Liliana Vess (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
deathsmajesty) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2024-06-13 01:31 am
deathsmajesty) wrote in fandomhigh2024-06-13 01:31 am
Entry tags:
Philosophy of Mana, Thursday, Period 2
Today's class met across the river from a windswept bluff that soared high above them. At its base was a tall stone tower at the top, crowned with a metal contraption that some might (rightly) guess was a beacon to be lit at night. Steam rose from the surface of the water, which smelled faintly metallic and ever so slightly of sulphur. They were sitting on a small beach, another picnic set out, surrounded by large outcroppings of rock almost like solidified sand dunes. The beach itself was very rocky, too, full of large chunks of basalt that have been smoothed by time and water. "And this is Innistrad," she welcomed. "The plane I have lived on the longest, though while my estate is in Stensia, this particular spot is in the Province of Nephalia, where I apprenticed for several decades." Hence her fondness for the spot, which also have the benefit of not being the Kruin Pass, or the Ashmouth, or any of the less pleasant aspects of Stensia's mountain ranges.
Spread out in front of them were a variety of Innistradi dishes, many of them having flavor profiles in common with Eastern European flair, if people were familiar with those. There were individual earthenware crocks full of a thick vegetable soup that had been baked and then served over rice, grilled rolls of minced drake meat served with flatbread and vegetables and a tangy cream made from griffons milk, thin pancakes filled with velvety smoked slices of kraken meat, chunks of salty, smoked cheese served with grilled apples, bacon, and cranberry sauce, and a dish someone might remember, made of chunks of raw fish in a special sauce of lemon juice, butter, and seasonings. And, of course, carafes juice and pots of tea and rich, dark, kava.
"Today, as you have likely put together already, we're going to talk about red mana," she said, the white board behind her filled with the now-familiar questions and, more importantly, the word at the top now
Freedom
• What does red mana desire? What is its end goal?
• What means does red mana use to achieve these ends?
• What does red mana care about? What does it represent?
• What does red mana despise? What negatively drives it?
• What is red mana's greatest strength? Greatest weakness?
"What is the meaning of life?" Liliana asked the class. "What is worth striving for? What is the best end goal for ourselves? Our society? And that what the best ways to achieve those things? In one way or another, that is the central question all the colors of mana ask and that's something that every person aligned with their philosophy must ponder with and grapple for the answer. But not red." She sounded amused. "Red, in fact, thinks that while everyone is sitting around with their thumbs in their...ears--" not the word that was supposed to follow that, but this was a classroom even if she fully expected all of you to have filled in that blank yourselves "--everyone is missing the damn point. According to red, there's no great mystery to solve, no deep plan to follow. Your heart already knows the answers, you just have to listen and act accordingly. You are literally bombarded with constant feelings that guide you down the correct path. The problem is all the other colors ignore the message, ignoring their heart's simple desires in favor of twisting themselves upside down and inside out instead of doing what they know they want.
"Life's an adventure, and it's up to each individual to experience it. Red believes that too many people live their life questioning choices they've made. They refuse to live in the moment; they reject spontaneity; deny themselves every adventure put before them. Those aligned with red mana know that on their deathbeds, they will look back on a fulfilled life with no regrets. That's all red wants - the ability to live life doing what it needs to." Not that she was looking at any people in particular during this point in the lecture, of course.
"Now, to be clear, this outlook doesn't mean red is alone. Quite the opposite actually. Part of living life is embracing relationships. Red knows passion and loyalty and camaraderie and lust. When red bonds with another, it bonds strongly and fiercely. Whether a lover or a friend, red is someone who will always be there when you need them." She paused. "Well, unless life has taken them somewhere else for some length of time - but then when they get back, they're definitely going to be there for you," she said with a merry laugh.
