"People undertake them for a lot of different reasons. Mostly the idea is that you do something moderately difficult, get out of the place you were in, and contemplate the Virtues in suitably inspiring surroundings.

They're for making a change, getting direction in your life, giving you space to listen to the promptings of your soul.

They're important because it's very easy to just learn what you're told at home, to not contemplate other ways of being, but one of the Virtues is Wisdom - that you should test what you learn, that you should seek out the right question - for a reason, and all of them benefit from a little bit of perspective on your home life.

It's generally considered a bad idea to live too long in Bastion itself, either - because you'll get inured to the wonderful buildings and teaching and that too will become stagnant, rather than inspirational."

"Wow, sounds like something we should try more of ourselves! Really helps get you out of the everyday rhythm, huh.

You mentioned Wisdom as one virtue. We'd like to know what the others are; they sound like they could be a very useful idea to know about and think about."

"Courage, Wisdom, Ambition, Pride, Vigilance, Prosperity, Loyalty - in no particular order, they're each as important as the other.

Courage is - facing unwelcome truths, but once you believe you are right, sticking to your convictions. One of the most famous Paragons of Courage is Korl, who brought the secret of steelworking to his people - they didn't think it was worth the effort, or that it could possibly work, but he persevered and proved them wrong.

Wisdom is - knowing all knowledge is incomplete, but applying what you know anyway. Never being satisfied with the easy answer, but also not being distracted by pontificating - a famous saying of Wisdom is, never use fourty words when four will do. Kala is a Paragon of Wisdom - she brought standardised weights and measures to her people, by not being satisfied with the incomplete solutions people were using beforehand.

Ambition is - knowing what you want, and paying any price to get it. Reaching beyond your grasp. Aldones di Sarvos is a Paragon of Ambition - he united a fractious group of city-states, by absolutely refusing to take no for an answer.

Pride is - knowing what is valuable about you, knowing you are valuable, and your culture is valuable, and refusing to let people take from you those things that nobody can take from you unless you give them up. Kethry is a Paragon of Pride - she maintained the customs of her tribe when they were conquered, so fiercely that when the warriors came back to their own tribe-mates from their next conquest, their tribe had adopted Kethry's customs, rather than forcing her to take on theirs.

Vigilance is facing and eliminating threats - knowing what you value and continually seeking how to protect it. Berechiah is a Paragon of Vigilance - he was a great spymaster for the Empire and famously wrote about how the consequences of action were more often noticed than the consequences of inaction, but the latter were often a greater threat.

Prosperity is - things should not go unused, you should not go unused, but also, your work should be rewarded, and if it is not then find someone who will value you instead. Prosperity is the drive to be useful, and to enjoy the fruits of your labour. Good Walder is a Paragon of Prosperity; he would roam the Marches taking on farm work, and driving greedy or wasteful employers off their land with his cudgel if they cheated him.

Loyalty is knowing your own heart, and being wholehearted in your commitments to others. Often people try to invoke it to compel people to do what they want, but that is not Loyalty - true Loyalty comes from within and can only be given freely. Cora Holdfast is a Paragon of Loyalty - she founded the Anvil Hospital, despite having no official authority, because of the Loyalty she inspired in others."

"Wow, those are some really beautiful, interesting values. That last thing you mentioned, the Anvil Hospital. Could you tell us more about what that's like? What sorts of treatments and medicines and equipment did they have?"

"Well, it's a field hospital - Anvil is a temporary settlement that comes together four times per year to deal with matters of government, and to take advantage of conjunctions of the Sentinel Gate that allow people to travel to far flung areas that need help.

Before the Anvil Hospital, those who were wounded on those quests had to rely on independent medics, or their own nation's healing arrangements, which was incredibly inefficient.

It's fundamentally just a big tent with some makeshift beds, but it is staffed by physicks of all nations; each nation has a representative on the hospital council, and the Loyalty of everyone who benefits from it moves them to donate supplies.

