Mark of the Ravadi

I am Hywel Summer Crow. At the time of granting Sanctuary I was the Cardinal of The Way, and I am here to plead for Clemency.

These two are guilty of attempted murder. There is no question that they attempted to kill an Imperial citizen, Santana i Guerra.

There is no question that Santana i Guerra was a heretic and a blasphemer. Indeed, she has already been executed for her crimes by this very court.

But her crimes were ongoing. Both of the accused spoke to her, and she made it very clear to them that she planned to carry on excommunicating citizens and dedicating others to the false virtue of Hatred. She was deliberately using the inertia of the Imperial justice system to maximise the damage she could do the spirits of the virtuous. The accused spoke to her last night, and her Inquisition was not scheduled to happen until three o’ clock this afternoon. Who knew how many citizens she would corrupt in that time?

It is one of the tenets of Vigilance that you should thwart malice before it strikes against you. The accused saw clear malice, and they saw correctly. They saw imminent strikes against the spirits of Imperial citizens, and they saw correctly.

They did not reach immediately for the blade. They considered how else they might act to stop her. They saw her well protected, and well versed in the laws she was abusing. They could see no other way. They acted.

Then, they owned their actions. From the way they struck it is very clear they made no attempt to conceal their crime. They made full confessions. Under questioning, they refused to accept the lesser charge of assault, for they had intended to kill.

This is the path of the Exemplar Isaella, who slew the mad Emperor Nicovar and immediately gave herself up to the Imperial magistrates. They are guilty of attempted murder, yes, but they acted with virtue.

Hywel Summercrow, pleading Clemency for Ravadi Lonestrider

Ravadi Founders' Dance was recognised as an exemplar at the Winter Solstice 387YE.

Overview

We Recognise Ravadi Founders' Dance as an exemplar of Vigilance. Pilgrimage - They left Dawn to join the Founders' Dance Striding in Navarr, and walked the original path of the Exemplars Navarr and Thorn when the Trods were first created, guarding the world against the vallorn threat with every step. Legacy - As Champion of Vigilance they were a driving force to forge mere titles into a cohesive organisation worthy to Inspire the Empire, several other Champions have pointed to this as Ravadi's Legacy. Benevolence - In sacrificing their dreams for a year to hunt down Bawn-Watch the Champion's Shield they would never hold, on behalf of every Champion that would follow after. Inspiration - Their Inspirational Vigilance was recognised by the Assembly in their appointment to Champion, and many priests of Vigilance will attest to this and their work that followed, seek us out.

Jared of the Sentinel's Tower, General Assembly, Winter 386YE, Vote: 1126-219

We have the exemplar, now where is their tomb? This assembly authorises and applauds the creation of an inspirational site to memorialise the EXEMPLAR OF VIGILANCE, RAVADI FOUNDERS’ DANCE (consecrated to vigilance, of course).

Martin Orchard, Vigilance Assembly, Winter 387YE, Vote: 334-20

This assembly believes the tomb of Ravadi Founders' Dance should be built in Madruga, site of their last sacrifice, site of their eventual victory. Where they fought against the poison in their neighbour's parched fields.

Martin Orchard, Vigilance Assembly, Spring 388YE, Vote: 240-0

For a year and a half, the Synod has been celebrating the life of Ravadi Founder's Dance. Not long after their death at the age of 23, the Vigilance Assembly judged them to be a key example of their virtue to be remembered and passed down for generations of pilgrims to come. Doubling down, they have seen it fit that Ravadi's story be elevated above the majority of even other recognised figures by consecrating an inspirational location for pilgrims to visit and consider the lessons they can learn from the example that Ravadi set.

Founding

Ravadi Founders' Dance was born Ravadi Watcher to House Berinore of Dawn in 362YE in the waning years of the reign of Emperor Hugh. They never found their way to seek a Test of Mettle, briefly serving as a Retainer to the famed House Castellan and serving in the Golden Sun as an expert marksman before swearing a Binding of Thorns following a fated meeting with Dalthios Stormbroke and beginning the first of their six pilgrimages to Anvil. It was at Anvil that they found their path of Virtue and was dedicated to Vigilance by Gaelen Embercast (who notably became Cardinal the same season Ravadi was elected as Champion), and was one of the leading figures in the resurgent movement to reclaim the Pilgrim's Shields to rebuild the Seven Pilgrims, the Champions of Virtue, including recovering Bawnwatch.

