Thread: Lucifer's Angel [ Fieryangel and Terucin ]

Sverdar rolled his eyes to the heavens as the angel walked away, pausing as he noted the irony of the movement considering her previous words. It had been a long while since someone had decided to use religion against him, and now he was wondering just what he was getting himself into. It seemed that this female was going to be a constant headache from start to finish, but he felt better now that she would be staying. Perhaps now he could unravel the mysteries surrounding her and make sense of it all. It would have driven him insane otherwise, not being able to know just what it was about her that seemed so different. He walked aboard the ship, raising an eyebrow at the crew who stood around, looking at him with varied emotions and reactions, a few bolder one attempting to speak up and make demands of him. It seemed that he would need to restore order once again to his men, something he was sadly all too familiar with having to do. With sharp commands and dire promises made, he quickly sent them all on their way, preparing the ship to once again set sail. He waved away their questions, merely claiming that Annalie was his portion of the loot claimed, and he had no problem shooting anyone who decided to try and steal from him. Once everyone had been sorted away, he turned and walked to his cabin, briefly signaling to the female to follow him, though he was fairly certain she would have even if he had tried to bar her from such an action. Good men must bear the responsibilities of men like me because that is the mantle they take up, Sverdar said once they were in his quarters. He made his way over to his desk, pulling a flask from a drawer. Men like me live for ourselves, after all. We take what we want, as we want, and often how we want. We usually have little moral codes to live by, or reasons to follow laws or order of any form. As we do as we wish, because we want what we will, we are branded as bad an evil. This is because we steal, kill, pillage, threaten, blackmail and much more. We hold no responsibilities besides those of which we place on ourselves, rarely extending to anyone else, he took a brief drink from the flask to wet his throat before continuing. Now your 'good' men are different. They are on the side of good, and as such their actions are to benefit more than just themselves. They are heroes and fighters and healers and scholars and the like. Their ambition comes from making the world they and others live in a better place, for both themselves and those they care and love. This is the idea of a 'good' person, one who will put others before themselves. Even if they do little to help another, they will at least keep to themselves and live in a way that will lessen the impact they may have on those around them or they might encounter. They are good because they are selfless, good intentioned, are virtuous, and live by codes of one form or another, he shrugged slightly, sitting down in his chair behind his desk, reclining back as he spoke. Now as they are good, they take up this mantle, to make the world a better place. That is their way of saying, I will go out, and I will better the world. Through my actions, I will combat evil and bad, and by my actions, or those around and with me, good will prevail, and as such, they take up the responsibility that comes with the territory. Us evil men, we are different, you see. We hold to no one but ourselves, and most do not actively set out to make the world a worse place. If that was so, then there would easily be equal responsibility between the two parties. As it lies, however, us evil men are only out for ourselves and are branded evil by others. We view ourselves as free and unrestricted but are conscious of how others view us but do not go to great lengths to make all around us a worse and terrible place. Good men actively seek out ways to make the world a better place, he took another drink as he paused for a moment between words. I take responsibility for my own actions because that is how I live, and is my life. I am out for myself and want the best for myself. As such, my actions are my own, and others often have little to no bearing. It is a selfish life, true enough, but it is also true that I am to myself and my own person. The responsibility lies with me only so far as to say that my actions are my own, which is fair and true. A good and 'better' man would seek me out and stop me, to stop my terrible reign of selfishness and violence. I do not bear the responsibility to stop myself, as I do not intentionally spread evil, I just perpetuate it through my actions of survival of the strongest and fittest. You do best in life with what you have, beholden to none. The responsibility lies with the other man because that is his choice and actions and beliefs. I do not go out to try and stop good from spreading. I do not lie awake at night, plotting ways that I can bring evil into this world through my actions or views, or ways to topple great pinnacles of good. My actions cause evil by ripples, not by direct actions. A good man is the other way around, as his actions are directly for the cause of good, and laying awake trying to stop the spread of evil, a soft laugh escaped his lips briefly, feeling the boat begin to move away from the shore. So that is the difference. You claim it to be arrogance, but I do not see how. My actions are my own, simple as that. What happens because of my selfish ways can be deemed evil or unjust, but I do not actively seek it out in such a manner. Yes, I loose a horde of men upon a village, but this wasn't for the sole purpose of destroying good and creating evil. It was merely a way to accomplish my goals, which can be easily, and agreeably, deemed evil, but not in the active sense. A good man is arrogant, however. You are the very embodiment of this ideology. Who are you, to put yourself before me and stop my actions so that you might protect so many others beyond yourself? How is it not arrogant to think that you are responsible for so many others, to place yourself before me as such? That is arrogance. Admirable, but you claim to protect or speak for much more than yourself, which while good and just, is much more greedy than someone who only speaks for themselves, like me.