"Red believes that it is the satisfaction of one's individual passions that brings true happiness, and red wants everyone to have the liberty to follow their own emotions and wills. The best way red sees to be able to accomplish this is through immediate action based on whatever present feelings one has. The key is to embrace your emotions and let them guide you. If you're happy, laugh. If you're sad, cry. If you're angry, hit something. If you're scared, run away. Listen to your inner voice and you will have the opportunity to experience all that life has to offer. And that is what red wants you to do. Drink deeply from the cup of life. Experience things. Life is an adventure - which means that yes, the good with come with bad, but running away from the bad doesn't actually protect you in the long run from it - it simply denies you the joys you might enjoy now. Red's defining characteristic in interacting with other beings is their passion. Here, love is not hard to define, it is beautifully simple. It is caring about another individual and (to a smaller extent), a sub-group, such as a family, as much as you care about your own self if not more. This can often verge on, if not go skittering down, the proverbial slippery slope into recklessness, of course, but when has love ever not involved an element of sacrifice. Black sacrifices now for power later, white sacrifices for the greater good, and red sacrifices because it is so wrapped up in getting what it wants right now - like ensuring the well-being of those it cares about - that it ceases to care about its own survival."
Which is why Liliana would never, ever be a red mana user. Imagine, not caring for your own survival, especially to preserve someone else's. Preposterous.
"Because red is very attuned to its feelings, it always knows the next action it has to take, because it listens to what its heart is instructing it to do. Red is never without direction or guidance and looks askance at those who are, because it means they're allowing their head to contradict what their heart wants and instead of action, they're wringing their hands, trying to get up the gumption to do what needs to be done. And, to be clear, red knows that their internal direction can change — sometimes startlingly quickly — because the heart is fickle, but red is always ready to act. And while red is impulsive and chaotic, it does understand the importance of the long-term. Spontaneity is not the same as chasing after one's every whim. Having a house to live in means spending the time building it, even if you'd rather spend the day at the beach. A lasting relationship means finding compromise and sticking to promises made, even if you're in a fight or some pretty thing has turned your head. Red does not have to mean selfish indulgence - although it certainly can! - because part of knowing your own heart is knowing the difference between a fleeting whimsy and true desire. And if you are chasing your true desires, that often does mean putting in the work and effort and pain to achieve them - but it also means sometimes asking yourself if your desire is truly worth the work and effort and pain, or if perhaps there is another desire instead.
"Red is often hasty - which is frequently decried by other colors. But the balance of that is, often, striking the first blow might be the most effective strategy. Red can hit fast and strong before others can even prepare for what's coming. Laboriously and meticulously planning every strategy might result in delayed strikes or even missed shots - red refuses to let that happen. It sees an opening, it strikes - and red is relentless. As long as red cares about something, it will continue to go after that thing with a single-minded intensity. A word to the wise? Never go after red's allies or loved ones, because if you do, they will never stop coming for you." Common knowledge? Or was Liliana speaking from experience. Who knew? "Red is not afraid to get its hands dirty, and it never backs down from a challenge. And when it comes to the kind of spells red prefers, think quick, dirty, and destructive. Fireballs. Lightning. They rarely bother with spells that require a long, slow buildup of mana - instead they lean towards fast spells that simply burn through or blow up whatever is in its way. Red can be brutal and destructive because, again, the fastest way to a given point is a straight line. Let blue come up with the twisty, indirect way to get there, or white consider the way with the least danger, red is full steam ahead and willing to go over or through anything in their path - which often means violence. Red is an unstoppable force and if fire and lightning and lava can't shift that immovable object, maybe just hitting it really, really hard will." She gave another amused smile at that. Red also had the ability to make you shake your head and says something about 'aww, you little scamps.'
"Boredom is anathema to red. They often get twitchy, fidgety, and if something isn't happening, they will often go out and make something happen, for good or ill. They also don't like being told what to do or what not to do - and, often, will go and do the opposite of what they're told, just out of spite. Which is a terrible idea when that suggestion or advice comes from a place of superior understanding. Red is simply terrible at thinking long-term; it tends to be very short-sighted, trying to accomplish what it wants right now and seldom thinking of the ramifications of its actions. Red often puts all its eggs in one basket, with no thought to what happens if that basket doesn't work out." She shrugged, very c'est la vie.
