Goblin Squad Member
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Name: Keepers of the Circle
Alignment: Neutral Good
Values: Life, Freedom, Non-Aggression
Description:
The Keepers of the Circle is a society of individuals who seek to improve life for all while maintaining individual rights and life as the highest values. We encourage advancement in all areas and hope to grow a community of people. All are welcome in our ranks so long as these goals are respected.
The Circle itself is a representation of Life. As such, those who are Keepers of the Circle support that which advances all Life. The Circle of Life is made up of Rings, each of which covers a different aspect of Life. Every member of the Circle is known as a Keeper, whether you are a basic member, the leader of a Ring, or the Sentinel. All are important and all are necessary to keep and maintain the Circle.
Our goal is to maximize freedom of choice while respecting the Non-Aggression Principle. No member of the Keepers of the Circle is warranted to aggress against an individual (where aggression is the initiation of force, the threat of force, or fraud). This does not mean that a Keeper cannot defend themselves, others, or property. Protection of one’s own life and property, or anothers', is permitted and encouraged by many Keepers.
The Eight Rings:
Ring of Steel: The militant arm of the Circle, the Ring of Steel has the purview of Conflict; Conflict is an integral part of life, and the Keepers of Steel are those members dedicated to the
martial aspects of war. Keepers of Steel are called upon in times of war to protect the other Rings as well as to honor martial contracts on behalf of the Circle (guard duty, aid in war, etc).
Ring of Light: The Healing arm of the Circle, the Ring of Light has the purview of Aid; Aiding those who need it is a principle that advances life. However, this does not incur a mandate for Keepers of the Light to help anyone at any time; they retain their right to choose who and how to aid. Keepers of the Light are called on to heal in times of conflict, to provide advice and succor to both Keepers and outsiders.
Ring of Shadow: As aid and conflict are a part of the Circle, so are stealth, surprise, and the use of less than lawful means to achieve ends. The purview of the Ring of Shadow is Stealth; Keepers of Shadow act as the equivalent of covert operations for The Circle. Keepers of Shadow are called upon to enact retribution against single targets, to disrupt supply lines of forces hostile to Life, and to reclaim objects that have been taken from their rightful owners amongst other things.
Ring of Wood: The world is not fully cultivated, and much of it remains untamed. Keepers of the Wood have purview over the Wild, the uncontrolled (by civilization) forces and locations of nature. Keepers of the Wood are called upon to hunt for food, to see off monsters and hostile creatures, to scout for the Circle, and to guide travelers and Keepers into and through the Wilds safely.
Ring of Crystal: Magic is a powerful force in this world, and in many cases draws this power from life and by the living. The purview of the Keepers of Crystal is arcane magic and its use, research, and advancement. Keepers of the Crystal are called upon by the Circle to lend magic-muscle in times of war, to enchant items, to protect Keepers and others from darker magics and the use of magic to destroy life. Keepers of the Crystal, like all Keepers, operate with a great deal of freedom - but their abilities can be the critical difference in a time of crisis and they are saddled with the responsibility of wielding the forces of creation.
Ring of Earth: For life to thrive, there must be a solid foundation. The purview of the Keepers of Earth is construction and farming. Keepers of the Earth form the solid basis upon which the life of all Keepers resides, providing food, shelter, and sundry other mundane - but no less necessary - services. Keepers of Earth are well respected for the infrastructure and power that they retain, forming the structure upon which other Keepers rely. Keepers of the Earth are called upon by the circle for the raising of buildings and walls, for the construction of roads, for their crops, herbs, minerals, and obtaining of metals.
Ring of Gold: Sacred to the Keepers of the Circle are the individual rights of all sentient beings. Fundamentally, contracts show respect for those rights. Keepers of Gold are those who engage in mercantile transactions on behalf of the Keepers as well as those who represent the diplomatic arm of the Circle. Keepers of Gold are known for strictly adhering to their contracts, for providing information to the Circle and for maintaining relations with other groups and nations.
Ring of Iron: It is with the advent of tools that sentient races were able to rise from primitivism into an age of advancement and prosperity. Keepers of Iron have the purview of crafting-weapons, plows, pots, lanterns, shields, all things - Keepers of Iron wield their tools in a war to make something greater than the sum of its parts. They are called upon by the Circle to provide equipment, tools, and advanced items in conjunction with the other Rings, and to maintain the Circle's inventory and logistics.
More information can be found on our website Keepers of the Circle.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I look forward to getting to meet with all of the new folks that wander over our way. We do have a public section to our forums on the site so feel free to come hang out and ask us questions.
We would also like to invite Ambassadors to apply to the guild and just letting us know that you are acting as an Ambassador in the application. That way you can join in on our private forums set aside for your diplomatic needs.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Mission Statement of the Ring of Light: To better ourselves through the betterment of others.
This Ring, our Holy Ring, asks a great deal from its members. It requests from them their unending dedication and compassion; their knowledge and their love; their virtues and their purity. To join the Ring of Light is to leave behind the petty differences and malice which corrupt the heart and to grant the healing grace of Light entrance into the individual's soul. We, the members of this Holy Ring, do not desire wealth or power within this virtual landscape, rather we desire nothing but the best for this Ring, this Guild, and the community at large.
Beyond this, however, the Holy Ring of Light welcomes its members with open arms. We are a family of brothers and sisters who would defend the honor and livelihood of our fellow members for as a family, we always stay united. If anything has remained true within this glorious Guild, one thing is absolutely for certain:
Unity binds us all.
