Disclaimer: I do not own the Ultima series, Lord British (Richard Garriott) does.
The Parable of the Three Fighters
It was a dark and stormy night in the forests near Trinsic. Three fighters from Jhelom, the city of Valor, and Serpent's Hold, the castle of Courage, had been sent out to fight an unknown pack of dangerous foes who had evidently enslaved some ordinary humans, presumably with possessive power, to fight beside them.
The fighters were Stelnar Starhelm of Jhelom, Baron de Hugh of Serpent's Hold, and Geoffrey, companion of the Avatar.
Deep in the forest, near the entrance to the dungeon Shame, they came upon four daemons, who were indeed possessing the minds of six humans in armor and wielding swords. Stelnar and Geoffrey drew their swords boldly, while de Hugh drew his a little unsteadily. The daemons attacked them, and they fought back.
Stelnar seemed to be going mad with destructive force, stabbing at and slashing the nearest daemon until it was dead. But then, two of the possessed humans attacked him next. Eager to prove his mettle, Stelnar struck down one of them. His victim had a pained expression of betrayal on his face before he died. Geoffrey shouted for Stelnar to hold his temper, stating that a true fighter never slew the fair people of Britannia, not even when they were possessed by an evil spirit. Stelnar, however, ignored him, and cut down the other human, but was in his turn knocked out cold by the lead daemon.
De Hugh had fought another daemon to the best of his ability, which wasn't saying a lot for him, but seeing Stelnar down and two against seven, he panicked and wished out loud that they had brought an army with them. Then he fled, and with less than grievous wounds.
Geoffrey, however, wouldn't give up. He fought those daemons long and hard by himself, and took care not to strike any of the possessed warriors. As each daemon went down, one or two of the possessed snapped out of their trance. At last, Geoffrey struck a valiant killing blow to the leader of the unholy monsters just before it could kill Stelnar.
Stelnar woke up just then. De Hugh looked out from behind a tree. Having full recall of what had happened to them, the four surviving men and women who the daemons had controlled thanked Geoffrey for saving them with all their hearts, but at the same time they looked shamefully at de Hugh and scornfully at Stelnar, who couldn't understand why the people they saved were mad at them.
Back at Serpent's Hold, the whole story was told to the Lord and Lady by Geoffrey and the survivors of their spiritual possession by the daemons. De Hugh was demoted for his cowardice, and Stelnar Starhelm was chastised for his lack of compassion for the daemons' victims, but Geoffrey was applauded for his valor, restraint, and courage. Koranada, the leader of the Order of the Silver Serpent, gave him a shield with a silver snake on the front and welcomed him into the Order as an honorary knight.
De Hugh looked dejected, and Stelnar looked jealous, but everyone in the chamber had their attention centered on the true hero of the day, the fighter who valorously slew three evil beasts, while restraining himself from striking those who were not evil, nor running away in great fear for his life. This was the meaning of Valor and Courage.
And as Geoffrey stood there, humbly accepting his reward, he silently chanted the Mantra of Valor in his mind: "RA."