The Watchwords
The short phrases a people holds itself to: spoken to recognize one another, to steady one another, and to remember what we are for.
Every body that has ever had to hold a line has had a handful of phrases that do more than their words. A watchword is compressed: it carries a whole orientation in four syllables, which is exactly what is wanted at the moment when there is no time to explain and no appetite for a paragraph.
The ones the canon records run to a few families. Words of unity — One and All, spoken as greeting and as vow. Words of the hour — the time is now; if not now, when? Words of recognition, asked between people who suspect they are walking the same road — do you remember? Words of the threefold move: awaken, rise, unite. Words of the guardians — vigilance and honor, and the reminder that the war is also within. And the one held for the moment when there is nothing left to say and everything left to do: hold the line.
They are meant to be used with intent rather than decoration, and they are meant to be few. A watchword that is said constantly stops carrying anything; a body that acquires dozens has made a slogan library rather than a set of keys.
Held wisely, they are the opposite of the Caves' use of language. The Caves took the most important words and wore them hollow until they triggered rather than joined. A watchword is a word deliberately kept charged, by a people that knows what it means and says it rarely.
Also called: Watchwords, Guardians of Meaning, Memory, and Mission Stands on: The Language of LIØNSBERG · A Word on Words · Culture Opens onto: The First Three Percent · The Flame · Vow-Speaking · Naming · The LIØNSBERG Book of Quotes · Integrity In play: table · beyond Sources: The Watchwords, and The Watchwords of LIØNSBERG (draft) · lionsberg.wiki: The Watchwords of LIØNSBERG Open: the canon page is written in a high martial register and marks some watchwords as not for public use, tests of loyalty and depth. Whether a body of sovereigns wants verification phrases at all — and who would administer such a test — is unaddressed, and sits uneasily beside the rule that no one is turned away.