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things2mustdo · 3 years

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As you probably have heard in the news, earlier in August a Pennsylvania grand jury handed down a 1,356-page account of sexual abuse which involved around 1,000 kids and 300 priests during a period of approximately 70 years. It is another pedophilia scandal within the Catholic Church that adds up to their collection of countless other ones reported in recent years.

The commie pope—while on his two-day visit to Ireland—begged for forgiveness again, just the way he did in Chile back in January of this year.

You can notice how quick and scathing the mainstream media is to denounce these recurring events, after all we know who owns the MSM and the (real) Church has a long, well-known history of “anti-semitism” and resistance against the tentacles of globalism. I wish the media had the same commitment to inform the existence of other pedophile rings full of high-ranking people as well.

Is the problem of the church’s innumerous sexual abuse allegations really pedophilia? To me there is a deeper explanation for it, and that explanation is: homosexualism. 81% of the alleged victims are male and three-fourths of them are post-pubescent. As you guys are certainly aware of, the Church has a very big issue with homosexualism among its clergymen.

I have a theory for the high presence of gay men inside priesthood: until not long ago being gay was definitely not ok, homosexuals were not accepted as they are now, so they became priests.

The developed Western world of today encourages people to become gay, it applauds individuals for their gayness, but it wasn’t always like that. Now, try to imagine a closeted homosexual man living in the 50s, for example. What a better place to go than the Catholic seminary? People wouldn’t look you down, you wouldn’t have to get married, the place was filled with other young men (potential sexual partners) and that’s how the Church got corrupted by perverts.

Pedophilia x Homosexualism

One normie could argue “how homosexualism relates to pedophilia?” Any red-pilled person who has ever wondered what causes someone to become gay will notice that there is an undeniable link between pedophilia and homosexualism.

Let’s remember the occasion of Milo Yiannopolous’ resignation from Breitbart over comments which seemed to endorse sex between “younger men” and older men. Something that is—as he pointed out—extremely common among gay men. A 2009 report revealed that 74 percent of bisexuals had been sexually abused as children, I am pretty sure homosexuals follow the same numbers.

I won’t say homosexual behavior is exclusively caused by pedophilia because human (or animal) sexuality is a very complex topic which can certainly involve many variables. I just don’t buy that “born this way” hype, until this day not a single reliable proof of the existence of a gay gene or anything like it was discovered.

The Vatican once bought a £21 million apartment block above ‘Europe’s largest gay sauna’.

Pope Francis, a champion of the left-leaning agenda inside the Church, has been accused of covering up former Cardinal McCarrick’s abuse allegations (one of the many cases in Pennsylvania). The accusations were made by Carlo Vigano, a former Vatican ambassador to the US, and if it proves to be true–I am positive it is—that should result in pope Francis’ resignation. As a traditionalist Catholic myself I would be delighted with such an event.

Francis has already been complacent with other pedos before. One good example is the 2015 ‘Synod on the Family’ when the pope invited Godfried Danneels, a Belgium Cardinal convicted of covering up pedophiles in the 90s, to attend the meeting. Danneels is a hard-left priest that tries to push the Church ” liberal reformation” and admitted that he was part of a plot against (right-leaning) Pope Benedict and in favor of the election of leftie Francis.

To affirm that the Church’s gay/pedos are exclusively part of the left-wing priesthood would be too Manichean. I am sure there are tons of sick people who lean right also. But it can’t be denied that the liberals make up the vast majority of these issues involving sexual misconduct.

“Religious progressives”

For those who don’t know, the Catholic Church, just as any other political institution, is divided in factions that tend to be more liberal or orthodox. The liberation theology, for instance, is a movement created inside the Catholic Church (and some Protestant denominations) which aims to mix Christianity and Marxism.

Even if you are an agnostic don’t underestimate the influence they played in various regions such as Europe, Latin America and even New England. Brazilian Workers’ Party attributed their success to this movement and Unions.

Be wary of any religious leader that tries to push a liberalization of dogmas and traditions. Because all religions are intrinsically conservative according to their respective contexts, they establish doctrines that dictate sets of rules that must be followed properly in order to attain their objectives (whether is Salvation in Christianity or Nirvana in Buddhism). There are no (real) religions without their traditions.

