To Rule the World (solo)

Alric learns that understanding something, require one to master it. But if he wants to understand everything, does that mean he must become master of all things too?

(This is a thread from Mizahar's fantasy role playing forum. Why don't you register today? This message is not shown when you are logged in. Come roleplay with us, it's fun!)

Considered one of the most mysterious cities in Mizahar, Alvadas is called The City of Illusions. It is the home of Ionu and the notorious Inverted. This city sits on one of the main crossroads through The Region of Kalea.

To Rule the World (solo)

Postby Alric Wilmot on October 13th, 2011, 2:50 am

31st Day of Fall
As Alric enjoyed his walk across the beautiful city of Alvadas, he dodged what seemed to be the 100th puddle of the day. It had rained for most of the morning, and threatened to do so again at any time. As such, many of the citizens braving the grimy streets had much more important things to do than enjoy the scenery.

Alric didn't mind so much, it allowed him to focus on the sites and sounds of Alvadas. On his left was a purple building with only three sides, a peculiarity he had not observed before today. On his right were a row of buildings that seemed to be made of both mirrors and glass, yet at the same time, revealed nothing within their walls. He wore his smile genuinely, as he strolled along the gloomy streets observing many similar structures. Alvadas had stopped teasing him some weeks ago, and had instead, began to show him its splendor and creativity. He was grateful for that. It had been a long time coming.

Still, even though Alvadas had begun to show him its good side, the sky seemed to turn against him. Or perhaps it simply turned against Alvadas? Or, less likely but possible, Ionu? The sky had howled and hollered all week. And several times it resorted to spitting. That was quite unnecessary if you asked Alric. Although, to be fair, Alric had no idea why the sky seemed to be in such an uproar.

As Alric thought ill of the sky, he noticed that several of his fellow citizens had gathered near a street corner that had chosen to appear quite average. However, just as he had begun to think that they might be trying to enjoy the scenery, he heard a man speaking to the public. Intrigued, Alric headed to the crowd to listen in.

"My fellow humans! Listen to me for I have grave news for you all! The world as we know it is ending! All people should hear my words and despair for evil is festering as I speak. We must be vigilant my friends, we must be ever vigilant. The mongrels surrounding us plan for our downfall and destruction! They are afraid, they are afraid of our power! But they have shown that they are not above treachery! We must remind them, my fellows. We must remind them of their fear."

"And who exactly, are those of which you are referring?"

At Alric's sudden interruption of the man's speech, several members of the multitude cast their gaze upon him, most shocked at his audacity. Alric paid them no heed, as he was quite busy observing the man who had been speaking. Likewise the man seemed to do the same, as the crowd parted so that both Alric and the Man could meet eye to eye.

Alric noticed that the man was elegantly dressed, which could be a sign of wealth. Though, that did not always indicate such. Alric was a prime example of that. He was young, obviously not a day over thirty. He wore brown colored trousers, and a blue colored shirt. Both of which seemed to be made of a sturdy cotton. Over his shirt, he wore an expensive looking brown jacket with white trimmings. At his side was a sword, a functional one from the look of it. His skin was a healthy shade, and his hair a dark red and was quite long. All in all, Alric found the man a handsome one. He was quite positive that the man would have no trouble persuading the crowd if left unattended.

As Alric observed the man, he also did the same with Alric. It took less than 5 seconds for both parties to draw their own conclusions about the other. The man gave off a confident smirk as he came to the conclusion that Alric was no threat to him.

"Why, I speak of those who enjoy the fruits of our labor, yet scorn us for our existence. The non-human folk, the Symenestra, the Ephyrians, the Dhani, all of them. All of them would love for nothing more than the human race's eradication. That is who I am talking about. Tell me, stranger, do you disagree with my statements? Do you sympathize with those who wish for your death?"

It was a loaded question, and hardly an intellectual statement. However, Alric had the impression that the man was aware of that. No, its purpose was to try and trip Alric up, make him vilify himself and look the fool. This would result in leaving Alric losing all credibility before he could even assert a counter-argument. Alric was really quite impressed. This man seemed an excellent orator. Alric had always wanted to practice his speaking abilities, or at least have a nice philosophical debate without someone turning a deaf ear. And this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to do so. In all honesty, Alric cared nothing for the topic at hand. However, he did think the man wrong, so he supposed that might be enough motivation to carry him through what seemed to be a rather difficult debate.

"Hardly, I simply think that your narrow-minded ideas are as dangerous as the creatures you speak out against. Surely those such as the Chorodae would rather share the world with us than call for our destruction. And tell me, stranger, how many of these creatures have we human's killed? We are in no danger from them. We humans are strong, we have proved such time and again. Why should we fear these beings, even if they did wish our demise? I should think us more than capable of dealing with any race who wish us evil."

several members of the crowd started to whisper among themselves, seemingly siding with Alric. Still, there seemed to be others who were still unsure which side they should listen to. The red-haired man, however, continued to smile. He wasn't phased by some nobody.

"Oh? Well which is it then? is it that they are all benevolent and all violence between us is because of misunderstandings? Or that we are the ones to blame for conflict? You seem to imply both. My dear sir, if you wish to make a point then make it. It is poor argumentative strategy calling me narrow-minded and then using an example of the Chorodae, when I in fact spoke nothing of them. So make up your mind. Are you attacking me? Are you changing the topic? Or are you actually trying to say that we shouldn't take pre-emptive action because we are so greatly superior?"

Again the crowd murmured quickly changing its allegiance, once more. Alric shook his head, people were so fickle. Still, this red-haired man was right. He was rather poor at communicating. However, he wasn't going to give up that easily. He still had time to recover from his blunder, and he was going to do so.

