Am trying to get my head round how the testimony skill works and its relation to wintermark in particular. can somebody explain how it works both ooc and ic thanks?
How does Testimony work
Youâre literally graffitiing someones soul!
Any 2 word phrase, adjective and noun, that once done in front a ref with a dose of liao and your victim/volunteer can then be read in future by anyone with the insight skill.
Most priests IC use it as a reward for particular behaviour.
Canât speak for Wintermark as Iâm Highborn, but itâs considered an honour for us.
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âRewardâ⌠Iâve heard of a priest putting âDisloyal cowardâ on someone who the priest believed deserved it.
But going back to the original question: brisingrkill, can you ask something more specific? What do you want to know beyond the information thatâs already on the wiki?
https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Testimony
and itâs also worth reading about Insight, since thatâs the skill for reading the words that are written using the Testimony skill:
https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Insight
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Does it have anything to do with scop names as how it is worded makes it sound like it does?
Not necessarily but I know some people chose to get their name or a variation of it testimonied as a way of commemorating the awarding of the name
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Ok so it is the spiritual version of a scop name.
Saying that in the field is likely to get you some dirty looks from⌠well, most people who arenât Wintermark. And itâs not strictly true, you only get the one scop name, IIRC, and you can have as many testimonies as you like
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Reasons i (a non-wintermark priest) have used Testimony:
1: A low level chastisement following an inquisition to be removed once the person has redeemed themselves.
2: As a Public display of support by the national assembly
3: To commemorate a scop name.
4: to commemorate a wedding
5: to provide a spiritual early warning system.
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Well it can be used to represent good and bad things a person has done thats why I liken it to a scop name.
Also you can have as many scop names as you earned
Yes, but Wintermark does not equal the whole Empire.
Testimony is an Empire-wide skill, Wintermarkers may use it for scop names, but no one outside of Wintermark has scop names. So calling it a âspiritual version of a scop nameâ is applying a specific nationâs custom to something all nations use. As such, youâll get funny looks IC for saying that (not that that should stop you, itâll lead to some fun RP!)
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Am not trying to equate it to all of the empire. I only mean it in relation of wintermark
(speaking as a wintermark scop, but one with limited religious knowledge)
A scop name is something which is earned through deeds, attitude or general behaviour. Sometimes it can be in recognition of a single notable deed, but other times (and my preferred method) is in recognition of repeated heroic and/or virtuous behaviour in a particular vein. Not dissimilar to a Testimony.
One way to think of it is that a scop name applies to a mortal lifespan. A testimony will carry through to their next life.
Another way I heard it described was that a testimony is equivalent to a 5 star yelp review which commends a person in respect to a particular virtue which will help speed their way through the labyrinth.
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Insight is like a tattoo on your soul.
People get them for all kinds of reasons.
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I thought the whole âtestimonies stay with you after deathâ thing was disputed? If that were true then wouldnât everybody already be splayed with huge numbers of testimonies from past lives?
Opinion is divided! One could argue that the testimony at least lasts you through the Labyrinth, and perhaps it only gets removed through that journey.
Or one could argue that testimonies are rare enough, and the Empire has only been mass-producing Liao for so long, so based on how far away you can reincarnate, it wouldnât be surprising if persistent testimonies did actually exist. Maybe they just need true Liao?
Something to discuss in a field, I think. =]
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