Whenever you see liberal religious men doubt their characters. There is a good chance they don’t even bother with religion or spirituality, perhaps they are closeted atheist. What they do care about is the religious platform, which can offer various benefits such as large audiences, political influence, money and even sex.

Estimates of the number of gays in the priesthood are all over the lot, from 20 percent to 60 percent, although a Los Angeles Times poll in 2002 found only 15 percent of priests saying they were homosexual or “somewhere in between but more on the homosexual side.”

Every time pedo priests’ cases pop up in the MSM, secular people are very quick to point fingers and show their moral superiority, but they “forget” the existence of secular institutions that are way more sexually perverted than the “gayish” modern Church, such as Hollywood, the political and corporate world.

Real Church x Sissy Church

It is also important to notice that the Church was emasculated, an emasculation that took place during the process of secularization and establishment of liberal democracies across the Western world (e.g. French Revolution).

The Church had to be softened, becoming an institution that barely resembles the once powerful and great Church of the Crusades or the Inquisitions. This same phenom of emasculation can also happen in other secular institutions too, the Military, mainstream Music, Politics, Sports and even Boys Scouts. And it will only get worse as liberal-democratic globalism advances, so secular people: watch out!

St. Basil the Great, a 4th century bishop and Doctor of the Church, defended that gay/pedo priests should be publicly flogged. That was the (real) Church, not this sissy catholicism created after the Second Vatican Council (a modernist reform imposed in the Church from 1962 to 1965). A lot of things got bad in the 60s.

The (real) Church has a very important and vigorous story in the construction of the West. Always being a target to the globalists and that breed who rules the world, a clear obstacle to their goals.

Examples are many: Gabriel García Moreno, Catholic Equatorian president, who made a terrific job in a Confessional Equator and was killed by the Freemasons; Saint José Sanchez del Rio, who was killed by Mexican secular, freemason and leftist government with the support of the US, for refusing to abbandon his faith.

Inconvenient truths are ignored

The media only goes after what is convenient to their narrative, don’t expect them to expose Hollywood pedos nor the obvious link between pedo priests and homosexualism. The left has already pushed the normalization of pedophilia many times and I didn’t see the indignation of the MSM.

Late Vatican’s Chief Exorcist Gabriele Amorth once said, “The Devil resides in the Vatican and you can see the consequences”.

“The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops”. – St. Athanasius

Read More: The Vatican Has Disgraced True Catholic Values

I have noticed that many people have been falsely conflating what comes out of the Vatican as Catholic. Thus it is my duty to present to the esteemed readers of this fine site the true teachings of the Church which stand, ever more so today, in stark opposition to the rot of cultural Marxism and the effeminacy of the Papal pretenders in Rome.

Vicar of Christ?

Church authorities are not legitimate

It is a dogma of the Catholic faith that the Church cannot substantially change. This means that the church cannot contradict nor change her teaching from what has always been universally taught or has been solemnly defined. Any one who claims to be Catholic and knowingly professes a faith which contradicts a teaching of the Church is considered to be a heretic and is considered to have a removed himself from the Church.

As St. Thomas states: “[one] who disbelieves [even] one article of faith does not have faith, either formed or unformed.” This is known as the unity of faith which means that all Catholics profess the same faith. Likewise it means that heretics cannot hold a clerical office in the Church. Thus if a heretic were to be elected even to the Papacy they could not be considered a legitimate Pontiff because a heretic has separated himself from the Church (source).

Would a real Pope bow to a religion declared false by the Church?

Simply put, you have to be Catholic to be Pope, and the absurdity of a heretic claiming the See of Peter is where we find ourselves today. For just as the institutions in the West have been infiltrated and seized by the enemy, likewise have the institutions of the Church been usurped by apostate forces. The hierarchy currently residing in the Vatican are not legitimate authorities and do not represent the perennial teaching of the Church. Therefore I have listed for your benefit the actual Church’s positions on some current areas of contention.

The only time Francis has ever smiled at a Crucifix

On Communism

The Catholic Church is vehemently opposed to communism. Without Pius XII valiant efforts, communism would have prevailed over postwar France and Italy. The Pope went so far as to issue the Decree against Communism in 1949 which excommunicated any Christian who professed communist doctrine.