"To be perfectly honest, I meant to say all of those at once. However, if you truly can't keep up with the flow of topics I'll reduce my input to this." Alric paused, hoping he wasn't making a fool of himself. "We humans, if we take the time to understand our fellow races, are in no danger of being eradicated. For example, a Symenestra is easily coerced if promised they can please their god Viratas in some other way. An Ephyrian is easily defeated if their vanity is best served elsewhere. And the Dhani are simply too individualistic to pose a threat to the whole of our race. Maybe a singular human, but not the entirety of our race."

The crowd remained silent this time, no longer sure if the argument was able to be won by either party. Indeed, the street was now silent save the constant dripping of the still wet roofs and splashing of puddles by the non-interested passerby.

The red-haired man stopped smirking, obviously losing patience with this stranger who interrupted his call to arms. But he was far from beaten, far from it.

"So, you claim to understand the races so well as to predict the future? Strange, I had not noticed your mark of Avalis. How careless of me." The man grimaced, and spat on the ground, showing his distaste of Alric.

"To understand something such as the dangers posed to our race, to understand the real motivations behind humanity's fellow races, is beyond the capability of a mere mortal. You claim to know how to manipulate these beings, yet you seem unaware of their knowledge. I assure you, they know our weaknesses as well. And just as not every human will fall for their traps and lies, neither will they fall for yours. We humans may be more populous than any single race. However, what of the combined forces of our adversaries? Do you claim to understand that kind of power? I tell you, unless you claim to be a deity yourself, you can't even hope to understand that future."

Alric wasn't nearly as frustrated as the man was. Instead, he was intrigued. And also, he was a bit worried. It had been his dream, his goal, to learn all the world had to offer. Many people had laughed at the idea, true. But Alric had never known why. Could this be the reason so many had scoffed at the idea? Was it really impossible for a mortal to understand things as large as the world? Alric had made no claim to know the future, but he supposed he had over-stepped his bounds in trying to explain away an entire race. He shook his head. What on earth was he thinking? To generalize an entire race like that, it was foolish. Yet, wasn't that what the red-haired man was doing? Was he not also claiming to know the future?

With that thought in mind, Alric decided to jump back into the debate. "I must admit, I was in error before, when I claimed to know the motivations of so many diverse people. And you are right, I don't know the future. However, I might say the same of you. Just as I don't know if we as the human race would survive; You do not know if the human race would be vanquished. And you too generalize an entire race. You assume they would all attack us, yet you fail to realize that there are those who would help us. I may not understand the world as well as I thought, but neither do you."

The red-haired man didn't retort for a long time, and many of the watching crowd was nodding in agreement with Alric's words. The rain began to fall again, and the wind picked it up in a cold fury. Very soon, the storm from earlier that morning was back in full swing, and all but the most curious decided to leave the two debaters in favor for a dry shelter.

The red-haired man finally spoke after a good five minutes. He was no longer angry, but seemed rather sincere and strained. "Well, stranger, I suppose I was a bit... hasty. But tell me, wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry? If I'm wrong, then we are no worse off. But if you are wrong, you have doomed us all. Don't you understand that? Even if I'm wrong, we will lose nothing."

Alric shook his head. "Yes, we will. We would lose the kinship of those races. We would become exactly what you fear the Dhani, Symenestra, and Ephyrians to be. We would lose oursleves and that is why I have stopped you." Alric gestured to the places where only moments earlier, a crowd had listened and agreed with every word this man had said. "Look around you, no one is listening anymore. They understood the need for trust. They may not know what the future holds, like you and I. But they trust that it will be in their favor. I ask you, will you do the same?"

The red-haired man gave a glare at Alric, and proceeded to give a rebuttal. "Trust is for the weak, and uncertain. I refuse to gamble away my future. These people may not have understood the danger, but I assure you, there will be others like me. And when the time comes, it will be those like me, that keeps people like you alive. You speak of understanding, but you fail to realize that to understand something is to master it and control it. To know it and dominate it completely. If you wish to know the truth of the other races, if you wish to know the future, if you wish to confirm humanity's safety, nay, the world's safety, you must become master of it!"

Alric had nothing to say to that.
"I'm Speaking"
"I'm speaking and using hypnosis"
I'm implanting thoughts using hypnosis
I have implanted an Obsession
Image
User avatar
Alric Wilmot
The Last Wilmot
 
Posts: 427
Words: 375060
Joined roleplay: September 8th, 2011, 12:05 am
Location: Ravok
Blog: View Blog (7)
Race: Human
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Journal
Plotnotes
Medals: 2
Peer Reviewer (1) Overlored (1)

To Rule the World (solo)

Postby Fallacy on December 12th, 2011, 6:55 pm

XP Award!


Name:Alric
XP Award:
  • Philosophy- 4
  • Rhetoric- 4
  • Persuasion- 3
  • Observation- 2
Lore:
  • Debating conflicting ideals
  • The 'Red Haired Mans' Stance
  • Not backing down from a challenge
  • To know is to master
Notes:

This was a really well written and thought out thread. I loved the debate, and the fact that Alric did not use hypnosis to try to sway him one way or the other. Alric is a true character that kept to his guns, and really tried to defend his stance. Really did a good job, and I found nothing really 'wrong' with the thread other than if you want to use the red haired man more and more in a thread please make him into an NPC :) Its not a hard process and can be easily found in the lore.

Any questions or concerns about the rewards gained please send a PM :)


12 hour shifts have started, and Im working 6-7 days a week mandatory overtime. My replies will be slow until I can adjust to this new groove.
User avatar
Fallacy
I think you're crazy just like me.
 
Posts: 965
Words: 493223
Joined roleplay: June 23rd, 2011, 7:58 pm
Location: DS of Alvadas, Mod abilities in The Unforgiving
Race: Staff account
Office
Scrapbook
Medals: 2
Featured Contributor (1) Donor (1)


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests