Going out of Town and the Ultimate Question

[Jake Norwood]

I'll be out of town for about 2 weeks. Ben Moore will be around here, though, so he might be on occasionally to answer questions and what not. I'll also try to get on from time to time, but where I'm going there's only dial-up AOL on a pentium II, so...

Be nice. Talk about good stuff.

Here's a topic to debate:

What is the Riddle of Steel?

I want solid questions and--if you have them--the answers. No de-railing (stay on topic, eh). I want an explanation of why you think your proposed question or answer is the Riddle. That's it. And I want lots of stuff. If you want to discuss one version of the riddle, start a new thread--I want this one full of possible questions and answers only.

Jake,
who needs a vacation, but doesn't want to go...

[Rick]

What is sword fighting with out a sword?

It is said that those who live by the sword must die by the same token of stalwart fortitude that that they must devote their existence to understanding and then mastering.  The "Riddle of Steel" is not the perplexing formula for perfect human existence, but philosophy for those seeking themselves instead of the true question in battle.  Only those who achieve a counter-existent duality to your own level in life can truly be considered opponents.  To master the riddle you must go through life completely unchallenged, understanding what the exact kind of resistance would be appropriate for every given situation.  If an encounter is not to your advantage, you must be able to trust yourself to instantly turn it to one without thought or doubt of your ability.  For this is true the manner in which ones identity and dominance are both proved understood in the same thought as ones weaknesses and inability.  The first lesson in the art of war is that; to be wounded by an enemy is to have lost to an enemy.  The high law of zen is that; you are one with the universe.   The riddle of steel is the pursuit of your philosophy in the face of opposition, ultimatley secure in the knowledge that the course you choose has and will be correct; nothing you do will cause you to have any feelings of regret or cause you to merge with non-existence before your time.  Only by being completely unchallenged in every regard for the remainder of your life can you truly master the riddle.  Alas, for without confrontation there is no assurance of victory, only re-evaluation of ones performance.  It is always wise to assume that every encounter will lead to your death, and realize that such negligence may be avoided in some manner.  This knowledge is why those that understand the true question and have unraveled its answer shroud themselves in wisdom and secret themselves in isolation or are surrounded by those they through constant testing trust to be pure in heart or bent to the course of accomplishing their intents.  It is the necessary desire to fight with the understanding acceptance and mastery of that which is existence in the mortal realm.  Life.

Or so my answer.

Rick

[Lyrax]

The Riddle of Steel...

How can I master myself?

By first mastering the sword, and through it, my own violent ambitions?

By mastering others, so that I may turn away temptation?

Is it something one can achieve through hard work and determination, or are the only Riddle-finders simply lucky?

Or, deeper still, can it only be achieved by work without struggle, and by determination without opposition?

What is the Riddle of Steel?  It is all of these, and more, but it always comes back to the greatest of mastery, and that is being master of one's own self.  How can I achieve this?  That is left to each and every riddle-seeker to decide for himself, for only he can truly be correct.

[Nick the Nevermet]

When I read TROS, I viewed answering the Riddle of Steel, moving from riddleseeker to riddlemaster, as really moving to a state beyond the capabilities of humanity (or at least pushing it to an extreme).  IMO, answering the riddle is more than a form of enlightenment.

So, then, what is it?  One of the descriptions of the Riddle given claims that the forger god Triumph from the Thayrist religion etched the Riddle upon the world after he was done creating it.  This would fit with the idea of being the riddlemaster is one with reality as the riddlemaster can see the mark of the gods responsible for the creation of Thayr/Weyrth.

In addition, this legend helps go a ways to explain the supernatural abilities of riddlemasters also.  Thayrism and its gods have been defeated by Xanar and his followers.  One of the few things remaining in the world from it is the riddle.  I could argue that riddlemasters have entered not only an enlightenment, but a state of grace before the Thayrist gods, and they have given him/her a blessing in the form of invincibility.  Maybe its a reward for realizing what the world really is instead of believing the lies of Xanar.  Maybe they all gain a specific quest (known or not to the riddlemaster) to find victory where there should be none.  Either way, the book ties the Riddle more to Thayrism than to any other religion, and I think that is interesting.

This theory violates one core theme in TROS: agnostic metaphysics. In other words, the existence of the divine and its nature is not clear and there is a lacking of hard proof, much like Earth.  No AD&D clerics here.  Anyway, this means the theory below would need to be a theory some people in the world hold, but couldn't in the spirit of TROS be stated as The Truth.

[Gordon C. Landis]

With appologies to followers of the Eightfold Path, who would no doubt dislike it being associated with "steel" or "sword" unless it involved laying down/setting aside the steel/sword:

"What is Right Action?"