Compassion - Iolo and the Brigand

It is a sunny day when an old mage walks into one of the lecture rooms of the Lycaeum in Moonglow. Immediately attentive eyes are set on him, thirsty for knowledge, and the old mage blinks and relishes the excited looks of his young students for a moment. Thirsty for knowledge and excited their eyes are set on him, waiting for a word of his lips. The old mage smiles warmly and greets his students, his thoughts half caught in the piece of history he would tell them today. “All of you have heard about the virtues already…” he starts and waits until the mumbling of his students stops. “And I do not have to tell you how important they are!” Acceding muttering is heard. “One of the most important virtues is compassion. This is what we will talk about today – the virtue of compassion and the man who still is kept in high honours. Past comparison and still searching for an equal amount of compassion this virtue is still credited to one man…” the old mage pauses a moment and takes a sip of water. With his last words his voice had fallen into a melodious singsong, and his students know that now the time for a story has come. “Today, my dear seekers of knowledge, I will tell you about this man. This is the tale of Iolo and the brigand.”

Honesty - Mariah and the Daemon

The old man smiles and watches the children collect at his feet. The young, attentive faces only seem to wait for a story, and while his grip on his walking cane gets tighter he thinks about what he could tell them today. The impatience grows, and soon enough a little redhead demands: “Tell us a story!” The old man nods slowly and with a smile on his lips he asks: “What story would you like to hear today?” Discussions get loud, several names of tales are said, when suddenly the bright voice of a little girl cuts through the chatter. “Tell us the story of Mariah! Tell us the story of Mariah and the daemon!” The old man grins and as nobody of his auditors seems to have objections he finally nods. “Good, then, listen to me, because today I will tell you a tale about one of the most powerful virtues ever – this is a tale about honesty, and how this honesty even defeated a vile daemon.” He leans back and his voice gains more and more strength while he is talking. And so, finally, he starts his story…

Honor - Dupre and the Gargoyles

A young woman enters the tavern, her step is secure and she smiles open and friendly into the faces of the tavern-goers and eventually takes a seat close to the fireplace. The tavernkeep nods at her and blinks, well knowing that the young woman is a bard, and a popular one at that, even before she unties a small harp from her belt. Her practiced fingers play some accords as if to get used to the feeling of the strings before the woman starts to chant a song. The warm, melodious tone of her voice soon captures the tavern-goers and while the last accords of the song die away a drunk man shouts impatiently: "What story will you tell us today, Kaella?" Kaella, the bard, smiles and while her fingers test the strings for the upcoming accords she says:"Today, my friends, I will tell you the tale of Dupre and the Gargoyles."

Humility - Katrina and the Noble

Katrina was a sheperdess, and as far as she was concerned her profession provided a complete description with further need of qualification. Of course she was a beautiful woman, and the beauty of her mind could easily compete with the one of her body. She was wise and friendly, and held with respect of both her peers and those above her station. All this, however, had only very little relevance for Katrina. In her opinion - and after all this was what counted - Katrina was Katrina. Katrina was a sheperdess and she tended her sheep.

Justice - Jaana and the Goblin

Jaana was a Druid. She was a young woman, strong and fearless, loving her self-chosen life of travel, and so it seemed to be a good idea for the elders to give her a large and wild portion of the land. She travelled about between nearly a score of small towns and villages, some of them still cannot be found on even the best and most detailed maps of the lands, and visited each of two or three times a year.

Sacrifice - Julia and the Clock

Julia was a tinker, and contrary to Jervaise, who was primarly an artist, she was an artisan. Her timepieces were famous and highly appreciated by all inhabitants of Britannia, and it was said that they would reamin accurate to the very second for a hundred years, if kept wound and properly tended. Not enough, Julia also was a very bright young woman and she invented many cunning devices of the sort to make difficult tasks both simpler and more precise, a fact that was reason enough for many people to love and appreciate her work.

Spirituality - Shamino and the Spirits

If you ever dared to visit a graveyard at night you might have noticed that the dead of Britannia are a rather restless lot. I cannot tell you about the reasons, and it is said that it might be that the vitality of the land itself is so great that it bestirs the memory of itself even in lifeless flesh. However, as you can easily imagine - not only nowadays some of the dead decide to come back to wander beneath the living again, and as far as our history reaches it has been that way.