Tavren’s Witness Blade
Tavren’s blade should sharpen the oath-bearer, not the enemy. For the Witness Blade, war first asks not “Can we win?” but “Who will carry this order before God?”
The Tavreni way is built around just war, the duty of protection, the rights of hostages, and limits on rulers. Knightly orders grew from it, but it does not belong only to nobles. An armed village watcher can bear a Tavreni oath when they freely keep it to protect someone no one compels them to protect.
Orders divide most bitterly over two questions: may preventive war be begun to protect the innocent, and does an oath belong to a ruler or to the personal word given before God? Both sides in many civil wars have read the same Tavreni text.
After use, the blade demands witness. Ideally, order books explain every killing, freed hostage, and refused command. In practice, the records disappear, change, or stay locked in a commander’s chest.