Catholicism is the enemy of Marxism as it teaches that there can be no separation of Church and state, and an atheist government is immoral. Catholicism believes private property is a natural right going so far to say that depriving workers of their wages is a sin which cries to heaven for vengeance (compare that to our socialist tax code!).

On Migration and Culture

The current Muslim invasion of Europe would be met with the utmost resistance. It has always been the Church which has sought to safeguard Catholic Culture and in ages past has gone so far as to issue a call to arms against non-Catholics who have sought to destroy it.

Pope Urban II issued the Crusades and Pope Leo the great even went so far as to personally travel into the heart of the Hun army—to Attila himself—to deliver Rome from the sack that was to come. In 1571, St. Pope Pius V formed the Holy League that would go on to defeat the great Muslim Turkish Armada that was plaguing the Mediterranean.

“Then I pointed like so and told them where to take their cultural enrichment”

The tradition of the Church has been to unite the West against external non-christian threats in order to preserve Western Christian culture.

“The natural law enjoins us to love devotedly and to defend the country in which we were born, and in which we were brought up, so that every good citizen hesitates not to face death for his native land…. We are bound, then, to love dearly the country whence we have received the means of engagement this mortal life affords.” – Sapientia Christiana Encyclical Pope Leo XIII

On Abortion and Contraception

So what is the real teaching of the Church in regards to abortion and contraception? The teaching is any member who has an abortion or supports abortion is automatically excommunicated from the Church. That’s right: every single Democrat who claims to be Catholic is actually excommunicated, including Nancy Pelosi who likes to sanctimoniously drone how she is a good Catholic grandmother.

Contraception is also considered a mortal sin because it is an unnatural stoppage of life.

“Hence, after the sin of homicide whereby a human life already in existence is destroyed, this type of sin appears to take next place, for by it the generation of human nature is impeded.” -St. Thomas Aquinas.

I know this is unpopular with the readers, but the teaching is that those who engage in contraception have already committed murder in their heart. Contraception is what allows people to engage in recreational sex, because the natural end of sex has been set aside so too then has the institution of marriage, whose end is children.

Likewise, because we have committed murder in our hearts, we have become a petulant, immature, vain, and a sterile people similar to any other people who have taken the risk from reward or the consequences from pleasure. This is the most difficult pill to swallow.

On Feminism

The Church condemns feminism in the strongest terms. There cannot exist feminism without birth control.

“…any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin.” -Pius XI Casti Cannubi

The Church asserts that Man is the head of the household and that a woman finds her vocation from being a good mother and housewife:

“This … does not deny or take away the liberty which fully belongs to the woman both in view of her dignity as a human person, and in view of her most noble office as wife and mother and companion; nor does it bid her obey her husband’s every request if not in harmony with right reason or with the dignity due to wife; … For if the man is the head, the woman is the heart, and as he occupies the chief place in ruling, so she may and ought to claim for herself the chief place in love.” -Ibid

The Pope has even gone so far as to condemn women’s suffrage:

“Woman can never be man’s equal and cannot therefore enjoy equal rights. Few women would ever desire to legislate, and those who did would only be classed as eccentrics.” -St. Pius X

On Pacifism

The Catholic Church is not simply just a religion of love and mercy. Christianity is not a weak religion, for our God is a God of Battles. Catholic Tradition encourages us to live our lives in the manner of our Lord Jesus who spoke of the struggle that his Church would have to endure.

“Do not think that I am come to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword.”-Mathew 10:34

Christians are not meant to sit idly as bystanders to the great struggle of good and evil in this world.

“For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood: but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness: against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.” -Ephesians 6:12

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melias-cimitiere · 4 years

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MORAL REJECTION OF ABOMINATIONS

I detest all types of negative discrimination (aimed to demonize and persecute minorities and other parts of the population) based on color, gender, creed, country of origin, ideology etc. I include racism, ageism, and all types of sexual and religious persecution in these categories. The reason why I detest this (which may differ to the reasons others oppose it) is that I am aware of myself as resident in bodies (shells) in different times and ages, so to condemn someone on the basis of color, gender etc is hypocritical. I’ve been all over the place concerning the spectrum, so I cannot condemn people who happen to be born in a way different to mine at this present age. There is no inferior or superior race, creed, nation, gender etc. Of course, I am still allowed to condemn any practice, viewpoint or ideology that I find offensive, dangerous or twisted enough to cause severe threat by its malice. By doing this I don’t attack the people that sometimes are born to such ideas, but instead my attack is on the ideas themselves.

