Colin_Ginger

With all due respect, I thoroughly disagree with the conclusion of your thesis. Free will is the greatest gift that our Creator has bestowed upon us, and to deny it would be a sin. Our Creator has laid down certain laws and tells us to follow them. He does not say that we will follow them, or that he will make us comply, he tells us we should. Without free will there is no accountability. I could murder a man and say "God determined I was to do so from the beginning of time" and if that is the case, than this could not be considered a sin, and I could join God in the Seventh Sky. The mere existence of the idea of 'ought implies that we have a choice. Yes, the Creator laid down the path from the beginning, and he knows what choices we will make, but he does not choose them for us.

House name : Montney Username(s) : Colin_Ginger Ser John Montney pens a letter to Lord van Ruthern. "Dear Lord van Ruthern, I would ask that you invite the gentlemen of the Nauzican brigade. As sworn protectors of the emperor it is extremely important that myself and my fellow Nauzicans stay at peak marshall ability. Thank you my lord. John Montney."

Travel to any settlement in Oren and two things will be guaranteed: there will be a church, and it will be empty. The church for the most part acts as a small community unto itself, with few interactions with the outside population. There are several reasons for this it seems. First of all, not many people interact with the church correctly. When I was active as my priest character, almost anytime I talked with a regular citizen there typical response was "hur dur, there is no God, ATHEISM RULES." Besides the obvious fact that this is not a very realistic point of view in terms of a medieval peasant or merchant, it's indicative of the fact that the church has no lasting impression on peoples RP day to day, especially for those new to the server and not aware of every facet that is the lore. Second, the church has little to no impact within the greater lore. As much as Oren likes to be self contained, and shun the other races, it thrives because it plays that bigotry up, and conquers and subjugates other races, creating conflict. The church creates little to no conflict because of many of its doctrines. There is no reason for a priest to interact with a druid, because the church states that even though they don't believe in exactly the same thing, it's close enough. The third reason is simple enough, and it is that church rp as is, is not exciting. For a mass to be held, a priest calls the town people in, they afk, he types a message that very few read, and then one dude goes to confession afterwords. There is no chance for the non priest character to interact with their environment, and RP is about interacting with your environment. So what is there to be done? The server is soon entering 5.0 and allows for the church to change along with the server. One of the main events that is occurring is a religious war between the elven druids and orcish shamans. This is a perfect place for humanity to shoehorn their own believes in and either choose a side or to denounce both and start on its own crusade. This creates church related events that are exciting for a player to participate in. Instead of the previously mentioned mass, a priest could be found standing on a street corner rallying a mob to attack the local pagans. The church itself can begin splitting into factions on what should occur. The average Orenian now has stakes in what occurs within the church because it has a direct impact on them. Not only that, but the average LotC player now anticipates the next move of the church because it will have a hand on the world lore. That is my two cents on the topic. I would love to hear others opinions, because I'm fairly uninvolved with the church as is. Would you want to see a change that would make others more invested in church rp?

Name: John Montney Age: 19 Title: Gentleman Lands of origin: Brelus

Name ((OOC Name)): Colin_Ginger Surname/House: Montney Date of Birth: 23rd of Malin's Welcome, 1544 Gender: Male Race: Highlander Citizenship Class (A or B): B Physical Description Height: 6'3 Weight: 190 Eye Color: Green Hair Color: Blonde Skin Color/Shade: Caucasian Outstanding Markings/Tattoos: None Personal Information Home Address: The Nauzican Barracks Region of Residence: Crownlands Profession/Occupation: Member of the Nauzican Brigade "I, John Montney, hereby swear my loyalty the Emperor of the Holy Orenian Empire entirely by my free will. I swear to read and obey the laws of the Empire and understand the punishments and penalties that will be incurred should I violate the law."

John Montney looks at his bow and sighs. "Another chance for the emperor to assume I'm an archer."

