Lore Analysis - The Case For Peace [Essay]

[grimjim]

Peace Analysis
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Introduction
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I am, reasonably often, asked where I get the idea that the various factions and people should probably be at peace. This leaves me often wondering whether people are reading the same lore that I am!

I am somewhat (an understatement) dissatisfied with the wholesale rush to war and the ease with which many players are diving right into it. While I woudl never dictate to someone how they should play I hope that this analysis will help provide people with some context in which to play. Any individual character may have plenty of reason to hate and fight whomsoever they please, but this will look at societal trends and NPC personalities, as well as events that have been shaped in game.

I hope its of some use to people as a framework for roleplay, even if they disagree with my conclusions.

General Things to Remember
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The division of the homin peoples was a contributing factor to the overwhelming Kitin victory during the swarming.
Everyone coming into the new lands is supposedly a refugee, a refugee from multiracial and multifaith camps that have been living together for generations. Your character's grandparents and parents have been living alongside the other homin peoples.
The 'Great Enemy' - The Kitin, are still very much in evidence.
It took all peoples and all factions, including Tryton - working together, to save homin from the kitin.
Shared crafting skills and knowledge between the peoples.
The existence of the Force of Fraternity (a cross people/faith fighting guild devoted to fighting the Kitin)
I also note that some of the lore appears to have been retroactively 'updated' to better support the current situation than before, though there are still holes a mile wide. That is problematic for people who have played according to the lore as written before.
Fanatics are always a minority.

Matis
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Matis players have, perhaps, the best excuse to be aggressive, territorial and pro PvP. The Matisian people is an, historically, expansionist and imperial one and have a great belief in their own innate superiority and suitability to rule over Atys and all its peoples. This is just that though, historical. The Matis have suffered two massive blows to that esteem - The Swarming and their failed invasion of Tryker - and are now, in part as a consequence, supposed to be lead by a much more moderate and less aggressive leader.

Matis are supposed to embody the nobler traits of hominkind. While this includes the values explicitly mentioned - many of which support a more moderate stance - one would think it would also include honour and noblesse oblige. Yrkanis is supposed to be the noble and just polar opposite of Jintovich, who embodied the much more negative side of Matisian culture. Courtesy, reverence and loyalty have wider meanings than simply to one's god and king, there are friendships, agreements, treaties and while the king has primacy, that is all that has primacy in Matisian culture and the King is allegedly a more moderate being.

One of the main Matis aims is to reestablish the glory of their lost kingdom of Matia. At present they have one scattered capital and a few smallish outer towns. The majority of their territory is undeveloped wilderness. The need for Matisian 'lebensraum' simply isn't there while there is so much space for them to expand within their current kingdom and so much more that can be built up in their capitals. Add to that the abject failure of their 'imperial adventure' under Jintovich and the motivation simply isn't there.

The Matis owe the life of their King to the Zorai and have come to tolerate the Tryker foibles. Which reinforces the idea of a new tolerance. Their respect, however grudging, for Mabreka suggests a deep sense of honour (in the real, not the event sense) that overcomes much else. It is strange that in the rewritten lore little is mentioned of their debt to the Tryker and Fyros over the same incidents though, even though all races helped contribute to the defeat of Jintovich and the restoration of Yrkanis.

Note that the peace treaty has been in effect since 2515, ten years since the start of play, though peace has - in an overall sense - been around longer. The Matisian values of loyalty, honour and nobility would not easily let them break that accord. Other agreements include The Pact of Mutual Assistance, The Edict of Four Peoples (Which was broken by the Tryker actions - not the Matis ones) and the free trade agreement, allowing the free passage of homin merchants through ALL territories and the Homin Rights Act.

Even in the conflicts that there have been between the peoples the Matis have sought ways - save onto Jintovich - to limit bloodshed, this would include the capture and ransom of Dexton under Yasson.

There are a significant number of Matis dissidents, according to the lore. Those who dwell within Matis and may still be loyal to the Matis (haven't moved lands) but question Jena and may follow the Karavan. From the lore this sounds to be a significant movement, not a piddling proportion of the Matis. This dissent was, to a large extent, put down by Jintovich, but IRL that just leads movements underground and is also likely to have caused a great deal of guilt during Yrkanis' more tolerant rulership.

According to the lore additionally a large part of the Matis 'reverence' for the Karavan comes from a respect for their power and a desire for their technology. A pragmatism that mirrors that of the Fyros choice to follow the Kami.