I detest all dogmas, for they assume to be true in all ways and they have no regard for personal experience and testing. But more often than not, dogmas tend to corrupt their defenders into going to a witch-hunt or pogrom to exterminate all opposition. It is inherent to their nature to hold that the truth is property of those dogmas, and not existent anywhere else outside their approved belief system. Therefore they create a climate of hostility towards non-believers and animosity towards foreign ideas and viewpoints.

I detest puritanism and the whole idea that only marital sex is pure, the rest is up for condemnation. Sex, like food and other things natural, responds to need and often, to pleasure. When needs are condemned as impure, and pleasure is viewed as sinful or evil, problems tend to arise; psychological ones with regards to the person, and societal ones with regards to cultural groups. History has shown that such oppression leads to violent outbursts sooner or later, or to serious psychopathology. A healthy sexual life contributes to wellbeing and to a balanced lifestyle; there’s nothing evil or reprehensible happening between consenting adults. Nothing should be blamed as deviant, outlawed or viewed with contempt when it harms none but is part of one’s personal life, or between a couple or group of consenting adults.

I detest Idealism as it is a distorted way to view reality. A pragmatist would more likely accept a form of Sinister Realism (my own term) as a way to rationalize with an irrational, often contradictory world. Also an idealist will more likely conform to dogmas that seek validation through idealistic lenses, whereas a sinister realist will choose a healthier paradigm based on some form of evidence instead of Ideas.

I detest all types of blind faith, for two reasons: a) because it’s blind, and has no room for reason; b) because it is an inferior type of spirituality, as attested by evidence of my peers and my own personal experience; bound to a dogma, it has no room to grow and expand, and it suffocates the genuine seeker.

I detest all religions because they serve a watered-down version of spirituality that is more easily palatable by the masses. In doing so, they promote their own dogmatic ideas as “truths” and reject anything new, fearing change and fearing to lose privileges. I detest all Abrahamist religions in particular; stemming from a tradition steeped in racial hatred (that they are elites, unique by their god making them over anyone else upon Earth), stolen ideas from various cultures and mythologies more ancient than them (look for evidence in Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Phoenician peoples, including Pythagorean and Neoplatonist ideas in Kabbalah), misogyny (numerous examples in their own scriptures) and spiritual blindness (everything that doesn’t feature in the pages of their dogmatic books is condemned as having demonic origin). Abraham was a traitor to the Mesopotamian spirituality and destroyed his father’s cult figurines, aiming to cut all bonds with the Chaldeans and start the journey to the Levant. He prostituted his own sister whom he had married, and then benefitted from her when the truth came out; his example was followed by his son Isaac. Abrahamist religions are the source of much of the world’s plight; holy wars, crusades, Inquisition, torturing and killing hundreds of thousands and terrorizing millions, they are solely responsible for the darkest times in human history. Their absolutist dogmas and totalitarian religious regimes persecuted truth and real spirituality for the last two millennia. They created the spiritual blueprint of something that perpetuates guilt and misery, and makes a person weaker than his or her natural state, simply by submitting to their ideology.

I detest the validity of the statement “it’s right because the majority believe it or elected it”. The multitudes never held truth or attainment in high regard, only conveniency and safety. They call brave those that defend their safety, but they condemn as fool-hardy and heretical those of the same mentality as their defenders, who seek out new paths off the beaten track. Likewise innovations are good if they serve their conveniency but dangerous when probing new scientific avenues. The masses tend to follow trends like fashion and leaders like a flock does to a shepherd; originality, uniqueness and innovation are alien concepts to them. Superstition, submission and apathy is the path they choose.

The way I see it, a promethean Lucifer is the torchbearer of Illumination for the Spirit and Mind, a rebel Satan is the catalyst of socioeconomic, cultural and political Change, a portentous Leviathan is the instigator of Progress and Innovation in sciences and all things that Reason governs; and Set, the dynamic agent of Manifesting and Becoming. All of them are teachers through adversity, all of them mentor willpower to triumph over the odds. This is something we may believe in, a form of allegiance to take us forward to the next millennium, to the stars and into our destiny.