-Leo
If you are interested, please have a look.
Together with our friends in the Roseblood Accord we will work to ensure that no matter in which timezone you may reside, you will always have friends closeby with whom to share this wonderful journey.
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Ring of Earth Charter
The ring of Earth is the true Foundation of the Circle, it is with the resources we gather that the rest of the Circle depends. We will organize mining, logging, farming and other resource gathering operations with the support of the other rings. The quality of materials we gather will directly effect the quality of goods the Ring of Iron will produce. This in turn will effect the quality of gear at the disposal of the rest of the Circle, Finally affecting the effectiveness of the Circle to Defend out Camps and Caravans. It is also the job of the Ring of Earth to construct Walls and Structures for the Circle as needed.
Here is the Charter for the Ringo of Earth for those interested in related matters!
If you are still looking for a place to call home, and can make play with a Neutral Settlement, I'm sure you can find a place in our organization, regardless of playstyle.
Is there a Ring of Flesh that can be destroyed?
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Goblin Squad Member
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We do Month Day Year because it makes no sense and that is the way we like it!
Bah. We do Month/Day/Year because that's what the people we're talking to understand and expect. If we're going to consider moving to something more rational, let's make sure it's actually rational, like Year/Month/Day.
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Goblin Squad Member
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5/9/2014? We're still months away from September! :PHay, no bringing your logical date formats here.
We do Month Day Year because it makes no sense and that is the way we like it!
Cool, let's start writing time as Minute:Second:Hour and really screw with everyone!
I'm not promoting Day < Month < Year as being much better than the scrambled Month > Day << Year system. I prefer Year > Month > Day, like 2014.05.19. It follows the same pattern as the way we write time, and since it still has the month before the day, even 'Muricans will probably get it. Oh, and values descending from left to right also fits decimal notation in general. If I write the day as 19, people generally know it's the nineteenth, not the ninety-first.
Anyway, the title just got me wondering about the ways we write dates, sorry for the distraction. :D
...and of course the omniposting Nihimon jumped in as I was typing.
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Goblin Squad Member
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The tech industry is standardizing on Year-Month-Day as a default. One of many reasons is simple string sorting. If you were to arrange dates alpha-numerically you could get...
Month-Day-Year
12-01-2013
12-02-2013
12-02-2014
12-03-2013
12-04-2012
Year-Month-Day
2012-12-04
2013-12-01
2013-12-02
2013-12-03
2014-12-02
It basically provides for standard sorting regardless of whether you have a date-type, a character string, or some integer representation. That's only one reason! But any of you spread-sheeting folks may come to appreciate it.
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Goblin Squad Member
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A little more on topic this time... ;)
In regards to life, freedom, & non-aggression, what sorts of beings are covered by these principles? It could be construed as only applying to humanoids, but there are sapient things which are far from human likeness.
For clarity: Anything which is able to have a subjective experience (pain, pleasure, etc.) is sentient to some degree, and those who can experience themselves as individuals are sapient to some degree. Both sentience and sapience are matters of degree, so any line you draw would be somewhat arbitrary.
Do horses have the right to freedom or can they be property? They feel pain, but some people use spurs or whips on them, or even eat them. Monkeys & apes are considerably smarter, with a few showing a considerable degree of sapience, but some people keep them as pets and even hunt them as food.
Do intelligent undead have a right to continue their semblance of life? What about extraplanar beings like devils or demons? Dragons tend to be more intelligent than most humanoid races and are mortal, though long-lived.
Does a tribe of ravenous goblins living nearby have a right to non-aggression? Getting too close to them will probably trigger an attack which you could justify responding to, but that may be true of a xenophobic human settlement as well.
(I realize that you'll probably only apply those rights to players and any NPCs which cause alignment hits if enslaved or killed, so this is more of an exploration of your in-character philosophy than your response to game mechanics.)
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Goblin Squad Member
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A great thought exercise you present, Keovar. It's quite possible you will receive different answers from different characters as we cover the spectrum of classes and thoughts from Druid to Barbarian to Cleric to Bard etc.
The respect of life can be the choice to use only plant life and that which we can cultivate for their sustaining needs. Yet you can still respect life by hunting only for necessity - to thank the animal for its life to help feed yourself or your own. Essentially I see it that we don't go out and destroy things, we use what is necessary while respecting where it came from. Just as we don't go out and jump someone walking in the woods - we help them. Only when that life turns on us will we move to protect ourselves. We also will not stand idly by when we see someone else (a member of our group or not) in trouble. We will move forward and help defend them.
Undead are not life, if you go by Pharasma's teaching. They are not of nature, even the intelligent ones. Will we go out of our way to eradicate them? Maybe, maybe not. If they are seeking destruction of life, yes. (Where life can mean humanoids, animal life, etc).
Our non-aggression stance is that we will not go seeking trouble. If trouble comes, however, that does not mean we will sit idle. We will rise to face it.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Keovar, you raise some interesting questions and as our current leader WX Cougar has indicated it will really depend on which member of the group you are speaking to.
My own personal view is that intelligent undead are not alive, however as long as they are not being aggressive and trying to spread death then I will leave them alone. Creatures from other planes of existence are alive and again as long as they are not doing something to infringe upon the rights and lives of others they will be ok.
A tribe of goblins or a xenophobic human settlement, would both be watched for aggressive tendencies. If they began attacking people we would first try and communicate with them, make them understand the error of their ways. If they refused then we would respond with force.