Tools and equipment vary a lot from physick to physick - there are some standard curatives, bandages and soaps and leeches - but before you all recoil in horror, the most important medicines they wield are magical herbs, which close wounds with rapid healing, knit bones and tendons back together, remove poisons and imbalances from the body's fluids, and suppress the effects of injuries so casualties can make it home.

Much of a physicks' work is setting up the right conditions for that magical healing - it's a bit of a blunt instrument, it will heal whatever's there in place, so complicated fractures must be properly set first and foreign bodies removed from the wound and so on.

There are more impressive houses of healing in the cities and so on, but the miracle of Anvil Hospital is that it exists at all, in a place that cannot be built on by law, and where there is a lot of political mistrust between the disparate people that come together there."

"Who's stopping people from building thing there? Wouldn't the countries try to find a way to make something more permanent? And I'm honestly not understanding how it's helping people "on quests", wouldn't the hospital be too far away from them?"

"Nobody gets to build on Anvil because, frankly, it would be an enormous argument that would probably come to blows.

It's the site where the First Empress met with the leaders of the nations that formed the Empire, which makes it significant enough that people can agree to meet there for international government. If people were allowed to build on it there would be endless wrangling about who got to build on it and how the land was allocated to the different nations and, well, it's now tradition that this doesn't happen.

It's also the site of the Imperial Regio - a place of magical power that is connected to all the territories of the Empire, and all the realms of magic - and that powers the Sentinel Gate - a piece of Urizeni artifice which allows people to travel long distances instantaneously, so long as the stars are right for the journey.

It's through this Gate that people go out on quests, and come back wounded."

"And you're not 100% sure about what wounds them on their quests? I was thinking that eventually you'd get rid of dangers and fewer people would get wounded, right, but maybe not? And we kind of have a bit too little context, here. Can you tell us more about the Urizeni?"

"Oh, no, it's usually fighting. The Empire is a much more dangerous place than here. There are multiple nations actively at war with us, bandits in the countryside, living terrain that wants to eat you, and magical experiments that run amok. In my lifetime we've managed to make peace with some of our neighbours, but only one seems to be lasting.

The Urizeni are one of the nations of the Empire - there are ten - Highguard, the Brass Coast, the Marches, Dawn, Varushka, Navarr, the League, Urizen, and the Imperial Orcs. Uh, I've missed one... Wintermark.

Urizen is a mountainous place, mostly, where it isn't jungle; the people live in Spires, for the most part, big isolated structures many of which are very old indeed, and not all built to human scale. They're known for their magical aptitude - there's magic that only works in their mountains, like the ushabti, who are magical servitors - and they were the last human nation to join the Empire. When they did decide to join, they brought the Sentinel Gate, which they had been powering off a rather sinister plateau of magical obsidian called the Black Plateau.

I'm sorry, that's probably given you more questions than answers?"

"We're happy with your answer; we kind of like the mystery and seeing enough to see how much there is to the picture. Wow, ancient structures. It's really impressive that they managed to build those all those years ago!"

"It's actually likely that the really impressive Spires were built by a previous civilisation - possibly a completely different species, given they are built rather large for the current inhabitants.

There are plenty of impressive ancient buildings throughout the Empire though - the Sentinel is a Paragon of Vigilance known for constructing the great watch towers and fortifications throughout my home country, and the ruins of Terunael - who are kind of the precursors to the Navarr - are even older.

Nothing like the enormous tower I'm in right now, though. The architects of the League, who build our most densely packed cities, would faint with envy."

"Wow, glad to hear those compliments! The densely packed cities sound interesting. How much do you know about them? How are they built differently?"

"I've visited, but never lived there. They each have their character; Temeschwar is a little more rambling and less insistent on admitting natural light, which makes sense for its long hard winters; Sarvos strives to be elegant, although their habit of building on top of each other in several layers makes it difficult for them, their walls may be smooth but they're no Grand Basilica; Tassato clings to its river, getting taller as it gets nearer the water line either side, as each side of the river tries to outdo the other, but no two buildings can agree on a style; and Holberg is rather constrained by its huge walls, which withstood years of siege, and is a warren to rival Temeschwar's worst excesses, it's hardly clear what is a street and what is a corridor through most of it."