Melias, 2020

#luciferianism #promethean #morality #left hand path #theistic satanism #witching philosophy #demons

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border-spam · 4 years

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She wishes she didn’t know the answer to that - Late COV - Pre Leech Lord

(Tw: Gore and descriptions of violence under the cut)

Seifa has decent morals for someone who spends most of their time on Pandora, but that's.. a very low bar. Like, a VERY low bar when you consider it.

She's stepped over plenty of mummified corpses and not given them a second thought. You can't shake a hand on this shit-hole without subtly picking deep red flakes off your fingers after, and you shouldn't really waste too much time considering where they came from or.. ya know.

You're not going to last long here.

Violence is just a part of life for everyone who scrapes out survival on Pandora's grimy surface. Even in the more “civilised” places, disagreements turn to cracked jaws then turn to gunshots so quickly, no one really even bats an eye. So the Twin's brand of voyeur-violence-porn? It isn't actually that shocking to anyone, including her.

She's not ok with it, it's not something she finds any joy in knowing is happening, but the people involved either want it, or deserve it, and that's something Troy has been VERY careful to enforce since the founding of the COV. If he's leading a raid and raking up a juicy view count, there's a reason he's there. They were slavers. They were sex traffickers. They attacked and ravaged a protected settlement. They ate a camp of migrants. They stole supplies from a cult caravan on route to a village who'd begged for help.

He always has a reason, and he's never found pleasure in rampant cruelty... he leaves that to Tyreen and her rapid decline.

Troy doesn't rip terrified sick folk from their shacks as they cower under the onslaught of his Crusaders, he doesn't slap a child to the ground who points a rusty bayonet at him while trying to defend their sibling, his raids only target the aggressors. If a camp of heretics yields and bows instead of attacking when his retinue set ground? No one's going to die. There's a place for every sack of flesh in the COV, even if it was an enemy a week ago.

She sees the violence escalating over time, everyone does. He's so good at convincing it's all about the views if concern is shown. Cites numbers and ratios honey thick through a wolf grin that's so hard to trust yet so impossible to fight, that you'll believe him... but anyone can see the rage that's building. How lost he's getting in the throes.

Everyone knows Troy is venting something terrible out of himself as the years go on, but no one feels safe enough to raise it. Not because of what will happen to them... because of what will happen to him.

She was watching alongside the billions of others when the Maw ripped open the first time live, when that man's bone and brain matter squelched out of the jaw's side plates like some kind of fucking overripe fruit, and she nearly blacked out.

Doesn't remember getting to the toilet, doesn't really remember throwing up, but remembers the loathing, the confusion, her memories of a lopsided crooked grin and squinty blue eyes feeling so monstrously lost in whatever the fuck she'd just witnessed.

Troy never had any value for the clergy staff, priests and fanatics are driveling masses to him, but regular worshipers he always had a soft spot for. The down and outs, the disabled, the sick, the people who look to him over Tyreen were never people he’d lash out at and that still stands even when he’s at his worst, but the clergy are taking the brunt of his non direct aggression and his now complete lack of patience with them is another major red flag for anyone watching closely enough.

She’s torn in half, this was the exact kind of shit she couldn’t continue to bear the weight of supporting him over, this was exactly why she’d left.. but seeing him fall cut so much deeper then she ever could have prepared herself for, even if she knew damn well it was coming. They all knew.

He hasn’t changed in regards to physical violence. He’d always quickly put down a fanatic who showed disrespect to himself or someone he saw as with value, always treated them coldly and with a level of dominance that wasn’t exactly welcoming, but now he’s explosive in his temper, throwing their censers against walls, smashing heavy pews next to them, snarling against a pinned priest’s throat for making the mistake of looking at him when a weak spell unbalanced his prowl.

Troy is ready to snap, and the people who know him the closest know that when that time comes, it’s not going to be someone else he attacks.

She doesn’t tune to any of their raid streams again, hates herself for even feeling the urge to check in that time considering what happened. Between the updates from the city folk about the lashing out at acolytes and seeing the level of viciousness that’s being exerted on the deserving, it’s very clear how low he’s fallen and how dangerously close to breaking he is.

She knows this is absolutely all him, everyone does. Watching the slow decline was too natural, too fitting. She wishes she could blame outside influences, but it’s her, it’s Tyreen, it’s him, it’s his Oracle, his Aegis, the people who call him friend, the COV... it’s every mistake they all made crashing down around them, and no one knows what to do anymore.

