Trials of Sop

## History

Part of being a Hoppist from the beginning was the drive to improve oneself in order to better serve the world around you, helping it last and endure the decay of entropy. While living things die, fluffy beings are immortal and have unique Journeys that allow their minds to develop differently from those around them. Sop saw this revelation as a chance to impart a long meditated upon wisdom to his peers.

His personal beliefs were later found in a journal he wrote in a premature version of old Hopspeak, that he later began to write in Universal Script. This made his earliest thoughts up to interpretation, outside what Hop claims to remember, as Sop's other family members would not partake in his lectures. Most felt they were not intelligent enough to hear him out, which he encouraged to all throughout his life.

A personal trait of Sop was to listen to others, and this was the first demanding Trial of Sop. The mental attention and comprehension ability of his personal Knights depended on sharp, wise and motivated individuals. Originally, this did not only extend to the hops, but orbits of distrust and betrayal, as well as disappointing actions by Hoppist allies, led Sop to put into writing that only the hops could be trusted, as they seemingly never change their personality once wholly developed.

## The Trials

### Listening

Sop required most Knights that he promoted to have a distinguished mental state and strong listening skills. While hearing something is passive, understanding the sounds, their meanings and the intent behind the thoughts of others was a key focus for every Knight that wanted to be promoted into a higher tier. Knights and high ranking Hopficers need to be able to process the deeper, root meaning of the thoughts of another. Reading a mind is very hard, but understanding what is heard is far harder, because it requires the listener to grasp the perspective of a mind unlike their own.

Sop has a pre-recorded file in each Temple of Sop for those who begin his personal trials in the effort to advance in rank. This program will unlock a fortified room and decrypt a message for the Knight in question. The room is coated with numerous sayings, and the Knight must read aloud the one that is most aligned with Sop's beliefs and the self-restrictions of Hoppism. A common theme with the first trial is "to listen, you must first hear, but to understand, you must first think" or an arrangement of logic puzzles like that. Answering correctly grants a simple open-ended question from a holographic video of Sop himself. The answer is processed by a means Sop implemented, but not even Hop understands.

A cohesive and thought-over answer will prompt Sop to tell the Knight they are "listening, however, always learning to hear more clearly" as they are guided to the next trial, which leaves the Temple.

### Caring

Sop was a passionate and loving being to all that did him no wrong. He worried that beings would only care for others if they had an interest in them, rather than act solely upon the idea that other need help around you all the time, and Knights have a sword duty to uphold protecting and serving weaker people.

*TBC*