Previous wars and disagreements have always been over practical matters, territory and resources, not faith.

The way Yrkanis is described he is not a warmonger nor a headstrong fanatic. He is described as magnanamous, true to his word, consistent, honourable, methodical, logical with a hatred of disorder, a moral touchstone. This does not describe the religious loony and warmonger that has been portrayed in his speeches and interactions. He even accepts Mabreka's 'heretical' explanations over the death of Leng Cheng-Ho and draws comfort from them, showing great tolerance. It even outright says that Yrkanis has been a great promoter of peace, as moral touchstone that SHOULD lead the way for the other Matis.

The Tryker
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The Tryker are, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most neutral of the groups in both lore and in gameplay and this is why the core of the neutral/hominist/peaceful lobby is based out of Tryker. The very set up of their society (though not especially reflected in game) shows their compromise and forgiving nature and their whole being is based around the values of freedom, equality and sharing. They believe in freedom, tolerance and a life free of slavery or tyranny. They are a very Anarchistic people.

The Tryker have promoted or formulated or been integral to every peace treaty and agreement on Atys pretty much. Though they do not hold treaties in such reverence as the other peoples their heart and intentions always appear to be in the right place. After all,if they can forgive and ally with the Matis after the Matis enslaved them, they can forgive anyone!

After the fight with Jintovich and the loss of Loria the Tryker owe much to the Fyros and Zorai as well as the Matis, for helping to secure their freedom. Enough to forgive past transgressions.

Many young Tryker join the corsairs, a youthful and kami-oriented tribe, before they emerge as full adults into Tryker society. Again, a sign of tolerance.

Much like the Fyros view toward the Kami and even more strongly than the Matis view, Tryker are described as being pragamatic in their dealings with the Karavan, not seeing tham as supernatural agents of the gods but as very real and entirely physical guardians. They're even described as 'overlords' - the sort of thing against which the Tryker traditionally rebel.

While relations have changed between the Fyros and Tryker the old alliance between the two, the Tryker being protected by the Fyros, should still have some strength, especially amongst such a forgiving and peace-loving people as the Tryker.

This forgiveness should also extend to the Zorai whose transgressions were long ago, in the old lands, and mainly down to self defence. The slavery in the new lands were down to Fung-Tun, removed by Mabreka - for which they should be grateful and happy - and the only ones perpetuating slavery in the modern era on Atys are Matis and the Karavan! (Slaver tribe).

Still Wyler is even less likely a homin leader to go headlong into war without thinking than Yrkanis. He is described as forthright, unbending - not someone to toe the line of what he is told. He is said to be a strong defender of homin rights, with a view to equity. A proud and brash man, informal. He was rescued from slavery by and then spent a great deal of time in the Corsairs, a kami tribe! He has also been aided - though he considered it unnecessary - by the Fyros and later the Zorai. A debt all of Tryker owes to all the peoples, even the Matis who followed Yrkanis.

Tryker lore is simply full of reasons for peace and devoid of reasons for war, at least against the people the game wants you to fight against...

The Zorai
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As the Matis are the most Jena faithful - despite hints to the contrary in the lore - the Zorai are wholesale for the Kami, and even more so than the Matis are for Jena. This might be seen as justification for a crusade or similar and they are the people on the Kami side with the best justification to go to war, but even so, there is a lot that suggests otherwise.

First and foremost the true enemy of the Zorai is not Jena, the Matis or the Tryker, but the goo. A force that they fight almost alone. Compared to that enemy - to their mind - much else isn't relevent. Their stated concerns are wisdom to protect Atys, spiritual enlightenment and knowledge and respect for nature. None of which are particularly aggressive though 'protect nature' would make them fall in with the kami practice of exploding those who overharvest.

The zorai do not appear to be a people to blame the other homin peoples, just the Karavan, and they have a stoic and peaceful aspect to them that would not seem to agree with war.

As with every race the Zorai came together with others to protect Yrkanis and free the Tryker, bonds that should not be so easily broken.

Much like Yrkanis, Mabreka is a more moderate leader replacing a less tolerant and dangerous one. Something that should caution him against similar behaviours. He is described as someone who is a voice of reason, not a headstrong fanatic, as very moral and centred, he is also - as described - a great negotiator and peacemaker, a middle man, a diplomat who doesn't let his veneration of Ma-Duk unduly affect him. In other words, not the sort of man to dive headlong into a fanatical war. Indeed, according to the lore he orchestrated and made possible many of the peace agreements and treaties between the various homin peoples.

