The Writings of Khaywolf, High Cleric of Gre'thor

If not for Honor...

I have spoken of rejecting Honor, and have been asked if I were mad. "If not for Honor, how can we trust one another?", I am asked, and my reply is this: Can you trust a TKnag? Yes! A TKnag knows nothing of honor, but it can always be trusted to act in accordance with its nature. So it should be with a Klingon. A Klingon should be guided by instinct, and act in accordance with his heart.

This is not, however, a way of saying that we should do whatever we want, and justify it as instinct. Instinct does not dictate that we should lie, steal, betray a trust, or poison an enemy. These are lessons taught to us by Honor.

"How can this be?", you wonder. This is how: by imposing the system of Honor, with its rules, ramifications, contradictions and complexities, upon the indefinable yet consistent dictates of instinct, a great conflict is created.

In most Klingons, Honor wins out, and instinct is repressed.

In some Klingons the conflict itself wins out, producing those twisted creatures the word 'dishonorable' usually brings to mind. Their instincts tell them not to submit to Honor, but rather than reject it outright, they adopt it in an inverted form, embracing the qualities that it abjures.

In a very few Klingons, instinct wins; this produces individuals with little regard for the conventions of Honor, but with great personal integrity. They cannot be said to be Honorable, but they can always be trusted to do what their heart tells them to be right.

So to those who ask "If not for Honor...", my answer is this: for Integrity!

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