(Training) The Wandering Path

[Karth]

Karth 2nd of Fall 510AV "Movement, and grace...." "Power, and beauty...." "Speed, and control...." "This is the meaning of the falls" thought Karth as he studied his favorite waterfall.  "To be able to move gracefully under pressure. To have power, but control. Grace, and beauty. Ferocity, and strength of will"  Karth was having a meditation session. He had been staring mindlessly at the waterfall for a significant amount of time. He had no idea how long. It could be hours, maybe even days. He was about to conclude his brainstorm, when these thoughts crossed his mind. He stood stretching his powerful limbs, which were stiff from his long period of stillness. Once again he glanced at the waterfall.  Then he started a form.... Karth put his arms facing forward palms out. He stood there for a time merely breathing. Then he stepped out turning his body to the left while sweeping his arms to a position of guard. Smoothly stepping into the next position he brought his arms up in a circling motion and then brough them down sharply. Turning again, this time to the right. Karth brought his hands back to center, and bowed to his invisible opponent. He envisioned the opponent, a mirror image of himself, but cruel. You could see it in his eyes, pure hatred. Hatred of life, and all things Karth saw as important. The opponent lashed out, but Karth saw the movement in the tensed shoulders before it landed. Turning to the side he moved his hands in a circle catching the attacking arm. With a quick wrench he broke the shoulder, and compromised the opponent. Once again he bowed... He sat down on the boulder in thought. "By redirecting an opponent you expend no, or very little energy. Only converting your opponents force into an attack." "This seems like a profitable art of combat. The art of using your opponent to create his own undoing. The art of peace. Being peaceful in combat. Much like a waterfall... no one can bend it to his will, and the waterfall is unchanging, but at the same time it will yield to the foolish rock, and wear it down using no excess force. All the while bringing beauty, and life to the forest." "Yes this is what I was meant to find. I will call it the art of the wandering path." "For the practitioner has no path, he uses the paths of others to accomplish his means."

[Karth]

Karth After his exertion Karth sat in meditation. He had spent untold hours discerning movement, and power. Now he sat in mindless meditation. Emptying his mind of rational thought, he became receptive to his spirit. He stirred as dusk came, and daylight slowly faded. He watched the glimmering rays dance upon the pool, under the falls. He listened as the wind whispered to the trees, and the trees that danced in reply. Smelling the refreshing smell of moving water, he rested in quiet ecstasy. As night came on he watched the stars. He saw them rise into the heavens, and thought about their significance. Karth repeated to himself... “beauty, and grace” “Stars are small lights in our view, but many watch them and see their beauty. Many sit and look at them to see the majesty of the night sky. Made up of hundreds, and thousands of minute particles coming together to produce a web of beauty that stretches further then the imagination. Small actions make a difference....” his thoughts wandered aimlessly... subject to subject... logic to aesthetic... violence to peace. Sometime during the night, around the beginnings of the new day. A disturbing thought struck him. Dismissing it at first Karth attempted to move on to another train of thought. This was to no avail. The question had arrived, and it wasn’t showing any sign of leaving. “How can combat be justified with peace?” “They are irrevocably opposite reactions to the same actions. Where one man may murder, another may heal. They are dissimilar, much as day is to night.” These thoughts troubled Karth. He had devoted his life thus far to learning healing, and the art of war. Had he been practicing hypocrisy? His thoughts tore through these questions, until dawn when he decided to go to the source of his passion... the temple of Eyris. The goddess of knowledge. If he could find an answer anywhere it would be in this temple, or in the temple library.

[Karth]

Karth Sitting in the grove of the temples, Karth attempted to gather his thoughts the burning question. He MUST find the answer... It was as if the question itself wanted to be answered. As he sat down in the temple of Eyris he prayed for knowledge, and the ability to discern. He sat praying, and meditating in the temple for hours. He felt reassured while he was in the temple. He felt as if he could touch the edges of Eyris’s robe. He could feel the tantalizing threads of her connection in the temple. It was beautiful... Feeling as if he could stay in this one spot for weeks, Karth was reluctant to leave. But the question needed answering, and he needed to find it’s answer. He stood up, and as he looked around him Karth noticed that the sun was already high in the sky. It was well past noon. “It would be well if I could continue upon my search” he thought absently. After a few final respects, Karth walked toward the great library. He nodded as he passed fellow Jamoura. But they were generally as engrossed in their tasks, as he was in his. So rarely was their any significant greetings. As Karth approached the structure, he was once again amazed by the beauty of the buildings in his country. They flowed in and out of nature, not overpowering but joining with the web of the forest. Passing into the library he looked around for any books that jumped out at him. Not finding any with ease he walked around checking titles. He found books on subjects he barely even knew existed. Thousands of books on logic, and philosophy. This library was indeed Great... After searching for quite a long time Karth found a book titled. ”War and the Militant Pacifist”. It looked promising, so he read the first few pages. Apparently it was written around 300 years ago, by a Jamouran with a love of militant tactics. He insisted that the two subjects of Peace, and war were not opposites, and that they could be reconciled. It seemed like a perfect fit to his confusion. So Karth took it, and asked the Jamoura who ran the library if he could borrow the ancient script. The librarian assented quickly, as the Jamouran libraries are open to all. Most especially a member of the Hahk’maghtar.