Questing
It is like a chivalric tale come to life: a noble knight in a secluded chapel chamber, surrounded by images of the Uvaran Gods, kneeling before a raised chalice swearing an oath to destroy evil and protect the innocent. That same knight journeying far from home to fulfill their quest, risking their life to address the problems of people they have never met, fighting against the odds for virtue and glory. A pure adventure fought for the right reasons, an example of the strong selflessly defending the weak. To Quest is to journey and fight for the bards to sing your praises forever more.
Questing in the Kingdom of Hain and its various vassal-states is a kind of systematized and formalized adventuring, where nobles and warriors go to Questing Chapels and Questing Chaplains to peruse available "Quests", swear themselves to a particular Quest, and then venture forth to fulfill their oaths. Quests can often come with cash rewards or bounties, but they carry a far more elusive and important reward for nobles: Hainish Honors, the political currency of the Kingdom of Hain.
Every Quest begins as either a problem or opportunity. A monster is threatening a village, bandits have taken over a bridge, a curse has fallen upon a fair maiden, a magical stag has appeared in a haunted glade, a "pagan" village from the chaos wastes has raided across a border, or hostile Kivish have transgressed against the faithful. Whether it is a lead on a lost relic or a call of distress from a village under attack, a local Uvaran Priest or local noble must send a message to a Questing Chaplain of the Autumn Court for the hook to be assessed and issued as a Quest.
Assessing the value of a Quest and advertising it is the job of the Autumn Court's Chamber of Dedication. The Chamber of Dedication trains numerous Questing Chaplains, who are technically members of the Hainish Monastic Order of the Sacred Chalice. Local lords are generally expected to pay for the upkeep of Questing Chapels and Chaplains.
Any Questing knight generally brings an entourage with them, both to aid them in their quest and act as witnesses for their Honors. While Quests are assessed for expected Honor values ahead of time, the ultimate Honor value of any Quest depends on the adventure itself.
Despite the chivalric romance surrounding Questing, it is worth stating the obvious that many Quests are carefully calculated endeavors driven by pragmatism. Spirituality and emotion are often at play during Quests, but Questing knights don't leave their pride, habits, or excesses behind when they journey. This is a political game as well as a spiritual calling and quest for glory, with very distinct mercenary elements. Quests often also act as auditions for a knight's future job prospects in a holy order or taking on a courtly office.
History
Quests are so bound into the legendary history of Hain that it is impossible to pin a clear date to their origin. The idea of warriors undergoing sacred ordeals or going on journeys to prove themselves against their enemy for social status is as old as the early Hainish tribes themselves. Questing went hand in hand with the system of Hainish Honors, and generally was formalized as Honors were. That said, religious bureaucrats didn't really have the power to create an effective Quest system beyond the major religious centers in the 1300s. The earliest efforts to create a Questing bureaucracy date back to the early 1600s, during the "Monastic craze" of 1610 to 1680 and parallel to the creation of the modern Honors-for-votes system. At first, the Autumn Court was very hands-off, leaving Quest management to the independent monastic Order of the Sacred Chalice. The Fifth Scouring led to the rapid expansion of both the Autumn Court bureaucracy and the landholdings of the monks of the Chalice.
The Scouring War also exposed the potential dangers around unrestrained Questing, as Questing monks continued to coordinate and enable knightly raids and "Quests" against the Empire of Kizen even after a peace agreement was signed in 1740. This led to the Truthful Path reclaiming power in Kizen and the conflict re-igniting from 1740 to 1750. While the Autumn Court and Hainish monarchy was unwilling to publicly denounce honorable Quests, they did want to bring the Chalice monks under control. In 1751, not long after the Kivish threat was ended, the Autumn Court officially established direct control over the Questing Monks and created an entire new branch of the Court's functions to manage Questing. Over the late 1700s, there was resentment and antagonism between Questing Monks and the formal clergy, but the relationship has warmed in the last century.
Components and tools
Essential to the Questing ritual is the Questing Chalice: a ceremonial drinking cup ritually blessed to serve as a symbol of commitment and sacred oathmaking. In ancient times, ceremonial chalices were used as instruments of sacrifice and brotherhood: the chalice would be given a small blood sacrifice by those undertaking the oath, then filled with wine to be shared by those beginning their journey. This ritual both demonstrated the sincerity of the warrior's willingness to sacrifice, the mixture of their blood to transcend lines of kinship, and the mutual hospitality that all bonded adventurers would have for one another.
Whether the ancient chalice rituals of the Hainish tribes influenced the Uvaran symbols and myths around Questing Chalices or whether proto-Uvaran cult influenced the Hainish tribes is uncertain. Regardless, there is a very distinct religious-symbolic component to Questing Chalices as objects of Ordeal, drawing on the mythology around Ertinar, the Uvaran God of Rain. In the mythology around Ertinar, the God originally was the sickly son of the Chief God Ustav who stole the magical drinking chalice from the Spring of Healing to try and resurrect Ustav when he died. Ertinar, by stealing the chalice, accidentally led to the destruction of Ustav's great hall and the healing pools that once cured the diseases of the world. Ertinar caught his father's blood in the chalice and began a grand quest of redemption, travelling across Stildane working miracles and building sanctuaries. Ertinar eventually helped Ustav resurrect using his blood-filled chalice, beginning the Chief God's seasonal cycle of death and rebirth that occurs every year. Chalices, according to Uvaran Priests, represent the journeys and struggles of everyday people in strengthening the Gods and improving the world. Just as Ertinar underwent great ordeals of suffering and challenge to redeem himself and save the world, heroes swear on the chalice to undergo ordeals and challenges.
While many Questing Chalices are simple things, rich Uvaran temples in the Questing Kingdoms are known to have ostentatious and elaborate Questing Chalices. These are sacred objects and pieces of exquisite art.
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