Gargish Virtues

The Gargish Virtues is a virtue belief system used by the gargoyles of Britannia.

History

This belief system is first found and explained in Ultima VI, though chronologically the gargoyles had been using it at least before Ultima IV, as by that time they already had the Shrine of Singularity. It is implied in the game that the gargoyles have had this virtue system for a long time, probably long before Ultima IV. When they moved from the Realm of the Gargoyles to Terfin, the gargoyles carried their belief system with them.

Explanation

The Gargish Virtues are explained in a sacred book, The Book of Circles. This system is based on three principles, which in turn combine to form eight virtues.

The three principles are:

Principle	Mantra	Embodiment	Shrine
Control	Un	Mondain	Shrine of Control
Passion	Or	Minax	Shrine of Passion
Diligence	Us	Exodus	Shrine of Diligence

The gargoyles have eight virtues based on their three principles.

Virtue	Principles
Direction	Control
Feeling	Passion
Persistence	Diligence
Balance	Control, Passion
Achievement	Passion, Diligence
Precision	Control, Diligence
Order	Absence of Control, Passion, Diligence
Singularity	Control, Passion, Diligence

Singularity, besides being the eighth virtue, it is also the first, because within Singularity can be found all the principles, and thus all the virtues, creating the idea of a circle with no end. Gargoyle society stresses unity and Singularity in all things. It has helped them survive in their harsh world.

Comparison with other systems

This Gargish Virtues are very similar to the Eight Virtues of the Britannian humans. The main difference with the Eight Virtues system is the way the gargoyles see Singularity as the start and end of the virtues, while the Eight Virtues have the axiom of Infinity as the way everything points to.

The virtues of Order and Singularity are somewhat equivalent to the virtues of Humility and Spirituality of the Eight Virtues:

• Order appears as the opposite of Chaos, which is the absence of the three principles, much like Humility appears as the opposite of Pride.
• Singularity is the combination of the three principles, much like Spirituality is the combination of the Three Principles.

The Ophidian Virtues of the Ophidians of Serpent Isle have similarly named virtues with the Gargish Virtues. The Ophidian Virtues are based on the principle of Balance, and the Balance between Order and Chaos is the base for their system. The gargoyles have the virtues of Balance and Order, and the Anti-Virtue of Chaos, but Balance is not the central axiom of their system.