What Might Means - Revision history

Madelineblackbart at 00:49, 27 September 2026

2026-09-27T00:49:37Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:49, 26 September 2026
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	== What the difference does ==		== 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.		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 ==		== Stormharbor and the Coves ==

Madelineblackbart at 00:48, 27 September 2026

2026-09-27T00:48:39Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:48, 26 September 2026
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	~~{{Bible\|section=2.2}}~~
	[[File:Six city states.png\|alt=Six small scenes, one per city: a speaker before an outdoor assembly, a craftsman testing a hinge, a candidate at an examination desk, an elder before a wall of ancestral emblems, a man holding a salon's attention, and a scarred man alone on a rocky shore.\|thumb\|300x300px\|Six cities, six answers.]]		[[File:Six city states.png\|alt=Six small scenes, one per city: a speaker before an outdoor assembly, a craftsman testing a hinge, a candidate at an examination desk, an elder before a wall of ancestral emblems, a man holding a salon's attention, and a scarred man alone on a rocky shore.\|thumb\|300x300px\|Six cities, six answers.]]
	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.		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.

Madelineblackbart at 17:58, 26 September 2026

2026-09-26T17:58:08Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:58, 26 September 2026
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	{{Bible\|section=2.2}}		{{Bible\|section=2.2}}
	[[File:~~Six_strengths~~.~~jpg~~\|~~right~~\|thumb\|300x300px\|Six cities, six answers.]]		[[File:Six city states.png\|alt=Six small scenes, one per city: a speaker before an outdoor assembly, a craftsman testing a hinge, a candidate at an examination desk, an elder before a wall of ancestral emblems, a man holding a salon's attention, and a scarred man alone on a rocky shore.\|thumb\|300x300px\|Six cities, six answers.]]
	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.		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.

Madelineblackbart: Created page with "{{Bible|section=2.2}} Six cities, six answers. 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 ==..."

2026-09-26T17:21:33Z

Created page with "{{Bible|section=2.2}} right|thumb|300x300px|Six cities, six answers. 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 ==..."

New page

{{Bible|section=2.2}}
[[File:Six_strengths.jpg|right|thumb|300x300px|Six cities, six answers.]]
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.{{Contested|Are these six different things, or aspects of one thing? Shining Reach's Academy has published that they are the same. Clearhold's examiners say the only thing they share is the word ''strength''. And how much of a person's strength is chosen? The Clearhold candidate studied, but had a childhood that let him. The Forgegate craftsman learned a skill, but had the chance to. Nobody chose their height or their health. What a person is capable of is not entirely their own doing — which is where the [[The Natural Order|Natural Order]] begins.}}

== See also ==

* [[True Mastery]] · [[The Natural Order]]
* [[The Six City-States]]