What Might Means
Every city-state agrees that authority proceeds from strength. A person's standing, what they can claim, and who owes them deference come from their capability, not from nothing. What the cities do not agree on is strength of what — and the answers have produced six different governments, economies, marriage laws, and verdicts on the same facts.
The six answers
- Stormharbor — Strength of Will
- The desire to make something happen, and then doing it against resistance. A will that has produced nothing is no will. But will alone is not strength: a man must stand before the Thing, the assembly of his community and his ancestors, and answer for his choice. If the Thing accepts it, the will was strong; if not, it was merely willful. Losing at the Thing is a measurement, not a failure, which is why Stormharbor can argue publicly and bluntly without fracturing.
- Forgegate — Strength of Skill
- Demonstrated competence. The best craftsman leads the guild because he is the best; there is no need to compel when the skill is evident. Authority is tested by the durability of the work. A guild master who has lost a hand is still a guild master; one whose work is poor is not.
- Clearhold — Strength of Mind
- What can be achieved through wisdom without violence. The examinations establish who has mastered their appetites, impatience, and time enough to acquire the knowledge to pass. Force is the blunt instrument used when the sharp one is nowhere to be found.
- Eldershore — Strength of Line
- What persists is proven. The lineage that continues and the traditions that were kept. The Elder's line gives his authority weight; his choices maintain it. Traditions continue because they work.
- Shining Reach — Strength of Character
- The capacity to inspire loyalty without force. See True Mastery.
- The Iron Coves — Strength
- Strength is what it is. No discussion is thought necessary.
What the difference does
A claim settled in Stormharbor by what was made to happen is settled in Clearhold by proof of knowledge before an officer. Forgegate hands authority to the skilled worker, Eldershore to the longer lineage. The same claim can be right in one city and wrong in the next, and nobody finds this strange. Large merchants keep advocates in every city for this reason, and a good caravan master knows which argument to make in whose territory.
Stormharbor and the Coves
Every city holds the Coves in contempt; Stormharbor most of all. Where the others call the Coves lawless, Stormharbor calls them unmoored: a Coves captain's strength is never tested, so he is neither weak nor strong but unmeasured, which by Stormharbor's account is the worst thing to be. The Coves answer that what Stormharbor calls honor is taking what it wants while telegraphing the move. Stormharbor's skalds have never produced a reply that satisfies them.```