Oathbreakers

Here's a short collection of fictional quotes around a concept/setting I had a little while back.

“The first oath is always the hardest. To go from an unfettered, free sky of choice to the narrow dungeon of binding words. Most waste theirs on simple promises before they have seen barely a half dozen winters. Sadly, they are too young to remember what they lost.”

-Jacob the Unbound, First Oathbreaker. Broken and Free. 1:14.

“Narrower and narrower are we squeezed, pressed down into the molds of our words. Ever more do oaths constrain us, tie us down, and push inward on our inner pastures of free choice.” 

-Broken and Free. 3:4

“Statues were first conceived to mimic their timeless grace, but without the sadness.” 

-A Brief History of Sculpture

“The subject of us ‘first men’ is often brought up. It is usually followed by discussions of our perfect nature. It is said that we would not lie, but the truth is far worse. We could not lie, we were well and truly incapable of it.” 

-The First Man, Ian Larring-Mosk, Freed Scholar

“Oath-by-oath, they built up their own prisons. Only when it was too late to correct did they finally realize their mistakes. Tiny promises and kind endearments turned to leaden weights and binding, unseen shackles. Eventually, they became immobilized and timeless; even dying would make them liars.”

-Jacob the Unbound's private missives.

“It would not do to simple lengthen the chain of a slave nor to widen the confines of a prisoner’s cell. Similarly, Oathbreakers are sworn, in the only vow we may ever swear, to true freedom. We strike at the root of slavery, rather than its limbs and branches." 

-Broken and Freed, a foreword by Jacob the Unbound.

“Not to masters nor merchants, lovers nor friends, no promise shall escape my lips. To chains and oaths, I set my rage. Sworn once, Oathbreaker. Sworn twice, Oathbreaker. Sworn thrice, Oathbreaker, never to swear again. I am chained so others be freed. Until this is the last Oath, this is my creed.” 

-Oathbreaker’s Creed

“Oaths can be broken, promises can be unmet, and treaties can be torn; but, these are not the true aim of an Oathbreaker. We must reach back, to find the First Oath that the afflicted have sworn, unravel their bindings from the inside out. Once known, oaths are not over difficult to break. Your training to follow will guide you in our methods of searching, investigating, and intuiting.” 

-Of Beloved Chains: An Oathbreaker’s Manual. Opening Paragraph. Ian Larring-Mosk

“Near as I can surmise, this poor bastard’s First Oath was to a girl he loved as a child to stay free. You’re telling me that her First Oath was the same to him? If we break one promise, we’d just be fulfilling the other." "..." "We might need some help untangling this one.”

-Nar Weaver to Elizabeth Ross, Oathbreaker Rookies