Ophidian Virtues

The Ophidian Virtues is a virtue belief system used by the Ophidians of Serpent Isle. This philosophy is sometimes called the Way of Balance and the Ethical Philosophy of Balance.

History
This belief system is first found and explained in Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle, though chronologically it was adopted by the Ophidians after the events of Ultima I. The Great Earth Serpent and its two sisters taught this system to the Ophidians. This belief system was the base of the Ophidian civilization. It was widely used in Serpent Isle until the rise of Exodus in Ultima III. With the abduction of the Great Earth Serpent and the wars that ensued, the Ophidian civilization was destroyed, and this system was abandoned, at least in Serepent Isle.

Principles
The Ophidian belief system is formed around the following three Principles:

In the Ophidian symbology, the Great Earth Serpent is the keeper of Balance, and lies around "in a vertical plane"; the opposing serpents of Chaos and Order wrap themselves around the Great Earth Serpent, each spiralling in a different direction (a symbol inspired by Caduceus).

The whole Ophidian belief system is based on the Balance between Order and Chaos. Neither Order nor Chaos are enough; if any of them were left unchecked, destruction would ensue. This leads to Imbalance, the anti-principle of Balance.

The Forces and the Principles of Balance
The Forces are distinct aspects of the Order and Chaos principles. The Ophidian system comprises six Forces, three from Order and three from Chaos; the Forces of Order are Ethicality, Discipline and Logic, while the Forces of Chaos are Tolerance, Enthusiasm and Emotion.

Their descriptions are as follows:

The Forces are not equivalent to the Eight Virtues of Britannia, in that they are not goals by themselves. Each of the Forces has to be balanced by a Force of the opposing principle. When combined by pairs, these Forces form the three Principles of Balance (not to be confused with the three Principles of Order, Balance and Chaos above). Each of the three Principles of Balance is then what the followers of this system should strive to achieve.

The Principles of Balance, their descriptions and relations to the Forces of Order and Chaos are illustrated in the table below:

Anti-Forces
There also exists Anti-Forces associated to the Forces of Order and Balance. These Anti-Forces arise from Imbalance between the Forces, and are essentially perversions of their corresponding Forces. They can also be seen as each of the three Principles of Balance missing one of the two Forces composing them, therefore losing its Balance.

The Anti-Forces also manifest themselves as a kind of malevolent spiritual being, collectively called the Banes of Order and the Banes of Chaos.

The Anti-Forces (and Banes) are:

Summary
The following tables summarizes all the aspects mentioned above.

Application of the system
The only known society that has applied this philosophy are the Ophidians of Serpent Isle. The virtue system used by the gargoyles has also the virtues of Balance and Order, the last one arising as the opposite of Chaos. However, unlike the Ophidian system, the gargoyle virtues are not based on a balance between opposites, but on three principles combining to form several virtues, much like the Eight Virtues of Britannia.

The Ophidians created their whole culture based on the principles of Balance. Their society was divided in the forces of Order, forces of Chaos, and the followers of Balance. Each group was directed by a Hierophant: the Order Hierophant, the Chaos Hierophant, and the Great Hierophant, respectively. The forces of Order lived mainly in the city of Spinebreaker, and the forces of Chaos in the city of Skullcrusher.

They also built several shrines, each dedicated to one of the Forces or Principles. There were nine of these:
 * Three Grand Shrines, one for each Principle (Shrine of Balance, Shrine of Order, Shrine of Chaos).
 * The Order Temples, one for each Order Force (Temple of Ethicality, Temple of Discipline, Temple of Logic).
 * The Chaos Temples, one for each Chaos Force (Temple of Tolerance, Temple of Enthusiasm, Temple of Emotion).

Each of the Hierophants was the leader of their corresponding shrine. Each of the temples had a sub-leader, or "Master" of that Force.

During ceremonies, the Great Hierophant was assisted by the Order Hierophant and the Chaos Hierophant. Rich jewelry and shining armour were worn at that time. The Great Hierophant was the only one who could open the Wall of Lights, which is an entrance into the Ethereal Void. The Great Hierophant entered the Void to speak with the Serpents.

While achieving Balance was the goal of the system, the followers of Balance were a small minority. The sharp divide in the Ophidian society caused by the system of polar opposites between Order and Chaos created a fragile society, susceptible to problems if the Balance was lost.

When the Great Earth Serpent was abducted from the Void, the Great Hierophant of Balance was weakened, as was the Balance between Order and Chaos. Many people started to believe that their side (either Order or Chaos) was superior to the other. These differences finally exploded when the Great Hierophant of Balance was murdered. Both sides blamed each other, and Order forces massacred the inhabitants of Skullcrusher. In the following war, all followers of Chaos and Balance were killed and the followers of Order had to leave the devastated lands.

This was the end of this civilization, and of this belief system in Serpent Isle.