Thoughts On The War

If you guys are amiable I would like all of you, in your own time. to post your character's thoughts about the coming war. Any and all amount of detail is both appreciated and desired. For those who have not heard me elaborate upon it; Neither side is specifically inflicting any injustice upon the other, there is no clear aggressor nor victim. The two peoples (Banderlings and Burun primarily) just have such a different philosophy on life and it's caused a slow build up of friction over the last several decades. Several other interested parties (Aluvia, the Zefirs, and the Olthoi) have been helping keep the peace successfully until the magical backlashes of January 1st and 4th. While this had obvious ramifications for the politicians and leaders, several uneasy border patrollers actually took up arms against the other side, thinking that the time had come to attack, or that THEY were being attacked. The situation is escalating exponentially.

Zeiss sees this as a normal thing. He believes there will always be conflicts and as long that he doesn't fall victim to it, he has no reason to get involved. He understands why some people might be willing to fight for patriotism and ideologies and he dislikes this kind of attitude. He would prefer if there wasn't any war at all but resigned himself to accept this possible outcome.

Kolson sees the brewing conflict as an opportunity to return his family to prosperity.

With the seed money from our current adventure, he hopes to start investing in basic commodities, for sale to the coming refuges and soldiers at a marked up, if not ridiculous, price.

Depending on how Aluvia becomes involved in the coming conflict, he may have to become a smuggler to do so. He'd prefer not to of course but eh, it's war. In the likelihood of this event, he'd look for a partner skilled in subterfuge and underworld dealings, like Zeiss.

If Aluvia gets dragged into the conflict, it's likely his brother-in-law would try to recruit him into the military to which Kolson would reluctantly say yes. He'd be disappointed not to be able to pursue his dream, but would never say no to his family.

Well seeing as my character's a human, and this probably goes for Higs as well, Rory doesn't have a personal stake in the war. Even if he agrees completely with the ideals of one nation which differ from the others, he won't see a reason to get involved, seeing as neither is inherently "evil", or to him, "crossing a line".

If he could calm down the fighting in a stumbled-upon situation in a way that would be possible while avoiding taking sides, he would do it. Other than that, he's not really seeking conflict. When it comes to the actual participants of the fighting, he doesn't aim to keep the body count low--nor significantly try to raise it. He likes to kill things, but doesn't want to harm innocent people in the process.

If the war did make life difficult, or outright turn his residential region into an imminent war zone, Rory would pack up and get the hell out of town, and settle somewhere tucked away from the conflict and the nations engaged in warfare, living life as usual.

However, if he did see something he didn't like; a blatantly corrupt official, soldiers "enjoying" the pillaging a little too much, etc.--essentially, something that "crossed the line" in regards to his inner values as opposed to his unspoken rules of engagement during combat--he'd be likely to take action in the immediate situation, no matter which side he ended up on because of it. Instead of actually joining that side, he would likely take up a cause as a wartime vigilante. He wouldn't actively pursue these situations, but deal with them as they unfold around him.

If an assigned task or personal goal drives him up a mountain, Rory would go up the mountain, dealing with any urgent business first if reasonable or tied to his morals. Other than that, he would stick to using his skills to help the people indefinitely or until the war was over, not really swaying the tide in one direction or the other.

Rory's not the type of person who will join to a faction, other than a day job. This is not just to avoid having to commit unquestioningly to a person or a cause, but because he understands that freedom isn't found in the ranks of military and many other types of organizations. He won't give up his freedom to defend anything unless it is something he holds dear--his home, his people, his friends, his values, etc. However, in dire state of crisis, what he holds dear can be accepted as a reason to go to war as a freelance individual--grouping up with other freelancers if necessary--whether compensated with basic needs or the equivalent in financial gain, in order to sway the tide of war in favor of he believes to be, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the "right thing".

The only reason he joined the adventurer's guild was because he needed money to make a living. Rory is all about completing his tasks the way he believes is the right way to complete them. If he isn't allowed to do that, or doesn't like the job, he defaults--which he typically doesn't have to do because he is rarely just assigned to a job without his consent, and he reads up on the details before he accepts.

