I think you're putting the cart before the horse there, Felix. [Claude chuckles a little.] Faerghus' military doesn't shape Faerghus; Faerghus' military is a reflection of Faerghus. Were you and Dimitri soldiers in the military when you were taught to fight so young? I don't think so. That's Faerghus' culture. And the culture of a country will influence its military, sure, but that doesn't mean the military defines the country. There's more to Faerghus' culture than just its military, isn't it? Its religious ties to the church, that very veneration of self-sacrifice you were disgusted by earlier, its fierce independence, its monarchy, the ties between House Blaiddyd and House Fraldarius, its food, its entertainment, its architecture, its art - even the most militant country, Felix, is so much more than just its soldiers. Just as the church is so much more than its knights. Without the religion at the core of the church, there'd be no knights. And without the culture at the core of the country, there'd be no Faerghus military.
You said you're not a big picture guy, and that's no indictment of you - you were raised to be a duke, not the leader of a nation. The skillsets are totally different. And it's fine if, to you, the Knights of Seiros are the only thing of value the church has to offer - that's practical enough. But when I say that's a pretty shallow reason to approve of the church, since the Knights of Seiros make up at best maybe 5% of what the church actually is, you might just have to trust me on that one. I might be capable of seeing the big picture of the church better than you do.
As for how the church plans to address the disappearance of Crests...I have no idea. They don't seem to be doing anything differently now, as Crests are dying out, than they did in the past when Crests were a lot stronger and more prevalent...maybe they don't know, either. Maybe they're like the nobility, powerless to do anything except exist on what scraps the Goddess left behind until eventually there aren't any more, with no actual plans for what to do when they're all gone. Although...for an otherwise benevolent leader, Lady Rhea's always been fiercely intolerant of anyone who goes against the church, and treats opposing the church as opposing the Goddess herself. Maybe her plan is to just keep stomping out dissent whenever and wherever it flares up, with extreme prejudice, so that total obedience to the church becomes so ingrained in who's left that it persists even once the Goddess' blessings are gone.
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Date: 2020-12-30 10:30 am (UTC)You said you're not a big picture guy, and that's no indictment of you - you were raised to be a duke, not the leader of a nation. The skillsets are totally different. And it's fine if, to you, the Knights of Seiros are the only thing of value the church has to offer - that's practical enough. But when I say that's a pretty shallow reason to approve of the church, since the Knights of Seiros make up at best maybe 5% of what the church actually is, you might just have to trust me on that one. I might be capable of seeing the big picture of the church better than you do.
As for how the church plans to address the disappearance of Crests...I have no idea. They don't seem to be doing anything differently now, as Crests are dying out, than they did in the past when Crests were a lot stronger and more prevalent...maybe they don't know, either. Maybe they're like the nobility, powerless to do anything except exist on what scraps the Goddess left behind until eventually there aren't any more, with no actual plans for what to do when they're all gone. Although...for an otherwise benevolent leader, Lady Rhea's always been fiercely intolerant of anyone who goes against the church, and treats opposing the church as opposing the Goddess herself. Maybe her plan is to just keep stomping out dissent whenever and wherever it flares up, with extreme prejudice, so that total obedience to the church becomes so ingrained in who's left that it persists even once the Goddess' blessings are gone.