Dawn Oaths

"'I swear to the last breath in my chest to tie my heart to yours in all matters that present themselves as a threat to your well-being. By your sword and my hand, no harm that I can prevent will befall you.' -- Oath given after receiving an Oathblade, Anonymous Ardorian."

Overview
Ardorserii is a nation that is governed by the traditions of ancient Sunserii. Laws that were held in Serii's Dawn eventually became the Dawn Oaths as the nation evolved. The Dawn Oaths are the laws that govern the citizens of Ardorserii. Intertwined with honor and responsibility every Dawn Oath represents an agreement between two consenting parties.

History
Ardorserii evolved from the ancient country of Serii's Dawn. The mountain basin around the Earthfire known as Hearthfire, served to force ancient serii to interact with each other. As the amount of serii spawning from the Earthfire grew and the space that the serii occupied did not grow, social interactions between the people became more complex. Serii would whisper to one another of who could be trusted and who could not be trusted. Slowly, those whose words held no weight were left powerless in the society. The Dawn Oaths developed to represent the growing and changing power dynamics. The ancient forms of the Dawns Oaths dictated trade, worship, and governing ability. Once the Shatterer, Ficktier, destroyed Serii's Dawn, only remnants of humanity's original culture survived the shattering. What remained of the Dawn Oaths became the basis for Ardorserii's government.

Oath of Blades
The Oath of Blades is one of the most well known Oaths of Ardorian tradition. This oath is formed by one head of family presenting a hand crafted weapon to the head of another family. Acceptance of the oath ties together both families concerning all matters of conflict. This Oath is the most common in forming Alliances. A variation of this oath is often called "The Black Blade of War." In which a head of family will offer the Oath of Blades to a rival or an enemy as an opportunity to avoid war, if declined, the two families go to war.

Oathblade
This Oath has evolved from the Oath of Blades to become the marriage tradition of Ardorserii. Family mothers would offer the Oath of Blades to the mates they chose to bed. Eventually, the Oathblade emerged as a direct and individual form of the Oath of Blades. Intimacy replaced honor, regarding the connotation of this Oath. An Oathblade can still legally bind any two individuals who exchange the oath, however, the Oathblade has come to represent romantic ties and often presented by a woman to a suitor of her choice.

Oath of Service
This oath ties individuals to the service of the owner of the land. This Oath is used for Councilwomen and Councilmen. The Oath is made between a person of power and another promising to serve that person. As such, people who hold Oaths of Service serve as extensions of their leader's will in matters pertaining to the land that leader holds. This oath is made between the Magnate of Ardorserii and the various Vice Administrators of Ardorserii's councils. This oath is also made between the Magnate and different Provincial Lords. Finally, Provincial Lords can also make this oath with town leaders to allow the town leaders to govern specific towns in the Provincial Lord's reach.

Oath of Appointment
This oath is bestowed on willing individuals by members of the Four Ascended's Chantries. The Oath of Appointment is a sacred charge. Passed from a higher member of the chantry to a lower member, this oath is given sometimes in the form of a quest, and other times as a decree. The Oath of Appointment is how sages get their positions. Often time sagytes get their assignments of whom to study under from Oath of Appointments. Other times sagytes might be given tasks of travel from Sages which take the form of Oath of Appointment. Although seldom done, sagytes can bestow Oath of Appointments on shiasons and shiadottirs. This Oath can take the form such as appointing a shiason or shiadottir to guard a sagyte as they travel. Oaths of Appointment legally bond the two parties together until the terms of the Appointment are completed.

Oath of Solemnity
This is one of the few nearly one sided Oaths. Although many Oaths of Solemnities exist, they are passed down from one generation to another, its rare a person considers an Oath of Solemnity. Oaths of Solemnity bind a person to another person's will until the terms of the Oath are completed. An Oath of Solemnity can only be made by a Solserii and is often done as transaction. Once an Oath of Solemnity is made, it cannot be broken without proper payment of service. The most common for Oaths of Solemnity take is what has come to be known as the "Solsworn" in which individuals swear themselves to the unquestioned service of powerful Ardorian families in exchange for land, wealth, or status.

Oathbound
This is the most common term used to refer to anyone who has sworn a Dawn Oath.

Oathborne
An unspoken tenet of the ancient Dawn Oaths included that: should the speaker of an oath fall, the responsibilities of the oath falls onto the closest of kin or heart to the speaker of the Oath. In common Ardorian law, Oathborne refers to any individual affected by an Oath who did not originally speak the Oath. Children of Solserii inherit all the Oaths of their parents should their parents die, and thus are Oathborne. Anyone joining a family becomes an Oathborne. When an Oath of Blades is made between two family heads, the other family members become Oathborne.

Solsworn
Solsworn is a title that thousands of Ardorians have inherited. They are bound in service to various noble families across Ardorserii for Oaths of Solemnity made by their parents and ancient bonds that were never broken. The term Solsworn is interchangeable with Bannermen. Solsworn often time make up the political and military power of Ardorserii's most prominent noble families. The most prominent of these families in recent Ardorian history is the Neycarts who had well over 60,000 solserii sworn to their name.

Breaking a Dawn Oath
Breaking a Dawn Oath often times spoke dishonor on an entire family. Once a family's honor was tarnished and their word couldn't be trusted, no sane solserii would make an Oath with a family that broke the ties of the Dawn Oaths. There were things individuals and families could do to regain their honor. In current Ardorian laws reclaiming honor lost when breaking a Dawn Oath is part of the legal tenets of Ardorserii. There is a council that can administer fair judgement between disputes involving individuals who have broken oaths and tried to restore their honor.

To the Service (of a Year)
This is the most common punishment that follows the breaking of an Oath. The breaker of the Oath must provide 1 year's worth of unquestioned service to the Oath holder to reclaim the honor of their word. This 1 year's worth of service can be paid in any form that equates to a year. Often time this punishment is referred to as "Ten to the Service," which means if a family breaks an oath, they send 10 family members to serve the oath holder for 1 month's time which equates to one year's worth of service.

An example of "To the Service" as punishment, a Provincial Lord might call on a Solsworn to aid the Provincial Lord in a war, and the solsworn might not heed the call. To repay the broken oath the Solsworn could send 5 family members to serve the Provincial Lord without question for 2 month's time. The 5 family members who then serve the provincial lord for 2 months each would be "Five to the Service." And between them once 1 year's time has been paid they and the solsworn would be free of the oath they broke.

Disgraced
A solserii who has broken a Dawn Oath and has not tried to restore their honor is disgraced and any oaths they make are not legally binding. Depending on the severity of the broken oath an Ardorian council might inflict further punishments.