User:Chrisjander/Sandbox4

Dialogue when it appears
Absolute Virtue: "At lassst the time has come...

The ssscattered fragments of my thoughtsss once again mine. Long forgotten memoriesss filling me once more...

However... these memories generate sssuffering... These thoughtsss... bring remorssse... Tell me... for what sssearcheth thou, to travel this far? Show me... by what principlesss art thou driven?"

Dialogue when defeated
Absolute Virtue: "By thy principlesss... I have been freed by the chainsss placed upon me from time immemorial.

Thy path... extends to the far reaches of time and ssspace... But sssomeday... thou shalt reach... thy destin..."

Notes

The dialogue does say freed by the chains, not freed from the chains.

Based on Absolute Virtue's manner of speaking, the voice heard at the "???"s for the 4 Al'Taieu Jailers is that of Absolute Virtue. This is apparent through the triple-s spoken when many words with the letter s are uttered as well as the use of "thou".

Historical Background
Absolute Virtue is a concept found in ancient Greek philosophy and Christianity. To the Greeks, it was a principle which exists beyond material forms, an Idea located in the world of Ideas (as envisioned by Plato). Absolute Virtue was constant across different types of people, but relative virtue, how that virtue is displayed in that social class or that gender varies depending on the status or gender of the person. Socrates said it was possible for humans to attain absolute virtue and thus understand Truth. To Medieval Christianity, Absolute Virtue was defined as God. God was absolute virtue. Accordingly, to the Greeks, Absolute Virtue would contain the virtues of Wisdom (Prudence), Courage (Fortitude), Temperance, and Justice. To the medieval Christians, Absolute Virtue would contain the four Greek cardinal virtues of Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance, and Justice, as well as the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity/Love. Ancient and medieval theologians called the four Greek virtues "natural" or "pagan" virtues because they reasoned that these four virtues were able to be known and practiced by all mankind simply by the light of God's general revelation. The three "theological" virtues, on the other hand, are so called because they can only be known and practiced by finding their proper object in the light of God's special revelation: i.e., the Gospel (cf. 1 Cor 13:13).

Both the ancient Greeks and medieval Christians adhered to a concept called the "unity of the virtues." In Greek philosophy it can be found in Plato and Aristotle. It is the idea that the four virtues are harmonic, and that to perfect one virtue one must perfect them all. In medieval Christianity, this remains the case, but here the theological virtues perfect the natural virtues by supplying them with their proper object in the light of special revelation. In heaven, love is the only virtue, as perfect love contains all the virtues. This is probably the reason that Absolute Virtue spawns upon the death of the Jailer of Love.

While the 7 Jailers drop weapons and torques bearing the name of their virtue, Absolute Virtue only drops items bearing the name of seven sins. This would lead to the implication that Absolute Virtue may not be as virtuous as its name implies.

However, it may also drop these sins because upon defeating Absolute Virtue you theoretically destroy all the virtues, leaving the only thing left to gain to be sins. It is also possible that the sins are the "chains" placed on Absolute Virtue.

Another theory may be that the sins are Absolute Virtue's thoughts ("ssscattered fragments of my thoughtsss once again mine"). Though this would seem contradictory based on what the principle of Absolute Virtue itself stands for, but the dialogue states, "...these memories generate sssuffering... These thoughtsss... bring remorssse..." indicating that Absolute Virtue's thoughts may have become corrupt and warped, like the landscape of Al'Taieu; why they are corrupt and now perverse is unclear at the moment. When defeated, Absolute Virtue leaves behind seven sins, possibly its now-tainted memories.

Another idea which supports the theological origins of the virtues is that each step along the path is a station where that element of self mastery is tested. The jailers of the virtues could then be seen as doppelgangers of the player's soul which must be bested in order to progress along the path to self mastery. As each station is passed and that virtue mastered (as represented by the appropriately named drop items) that virtue is "released" within and the player approaches one step closer to a complete mastery of self. Once each virtue is mastered, culminating in the ultimate virtue of love, one can then proceed to demonstrate their own ultimate self mastery, that of Absolute Virtue. If this level of perfection is indeed obtained, it is only done so through the shedding of one's sins, which must first be remembered/recognized (as noted in the game text) and then shed or forsaken (as represented in the drops). This ultimate self-mastery could be compared to the "chains" which then free the player, a paradox with significant application in many religious traditions throughout the world.