fandomhigh | Self Confidence the Ares Way, [Thursday, Period 2]

"So," Ares said, after the class had arrived at the main campfire. "Last week, you all decided that the best thing to do after being banished from your village was to raise an army to create a kind of bufferzone to prevent your village being attacked again." Which they hadn't, exactly, but Ares wasn't going to let that stop him.

"Now, after you've got the hang of this whole leading an army thing, you find you're quite successful at it, and in short order are building up a decent reputation. One day, while doing your thing, your men capture a prisoner, a minor general of a smallish empire, who says you can fetch a handsome ransom for him. What do you do? Do you get him go? Do you ransom him, kill him?"

"Now, assuming you decide to ransom him, which being the intrepid young warriors you are, I am, you obviously don't treat him shabbily, after all, there's a meal ticket riding on it, and hey, this guy is rather charming, so you two get along...well, given our classroom setting, let's just leave it as getting along rather well. Now, before you let him go, your hostage proposes you meet up in a couple of days and start a new alliance. Again what do you do? Why?"

"However, once you meet up with your new 'ally' again, it turns out that it all was a bit of a trap and you get crucified. Whoops. Luckily for you, you get freed from the cross by a 'good friend', and taken to a healer to do something about that whole shattered lower legs thing you've got going for you, but not before your friend gets skewered by a couple of arrows and dies."

"Discuss the most self-empowering way you can think of to deal with this betrayal, and your loss of both your friend and the use of your legs for the foreseeable future."

[ooc: OCD threads ~~coming~~ up!

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Collapse, yay!

Talk, gossip, wonder what the hell this has to do with Self-Confidence...

Now what do you do with him?

Well? You he?

Any ideas how you're going to cope?

He'll listen, no, really, he will.

After she pings in, natch.

Any resemblance between this class and certain Xena episodes is purely coincidental, really.

I WANT TO WATCH DESTINY NOW. *cries*

Karal Austreben (and Altra)

mmm...Karl Urban as Caesar...

Karal spent most of the lecture just watching Ares, in what could be described as a vaguely disapproving manner, while Altra sat on the desk, shifting to keep himself between Ares and Karal.

"He is not a god," Karal muttered.

Altra kept mum on the subject.

Caesar, Julius Caesar! Mmmmmmm.

"Treat him well. If we capture him, we are responsible for him, and for his continued well being," Karal said promptly. "He must not be harmed, and not simply because he may have some theoretical value, although" he added reluctantly, "ransoming him might be the best way to handle the situation."

Karal wasn't as sure on this point. An alliance theoretically sounded like a good idea. "I'm not sure we should be forging an alliance with this person without knowing more about him and his country and principles."

Cedric Diggory

Cedric nodded. "Harming him would only draw the ire of his supporters. If a hostage must be held, he must be kept safe, well nourished and comfortable so that the hostage taking doesn't lead to something even more dire."

Shawn Farrell

"Again, I agree," Cedric said. "And who's to say that there would not be ulterior motives when we met for the alliance meeting? Taking someone hostage wouldn't be the easiest thing to forgive and perhaps they are just setting us up?"

Cedric was honest. "I do not know what I'd do in this situation besides try to recover."

Altra gave Cedric a long, slow, considering look, then went back to watching Ares.

Karal smiled and nodded, relieved to find someone who agreed with him. "Yes, exactly! I am Karal, by the way, and that is Altra."

"Cedric," he said, smiling. "It's nice to meet you both. I hope neither of us never has to take a hostage."

"I think that is the most likely explanation," he agreed, watching Altra's tail flick back and forth. "I do not understand why they would want an alliance with us. They are an empire, we are a village with a successful army. Empires become empires by swallowing other territories, and I do not believe you become general of an empire by forgiving those who capture you."

"And you," he replied, smiling in return. "I do not think I could, unless the only other option was slaying the person."

"Exactly," Cedric agreed. "Unless they've had an unusual and very unlikely change of heart, this alliance is nothing more than something they can use to lull us into dropping our guard before pillaging and plundering our village and taking our things for themselves."

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Self Confidence the Ares Way, [Thursday, Period 2]

Sign In - Self-Con [Class Four]

During the lecture - Self-Con [Class Four]

You Has A Hostage! - Self-Con [Class Four]

I Can Has Alliance? - Self-Con [Class Four]

Whoops, Crucified Again - Self-Con [Class Four]

Talk To Ares - Self-Con [Class Four]

Talk To The TA - Self-Con [Class Four]

OOC - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: OOC - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: Sign In - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: OOC - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: During the lecture - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: OOC - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: You Has A Hostage! - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: I Can Has Alliance? - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: Sign In - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: You Has A Hostage! - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: Sign In - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: I Can Has Alliance? - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: Whoops, Crucified Again - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: You Has A Hostage! - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: You Has A Hostage! - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: I Can Has Alliance? - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: You Has A Hostage! - Self-Con [Class Four]

Re: I Can Has Alliance? - Self-Con [Class Four]