Destiny and Virtue

Destiny is our own.

Listen to this, and think. Destiny is our own, and this is heard with two voices.

Our destiny is our own. The freedom and the right to freedom is shouted out, writ large in our Doctrine. No one commands us, no god, no intelligence, and any who would take power away from us fights against every spirit and every soul there is.

Our destiny is our own. The responsibility and the necessity for responsibility is clear and clear, set out before us. No one commands us, so we must use the power we have to choose for ourselves every day what it is we want that destiny to be, and work to make it happen.

I want you to think of what the world could be like, and how you can make that change happen. Coming to Anvil is the first step in doing that – be it baking the best cakes in the Empire, or changing the fate of Nations. Anvil is where; the Way of Virtue is how – but our own minds must envision what the change will be.

The Empire is the creation of the First Empress’s vision; and of all of our visions of our destinies. We all agree to the contract set out in the Constitution, and we all work to improve ourselves and the world. The Way of Virtue is a guide and a clarion call: we have the freedom to change the world, and we have the responsibility to use that freedom.

As we take part in the Empire, we support its goals; and as we create our own destiny, we also shape the destiny of the Empire. Those who seek positions of authority to further their ambitions and their destiny are free to use that power – and responsible for its use.

A dangerous instinct is to wield power for its own sake. To have political authority because it is good to have authority. This is not how Virtue works, nor the Way. We work as House, Nation, Empire, not in a single, simple net, but broader far and deeper. We deserve leaders who listen to us, and who we listen to, who can change and grow their vision and our world. That is the responsibility of authority, to match the freedom of power.

Is your vision wide enough to encompass other people? In Virtue, if you seek to lead, it must be. Our destiny is the destiny of the world. As humans we will return to it again and again; and as orcs, we have one chance to change it for the better. Our destiny – our freedom and our responsibility – if we seek public service, must be a vision that lifts others up, that teaches and supports and empowers all within it.

The clearest phrase setting this out for me is simple: that all people shall one day live and die as Imperial citizens. We must be able to teach the Way not simply for our spirits’ and our souls’ sake, but for our minds and hearts in this life. The Constitution sets out the First Empress’s vision and ours: of freedom, dignity and prosperity, earnt with the work of our hands, our hearts and our minds, shared with our fellows and our future. Destiny is not a promise, nor a guarantee, but a commitment that we all choose to work towards.

Destiny is our own. We choose to shape that destiny into our Empire, and we have the freedom and the responsibility to make it better. Use it.