By the time she comes back, crestfallen, thin, and a shadow of the confidence she’d exuded 2 years ago, he’s all smiles and laughter through a torn up throat. Reminiscing and innocent, like none of it ever happened. Like he wasn’t bedridden, like it hadn’t driven him to this.

It did happen, and its effects ripple outwards for some time after.

The comfort of finally feeling like things have a chance of becoming right again is constantly interrupted by the unease of catching a glimpse of that jaw split, or the twitching claws of the prosthetic that betray his temper. He can flick between gentle and rabid in seconds if provoked by a low tier acolyte still, and everyone remains on edge.

It calms slowly, his friends are here, his support reconnects itself around him, and the weight of the responsibility, stress, and self hatred he’s been drowning under begins to lift. He sleeps, he eats, he’s not running on fumes and chems.

As time passes, he’s in such a better place mentally that he hasn’t lashed out in months, flaming temper replaced by cool intimidation.

The fangs are still there though, and no matter how much people care for him, they can never forget what they know he’s capable of.

Asks are Open!

#borderlands #borderlands 3 #bl3 #troy calypso #calypso twins #leech lord #seifa #Lldrabbles #my writing #my hcs

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autumnslance · 6 years

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A Lore Nerd’s Analysis of Oaths and Warriors of Light in D&D and FFXIV

This is @wearepaladin‘s fault. Kinda. Actually, I’ve been planning on doing something for awhile, and the idea began to solidify more in a r/ffxiv thread where someone asked “Anyone notice Dark Knight is more like a traditional Paladin lore wise?” My own comment can be found here, where I say I’ve been long thinking of the ways the Dark Knights and Paladins of Eorzea match up to the various Paladin Sacred Oaths of Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition. I figured I ought to expand on that sooner or later.

So yeah, “I’m your host LynMars/Dark Autumn, you can go below the cut for my TEDTalk on the Warrior of Light, Dark Knights, Paladins, and the Sacred Oaths of D&D 5e”:

Now, as a disclaimer, I have not completed the Paladin quest chains yet. I am nearly to the end of the original lvl 30-50 A Realm Reborn (ARR) chain, though, and since I usually don’t care too much about spoilers, already know what’s going to happen. Partially because I could easily guess and so just looked over the chain info. Anyway.

Paladin (PLD) is a traditional sword-and-shield wielding class of holy light users in Final Fantasy, like in most settings. In FFXIV, the primary group of paladins is the Sultansworn. As the class trainer, Captain Jenlyns Aesc, explains when you first approach him:

“A paladin swears allegiance to the sultanate. A paladin shall be the sword and shield of the sultanate. A paladin defends the people of the realm. Sellswords and gladiators and others of their ilk wield their blades for themselves, but a paladin serves the greater good. Do you understand me?

“The battle arts that the paladin learns have been held secret, nurtured, and perfected within the ranks of the Sultansworn elite for nigh on these six hundred years. Of all those sworn to protect the sultanate--the soldiers, the mounted guards, and the knights--we are the elite of the elite. Our conviction unwavering, our hearts true, our sword skills without peer.

“But the glory of the Sultansworn...Well, much of it is buried in the past now. Our brotherhood grows smaller by the year, we are a shadow of what we once were, and the sultana turns to sellswords to defend her palace. All this, because of one traitor--no, because of a blot of dishonor left by one who shall not be named...And because of him, we have been forced to seek the help of able-bodied adventurers.

“And here you are. We shall instruct you in the paladin military arts. You will not be inducted into the Sultansworn, but serve as a free paladin. However, first you will show us that both your sword and heart have mettle, and you are worthy of the honor.”

So how does this relate to the best-known traditional tabletop RPG? In 5th edition (5e), the traditional classes are handled a little differently than before. To add customization, early in leveling (mostly lvl 3, though a few classes start off right at lvl 1), players can choose a type of their class they want to be; what Bard College they study, what Cleric Domain they know, what Druid Circle they are attuned to, etc. For paladins, they choose a Sacred Oath to swear. This gives them their moral code to follow in the service of their deity or ideal that grants them their divine abilities, while also loosening some of the constraints of the old alignment system, and gives both players and game masters a framework for what the paladin’s behavior should follow, lest they stray and lose their divine favor.

