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(01-12-2014, 12:00 AM)Seriphyn Wrote: I wouldn't mind starting a discussion on Free Paladins, incidentally. So far, a lot of the roleplayers spin it as your standard Dungeons & Dragons goody-two-shoes. Granted, Jenlyns says "A true paladin offers his sword and shield without promise for reward" and other generic Lawful Good stuff...but I wonder if it's viable to say that's just this character's interpretation? For six hundred years, all paladins have been Sultansworn. I bet one could easily argue that history trumps one captain's decision to train outsiders. In which case, paladins are elite royal guards rather than crusaders of justice. To be "prepared to defend the Sultan to the death", they wouldn't be merciful at all like stereotypical LG...and would be rather ruthless.
I've always viewed the Paladins in a similar way. They're Royal Guards, not the Justice League. Furthermore, they're the Royal Guards of some... not so "Just" royals. Nanamo seems to be the one decent exception to a long line of Ul family dirtbags. Sultan Sisigan wipes out Ul'dah's sister nation of Sil'Dih over water control. We don't really know much about Sultana Sasamo, but she had 80 sins apparently. Doesn't sound like a great character. The Sultansworn also seem to protect the Syndicate on occasion (one of the Syndicate is a Prince?). The Syndicate is formed of the six richest citizens of Ul'dah. And there are several lore references that say they are not all nice people. Lots of corruption.Â
So, hard to imagine Paladins being champions of Good when they are tasked with the protection of some of Eorzea's worst crooks? Not all are bad, mind you, but a good many. Paladins supposed to have good intentions I guess? Jenlyns at least seems to be naively good. Oh and there's the Monetarists who seemed to have infiltrated the Sultansworn on some level and are using it for their own personal gain? That was a part of the PLD quests.