The Fifth Commandment

The Fifth Commandment is, Let not there be Pride, only Humility.

The trappings of this commandment are significantly difficult to avoid. One feels pride only naturally, and to be humble in the face of judgment the most grating of pursuits.

Pride is such a sinister thing. It comes so naturally to us all. We take pride in our children, in our work. We find joy when we look back and see we have done great things. This though is not the pride I believe this commandment warns against. Some take pride in conquest. We grow overconfident in our pride. We look upon the battlefield at our fallen foes and we feel prideful at the devestation we have caused.

To be humble though, it is against our very nature. To step back and let the peasant pass. To give no thought to a cloak laid upon the mud. To lend muscle to the hewing of wood for a hovels stove. In our humility we find respect for our foes. We look not down upon them but respect them, and shore up our weaknesses.

Let not there be Pride, only Humility. Do not judge yourself above others. For you are not. A knight is no better than the Soldier of the Empire, or the Gladiator of the camp. We are servants to our humble cause, and in that we are strong. When you let your pride in you lose your awareness. You can no longer carry our banner, for you have lost the true meaning of being a Knight. Which is to serve.

Authored by Lelleiala Afearv, Sigil of the Crown.