw it back into the wind and continued, homeward bound.

Edited November 29, 2021 by grubgoth_wud