Heroism

The Winterfolk admire heroism and believe that it speeds your passage through the Labyrinth of Ages. Although heroism is not one of the seven Virtues, acts of heroism encompass any or all of them to some extent. Heroism does not require success, but it does demand that the possibility of triumph exists; there is nothing heroic about wasting your life in a foolhardy charge. Heroism is often easiest to notice in battle, but many noble qualities or outstanding achievements demonstrate heroism. A clever Suaq who outwits an Eternal in a battle of riddles or a wise Kallevesi surgeon whose herb-lore saves a dozen lives are both heroes.

Heroic acts are distinguished by what is achieved or attempted, not how difficult or dangerous they are. Deliberately making an act more difficult than it need be impresses no-one in Wintermark. Equally the heroism is not diminished if the act is accomplished with others; indeed the more people who are involved in act the more heroic it becomes. It is brave to charge the orc line, but it is heroic to lead the charge.

The Winterfolk regard heroism as superior to Dawnish ideals of glory. In their eyes glory is needlessly vain; a Winterfolk hero does not need to have other people know of their accomplishments. They believe that the pursuit of glory encourages people to make their challenges needlessly difficult and denies the value of wit and guile. In Wintermark nobody demands that your actions be impressive; it is enough that they are effective.

The Good Death

Many Winterfolk seek the good death. For any Winterfolk, death in their prime while striving to meet a challenge, is preferable to the weakness and dotage of old age. The Winterfolk do not tolerate weakness and view infirmity as a challenge to be overcome. Warriors seek the good death on the battlefield, but for the Winterfolk believe that the good death is any ending that comes while pushing themselves to achieve one final act of heroism.

When someone chooses to walk into Sydanjaa they do not imagine it will achieve anything, but that it is preferable to a slow decline leading to weakness of mind and body in old age. There is a widespread acceptance of the idea that those who challenge Sydanjaa find the good death in an attempt to unravel the mysteries and riddles of the endless storm.