Vigilance

The Path of Vigilance

The Virtue of Vigilance is popular amongst those charged with ensuring the safety of things precious; from the inquisitor who seeks out treacherous cultists, to the scriviner who scrutinizes his Dhormiro’s records against fraud and theft, to the shepherds in the fields. The threats to the Empire and its Citizens are many and varied and all must be prepared for, guarded against and actively opposed lest they tear down civilisation. Not all threats carry arms like the barbarians; some come with smiles and lies, like false-faced Eternals, or even lie in the hearts of weak citizens. Through diligence, detail and dedication in all things does one person’s vigilance safeguard another from harm.

Guidance on The Path

Through study of the Paragons and Exemplars, the priests of The Way have gleaned insight into the heart of the Virtue and how best to pursue it. There are collections of parables, tales, sayings and teachings that distill this for Imperial Citizens to learn from. The following are a handful of teachings and sayings deemed to be essential to understanding the Path:

• Seek out the poison in your neighbour’s fields, lest your own crops be blighted
• Be alert to all dangers; within and without
• Seek out falsehood and expose the truth
• Prepare for malice, yet thwart malice before it strikes against you
• Despise that which threatens what you watch over, whether by malice, lies, folly or carelessness

Paragons and Exemplars

Attempts to catalogue Paragons and Exemplars of Vigilance have met with mixed success. In some cases, the disaster they prevent or the catastrophe that goes averted results in their heroism going unsung. More notable are those who publically expose traitors, infiltrators and black-hearted villains. Some of those who have been documented include:

• The Sentinel. Little to nothing is known of The Sentinel, deemed the oldest Paragon on record, yet across the lands of the Empire, and beyond, there are several towers, walls and other ancient fortifications that seem to pre-date known civilisations. They are well-designed and, by all records, are the oldest buildings in Creation. All bear similarity in design, speaking of one architect, and most include the means to light a warning beacon flame. Yet the name of The Sentinel who designed and readied these towers, and what they were intended to warn or protect against, is lost even to history and legend.
• Vardas the Witch-Hunter, a Varushkan of whom many stories are told. Vardas was renowned as a tracker, thief-taker and witch-hunter without peer. Remorseless and relentless, Vardas would hound his prey until he caught them. In every legend, it was always Vardas’ acute senses and attention to the smallest detail that revealed the clues that exposed the schemes and hiding places of his prey and led to their downfall. The last of his stories ends with Vardas falling from a bridge whilst locked in mortal combat with his nemesis and archenemy, though neither corpse was found. Vardas has since been deemed a Paragon of Vigilance.

Symbols, Icons and Trappings

The Path of Vigilance has many symbols across the Empire, but one of the most common is The Tower, which is symbolic not only of The Sentinel’s ancient works, but also epitomises the importance of defending what is precious, and in making the effort to prepare against threats. Along similar lines, another common symbol of the path is a Bell to symbolise the means of sounding a warning. Priests and Pilgrims of the Path of Vigilance will often carry a bell or whistle for precisely the purpose of alerting others to danger they have identified.