"We've spent tons of time learning about how people used to deal with density before they had our tech. It's going to be great hearing more from you about it all! You seem like the pilgrim type. Have you gone on a pilgrimage? What are the steps, and have you had any interesting experiences?"

"...so, I did go on a pilgrimage to Bastion as a teenager, it's basically what everyone from where I'm from does.

And that was rather a problem, because a good pilgrimage is not just following along with what everyone else does. So it was more of a sightseeing holiday than a true pilgrimage, I think.

Usually the steps are - figure out a specific location you feel a deep connection to, but have never visited - the Grand Basilica is a popular default, but probably if I wanted to do it properly I'd go to, I don't know, Empress Giselle's tomb, or Britta's Pool, or something.

Talk to your local priest about what you want out of your pilgrimage. Sort out the practical arrangements - it's easier to go with a big group but I sometimes think that defeats the point - generally you'll need to save up a bit to cover expenses unless you're really quite well off, or prepared to work your journey.

Then - just go. A little planning for the necessities is Vigilant but too much planning is unWise - the whole point is you don't actually know what you're going to find there.

...I think the most pilgrimage like thing I've done is really going to Anvil - in particular, going to the Hall of Worlds for Conclave. I didn't know what to expect, I felt a great sense of awe and wonder, and I found things out about myself."

"I'm sure that there's a huge amount you have to tell us about your world! But those are the questions we have time for for today. So, miss Judith, wave goodbye to everyone watching at home. This has been an incredibly fascinating interview! We're hoping to hear more from you next time!" Eventually, the credits begin rolling over the show host and people in the background starting to make their ways off stage, before everything fades into darkness. Ron waves at Judith before starting to talk to her.

"So, the payment you just got is quite enormous. This will tide you over until after you're on basic income, many times over. You don't owe anyone anything at all, now. Although you still kind of need me in order to use the money."

"Oh, good," says Judith, vaguely. 

She is feeling rather disorientated. 

"So. Uh. I... don't really know what I should be doing. I mean. People clearly value that? I could do it again? But. I still feel - a bit lost. I don't think I'm going to convert everyone to my religion and I'm not sure it's even applicable to you. Or - me, any more."

"You were trying to convert people? I barely noticed! Well, there are, in the end, only 2 things you can be doing: helping others or enjoying yourself. It doesn't sound like helping others is quite on the table for you, if you don't know what you should be doing. That leaves enjoying yourself. Find something fun, it could only help!"

This does not seem to have made Judith any less unhappy. 

"...I, uh. I don't - actually know how to enjoy myself?

Like, of course I enjoy things, but mostly - I enjoy discovering things, knowing useful things and being able to tell people about them?

And - there are so many new things here - I don't know where to start."

"What are some worse ways to start than a walk in the park, seeing the trees, meeting some people, taking your mind off things? At some point, you have to stop telling yourself you don't know and start finding out something, anything. I think ruminating on what you don't know is one thing worse than a walk in the park, at least."

"...sure. Let's go to a park."

"Wait one moment, because this is extremely important." Ron over to his room, before coming back with a brownish, rectangular shape. "The mask on your face isn't designed to have you breathing by yourself. It's designed to use a special machine that pushes air over your face, so it does the breathing instead of you. But that machine needs energy, and that energy comes from this. Now, I think you should hold your breath; it's hard to breathe when you don't have the fresh air blown on your face." It takes maybe a minute or a minute and a half to replace the batteries in Judith's PAPR mask, during which time it makes breathing quite uncomfortable.

Judith submits to what is clearly some kind of Physick Fiddling With Things, although she is not good at holding her breath and ends up gasping and coughing a bit.

"Sorry about that. Strictly speaking, it wasn't necessary; you still had batteries for few hours more. But, uh. I think you should have a very, very good margin for error. Now, how about we start heading off? It's within comfortable walking distance. Although you might want to experience a car; I'd want to see your reaction to it, at least."

"I'm pretty curious about the car now," replies Judith, "the helicopter was, pretty great actually, I wish I'd been less nervous."