The Sultansworn would fit best into the Oath of the Crown:

Law: The law is paramount. It is the mortar that holds the stones of civilization together, and it must be respected. Loyalty: Your word is your bond. Without loyalty, oaths and laws are meaningless. Courage: You must be willing to do what needs to be done for the sake of order, even in the face of overwhelming odds. If you don't act, then who will? Responsibility: You must deal with the consequences of your actions, and you are responsible for fulfilling your duties and obligations.

This oath is for those paladins “sworn to the ideals of civilization, be it the spirit of a nation, fealty to a sovereign, or service to a deity of law and rulership.” (Sword Coast Adventurer Guide, pg 132). As the name implies, the Sultansworn are dedicated to Ul’dah and the Sultan(a) sitting on the throne. As the Sultansworn train free paladins, however, the Oath of the Crown doesn’t apply. A free paladin, Solkzagyl Keltnaglsyn, challenges the player:

“Simply learning paladin swordplay does not make you a paladin--nor does the armor you wear, or the status you claim...Strike off the shackles that bind your spirit, lift the visor that blinds, and find the true path of the paladin.”

Free paladins would fit better under the more traditional Oath of Devotion, from the Player’s Handbook (PHB):

Honesty: Don't lie or cheat. Let your word be your promise. Courage: Never fear to act, though caution is wise. Compassion: Aid others, protect the weak, and punish those who threaten them. Show mercy to your foes, but temper it with wisdom. Honor: Treat others with fairness, and let your honorable deeds be an example to them. Do as much good as possible while causing the least amount of harm. Duty: Be responsible for your actions and their consequences, protect those entrusted to your care, and obey those who have just authority over you.

All the things the Sultansworn strive for, but without the strictures of devoted service to the sultanate. The Knights of Ishgard (often called Temple Knights if part of their military), though not called paladins in game, can also fall into one of these two oaths. In fact, let’s turn to the Holy See of Ishgard now...

(Aside: “But LynMars,” you might say. “My Warrior of Light doesn’t fit either of those Oaths.” Hold that thought for the end, fam.)

So where do Dark Knights fit in? Why consider them “paladins” in all but name?

Dark Knights (DRK) are from Ishgard, like the Temple Knights; most knights of the Holy See should fit into Crown or Devotion, especially with the emphasis on the worship of Halone the Fury, one of Eorzea’s Twelve gods. But, sometimes...holy men aren’t so holy, especially when so many are younger sons sent to the Church because there’s just no other place for them in the noble household structure. When many are orphaned poor joining out of desperation--and finding they’re still given short shrift over their nobleborn brethren. When sometimes, those in power are corrupted by power, or were corrupted to begin with. What then?

I already have a post about the historical origins of Dark Knights in Eorzea, from the Encyclopaedia Eorzea lore book and the official website. In summary, a lowborn knight, Ser Tryphaniel, solid and true and everything a knight ought to be, saw a priest doing unspeakably evil things to a child. Tryphaniel killed the priest on the spot in rage, and as a result--and thanks to Tryphaniel’s unpopularity among the elite due to his staunch beliefs--the knight was stripped of his rank for killing a “holy man.” Tryphaniel gave up his shield, with its crest and symbology, and used only a great sword.

“A heart bleeds, a man weeps, a soul burns. Thence comes the darkness, to consume…Yet even in the depths, the flame endures…Submit to the flame and harness the abyss…” - Ser Ompagne Deepblack

The Dark Knights appear as heretical monsters to the pious of Ishgard. Their abilities are given names such as “Souleater”, “Abyssal Drain”, “Salted Earth,” “Bloodspiller”, “Shadow Wall,” “Living Dead.” They glow with red and black energy. Ser Tryphaniel decided to fight using “any means necessary” in his crusade to protect those the Church could/would not, the great swords of those few Dark Knights acting as beacons in the dark. Those he trained, those also disaffected by the Church and the corruption in its heart (the plot of Heavensward addresses that), followed in his bloody footsteps.

Dark Knights fit perfectly into the framework of the Oath of Vengeance:

Fight the Greater Evil: Faced with a choice of fighting sworn foes or combating a lesser evil, I choose the greater evil. No Mercy for the Wicked: Ordinary foes might win my mercy, but my sworn enemies do not. By Any Means Necessary: My qualms can't get in the way of exterminating my foes. Restitution: If my foes wreak ruin on the world, it is because I failed to stop them. I must help those harmed by their misdeeds.