Application For The Joust: Name: John Montney Age: 19 Title: Gentleman of the Nauzica Brigade Lands of origin: Adria

I think Nexus should be removed in favor of another system. I would prefer something much closer to vanilla, that slightly polices recipes to ensure power gaming doesn't even happen. Even if you do keep nexus, maybe just get rid of a lot of the skills. For example there is no need for basic collecting skills such as farming/mining/logging. Get rid of those skills and instead create a time based leveling system for the few that actually make since (ie; blacksmithing, enchanting, woodworking to some extent.) With a time based system, the skill would increase with however old the Persona is. As long as the Persona got on say every 3 days, than there skills would increase with time. So when I play a persona for 3 months IRL, it'll allow them to have around 12 years of experience in a field, making them a veteran of the craft. And then just make a skill cut off at masterful.

Colin of Brelus sighs at the letter. Weary in his old age of the mans call to action. Corruption is the root of politics. When a tree becomes infected, you must remove the sick branches in order to save the trunk. Yet this was never done, and now the tree is saturated from root to limb with corruption. I admire your zeal, but to have a true change, Oren needs a new champion that would represent God's will and have the power, and self control to enact it in government. Will you be the one to take on this burden? For true change to occur, a man must take a stand, and writing letters does little, especially when anonymous. Bring forth a new Horen, or Godfrey, to bring change. But no one is brave enough to carry that burden, so in corruption Oren will sit.

Colin of Brelus slowly eased himself into the chair at his desk. He smiled thinking back to his youth when he fervently wrote, with the mindset that he was going to fix the world. He thought to himself before dipping the quill in ink once more, that of his life. He began writing. "Joy is a precious resource. As you work hard for bread on your table and money in your pocket do not forget to work towards joy. I am an old man, and have lived a long life. As I look back I find myself, not remembering the hardships and struggles, but of the laughter, and friendship. My name sake comes from a dead town, that was ruled by a man who was long ago executed. Yet when I think of my time at Brelus, I am not sad. I am happy that I got to sit across from young men and women like myself and laugh at our own mistakes. I am happy of the many masses I held in the beautiful cathedral there. I am happy knowing, that though the town may have been burned to the ground, that the life I led there was not one invested in myself, but invested in others. That is the root of my joy, service to others. 'For I placed into thy heart a wealth of virtue, and I have created for thee a garden of abundance. And thou shalt give unto the world the physical abundance of fullness and warmth, and the virtuous wealth of the spirit. For the wealth of the spirit is never divided, but multiplied.' Horen 2:3. When we share with others, we not only satisfy their physical needs, but the needs of the spirit as well. I have often heard it said that a full stomach listens better. So let us feed the people first, and then they will know of the Creator through our actions. Do not mistake my words though, for hard times will fall on all of us. Yet in the midst of this darkness we must find joy. As a child food was scarce for my family. Yet on the nights when we had no food, we still gathered around the table. My mother would ask every one of my brothers and sisters of their day. And on those nights it was not hard to forget your empty stomach, as we were fed by the love of each other. In all of life's struggles, we must look for the hand of the Creator. 'For I have given to thee the pains of the world, and I have given to thee their cure. And thou shalt know the trials of the theatre of virtue, and know that all creation is for thy benefit.' Horen 5:3. When struggle comes our way, let it not drag us down. Let it be known that our struggle comes with a purpose, and though we may not have the wisdom to see the purpose now, that we will gain it later. I regret the nights that I went to sleep angry, or sad. Much like how the physical body has scars of our past, so does our spiritual body. When you go to sleep with anger or despair in your heart, you let these wounds fester. An infection like this will surely kill the spirit, as an infection on the skin will kill the body. You and I cannot prevent the bad from happening. But what we can do is change our mindset on the issue. If someone has wronged you, or you have wronged someone else, do not rest until the issue is fixed. For only then do we truly clean out the wounds of our psyche. In my long days in the wilderness, I would often ask the Creator 'Why am I here?' I would feel so small and insignificant against the sweeping forces of this world. Yet my reverse narcism did not accomplish anything. Learn from my mistakes children, do not spend your life in despair. The Creator does not want us to question our importance. For we all have a part to play in his world. And we should do so with diligence and play the part to the best of our ability. In all I have said, I hope you find peace my child, and I hope you find the joy in your own life. As always, go with the Creator. -Colin of Brelus"