"Now, we've talked about the way blue and white societies are formed, what they look like at their best and at their worst, but that's harder to do with red. There are very few red-based societies, and most of those there are see themselves as outside of 'civilization.' Often, red societies take the form of clans, bands, troops - a smaller society based on a general relationship within the group. They rarely get very big, because red breaks down once it ceases to care. A clan of fifty to a hundred souls, especially related by some form of kinship, whether blood, marriage or otherwise, gives everyone a stake with each other. Larger groups that lack those bonds, well...red's heart isn't generally called in their direction to help. Furthermore, red is, inherently, anarchistic. It doesn't want to be censored or controlled, because when one's passions are shackled, their ability to follow them denied, a person cannot be who they are meant to be. To disallow someone to be who they are meant to be is to destroy them. In red's view, censorship is death. As such, the idea of rules, of pinning someone to one course even if their emotions urge them down another, is akin to an atrocity. In the viewpoint of a red philosopher, those who dare to speak of rules and limits will be furiously told to shut up. All of these things often get Red into trouble, which Red seems to not really care about. Red will fight against anyone who restrains anyone else. And, as you might find, it is remarkably difficult to have a society that functions without laws."
Liliana took a sip of her tea as the lecture wound down. "Even with its focus on relationships and bonds, red is a very individualistic color, placing its own beliefs of what's right above everyone else's - though, thankfully, those beliefs generally extend only over what is right for oneself.. Red's greatest strength is its ability to know what it wants, the purpose and clarity so many others lack. In addition, red is committed to taking action to get the things it wants. Others might pine for things; red actively takes the steps to acquire them. This drive grants red a passion and speed that can often overwhelm its adversaries. Red's enthusiasm creates an energy that allows it to do amazing things - it is a color heavily associated with art, with passion, with creativity - art is, of course, often meant to make you feel."
Spread out in front of them were a variety of Innistradi dishes, many of them having flavor profiles in common with Eastern European flair, if people were familiar with those. There were individual earthenware crocks full of a thick vegetable soup that had been baked and then served over rice, grilled rolls of minced drake meat served with flatbread and vegetables and a tangy cream made from griffons milk, thin pancakes filled with velvety smoked slices of kraken meat, chunks of salty, smoked cheese served with grilled apples, bacon, and cranberry sauce, and a dish someone might remember, made of chunks of raw fish in a special sauce of lemon juice, butter, and seasonings. And, of course, carafes juice and pots of tea and rich, dark, kava.
"Today, as you have likely put together already, we're going to talk about red mana," she said, the white board behind her filled with the now-familiar questions and, more importantly, the word at the top now
• What does red mana desire? What is its end goal?
• What means does red mana use to achieve these ends?
• What does red mana care about? What does it represent?
• What does red mana despise? What negatively drives it?
• What is red mana's greatest strength? Greatest weakness?
"What is the meaning of life?" Liliana asked the class. "What is worth striving for? What is the best end goal for ourselves? Our society? And that what the best ways to achieve those things? In one way or another, that is the central question all the colors of mana ask and that's something that every person aligned with their philosophy must ponder with and grapple for the answer. But not red." She sounded amused. "Red, in fact, thinks that while everyone is sitting around with their thumbs in their...ears--" not the word that was supposed to follow that, but this was a classroom even if she fully expected all of you to have filled in that blank yourselves "--everyone is missing the damn point. According to red, there's no great mystery to solve, no deep plan to follow. Your heart already knows the answers, you just have to listen and act accordingly. You are literally bombarded with constant feelings that guide you down the correct path. The problem is all the other colors ignore the message, ignoring their heart's simple desires in favor of twisting themselves upside down and inside out instead of doing what they know they want.
