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We come to honor, to stand or die. We are the ally of the wronged, those who cannot protect themselves from the darkness that threatens them. Our purpose in this world is to rid it of the darkness that plagues it. We follow our code, the Radiant Knight’s dawn, which is a path of honor and justice.

Our dawn is to dispel the seven true shades of the world. We are devoted to piercing the shades with our radiance. Those who follow the shades are only our enemies if they refuse to diverge from their dark path. The seven shades which we strive to pierce are as follows:

True Cowardice
…is not hiding behind unassailable walls, but striking from behind them. Those who make attacks on others with sure safety from retaliation by their victims follow the shade of true cowardice. If you wish to strike someone, be fully prepared to be struck back – rely on your own ability to survive the blow, not a wall that your victim cannot assail.

True Malice
…is not wishing harm on another, but wishing harm greater than that which they have already inflicted on you. To wish or inflict harm upon someone is dark enough, but to wish pain upon one who has caused you dishonor, to wish death upon one who has caused you pain, to wish damnation upon one who has caused you death…this is the path of the shade of true malice. If you must wish malice upon a foe, wish malice equal or lesser to that they have already brought upon you.

True Arrogance
…is not believing you are more skilled at a craft than another, it is believing your worth as a person over them is tied to it. Those who consider their character as greater, even by the smallest amount, because they possess a higher level of skill or knowledge…these are the ones who follow the shade of true arrogance. If you are skilled in your craft, you are entitled to your pride. This does not mean you are entitled to an attitude of utter superiority.

True Intolerance
…is not disliking one for their actions or beliefs, it is hating one for what they cannot control. Darkness surrounds those who judge others without properly judging themselves, but it completely engulfs those who refuse to accept others for things they cannot control…it engulfs those who follow the shade of true intolerance. Strive to show everyone equal respect, but never allow yourself to let respect falter for someone based on their fate.

True Inhumanity
…is not to bring pain or death to anyone, it is to bring pain or death to those who do not want it. To cause one suffering is a force of darkness, but to bring it upon a truly unwilling victim is to follow the shade of true inhumanity. Some accept pain for the greater good, and some seek death to be free from a pain-filled life, but to bring either to one who doesn’t wish it is unforgiveable.

True Greed
…is not desiring things that are unnecessary, it is the willingness to do anything, no matter how despicable, to obtain what one desires. To want for things that you do not need is natural, and to work to obtain those things is also natural, but to obtain those things at the cost of others is to follow the shade of true greed. Strive for your worldly goals, but do not bring suffering upon others to claim them.

True Darkness
…is the gravest shade of all. The noble are meant for noble deeds, but some seek unacceptable answers to them. To rely on a force of darkness, to willingly follow one of the shades, in order to accomplish a task, no matter how noble that task is…to do so is to follow the shade of true darkness. A Radiant Knight will search for any way to pierce darkness, but will reject all of these that require use of darkness itself…or cast themselves into the darkness forever, no longer free to follow the light. For to give in to darkness, even for the noblest goal, is to make that goal ignoble itself.

We are the Radiant Knights. We follow our dawn to pierce the darkness. We come to honor, to stand or die.

It's.... just so beautiful... *wipes tear from eye*

Much different from the response I got posting at West, where everyone called it a cult. o.o

Of course, I thought the term "cult" was generally used to refer to something that is bad. How can something that fights for the good of the weak and wronged be bad? (Not that it's anything real anyway, but whatevs.)

Well you already generalized by saying "everyone" when the only person that used the term cult was me. o.o

"vanquishing evil for the higher cause" and "sheltering" people from the harsh truth that life is full of evil no matter what you do.

To the point of a cult being a work of evil. That is false. To the people who are followers or leaders of any organization it is deemed honest, good, true, even holy. But to the rest of the world that organization is seen as oppressive and wrong.

Note the latest cult in Texas. The people in the compound love it there, but the rest of us look at it as evil and wrong.

Now like I said at west I'm going to get off this subject....you just said everyone, and I wanted to set the story straight...

Well, I guess. You, Rou, and Jess were the only ones to post in the topic. God alone knows what Rou's thinking, and Jess compared it to the Society of Light - obviously a cult.

Anyway, you're looking at it all wrong. The purpose of the Radiant Knights is not to kill people they deem evil (that's what I'm getting from your statement, so correct me if I'm wrong), it's to change the evil ways of evil people. And sheltering from the harsh truth? If anything, they're focused on revealing it. Their goal is ultimately not to hide the "harsh truth," but to defy it completely, to change the world so that "harsh truth" isn't the truth anymore.