On the topic of war itself, Rory finds it amoral. The fact that war can be chosen for the right reasons as well as the wrong ones, and that it is sometimes necessary, makes it amoral. A war doesn't have to have to result in casualties to be fought, and he takes this to heart, though grievances are generally settled in a hostile manner. And when it comes to taking a life, some people you just can't reach. If that means Rory has to kill the men who signed up to fight for a belligerent tyrant in order to reach said tyrant, then so be it; they knew the risks. Outside of combat, he tends to show mercy the first time, but there is no "fool me twice" regarding enemy combatants.

I am extremely wary of War. Small skirmishes, boarder conflicts these are things we already experience and they do us more harm than good. Look back the battle with the Tumeroks, a story from my childhood. What did that gain? Yes the Tumeroks now have land to call their own, but to this day they are spoken of in hushed whispers, people fearful that they are not satisfied and will rise again. This is what conflict brings: fear, anger, anxiety; war can only bring this on in larger doses.I do not believe either side fully understands what the possible repercussions are; indeed how could they there has been no war in recorded history. Before I left, The Great Library was abuzz with whispered theories, speculations, and worries. Not even the elders know what this would fully entail; this is why we have worked so hard to keep it from passing. I ... cannot bear to give words to these fears any longer. Let us pray it does not come to pass.

well for Tabran his whole purpose for been alive is to try and make sure that conflicts are nipped in the bud before they build up steam and the only reason he is out in the world is to help his house keep track of the situation, his masters stepped in and ended the last war before it had chance to begin and from Tabran's viewpoint it looks like they don't want it to start back up again and there by neither dose Tabran.

on a personal level since moving into the city he has meet lots of nice people and seen a whole new side to the world and war would put a stop to that in the last few months alone people have stopped been as friendly to outsiders people don't smile as much, just a week before leavening to join this guild mission he heard of a man that was beaten to death for been a spy it turned out that he wasn't he was just ill with a fever but it was too late then.

if war did break out his new world would be turned upside down he would lose friends if the decided to join the army or fled the city for some place safer and that's not counting if war came to his city what would happen to his inn and the friends he had working for him? would he have to watch as his city, his Home burned....

“War. War never changes.
Since the dawn of mankind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything: from God to justice to simple, psychotic rage. “
It was the inevitable result of the path humanity had chosen. Everyone who entered into conflict expects victory. Everyone starts out optimistic. But as the hostilities escalate, optimism fades and society begins to collapse.

War. War never changes. It only changes the people that take part in it.

Spoiler:

As a follower of the element of Life, Gwydo is fundamentally opposed to war, as it only brings death and suffering to it’s participants. It goes against everything that “Life” stands for.
Being a paladin, and a “defender” of Life, if necessary, Gwydo would step in to assist in any way he could to help alleviate the death and suffering, protecting those that cannot defend themselves, and striking down those that would inflict harm upon others.
Realizing the dichotomy of his situation, Gwydo knows that he is not necessarily a “Good Person”, but he will fight for those that are.

If Aluvia was to formally get involved, he knows he would have no choice but to join in as well. For this, he is not pleased.

Growing up in the woods, alone except the Olthoi who took care of him, Ashakel is an individualist not too fond of civilization and everything it brings, including war. He has his own goal in life, and he dislikes anything that could prevent him in reaching it, including this War which could restrain his movements across the continent. He doesn't know where his quest will take him, therefore he is worried and doesn't want the upcoming border attacks to escalate to a full-on continent size war, which could mean delaying his mission and his own uncertain future if he somehow gets dragged into the conflict.

However, having seen how civilization hampers individual freedom, which Ashakel greatly values, he's afraid he won't be able to resist joining the conflicts if he sees major injustices being done.

In a good old manga from which a few good things about my character were ripped off, the main character (not the one i based Higgy on, but still), a Bakumatsu war veteran, makes the following remark about the ideology of a certain girl who practices and lives by a kendo discipline that specializes in wooden swords, so as not to take a life: "A sword is a weapon, Kenjutsu is the art of killing. Whatever nice words you pretty it up with, that is the truth of it. The words of miss Kaoru are those of one who has never dirtied her hands - an idealistic joke. However, i do like that joke better than it's true nature. If one can ever ask for so much, i would like the world to accept that joke as it's true nature."

Higaide is not, strictly speaking, a mature person. He grew up in a very capitalist society, so he knows certain cynical truths about how the world works. And he despises them anyway. While part of him may rightly say "everything is only as it is", the other part will counter "but it should be better, and that it isn't is inexcusable". As a certain someone at a certain point very poignantly pointed out about a certain Adelbert guy, Higaide is a person with a very deeply built in sense of right and wrong, and he hates what it does to him. Especially in his current state, in that he has come face to face with it, with the Gnoll-Kobold situation.

