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

[atreideslioness]

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."

Comments

Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)

[in_sidon_we_trust]

"Ah! Peridot!" Sidon said as the way in which she classified herself caught his attention, inspiring a big grin and an eager fist. "There is another reason you must come visit my homeland one day! If you are a Gem, then I can only imagine you will be most intrigued by the Goron people, as they are Rock!"

Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)

[era_two_triangle]

"They're rock?" Okay, that had Peridot intrigued, right there. "...I am intrigued. They're the first inorganic species I've heard of since coming to this place."

Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)

[in_sidon_we_trust]

"They are, indeed!" said Sidon, feeling an incredible swell of pride for being the first to share this sort of information with her. "Great, strong, sturdy rock! I must admit, I don't personally know as much as I would like about the Goron, for they make their home in the lava lakes and craters of the volcanic Death Mountain, which you can imagine is rather inhospitable to a water-dependent Zora such as myself, but they often send merchants to Zora's Domain to trade in the most wonderful stones you can imagine! Well," and here he chuckled at himself, "perhaps not that you could imagine, being a Gem already significantly more wonderful than any of the mere stones they bring!"

Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)

[era_two_triangle]

And that was Peridot, preening.

"Well, yeah," she said, blushing a faint bluish color. "There is that. It makes sense that they originate in the lava, though. Peridotite does, too."

She had a lot of feelings about her origins, okay?

Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)

[in_sidon_we_trust]

And, though it might not even seem possible, Sidon brightened up even more. "Perfect!" he said. "There you have it, you already share two things with the incredible Gorons! I am now even more certain you would enjoy visiting them should you ever experience Hyrule, though I'm afraid I would not be able to visit with you. A suitable guide could be easily found, though."

Re: Know Thy Enemy/Ally (Introductions)

[era_two_triangle]

"Well... then maybe someday I'll have to investigate," Peridot decided, smiling a little. "If it's anything like visiting Earth turned out to be, I might find myself pleasantly surprised."