And everything from the third and fourth paragraph seemed pointless. So you say cults aren't necessarily evil and then only provide statements that suggest they are? Granted, "cult" is generally a word people associate with an "evil" group, myself included. That's why I don't consider the Radiant Knights a cult, but more of a group with a sense of honor and justice - something this world is sorely lacking in, IMHO.

Overworld says it best: heroes are those who don't just accept the way things are.

That went over your head.....which I kinda expected....

Last sentence:

Heroes either die a hero or live long enough and become the villian.

How so? Care to explain yourself? I'd like to know what I missed that entirely explains what you said.

As for the "last sentence" part...that's right. Some heroes become villains in their lifetime and some live long lives and still remain heroes...or at least don't become villains. xP

This was a very interesting read. Alot of the description of each shade of darkness seems believable as I once believed in them myself and just didn't have the words to say it. But you don't need the words to believe in it which is why this was such an interesting read to me.

As I was reading it, I began to look inward at myself and identify which of these applies to me and I couldn't bring myself to deny that what applies to me the most was "True Intolorance". I've also been know to qualify under Arrogance, Malice, and Cowardice before but all on rare occasions (except Arrogance, I've had that happen more than a few times in the past).

I enjoy reading things like this because I know the source of my unhappiness in life is mostly self generated by my dissatisfaction with what kind of person I am. But knowing that doesn't make solving the problem any easier and I have almost no help; the little help I do have being of little effectiveness.

Anyhow, thanks for the read. It was interesting.

Heh, I'm glad you found it interesting, anyway.

Taking it seriously for just a moment, it's hard, if not impossible, for someone to live life without following a single one of the shades at some point. I know I'm guilty of more than a few of these myself.

But I guess the goal is ultimately to help people look inside themselves and see their own true flaws (things that are actually inherently evil, like the shades, not little things like insecurity and a smidgen of jealousy). Hopefully, when one sees these flaws, they will try to change. Ultimately, the ideal is to make people become more compassionate, caring people, something more akin to human beings. The ideal isn't to transform the human race into followers of a single narrow path, but to teach them to follow their path with honor, dignity, and justice.

Some would call it an unrealistic ideal. I disagree. After all, impossible is just a word people use so they can feel better about giving up.

I agree, most of what was mentioned in your post points out that negativity itself is not evil, but only negativity that goes past a certain point. I like that analogy because as I said before, I used to believe in the same things I just couldn't say those beliefs aloud for lack of proper wording but I know I felt them.

For example, True Cowardice (which I believe to be the best example) mentions that running away and hiding is not being a coward, only hurting others while removing all risks yourself is cowardly. This can be interpereted in 2 ways.

1) You shouldn't risk others lives with your actions if you're not willing to risk your own.

2) Running away from a fight you cannot win or a situation you're unsure of does not make you a coward. You have 1 life, don't waste it.

The 2nd one is a big thing because alot of people think to themselves that they should stand and fight beecause they're supposed to and this can get someone killed. IMO, if you're going to stand against a hopeless situation, do it because you think you believe you can make a difference, not because of what others think of you or will think of you. This also brings to mind Michael Jackson's song "Beat it".

Yeah. There's a reason true cowardice was the first one I came up with, after all - it's perhaps the most powerful one of all. IMHO, at least.

i dont get how thats Cowardice,thats smart.its like saying hit someone then you have to let him hit you back,thats dumb.fighting that way was done back in the civil war guess what lot of people died.whats the best tactic?hit and run =/ it works.its not Cowardice its just not taking the risk of getting hurt for no reason

It's a little more complicated than that. It's attacking an opponent (in any sense of the word) only when there is no chance whatsoever of them attacking you back. It's a matter of honor.

if thats they way you see it then honor gets you nothing but trouble
its dumb,now if you did this in lets say from a bully's perspective then ya you want them to take it back like a man but still its a dumb idea

Er...that's what it is ultimately. (The bully argument is a little off, but it'll suffice.)

Let's say you shoot me from a building, and you move so quickly that nobody can know what window you shot from or even necessarily what building you're in. By the time everywhere you could've possibly been has been searched, you're long gone. That's true cowardice: if you're gonna kill me, have the honor to at least do it in a fair fight or at the very least turn yourself in after you do it.