The Fyros
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The Fyros might be considered, as a warrior people, to be tremendously pro-war and very aggressive. They also call themselves an 'Empire'. Implying territorial ambitions similar to the Matis. The Fyros have many things that imply they should be more peace-loving and less oriented to war however.

The central Fyros values are Truth, Honour and Discipline. They are unlikely to act on hearsay and rumour and very unlikely to act in a dishonourable fashion - even the roguish elements will have their 'honour amongst thieves'. Discipline also encourages them to act in a more thoughtful and considered fashion, despite the 'fire' of Fyros passions and tempers.

They see themselves as protectors, guardians of the more fertile regions of Atys, such as Matis, Tryker and Zorai. A guardian protects, he does not destroy - perhaps guilt over the swarming and the Fire of Coriolis.

While Emperor Dexton wields authority similarly to King Yrkanis - as the titular head of the Empire - he is moderated by a higher council. Placing Fyros somewhere between Matis and Tryker in its political system. It is neither as centrally organised as Matis, nor as anarchic as Tryker but maintains a semi-'democratic' middle ground, a republic.

It is stated plainly that the Fyros do NOT owe blind allegience to the Kami and that they make up their own mind. Following without thinking, particularly in a headless rush of faith is so unlikely for the Fyros as to be implausible. They owe them not their faith, but their loyalty. A loyalty that must be maintained.

As great warriors the Fyros have been involved in many battles and fulfilled their role as protectors, helping fight the goo, restore Tryker independence, fight Fung-Tun and restore Yrkanis to the throne of Matis. They've been involved in battles alongside every other people - something that forges bonds.

The Fyros are also signatories to every treaty and their sense of honour and justice would not let them default on it.

Additionally the Fyros suffered greatly during The Swarming and are unlikely to turn their back on the great enemy - The Kitin - to fight anything else so long as they are a threat.

It is also said in their lore that they are cautious about the Karavan, not wanting to take them on while the Empire is so weak - and nothing has happened in game to make it any stronger yet.

The Fyros approach to the Kami cause is, again, one of pragmatism. The Kami do not stop them in their quest for knowledge and they teach magic (we wish). They refuse 'blind adherence to their teachings'.

Their approach to Jena is more one of curiosity than hostility. Despite their belief in a spirit of Atys (Ma-Duk or not) they prefer things they can interact with, touch, feel, see directly. They want to find out what Jena is and will likely base their decision how to act on how they feel after that.

Dexton is a proud, brave and deeply honour bound man. While merciless and unpitying for his victims his honour will, nonetheless, provide a moral compass and a limit upon what he does and what he decides. He places honour above all. Bonds of honour would tie him to the other leaders and to the agreements and treaties made.

Events
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We have had very little to introduce a real sense of increasing tension between the factions. We have had two, truly, factionalised events that I can think of. The Nexus event (I believe - I missed this one) where people got their Kami/Karavan champion titles. An event with precious little rhyme, reason or lore behind it. That and the hunting of the Tryton's people by the Karavan.

Indeed, if I were a Karavan player I'd be pretty peeved as everything that seems to have happened in game or been talked about at events very much paints the Karavan as the bad guys, EVEN their own wording and speeches makes them sound greedy and destructive - which leaves one wondering how people can RP following them so blindly.

Up until the hypocrisy of the Kami during this current event over digging there has been nothing to suggest the Kami are 'bad guys' in any way, rather preservers and caretakers of Atys while Karavan just get portrayed as dangerous space-locusts with Jena coming to invade Atys. There is a lot of talk and RP about posession, demons and so on, but no events to redress the in game balance or to actually convince anyone of any of these facts.

Even from the Kami point of view there is little from any of the events to excuse a sudden war for no explicable reason and the only ones really given any sort of grudge by events are the Trytonists!

In the context of the lore as written, in the game as played and developed in the last year the actions of the homin leaders make zero sense and seem completely at odds with their described character.

Now, it IS perfectly possible that something has gone on in the background to make them act this way however there's little point in such story going on if there are no clues and nobody can interact with it.

If there had been a period of intervening tension - properly - with events painting both sides, Kami and Karavan as evil to their opposite peoples, if things had happened, atrocities, battles, strange experiments, strange sights, kami posessions and so on then there might be some justification, but there isn't. Every leader, every people has many more reasons to retain the status quo rather than to go to battle.

