Why did I choose to align myself formally with the Karavan (the in-character version):
This is what I grew up with. I am Tryker. Sometimes, we Trykers focus on the easy parts of this, but forget that we've always grown up with the knowledge that Kami are not to be trusted. Yes, we should live the good life, but we do so because Jena created us and the Karavan saved us from the Kitin. We didn't accomplish these things by ourselves. Our hedonism is something to be celebrated, but not something that overrides our sense of duty to guild, race and goddess.Link
Jena is our Goddess, she is the Mother of Creation. ... we must live by her Law which is handed down to us by her faithful disciples, the Karavan. They watch over us and protect us from Kami possession.
- You must never make a pact or do a mission for the Kamis. They are evil demons and will possess your soul.
- Never breach the Law of Jena.
- Never carry out missions for enemy tribes.
- If you venture down beneath the surface of Atys, be careful not to wake the dreaded dragon of the apocalypse.
- It is forbidden to spread dragon fire over the lands. It makes the land sterile.
Ever since we resurfaced from the Prime Roots we have been building solid foundations for our future civilization without tyranny or intolerance, where all Jena's children may live in freedom. Now we must :
- develop our individual strengths and skills
- build strong and closely knit guilds to spread the word of the Karavan and free the infidels of Kami possession
- improve our knowledge to make even better tools and weapons.
- live the good life.
Yes, we believe that all hominkind are essentially good and worthy and yet we are all capable of great evil as well. History has events where our allies the Matis have done us wrong and our "enemies" (Fyros) have saved us. We (and I) believe in aiding any homin that asks it; this is how I show the light of Jena in my life. If a homin's misguided beliefs causes them to attack me, my friends or my allies, I will fight them to the end. But if you come to me with peace in your heart, I will greet you in kind.
I am not a missionary; my faith in the goddess and her emmissaries is my own and I make no attempt to tell others how they should believe. I will show my faith through my acts. In the past, I've been lax about one of the rules above: I've made pacts with the Kamis for the convenience of travel; that is no longer the case. I had allowed my tolerance and love of all homins to make me forget that the Kami's are not to be trusted.
I post this for two reasons. The first is to solidify my own thoughts on the matter and the second is to explain to any that might care why I've moved from a relatively neutral position to a being Karavan aligned. I still do NOT believe in open aggression toward those that would follow the Kami (open PvP), but I will defend my guild (outpost battles), my land (any agression against the Trykers) and my allies (any agression against a fellow Karavaneer).
(OOC: Ok, mostly I became a Karavaneer because the mechanics of the game have neutered neutral, but I wanted to have something more than that so I wrote this up. I don't write near as well as some of you, so sorry if I bored anyone.)
Edit: Forgot the word "Not"; thanks Petej.