Colin the Steady

Colin the Steady, Brother of the Silver Serpent, Lord of Sunrise Keep is the only man alive to receive englightment in seven of the Eight Virtues. His only failing is in Humility.

Past seventy when he gave the convocation address at the Peer Conclave the year Lord British disappeared into the Underworld, but was interrupted by the tocsin proclaiming the arrival of DuPre.

Quote
Here is Colin's convocation:


 * "Peers of the Avatar's Virtue--good folks of Britannia, gathered at a turning point in our history--Lord British is gone from us. Our captain no longer stands on the bridge of his ship guiding us through the storm with his wisdom. The common folk of Britannia look to us, who has trod partway on the Avatar's Infinite Path, to guide them. We must consider our example--Lord British led without leading. His laws gave our citizens freedom to choose. Lord British gave us harmony, not conformity. Now we must consider: Can we sustain harmony without Lord British, or do we need conformity?"


 * "Those of you, my fellow Peers, dwelling peacefully on your estates, do not slip into complacency--Consider, if you will, how your lives will change if the guilds of the cities can no longer train your artisans, if you can no longer exchange your produce for hard goods when or where or with whomever you please. What if our brothers and sisters on magic's path found their freedom constrained?"


 * "So long as Lord British sat on his throne we knew what evil was, and what it was not. Where shone the light of Britannia, evil withered and the Path of the Avatar was as wide as it was incorruptible. Lord British was out tocsin. Now who shall sound the alarm?"


 * Colin the Steady paused once again for dramatic effect. His chest swelled as he prepared to utter the answer everyone expected, but he waited an instant too long. The tocsin of Hawksnest, a man-sized disk of bronze hung in the companile tower, startled everyone with an unceasing clamor.

- from The Forge of Virtue (Ultima Saga)