"Life's an adventure, and it's up to each individual to experience it. Red believes that too many people live their life questioning choices they've made. They refuse to live in the moment; they reject spontaneity; deny themselves every adventure put before them. Those aligned with red mana know that on their deathbeds, they will look back on a fulfilled life with no regrets. That's all red wants - the ability to live life doing what it needs to." Not that she was looking at any people in particular during this point in the lecture, of course.
"Now, to be clear, this outlook doesn't mean red is alone. Quite the opposite actually. Part of living life is embracing relationships. Red knows passion and loyalty and camaraderie and lust. When red bonds with another, it bonds strongly and fiercely. Whether a lover or a friend, red is someone who will always be there when you need them." She paused. "Well, unless life has taken them somewhere else for some length of time - but then when they get back, they're definitely going to be there for you," she said with a merry laugh.
"Red believes that it is the satisfaction of one's individual passions that brings true happiness, and red wants everyone to have the liberty to follow their own emotions and wills. The best way red sees to be able to accomplish this is through immediate action based on whatever present feelings one has. The key is to embrace your emotions and let them guide you. If you're happy, laugh. If you're sad, cry. If you're angry, hit something. If you're scared, run away. Listen to your inner voice and you will have the opportunity to experience all that life has to offer. And that is what red wants you to do. Drink deeply from the cup of life. Experience things. Life is an adventure - which means that yes, the good with come with bad, but running away from the bad doesn't actually protect you in the long run from it - it simply denies you the joys you might enjoy now. Red's defining characteristic in interacting with other beings is their passion. Here, love is not hard to define, it is beautifully simple. It is caring about another individual and (to a smaller extent), a sub-group, such as a family, as much as you care about your own self if not more. This can often verge on, if not go skittering down, the proverbial slippery slope into recklessness, of course, but when has love ever not involved an element of sacrifice. Black sacrifices now for power later, white sacrifices for the greater good, and red sacrifices because it is so wrapped up in getting what it wants right now - like ensuring the well-being of those it cares about - that it ceases to care about its own survival."
Which is why Liliana would never, ever be a red mana user. Imagine, not caring for your own survival, especially to preserve someone else's. Preposterous.
"Because red is very attuned to its feelings, it always knows the next action it has to take, because it listens to what its heart is instructing it to do. Red is never without direction or guidance and looks askance at those who are, because it means they're allowing their head to contradict what their heart wants and instead of action, they're wringing their hands, trying to get up the gumption to do what needs to be done. And, to be clear, red knows that their internal direction can change — sometimes startlingly quickly — because the heart is fickle, but red is always ready to act. And while red is impulsive and chaotic, it does understand the importance of the long-term. Spontaneity is not the same as chasing after one's every whim. Having a house to live in means spending the time building it, even if you'd rather spend the day at the beach. A lasting relationship means finding compromise and sticking to promises made, even if you're in a fight or some pretty thing has turned your head. Red does not have to mean selfish indulgence - although it certainly can! - because part of knowing your own heart is knowing the difference between a fleeting whimsy and true desire. And if you are chasing your true desires, that often does mean putting in the work and effort and pain to achieve them - but it also means sometimes asking yourself if your desire is truly worth the work and effort and pain, or if perhaps there is another desire instead.
