fandomhigh | Diplomacy, Relationships & Tactics: the Art of War [Monday, Period 1]

Another semester, another batch of bright and shining students. Ghanima sat on her desk, hiding her smile behind her tea as they filed in; mentally cataloging the new and familiar faces.

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."

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Now this, this was something Sidon was far more comfortable with, talking to others about themselves and himself, too. His distress quickly vanished as he set his materials aside and stood for a proper introduction.

"I am Sidon," he said, and anyone who met him at the picnic would easily recognize the fist-pumping, devilish smile pose that went along with the words. "The Zora Prince! I believe I have been given the class designation of sophomore here, and I once defeated the largest Octorok Hyrule has ever seen from within its very stomach!"

It was one of his proudest moments, after all.

Edited 2017-08-28 14:23 (UTC)

Ghanima had noticed Sidon's uncomfortable shifting earlier, as well as his conversation with Rufus, and had been taking careful note.

"There are few things more satisfying than defeating an enemy in a manner they did not expect, including from literally within," she said with a smile. "Do you prefer to be addressed as 'Sidon,' or with some honorific?"

"Sidon will be quite acceptable," he said with a wide, shining grin, and all the way back in Hyrule, Muzu was having sudden heart palpitations that he couldn't quite understand. "Back home, everything is Prince Sidon this and Prince Sidon that. But here, I should very much like to be on the same level as my wonderful classmates; I would like to show that I can be so much more than my station."

Ghanima gave him a conspiratorial smile. "I tend to leave my list of titles in another galaxy, unless I need to make a point," she shared. "I quite loath being referred to as the Princess Royal, or as 'Lady Atreides,' especially as that is my grandmother, but human society generally demands some honorific for teachers, and so I compromised."

Sidon smiled back, pleased to have discovered another royal who could understand the burden that such titles seemed to carry. "I think it is a very fine compromise, Lady Ghanima," he said with enthusiasm. "The honor is well earned, as anyone willing to expand the minds of others is quite worthy of respect,"--yes, even Muzu. Sometimes--"and I can already tell that is not an opportunity you wish to squander or take advantage of!"

"What's an Octorok?" Khadgar asked. He was imagining it had to be eight of something, and the visuals his mind were producing were a little terrifying.

Sidon smiled, always pleased to speak more about his dear Hyrule and the things that made it home. "An Octorok," he explained, "is a dangerous creature from my homeland, quite adaptable to many climates and rather sneaky. They like to hide, though the ones that hide in the water are rather easy to spot, especially for a Zora, and they will spit projectiles at you, particularly when they think you are no paying attention! They are typically amphibious, though I have heard that they can thrive in rocky, drier climates, too. They have large, bulbous heads that they like to inflate, allowing them to float in the air, mean little eyes and great big mouths that are used not only to spit things out, but also to suck them in, all of this above a whole mess of tentacles!

"Now," he continued, "they are usually quite small and cute, but this one, and you'll think I am tell tall tales, but I assure you, I am not, was as large as a mountain! You'd never seen such an Octorok of incredible size, and it was terrorizing the fishermen's Lurelin Village. I simply could not just let that stand, especially as many Zora had tried to defeat the beast and failed, may the goddess protect their spirits! I knew I had to avenge them! So I stepped up to the challenge, and, though I, too, was swallowed whole by this monster, I fought my way out, and in doing so, finally ended his reign of terror!"

Oh man, where was a good bowl of popcorn when Khadgar needed one? "You fought your way out of the creature from inside it?" he asked. "That sounds dangerous, but highly effective at the same time."

"It certainly was," said Sidon, his chest swelling with pride and his grin getting a particular sharpness to it. "It is a risk I am glad to have taken, though, especially as it worked most spectacularly. If it had not, at least I'd have died doing everything I could to save the village. I would rather die an unsuccessful hero than live to be a mewling coward!"

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

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Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)

Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)

Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)

Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)

Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)

Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)