Oath

An Oath is a sworn promise to serve a certain master in exchange of benefits from said master. Oaths are a contract between two (possibly more) individuals, normally in a hierarchical covenant between a master and a servant (or servants) where the servant gains benefit from the master in exchange to servitude and loyalty to the patron. It is unknown whether more egalitarian oaths are possible as all known cases are shown to be pacts of subjugation.

Oaths are neither verbal nor written agreements, but magically forged bonds inscribed in @Oath Stones with an image of the servant trapped inside, symbolizing the shackling and one-sided nature of Oaths. These stones are forged by the @Furies, beings neither mortal, Titan or God, who act as overseers, certificators and upholders of the contracts, for they were beings aligned with neither race nor those owe no loyalty to no one but themselves, serving as fair arbiters bound by honor.

Although Oaths have been created since time immemorial, the first ever known case of an oath breaker was @Cottus. Cottus had at once committed to serve none other than the King of the Olympian Gods himself, @Zeus. The exact reasons for Cottus's betrayal are not known but the betrayal infuriated Zeus who denounced him to the Furies who sided with Zeus and agreed the betrayal deserved punishment. For breaking his Oath, the Furies tortured him, but thinking that death would be too merciful they chose an alternate and much crueler curse of action. To trap him and mold the entirety of his body into a solidified construct that would serve as the base of the @Prison of the Damned, a living example of the consequences of oath breaking, and a penitentiary that would serve to house all oath breakers in order to subject them to punishment and torture, both physical and psychological in order to force them back into compliance or, die in defiance.

Although Oaths are seen as accords of good faith, Oaths are in fact forgeries and a tool of enslavement. Although Oaths allow the servant to gain the blessings of its master, this contract is forever binding and demands unquestionable loyalty from the servant to the master, but the reverse is not true. Oaths also require multiple conditions (though this might vary from case to case) in order to successfully construct.

Oaths once forged are not easily if ever broken. So far, no known case of dispute between servant and master has had a peaceful resolution, and it is unlikely that any has had as Oaths effectively enslave the servant, a situation in which the master stands to benefit more from. As such all-broken Oaths have resulted in bad blood between the respective parties, which warrants reprisal from the Furies who compel the servant to obey the master rather than truly moderate between the parties.

While servants can reject to act on behalf of their masters, this alone is not enough to break an Oath, as the magical stones still exist, despite the opposition of the servants. So long as the Oath stones remain, the servant is still ultimately bond to the master. Even if they were not to obey the master, they are still not completely free. The full extent of this is not known, but it is hinted that servants cannot directly oppose their masters, such as harming them or that their ability to reject their overlords is limited, so long as the Oath remains active. In order to fully terminate an Oath, two conditions must be fulfilled. First the Stone that holds the Oath must be destroyed, as it is the binding contract which forces the servant to comply with the demands of the master. Second and must importantly the very Furies which enforce the system need to be destroyed as well, as they are determined to uphold the Oaths at any cost and would relentlessly pursue the offender until they submit once more or die as punishment. Inevitably for Oath Breakers, both tasks need to be fulfilled at once as the Oath stones are held by @Orkos himself, which has the stones fastened into his own body into a painful process that leaves the stones attached into his very flesh. Scarred cavities of previous Oaths are left across all of Orkos' body, and it is unknown under which conditions these former stones were removed.