[thosholm]

Jyudas,

great post, but please edit it for better readability. At least on my monitor something went horribly wrong there.

Looking far better

[grimjim]

Jyudas,

great post, but please edit it for better readability. At least on my monitor something went horribly wrong there.

Effin' notepad... on it.

[iphdrunk]

Nice post, some questions:

* How do you explain the fact of "Jena" denouncing the "evil" plans of Ma'Duk and asking for her followers support? I agree the written lore tends to a "status quo", but the past in game events are the current lore. The fact that a high power goddess - for a half unknown reason -- asks her servants to fight a threat of the souleater may question that status quo. Right?

* If I undersand correctly, you seem to state that homins should question the validity of the "orders"? doesn't that contradict the whole notion of faith? The fact that we as homins ignore the true intentions of some characters does not impl that we should ignore the orders/warnings/requirements of an entity that we consider our god.

* It is not the hate towards other homins which lead us to war. Is the request of a superior entity with vastly more knowledge that lead us to question the status quo?

* As per the events, the Kami position should be "defense against threat of Jena", which justifies going to war.

[tylarth]

comments on the history....

2481 : The Great Swarming

Homin cities are decimated, entire population perished, and the great civilizations crumbled in a matter of days. (the suddenness of an attack from an unexpected quarter was the downfall of the civilisations)

2481 - 2483 : The Kitin War

2485 : Exodus (thus we were refugee for but a few years, no indication of mixed racial refugee camps, furthered by the seperate refugee islands)

so the kitin swarm and its result did not produce what your have erronously described above.



The leaders are the heads of state, but our societies are not cults of personality, where the whim of a leaders personal feelings sway thier judgement on the predominant racial religion and culture, that is a sign of good leadership, to lead from the mind not the heart. For our leaders to lead on the pure basis of their relationships that would be a terrible corruption of power.

[grimjim]

Nice post, some questions:

* How do you explain the fact of "Jena" denouncing the "evil" plans of Ma'Duk and asking for her followers support? I agree the written lore tends to a "status quo", but the past in game events are the current lore. The fact that a high power goddess - for a half unknown reason -- asks her servants to fight a threat of the souleater may question that status quo. Right?

* If I undersand correctly, you seem to state that homins should question the validity of the "orders"? doesn't that contradict the whole notion of faith?

* As per the events, the Kami position should be "defense against threat of Jena", which justifies going to war.

Thank you, lets see if I can answer (all my interpretations obviously).

With Jena its a tricky one, she is allegedly a goddess - and therefore imbued with goddess like powers in the minds of the faithful - therefore she could simply 'know' about the 'evil' that the Kami are up to, but then why the need for a physical embodiment? Almost all the homin peoples, as described - at least their rulership and general state of mind - are actually fairly pragmatic and even suspicious in their approach. When it comes to Jena particularly devout Matis might see her simple word (even though filtered through her followers) as being enough, but not any of the others.

On the other side only the Zorai are really and truly devout from the lore and the type to follow Ma-Duk unquestioningly. However, the current Zorai faith was once a heresy and they have flirted with Jena worship, so its not quite as clear cut even there as it may first appear.

The other problem is that there is zero evidence in game through lore, ency missions or events that Ma-Duk _IS_ any kind of souleater or that there is any veracity whatsoever to the claims about the Kami and Ma-Duk. Indeed all the 'bad stuff' seems to be Karavan, at least I don't THINK I've seen a goo-corrupted Kami tribe or any Kami oriented slavers - if anyone has please let me know!

With your second point, faith, there is some validity. However faith is not necessarily a black and white thing and people contradict their faith all the time - whatever their faith - for reasons good or ill. In the case of the current battle both sides are being somewhat hypocritical and are contradicting some fairly hefty social tenets and taboos of the various cultures, something that should cause consternation if not rebellion. Even the Kami have gone back on their most enforced power and oath - that of protecting from over exploitation. The amount we've been digging in Aelius we should be in the Prime Roots by now!

By a canonical reading the order of most faithful goes something like Zorai > Matis > Tryker > Fyros (Most to least) and every race seems to have a have some element of cynicism about their religious faction.

As per the events the Kami position should be one of defence yes, that doesn't really warrant such a strong level of attack, particularly in this event. Perhaps it should have been one-sided? The Kami trying to build and defend against their attackers - the Karavan. Also Karavan forces does not necessarily mean their 'lackies' in the Matis and Tryker, it could mean the Karavan themselves!

