The highest calling
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"We should destroy the Druj - the Throne said so - the Synod agrees. I'm not sure why it's even a choice." Iseult leaned back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest. She glared at the others as if daring them to disagree.Lowen took the bait happily. "We're already doing that... we don't need the Synod to tell us to do the thing we're already doing. The point of the Synod is to point out things that need doing that nobody is bothering with." He held his arms up hands spread wide inviting the others to accept that the logic was irrefutable.Bleydhik put his elbow on the table, arm up, hand cradling his chin. "You're both wrong", he said confidently. "What's needed is to work out what's most important - not what's needed right now - but what one thing is most important of all to us."The other two looked at each other and grinned. Lowen shook his tankard to indicate it was empty, while Iseult drained hers. "I reckon you're right Bleyd," said Lowen still grinning. "And what's most important of all to me... is filling my tankard... and Virtue says it's your round!"

Overview
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Less than a year ago, the Archbishop of Capodomus Cathedral used a powerful sermon to call for action against the vallorn explicitly naming it as the greatest threat facing the Empire - one that demanded sacrifices are made to defeat it. All while the Empire continues to strain every sinew to bring down the Asavean Plenum and replace the power of their corrupt priesthood with the Virtue of the Way, even as they try to complete the Grand Inspiration of the Way.

Inspired by the Archbishop's sermon, the General Assembly had an opportunity to settle the matter by throwing it's moral weight behind a single choice. A greater majority in support of any one of these great causes would have united people behind that Ambition, elevating it above all others. Instead, the General Assembly demonstrated that there is no single cause that unites all the Empire. They passed a mandate by Brynn Tendfallen calling for each nation - and each Virtue - to consider what Ambition was most important to them.

That mandate has a far-reaching impact; for now, the influence of the General Assembly has weakened, with people paying less attention to statements of principle that fall short of a greater majority. Instead they are focussed on their own national and Virtue Assembly. If an assembly can clearly elucidate a single issue provided it is identified as something of singular importance. People are not going to respond to claims that an Ambition is the highest, if it is the second time they've heard that this year... But if the assembly used the power sparingly - picking and choosing when to emphasize that something was truly crucial - then it would be guaranteed to have an effect, just as a greater majority in the General Assembly does now.

The Highest Calling
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For the next year a specially worded statement of principle passed by certain national assemblies, and all virtue assemblies, will have additional impact provided it achieves a greater majority Any Virtue assembly or any national assembly except Urizen, Varushka and Wintermark are eligible Statements of principle that pass the General Assembly with a lesser majority in the next year will not create a response beyond Anvil

This decision has fundamentally weakened the authority of the General Assembly - at least for now. Statements of principle that get a greater majority will remain important to everyone in the Empire - as they demonstrate common purpose and unity. But statements of principle that do not get a greater majority will be ignored by folk beyond Anvil, whose attention will be on the words of their national and Virtue assembly.

Aim high; pursue your dreams. We send Bryn Tendfallen to urge every citizen to find common cause with those pilgrims of the Way with whom they share bonds of nation and virtue. Trust your heart and follow that which commands its devotion.Brynn Tendfallen, General Assembly, Summer Solstice 387YE, Vote: 1259-294

As a result, at any point during the next year, most other assemblies can use a single judgement to explicitly pick one agenda that they believe people should pursue above all others. The judgement would still need to achieve a greater majority, but assuming it does then it will be especially inspirational to the nation or those dedicated to the virtue. Wintermark, Urizen, and Varushka are not affected by this decision, since the people of those nations openly question the leadership of the Synod and this mandate did not get a greater majority, but any other nation and any of the Virtue assemblies could take advantage of this option.

To do so, the assembly must pass a statement that clearly names a single goal or agenda that they wish the faithful to pursue above all others. If that statement concludes with the words "This is the highest calling of our assembly." then it will have the same impact on the people of that nation, or the devotees of that Virtue, as if it had been passed by the General Assembly. It will be guaranteed to have an effect of some kind. As always, though, it is impossible to predict what that effect might be in advance.

... This is the highest calling of our assembly..national or Virtue assembly

Each assembly can only pick one thing as their highest calling - once that decision is made any future attempts to pick a new highest calling will be ignored. If a single Assembly passes two statements of principle both of which name a highest calling, then the statement of principle with the greatest margin of support will be the one that is embraced by people.

This opportunity remains available for the next year. An assembly need not respond immediately - they could declare a goal to be the assembly's highest calling at any time until the end of the Spring Equinox 388YE. While it may seem most effective to embrace a cause quickly, those assemblies that chose to delay will be in a position to respond to events as they change in the coming year.

A choice like this will always carry heavy consequences. The assemblies of Highguard, Navarr and the League have all been vocal in support of the goal of defeating the vallorn, for example. Once an assembly declares an Ambition to be their highest calling, other opportunities are likely to fall away as people focus on the single most important task. Opportunities to pursue other challenges may be lost if they are not in keeping with an assembly's new "highest calling".

There is a price for such dedication of course - if the Assembly throws their weight behind a single cause in this dramatic fashion then people will put their shoulder to the wheel to support it. They will take the assembly at its word and assume that this goal transcends all others. Any further attempt to name some other issue as the highest calling of the assembly way will have no effect until a year has passed.

Choices
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The Civil Service has put together some general guidance regarding statements of principle

The seven eligible national assemblies and the eight virtue assemblies could all chose to throw their weight behind a single cause, or they could all chose very different options. There are no limits on what a statement of principle could say - the business of the Synod covers every part of the Imperial domain. There are some recurrent themes however, which are common with statements of principle, which the civil service can provide general guidance on.

### Defeat an enemy

Any assembly could use their highest calling to seek the defeat of a threat or enemy of the Empire. This won't make Imperial armies or warbands any more effective in battle - the Empire's soldiers are already committed to the fight. Even when it is unified and able to speak with one voice, it is very difficult for the Synod to change the tide of war in this way. Statements like this are more likely to reduce the effectiveness of armies that don't follow the guidance provided by the Synod. If a nation assembly claims that fighting a named enemy is a nation's highest calling, then their armies are likely to be less willing to fight on other fronts.

Statements have been effective in the past at changing the way Imperial soldiers fight. The Dawnish assembly were able to encourage their armies to hold back in the conquest of the Barrens to try to win support for their cause. Urged on by their Synod, the Dawnish armies sacrificed military success for a better diplomatic outcome. As that conflict ultimately demonstrated, these strategies are rarely successful unless conducted with the support of a nation's generals.

### Destroy the Vallorn

Any assembly could try to build on the success of Navarr and Imperial historians in gathering together every souce of information on the vallorn to confirm the findings in On the Nature of the Vallorn and reveal how the vallorn might finally be defeated. Ultimately the decision to tackle the vallorn is a political one, it is a question of priorities and political influence. Unless the nations that support fighting the vallorn have enough political support to push their agenda, other priorities will always be placed ahead of it.

Any of the eligible assemblies could declare the fight against the vallorn to be their highest calling. The more focussed such calls are - in terms of identifying what would help, the more change they will result in options to help the Empire prepare for the coming battle. Such options won't remove the need for resources to build armies and raise fortifications but they could provide other options which have the potential to make the political argument easier to win.

### Convert Nonbelievers

Any assembly could name a group they wish to convert to the Way. The larger, the more powerful, more unified, and more distant a group is, the costlier such efforts will be. The initial outcome of a general statement seeking to begin the