He is also someone who sees his options on a very binary level, as in, you either do something or you don't. To illustrate, it's a very good thing, for his sake (and mine), that he doesn't know Phoenix exists, because it would torture him forever in the back of his mind that there was something he could do to right a certain wrong he was partly responsible for, and that not doing it will effectively cause another person, just like himself, to remain dead for the full extent of time that he would have otherwise been alive. And should he, in his current state, find that chance within his reach, no matter how small, boy oh boy, he would go for it. He would not be blind to all the crushing and's, iff's and but's of the matter, but they would always be secondary to the simple primary matter of a person's life. He would do whatever it took to try and help that one insignificant poor sod that, as far as most everyone else would say, just does not matter.

Now, let's admittedly take the guilt factor out of the way, and multiply that impulse for every person he comes across that lives in misery because some politician dudes, who suffer none of the pain the people below them go through, and that they themselves perpetuate by playing around with interests that are so convoluted and go so far above your head that at end of the day are effectively moot to the average person. Yeah.

While he has great reverence and respect for people like Silvina and Gnawbone, who visibly take the lives and pains of the people below them into their own hands and backs, he has nothing but contempt for the stereotypical leader who holds himself high and above the people he's supposed to serve. And it does interfere with his better judgement if he doesn't reign it in with all he has.

At the end of the day, he just wants to hit the road and go where his feet will lead him, worry free. He remains detached from thoughts of war in lands that are not in his immediate vicinity, and whose people he cannot see [/rhyme], perhaps especially because he knows that once he gets involved in it, he probably won't be able to look the other way. He knows there's no way a small fry like him can really do anything about a war, yet if he sees the option to try and make things better for the people suffering from it, he will have to go for it, and's iff's and but's be damned.


EDIT: Too much?

permeus wrote: his masters stepped in and ended the last war

Just an FYI
I verified with Arch last night, there has never been a war in recorded history. your masters may have help prevent the war, but they could not have ended one.

Higaide wrote:EDIT: Too much?

In this setting (at least imho) there is no such thing as "too much" explination. I rather enjoyed the insight it gave me into your character.

If it just so happens that I was able to express Kezrinthka's views in fewer words so be it.

I think that in conflicts like this where there is no clear "good guy/bad guy" and both sides simply dislike one another because of cultural and economic differences both countries engaged in the conflict in his mind are lowered to the status of ether racist, morally inferior, rash, greedy, selfish, or any combination of those things. I think that when on the scale of whole nations there is always an alternative to horrible and deliberate bloodshed, and sometimes if they simply cannot coexist peacefully, the best solution is to simply ignore each other (yet respect established borders) and seek to become economically independent from one another. Keep their thoughts to themselves and don't force them upon other nations' people, unless they want to listen. If people go to war over such trivial things then what is stopping the entire world from falling into utter chaos? It is a silly conflict that can result in nothing but horribly wasted resources, and many good lives tragically lost, And I for one have very, very little tolerance for such bigotry.

While not a supporter of a war in any way, Whis Kor has no objections if the Sho Empire decides if it's in their best interest to begin one against the Confederacy. Although not the strongest supporter of the Sho traditional ways (especially as of recently), it's still be ingrained in him and he will generally support their actions without question. Now, if they were to do obviously cruel and weird actions he would likely begin to question it, but there's not really any concern about that at the moment in his mind.

If/when a war happens, he would likely independently support the Sho Empire in whatever way he could, even though he has been officially discharged. Doing anything that directly supports a side opposing the Sho Empire would be right out unless in very special circumstances such as helping their citizens or anyone not really involved in the war effort.

Haneul, if forced, would side with Navarre, but more than anything wants to visit the elemental temples, and find out about what caused the magical shockwave and the 'new' elemental leyline.

Javan is doesn't have his own opinion formed for a metric ton of things, and many concepts are simply strange to him.

So yeah, he knows war is a bad thing because others said so, and he took his time to try and understand the politics of where he has been traveling, but lack further understanding of it. That said, he know that being open to learning new things will directly influence his own survival, so the answer will come at a later date, in RP form.