If one were to sit in a forest they would notice that there are an abundance of large trees shielding our eyes from the sun's hot rays. But the shade that aids us, prevents the growth of other trees. Such trees grow old, and began to wither, yet they stay, blocking new plants from germinating. Soon the old trees sap all the nutrients from the earth, and the once fertile land drys up. And then fire comes. With fire, those old trees release the nutrients they have stored and share it back with the ground. The sky once thick with leaves now is open and full of new prospect. New trees grow in it's place, and the forest becomes alive again. What has happened is a grand tragedy. The Pontiff was murdered. Yet with each tragedy is a silver lining. Perhaps with the death of an oak, a grand sequoia can grow in it's place. Let us look at each thing the creator does as a blessing to us. I am not pardoning the man who did this crime, or saying his actions are at all justified. What I am saying, is to look at this great tragedy as it is, a tragedy, and then move on. For with each death comes new life for the world.

Colin Samston Writes to the young women "My dear ladies, and Children of the Creator, Do not fear, as I am not asking for invitation, I am only hoping that you hold this feast with the upmost regard for the Creator. I love a good feast, and find the theme quite amusing, however I warn not to give into any of the vice's that you masquerade as. I hope that this feast can serve as a reminder of the virtues of our lord, and how vices, while enjoyable in the moment, are fleeting pleasures, and serve us little in the long run. I do hope that you enjoy yourselves. We have little time on this earth, and as long as we do not overindulge ourselves, fun is always good. Go with God my children -Colin of Brelus

"Dear Acolyte of the church, I thank you for taking the time to respond to my letter. Despite the fact that you are not Oscar, you do yourself have a way of arguing, and you should not lessen your worth as a theologian. In your letter you say that there are 'brothers such as yourself.' I have come to the conclusion you mean followers of the Flammen ideals. I, contrary to what some of my writings have indicated, am no anti flammen. Quite the opposite, I find a call for war to defend the faith necessary at times. But what you ask for in your letter, a strong church foundation, can only be accomplished if we are not constantly at war with our enemies. What protects the church from said war, is the backing of a strong united Kingdom of Oren. If we are to allow a very non-holy war to take place, we are personally allowing the destruction of our protectors. I do believe that you miss the point of Flamenism entirely. The point of it is not to support war, in every facet of its existence, it is to bring strength to God's church. Such feuds do not bring strength to the church, they destroy it. Your second paragraph I'm having a bit of trouble understanding. I did not know that the men of Bar, were involved in the conflict. I also ask what sin have I brought among myself? I have showed anger at times, yes. Righteous anger is not something inherently bad, and I do believe my anger was righteous. If the sin I have committed is striking a man, than I must point back to your flammen schol of thought. Does the flammen not believe the life of a clergy more valuable, than that of average sinner? I was attacked by said man, and defended myself accordingly. If that is not flammen of me, I do not know what is. Go with God my Son -Colin of Brelus

He looks at the response from the Eastcliffe man "Dear my fellow of the Adrian parish, I must ask from now on that you read what I have wrote before adding your comments to it. This had nothing to do with the events that took place today, because when I wrote it, they had yet to take place. When you say I attacked a man, was it before or after I was attempted to be both stabbed and punched by these men? You also mistake the fact that I am defending the De Solas, another problem that could have been fixed if you actually read my letter. I call for both sides to lay down their arms, for they are both equally at fault. I thank you for calling me pious on the matter, for I fear that so often we see men of God turn away from piousness for worldly matters. "I am only relaying what both sides called for as crimes against their houses, I am not supporting the claims of either. As you tell me to think first, I must ask you this; Pray to God before you so casually throw the lives of these men in the garbage.