This is still a paladin oath from the PHB. The Oath of Vengeance is described as “a solemn commitment to punish those who have committed a grievous sin.” The PHB even says Vengeance Paladins are “sometimes called avengers or dark knights--their own purity is not as important as delivering justice.”

“To walk the path is to suffer. To sacrifice. Justice demands no less. But we must never lose sight of why we chose to walk it.” - Sidurgu Orl

I rather like @castthemintotheabyss’ low-spoiler summaries of the DRK quest chains. Identity and duty to yourself vs others; family and justice vs vengeance and mercy; to guilt and grief and acceptance of self.

Dark Knights are considered “edge lords” and “emo” and “gothy” and sure, some of that is true to an extent! But this is a class where the capstone lvl 70 ability, “The Blackest Night”, is a protection cooldown based on love. The “flame in the abyss” is the love the DRK feels for those dearest to their heart, their friends and found family--that is what fuels their darkly named and appearing powers.

If you’ve done the DRK quests, and/or don’t mind some spoilers, I highly recommend @haillenarte‘s translations (part 1, part 2) of the original Japanese text for the ARR DRK quests; the English version is rather different, though I think there’s room for both interpretations of Fray to inform each other. I’m also eager to see translations of later quests in this chain (and how the Stormblood NPC matches up).

I also have a Dark Knight tag where I link some of these resources, thoughts, art, and summarize several of the DRK story quests to be minimally spoilery and showcase how the WoL progresses through the self-reflection these quest enforce (kinda amazing for a MMO, actually). I originally completed the lvl 30-70 quests between October-November 2017, if you check the archive.

“They say the war’s over now, but it never ends for people like you, does it?” - Lowdy

There is one more oath I would like to touch on, due to the unique nature of the player character--the Warrior of Light (WoL)--in ANY of the FFXIV jobs, and how the game’s canon generally tends to assume they’ll roughly behave:

Oath of the Ancients: Kindle the Light: Through your acts of mercy, kindness, and forgiveness, kindle the light of hope in the world, beating back despair. Shelter the Light: Where there is good, beauty, love, and laughter in the world, stand against the wickedness that would swallow it. Where life flourishes, stand against the forces that would render it barren. Preserve Your Own Light: Delight in song and laughter, in beauty and art. If you allow the light to die in your own heart, you can't preserve it in the world. Be the Light: Be a glorious beacon for all who live in despair. Let the light of your joy and courage shine forth in all your deeds.

I think FFXIV players see how it fits. In D&D 5e, the Oath of Ancients has naturalistic/Fey origins. The PHB describes Oath of the Ancients as:

“...paladins who swear this oath cast their lot with the side of the light in the cosmic struggle against darkness because they love the beautiful and life-giving things of the world, not necessarily because they believe in the principles of honor, courage, and justice.” (pg 86)

The WoL is Chosen of Hydaelyn, the World Crystal Herself. Certain enemies call them the “Bringer of Light.” To other NPCs in the storylines, they are the “Weapon of Light.”

If your Warrior of Light fits Crown, Devotion, or Vengeance, awesome! I hope you find some inspiration in roleplay and/or writing from seeing those oaths and how they can interact with the FFXIV lore. These aren’t even all of the Sacred Oaths, either! There are others out there, some official and some homebrew, and some even for evil characters (traditionally anti-paladins or blackguards).

A big part of me, though, feels like the Warriors of Light in general due to the storyline, are on the path set by the Oath of the Ancients; the WoL goes through the main story as a beacon for others, struggling to preserve the light in others, in themselves--and, in the case of the Dark Knights, in the depths of the abyss.

Still, it’s up to each player, and this is just some personal analysis on how the classes presented in FFXIV coincide with elements in D&D. In the end, it’s something that can be used, or not, as one likes (or not). I’ve just found the comparisons neat and wanted to get it down, and fate kept conspiring to push me to do that until I finally wrote all this. So thanks for reading my rambling on about nerdy things.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Dungeons & Dragons #D&D #Dark Knight #Paladin #Warrior of Light #minimal spoilers

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