Proactively engaging problems wherever they were faced, they were more keen to pick up their spear and shield and deal with a problem than to have a meeting about it. Indeed, it is said that one of the key factors in the Vigilance Assembly decision was their attempted murder of an alleged Purity cultist at Anvil. They said that their partners in the Great Dance were Advisor on the Vallorn Nathair Autumngale and the Ambassador to Axos and now-famous blasphemer Fintan Nighthaven, though did not live to see his fall. After many battles, it was the fight against the Dry Patricians in which they fell to the accursed abominations of Winter Magic, and their remains lost and presumably washed into the Catazar by the flood that cleansed the land of the Parched's taint.

Dancing

Ravadi's Bow

Commission Type: Edifice

Location: Lightsea, Madruga

Cost: 10 white granite, 5 mithril only

Time: one season

Special: Does not require one of the Senate's limited commissions or have labour costs Requires a true liao consecration to provide benefits

Effects: Provides an income for the Champion of Vigilance of 24 random ingots Once during the next year, the Vigilance Assembly can mandate the Champion of Vigilance to lead a new venture against a threat they have identified

Availability: Until the end of Summer Solstice 388YE

Nathair Autumngale, Ravadi Founders' Dance, Fintan Nighthaven

• The Senate can commission Ravadi's Bow without using one of their limited commissions
• If Ravadi's Bow is consecrated with true liao it creates a permanent income for the Champion of Vigilance
• Once ever, the Assembly of Vigilance can use a mandate to create a new venture in the year after the edifice is consecrated

It was this final act that was the inspiration behind the Vigilance Assembly choice for where Ravadi's inspirational memorial should be. This does, unfortunately, present a few problems - the Great Grasses region where Ravadi died was split into the Quiet Grasses and Crucible. The site where they fell specifically is now part of the Quiet Grasses where it is currently impossible to create a inspirational location due to the lingering touch of Winter magic.

The extant threads of magic remain potent in Madruga - potent and dangerous. The Wreckers employed a Siakha powered maelstrom to use as a staging point to launch assaults across the entirety of the Bay of Catazar. The wild and currently uncontrolled Crucible is a nexus point for the realms of Adversity (Spring, Night and Winter) which contain the resonances for some of the must dangerous and destructive magic there is.

Ravadi is special, and it is not long before everyone begins to understand why they matter so much to the Vigilance Assembly, and to the wider Synod. They were the among first for the new order of pilgrims to take up the charge, to reclaim the shields, to forge the bonds between the seven of them and their countless fellows on the battlefield, and the first to fall in the name of the cause. As the Second Age of Virtue dawns, it is people like Ravadi Founders' Dance who fought and died that the sun may rise, who will be remembered, even if they did not live to see it. Ravadi fell before they had the chance to truly see the effect they would have on the world, and that tragedy further inspires those who hear their story to spread it and never let it be forgotten.

Remember Ravadi and be alert to all dangers; within and without! We send (named individual) with a dose of true liao to consecrate Ravadi's Bow to encourage all to seek out the dangers of this world, and face them head on.

Synod Mandate, General Assembly

The Custodes Clavicum have been so invigorated by the stories they have been told of the life of Ravadi Founders' Dance, they insist upon providing all the labour necessary for their inspirational location to be constructed. What they need is the Senate to give them permission to carry out the work and someone to provide the wains required (the senate may approve this commission without it counting towards the maximum number of commissions they may pass each summit).

They propose a small keep be erected at Lightsea, called Ravadi's Bow. It would include living chambers for the current Champion of Vigilance, alongside facilities to train and prepare for the next venture. Ravadi's Bow would serve as a secure home for all future Champions of Vigilance, that they may be inspired by the first and equip themselves and their comrades-in-arms to strike out and thwart malice before it strikes first. Once it is consecrated, pilgrims from across the Empire will make pilgrimage to the site and donate precious metals to the cause with the intention that the Champion arrange to have them fashioned into powerful weapons and armour for themselves and for other vigilant warriors.

After the keep has been consecrated, once during the following year, the Vigilance Assembly could pass a mandate inviting the Champion of Vigilance to inspire people to take up arms against an identified enemy.

Thwart malice before it strikes against you. We send {Champion of Vigilance} with 25 doses of liao to urge the Vigilant to root out and attack {named threat}. Prepare for malice and for the battle to come.

Synod Mandate, Vigilance Assembly

When this mandate is enacted, if the Champion of Vigilance agrees to lead the cause and provide the 25 doses of liao required, then it creates a new scouting venture to root out the named threat and take action against it. The rewards will include wealth scavenged from slain enemies bolstered by donations from the Vigilant.

In some ways Ravadi's Bow would match the estates created to support the Champion of Prosperity. With the right encouragement, the Custodes Clavicum would be open to the prospect of building keeps or similar edifices for the other champions and voices assuming they are not to be housed at the Grand Inspiration of the Way. The Custodes will look to the the Virtue assemblies for inspiration. Of course such edifices would need to be consecrated with true liao to have the kind of effect identified here.