"Red is often hasty - which is frequently decried by other colors. But the balance of that is, often, striking the first blow might be the most effective strategy. Red can hit fast and strong before others can even prepare for what's coming. Laboriously and meticulously planning every strategy might result in delayed strikes or even missed shots - red refuses to let that happen. It sees an opening, it strikes - and red is relentless. As long as red cares about something, it will continue to go after that thing with a single-minded intensity. A word to the wise? Never go after red's allies or loved ones, because if you do, they will never stop coming for you." Common knowledge? Or was Liliana speaking from experience. Who knew? "Red is not afraid to get its hands dirty, and it never backs down from a challenge. And when it comes to the kind of spells red prefers, think quick, dirty, and destructive. Fireballs. Lightning. They rarely bother with spells that require a long, slow buildup of mana - instead they lean towards fast spells that simply burn through or blow up whatever is in its way. Red can be brutal and destructive because, again, the fastest way to a given point is a straight line. Let blue come up with the twisty, indirect way to get there, or white consider the way with the least danger, red is full steam ahead and willing to go over or through anything in their path - which often means violence. Red is an unstoppable force and if fire and lightning and lava can't shift that immovable object, maybe just hitting it really, really hard will." She gave another amused smile at that. Red also had the ability to make you shake your head and says something about 'aww, you little scamps.'
"Boredom is anathema to red. They often get twitchy, fidgety, and if something isn't happening, they will often go out and make something happen, for good or ill. They also don't like being told what to do or what not to do - and, often, will go and do the opposite of what they're told, just out of spite. Which is a terrible idea when that suggestion or advice comes from a place of superior understanding. Red is simply terrible at thinking long-term; it tends to be very short-sighted, trying to accomplish what it wants right now and seldom thinking of the ramifications of its actions. Red often puts all its eggs in one basket, with no thought to what happens if that basket doesn't work out." She shrugged, very c'est la vie.
"Now, we've talked about the way blue and white societies are formed, what they look like at their best and at their worst, but that's harder to do with red. There are very few red-based societies, and most of those there are see themselves as outside of 'civilization.' Often, red societies take the form of clans, bands, troops - a smaller society based on a general relationship within the group. They rarely get very big, because red breaks down once it ceases to care. A clan of fifty to a hundred souls, especially related by some form of kinship, whether blood, marriage or otherwise, gives everyone a stake with each other. Larger groups that lack those bonds, well...red's heart isn't generally called in their direction to help. Furthermore, red is, inherently, anarchistic. It doesn't want to be censored or controlled, because when one's passions are shackled, their ability to follow them denied, a person cannot be who they are meant to be. To disallow someone to be who they are meant to be is to destroy them. In red's view, censorship is death. As such, the idea of rules, of pinning someone to one course even if their emotions urge them down another, is akin to an atrocity. In the viewpoint of a red philosopher, those who dare to speak of rules and limits will be furiously told to shut up. All of these things often get Red into trouble, which Red seems to not really care about. Red will fight against anyone who restrains anyone else. And, as you might find, it is remarkably difficult to have a society that functions without laws."
Liliana took a sip of her tea as the lecture wound down. "Even with its focus on relationships and bonds, red is a very individualistic color, placing its own beliefs of what's right above everyone else's - though, thankfully, those beliefs generally extend only over what is right for oneself.. Red's greatest strength is its ability to know what it wants, the purpose and clarity so many others lack. In addition, red is committed to taking action to get the things it wants. Others might pine for things; red actively takes the steps to acquire them. This drive grants red a passion and speed that can often overwhelm its adversaries. Red's enthusiasm creates an energy that allows it to do amazing things - it is a color heavily associated with art, with passion, with creativity - art is, of course, often meant to make you feel."
Play With Red Mana
Summon a variety of creatures like dinosaurs! A phoenix! Elemental hounds! Kitties (made of fire)! Oh yeah, and a dragon if you're feeling frisky.
And, of course, you couldn't study red mana without trying out some of the classics like boiling the very seas, or breathing fire, throwing fire, and calling upon lightning, but not like, in a Sith way.
Become a speedster with haste or maybe wake up a mountain, or maybe call down the blood moon.
Or summon an inferno
#JustRedThings
Re: Play With Red Mana
But the cats were still cute.
Re: Play With Red Mana
Re: Play With Red Mana
No petting the fire cats. The thought of it made his hand twitch.
Re: Play With Red Mana
Re: Play With Red Mana