Diplomacy, Relationships & Tactics: the Art of War [Period 3, Monday] #1

[atreideslioness]

Another semester, another batch of bright and shining students.  Each desk had a copy of the syllabus ready and waiting, and Ghanima sat on her desk, hiding her smile behind her tea as they filed in; mentally cataloging the new and familiar faces.  Apparently, a few of them were gluttons for punishment.   

The moment the bell rang, her eyes snapped from the door to the children seated around the room.  "Good afternoon and welcome," she said in a clear voice that carried effortlessly.  "This is the Art of War, and I am Lady Ghanima Atreides.  You may address me as Miss Atreides, Lady Ghanima, Miss Ghanima, or some variation thereof.  If you are in the wrong class, please feel free to leave at this time.  For those of you whom I have had in class before," she smiled suddenly, looking far less severe.  "Welcome back." 

"The Art of War."  Scooping up her two piles of handouts off her desk, Ghanima began wandering up and down the rows of chairs as she talked.  "A Chinese military treatise that was written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it has long been praised as the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time.  It is divided into 13 chapters, or P'ien, and the collection is referred to as being one Ch'üan, or chronicle."   

"The book is not only popular among military theorists, but also among political leaders and those in business management. The book addresses strategy in a broad fashion, despite the title, touching upon public administration and planning. The text outlines theories of battle but also advocates diplomacy and cultivating relationships with other nations as essential to the health of the state." 

"Sun Tzu himself is a bit of a mystery, and historians debate whether or not he was a real historical figure.  Which, really, is par for the course with anyone truly interesting."  Ghanima smiled at the class brilliantly.  "If you're larger than life, they'll never believe you were real."

"For our first lesson,"  Ghanima moved to the front of the room, picking up her chalk to write quickly;

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will fight without danger in battles.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.

 "Know thy enemy, know thyself.  We'll cover it more in-depth later, but for today I would like you to go around the room and introduce yourselves.  Give us your name, class, and some random fact about yourself.  Pay attention to what your classmates have to say, you never know when such information could come in handy."

"Oh, and Reno, see me after class please."
 

[OOC:  Wait for the OCD done!  Go forth!  Teacher responses may be slow today, as the player's head is about to explode.]

Comments

Sign-In #1

[atreideslioness]

Tactically!

Re: Sign-In #1

[wannabehunter]

Jo Harvelle

During the Lecture

[atreideslioness]

Take notes, pass notes, chatter, today's the one day Ghanima might be inclined to be lax about discipline.

Re: During the Lecture

[walks-two-paths.livejournal.com]

Savannah was, of course, taking notes on the lecture.

Re: During the Lecture

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri wasn't used to taking notes in classes, given that her classes had largely consisted of instructional ballads and object lessons; it wasn't until close to the end of the period that she realized she was going to have to do that from now on.

Said realization was punctuated by the slightest nose-wrinkle.

Re: During the Lecture

[stupid-toasters.livejournal.com]

Lee didn't take notes this time around but that doesn't mean he wasn't paying attention. His mind wandered on occasion but he was mostly focused.

Re: During the Lecture

[intraspective]

Ino eyed the stack of handouts somewhat warily, but paid avid attention to the lecture and was taking notes.

Re: During the Lecture

[im-afrog.livejournal.com]

Adam took notes on the lecture, making sure to pay close attention to what was being said.

Re: During the Lecture

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

Liir made a point to pay attention to the lecture as it was a rather important class, in his estimation.

He neither ignored nor noticed Ino; he kept his focus on the teacher.

Re: During the Lecture

[wantstodirect]

Tony took notes but his hand was aching before long. It had been ages since he'd written this much by hand.

Re: During the Lecture

[solo_sword]

Was there even a question that Jaina was paying attention to this? Even if it sort of seemed like she knew half the class from home, she was focusing on the war stuff.

Girl needs a life.

Re: During the Lecture

[talon-wraith.livejournal.com]

It was possible Myn was actually going to like this class. He took notes, and would be reading the handouts very soon.

Re: During the Lecture

[finding-x-dream.livejournal.com]

Agnes took very neat, very careful notes, and glanced through the handouts. She had a feeling she'd like this class.

Do not -- do not -- do NOT point out the fact that her notes were in purple ink. At least she wasn't dotting the i's with little hearts. Anymore.

Re: During the Lecture

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Alice was taking meticulous notes. Staring with Know thy enemy, know thyself.

And wondering at the times that the two seemed to be the very same thing.

Know Thy Enemy - AKA Introductions

[atreideslioness]

Name, rank, and fact, if you please! Feel free to tag to each other's threads, and let chaos reign. YAY NEW STUDENTS!!!

Re: Know Thy Enemy - AKA Introductions

[walks-two-paths.livejournal.com]

"My name is Savannah Levine and I'm a Junior this year. As for a fact? I'm an artist."

Re: Know Thy Enemy - AKA Introductions

[ella-obeys.livejournal.com]

"I'm Ella," Ella said. "I'm a junior and turning 16 on Sunday, and my random fact is that I have a pet centaur at home."

Re: Know Thy Enemy - AKA Introductions

[stupid-toasters.livejournal.com]

"I'm Lee Adama, I'm a senior and as for a fact...I've been stuck to the walls of the dorms twice in a year," he said, using that fact without thinking. "Fun times."

Re: Know Thy Enemy - AKA Introductions

[wannabehunter]

"Jo Harvelle, I'm a junior, and as for my fact I've recently joined the ranks of women traumatised by Skywalkers."

Re: Know Thy Enemy - AKA Introductions

[intraspective]

"I'm Ino," she said easily. "I'm a Sophomore this year, and I'm studying to be a medic."

Re: Know Thy Enemy - AKA Introductions

[momslilassassin]

"I'm Lieutenant Ben Skywalker," he said, "I'm a freshman, and I'm apparently the third generation of my family to go to this school."

Re: Know Thy Enemy - AKA Introductions

[athosborn.livejournal.com]

"My name is Teyla Emmagan, I am a senior, and my fact is that I am not from this galaxy." She smiled softly. "I suppose that is not a unique fact here though."

Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

She's here, before and after class.

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[raspberryturk]

Reno wandered over to Ghanima after class like he'd been asked, head tilted slightly in curiosity.

"You wanted to talk to me?"

He'd managed to occasionally kick the 'talk at me' habit. He was kind of proud of himself for that.

Talk to the TA

[atreideslioness]

Who doesn't actually know he's the TA yet, so wait for him to ping in.

Re: Talk to the TA

[raspberryturk]

Ghanima's minion was totally in the proper seat, now. There and ready to do his solemn duty as teacher's assistant.

Reno liked the view of the room better from this seat, anyhow.

OOC

[atreideslioness]

No world-ending when I've got the day off of work.