Honour... let's see, here...

When I was a Novitiate First I was asked to define Honour. This is what I said:

"Honour is what forms a Knight. It's everything we do from adhereing to our
code of conduct and city laws to keeping our word and doing something when we say we're going to do it -- without Honour there can be no Knight."

I feel that this is quite likely the best way to define this coveted tenet
of ours, as it's brief and concise. It encompasses the whole without giving
more than is really necessary. However, given that I am now older than I was when I provided such an answer, I've concluded that it simply does not quite fit the bill anymore.

Honour is more than the simple "do good by the people and maintain a decorum that is befitting your station". It goes much deeper than that. I know that the scrolls state that these essays should be without fluff, but I do not believe that I could properly convey my message without adding a bit, really. But I will do my best to keep it to a minimum.

There are many aspects of Honour that aren't covered by the countless tomes that are currently in circulation. Even the sages define Honour as being "honest, having integrity, and being fair". But in the interest of keeping this from dragging on, I'll touch on each of these attributes and, hopefully by happy mistake, stumble on a few, more subtle, attributes as well.

                        ~_* | Honesty | *_~
Quite simply, it is speaking the truth when you are asked a question and/or dealing with people in our every day lives. The realm of honesty reaches much further than this, though. Before you can deign yourself to be an honest person, you must first learn to be honest with yourself. A Knight is many things, but he or she is never a liar. They know their path through and through; the trials, tribulations and rewards are all apart of the whole, and we must be prepared for hardship and disappointment along our path and weathering those that we are not prepared for with all the eloquence and grace befitting our station. At the end of the day we will be a better person and that much stronger because we were able to keep to our vows and remember that that's just the way life is.

                       ~_* | Integrity | *_~ .
In our lives there will come many times when we must learn the difference between what is right and what is right for ourselves or any one specific person/group of people. It is up to the Knight ...the individual, to decide how he or she acts in these situations, but we must never forget our own values and oaths.

                        ~_* | Fairness | *_~
Just as honesty ensures that a Knight keeps his word to himself and those he or she has sworn to defend with their dying breath and integrity ensures that they uphold their vows and oaths, fairness ensures that a Knight is always just and assists him to enact justice upon the wicked when justice is due. The Knight is contemplative and should always know what his options are in case he is called upon to make a decision rather quickly. He must keep in mind that those who have wronged the people of his home may or may not have been provoked and what to do in either situation. Keeping a level head is of the utmost importance when dishing out justice or deciding how best to respond to a citizen.

Each of these attributes ties into what we know as Honour, and each of them are equally as important as the first and the whole. So, to reiterate my initial statement from my Novitiate First interview, "Without Honour there can be no Knight".