The attack, as described by Tryton, comes from The Karavan, not the Karavan followers - a subtle but important difference I think.

[grimjim]

comments on the history....

2481 : The Great Swarming

Homin cities are decimated, entire population perished, and the great civilizations crumbled in a matter of days. (the suddenness of an attack from an unexpected quarter was the downfall of the civilisations)

2481 - 2483 : The Kitin War

2485 : Exodus (thus we were refugee for but a few years, no indication of mixed racial refugee camps, furthered by the seperate refugee islands)

so the kitin swarm and its result did not produce what your have erronously described above.

The leaders are the heads of state, but our societies are not cults of personality, where the whim of a leaders personal feelings sway thier judgement on the predominant racial religion and culture, that is a sign of good leadership, to lead from the mind not the heart. For our leaders to lead on the pure basis of their relationships that would be a terrible corruption of power.

I thought you might make similar comments to the above.
I agree to an extent, there are contradictions between the site lore, the in game lore and some of the lore gleaned from the encyclopaedia missions.

Three generations has been mentioned before, but I can't currently find the source.

There seem to be two (possibly three) sources of refugees.
1 - The Prime Root refugee settlements - to where people were spirited away - these are multiracial and multifaith as evidenced by lore on The Force of Fraternity and shared crafting methods described under the Fyros 1h Axe rite.
2 - Genuine refugees from the old lands - making the long trek from the ruined civilisations - most likely descendents of those left behind.
3 - The tribes - young tribesmen joining the burgeoning civilisations.

The default explanation for our character origins is the settlements however.

Also note that exodus starts at that point in time and continues. From 2485 to *sings* 2525 is 40 years, during which many people had to be somewhere.

Contrary to what you say, the cultures are cults of personality to a varying degree, most of all either Matis or Zorai (I'd put Matis first) least of all Tryker, even though Still Wyler is a hero.

Yrkanis in particular is seen as/supposed to be the embodiment of what a Matis should be - but in recent events and speeches doesn't seem to be embodying their values at all.

If they were leading from the mind rather than the 'heart' there would be no room for a faith based war.

[riveit]

From rereading the lore, it appears that all homins were only forced together for the two years of the Kitin War.

http://www.ryzom.com/?page=lore_story_beginning

"The exile lasted two years, this being the time it took for the Kamis and the Karavan to push the Kitins back down to the depths of Atys."

Some homins of different races may have stuck together after that, but likely many did not. So assuming three generations of mixed race refugee camps for everyone is not correct. After discussing the Force of Fraternity, that page also says:

"But the homin alliance proved to be short-lived. The lines of discord began to multiply, beginning when each race allied itself with the Kamis and the Karavan and when the ambitions of the leaders began to diverge."

In any case, refugee camp mixing is beside the point since all races have fought inter-racial wars since then. According to the leader profiles, the Trykers and Matis fought in Autumn War in 2499 and against Jinovitch in 2513. Fyros under Dexton fought in the 2nd war. In 2506, the Fyros and Zorais repelled a Matis crusade against the Fyros.

I think that the main difference between this war and the preceeding ones however, is that the homins are not actively seeking war or conquest. It is the Karavan and the Kamis that are truly driving this war. It is a measure of their influence and power over homins that we see previously peaceful leaders calling for war. I assume that Karavan advisors are whispering in the ears of Yrkanis and Wyler, giving them promises and threats, calling for devotion to Jena and possibly using devious advanced technologies to persuade them. As for the Kamis, they must be speaking to Mabreka and Dexton in private. We all have heard that Kamis can control minds and even possess homins, so perhaps there is truth in these rumours.

[grimjim]

From rereading the lore, it appears that all homins were only forced together two years of the Kitin War.

The Kitin War, the campaign of The Force of Fraternity is a single campaign, not the whole event.

We all have heard that they can control minds and even possess homins, so perhaps there is truth in these rumours.

On both sides, but without any hint or clue or involvement its not an inclusive story.

I'm here to take part in and shape a future for Atys, not to have it told to/at me.

[vguerin]

As always Jyudas, well thought out but interpreted to best suit your desires.

Half empty, half full... all the same depending on who looks at it. Well written but this is an outlook and anyone looking at the lore is subject to interpret it their own way and mine does not match yours.

History is often changed based on changes in society and government etc... Our game lore adapting a bit may be having the same issues... refining and tweaking to fill gaps and holes.