ShiftedChampion
2012-01-16, 12:56 PM
Come along, student. You remember my last lecture on Alignments yes?
Good.
I ask you; What is Power?
I once heard a half dead man say "Power is Power." Ultimately futile description don't you think?
Let us investigate together about what power really is.
There are those that draw on "Divine" powers. The priests, the paladins, the champions and all manner of minor powers throughout the planes. But this power isn't theirs and so how can it be truly called power? If a man must call upon the influence of someone or something else, how can they be called "powerful?"
They aren't. A paladin may fall to the blade of a greater warrior because his god says otherwise. A cleric or a druid may have their magic fail at a key moment all due to some trick or plan they have no idea about.
So, from these people we can learn that Power must be internal and not reliant on something else. This would include then those that wield power based on artifacts or magical items on their person.
Hm? But what of those that wield arcane influence? The sorcerors and the wizards?
They wield power which can be negated so easily. I have seen more arcane mystics fall to a single spell or lone amulet than I care to mention. Without that internal power which they call upon so easily, they are but weaklings.
From this, my student, we learn a new feature of True Power: It must not be easily negated, if able to be negated at all. Otherwise, you will end up like that fellow you were telling me about last week. Dead and powerless.
And so to the martial arts. Those who command battle strength through weaponry and fighting skill. Those that hone their bodies to utter perfection. They fall pray to the divine and the arcane more than they do to each other. But they have unity. This, student, is perhaps the most important part of True Power.
A small diversion from the lesson so that I may tell you of a man who I encountered on my travels. I passed a man in the street when he asked me "You do know that you're being followed?" I nodded and tried to walk on. He then grabbed me and said "You don't care!? Gods above, he could kill you at any second!"
I laughed. I turned and saw that the mam follwing me had a longsword against him. I disarmed him in the usual fashion as a show of force. But then something truly amazing happened. The man tried to kill me with his bare hands. His training from the swordmaster hadn't weakened him in any other area. He was just as strong, flexible and enduring as he had been with the sword.
I grinned. I killed him, naturally. A slight of that level shouldn't go unpunished but he taught me a valuable lesson.
That lesson was that Power, my student, is only as good as you are. That power exists until the end of your fist. The killer wasn't specialized into just one area of power; he had several.
Power, then, must be general. If you take nothing else away from this lesson, know that Power is anything that can be used to your advantage.
Hm? Ah yes. Go to your other tutors, student. I will see you after the midday meal.
(I do enjoy writing these little essays. If you like them, don't hesitate to suggest another topic which I might cover.)
Good.
I ask you; What is Power?
I once heard a half dead man say "Power is Power." Ultimately futile description don't you think?
Let us investigate together about what power really is.
There are those that draw on "Divine" powers. The priests, the paladins, the champions and all manner of minor powers throughout the planes. But this power isn't theirs and so how can it be truly called power? If a man must call upon the influence of someone or something else, how can they be called "powerful?"
They aren't. A paladin may fall to the blade of a greater warrior because his god says otherwise. A cleric or a druid may have their magic fail at a key moment all due to some trick or plan they have no idea about.
So, from these people we can learn that Power must be internal and not reliant on something else. This would include then those that wield power based on artifacts or magical items on their person.
Hm? But what of those that wield arcane influence? The sorcerors and the wizards?
They wield power which can be negated so easily. I have seen more arcane mystics fall to a single spell or lone amulet than I care to mention. Without that internal power which they call upon so easily, they are but weaklings.
From this, my student, we learn a new feature of True Power: It must not be easily negated, if able to be negated at all. Otherwise, you will end up like that fellow you were telling me about last week. Dead and powerless.
And so to the martial arts. Those who command battle strength through weaponry and fighting skill. Those that hone their bodies to utter perfection. They fall pray to the divine and the arcane more than they do to each other. But they have unity. This, student, is perhaps the most important part of True Power.
A small diversion from the lesson so that I may tell you of a man who I encountered on my travels. I passed a man in the street when he asked me "You do know that you're being followed?" I nodded and tried to walk on. He then grabbed me and said "You don't care!? Gods above, he could kill you at any second!"
I laughed. I turned and saw that the mam follwing me had a longsword against him. I disarmed him in the usual fashion as a show of force. But then something truly amazing happened. The man tried to kill me with his bare hands. His training from the swordmaster hadn't weakened him in any other area. He was just as strong, flexible and enduring as he had been with the sword.
I grinned. I killed him, naturally. A slight of that level shouldn't go unpunished but he taught me a valuable lesson.
That lesson was that Power, my student, is only as good as you are. That power exists until the end of your fist. The killer wasn't specialized into just one area of power; he had several.
Power, then, must be general. If you take nothing else away from this lesson, know that Power is anything that can be used to your advantage.
Hm? Ah yes. Go to your other tutors, student. I will see you after the midday meal.
(I do enjoy writing these little essays. If you like them, don't hesitate to suggest another topic which I might cover.)