Who Wants to be a Wayfinder? The New Class

[Ozmar]

I'm highly wary of the Mournlands, but if I'm devoted to meeting nature in all her forms, I can't dismiss it outright. I'll lean us another way if I can, but I'm game even for that, given enough interest from everyone else."[/color]

"At the risk of renewing a past argument and, perhaps, undermining any rationale for this one's preferred choice of exploration, this one is wondering whether it is really proper to classify the Mournlands as a part of 'nature'. It certainly seems to have been a unique occurance, insofar as no event of similar scope or magnitude has ever been recorded, to this one's knowledge. Given the inclinations of the warring states during the Last War, it seems likely that the destruction of Cyre, and its transformation into a most 'unnatural' environment was the intentional outcome of a magical and man-made event."

 

[ShaggySpellsword]

"Whatever the Mounlands is, nature or disaster site, I say we go about this all orderly-like. We each speak up on the three trips that sound most intrestin' to us, an' then we'll debate the high points of the ones that get th' most votes. If one is clearly the mos' popular, I guess that's where we'll be. My vote's is for Khyber, Cyre, or a trip down to Xen'Drik. I'll save m'piece of reasons fer when ya'll have voted."

 

[Ozmar]

"This one votes for the Mournlands, Khyber, and the Demon Wastes. This one knows very little about any of these areas and is eager to explore them."

 

[jkason]

Midian

Midian bites his lip and thinks a moment, then sets forth his choices: "the Serens of Argonessen, Xen'Drik, or Riedra," then he turns to Boromar to answer his question.

[OOC: I figure the rest of this is a one-on-one conversation overhearable but equally dismissable (depending on a given character's interest in hearing Boromar and Midian have another of their "nature talk" tangents), so I'll s-block it to let folks decide if their character wants to listen in or not]

[sblock]Midian tilts his head and smiles patiently at the warforged. "Now you, Bor, I should think know my answer by now, but given your tenacious curiousity, I'll indulge.

"Some birds bore holes in trees to make their homes. Badgers and moles dig tunnels and burrows in previously untouched ground. There are plants whose life cycles are seemingly devoted to strangling the life out of every other strain of plant in their territory. A breed of wasp lays its eggs in the bodies of grub worms, so their offspring eat the worm alive when they're born.

"All of these are obvious examples of a creature exerting its will on the world, many of them clearly destructive to other forms of life. However, I suspect there isn't a druidic tradition around that would declaim them as unnatural. That the sentient races have a wildly larger affect on the world when they exert their will is undeniable, but given the examples, I have a hard time seeing how it's not natural."

Midian chuckles and gestures for another drink. "Or, rather, I'd have a hard time explaining to the poor grub worm why people seem to think nature enjoys its plight but rails against those of the Mournland.

"Should we work to find a balancing natural enemy for effects like the Mourning? Certainly. Should we claim nature abhors its very existence? I'm not so readily convinced."[/sblock]

 

[Ozmar]

Boromar speaks aside to the druid...

[sblock]
The warforged considers this. "Yes, we have discussed this before, but while this one understands your logic, it remains unconvinced that there is no value in utilizing the common understanding of the term 'natural'. For to be sure, you can, as you have done, make a very strong case that the 'natural' world encompasses all that exists, and that it is therefore meaningless to distinguish between 'natural' and 'unnatural' actors. Yet the more common understanding of this term indicates that people (generally) do find the distinction to be useful."

"This one has been thinking on this for some time, and it wonders whether you see any value in distinguishing between the following various 'levels' of actors: At the lowest level, there are inanimate forces such as wind, rocks, and water. One level up, perhaps, there are plants and more-or-less stationary living actors. The next level would be non-sentient creatures such as animals (although from what this one understands, some druids would object to any distinction between animals and the higher humanoids, but let us stipulate a difference for the sake of following this line of reasoning). The next level would be intelligent humanoids such as yourself. The next level would be magic. For magical forces are quite beyond the capabilities of the common animals. Only intelligent beings have mastered them, and then only imperfectly. Please note that this one does not insist that any of these levels of actors are 'unnatural'."

"This one's question is, is there some quality that is present in various levels in each of these actors? Certainly plants are 'above' rocks, as plants live and grow and reproduce, and rocks do not do these things. Similarly, animals are 'above' plants, as they can move and speak and seem to be more aware of their environment. (This one concedes that these generalizations are not absolute.)"

"The common understanding or utility of 'unnatural' would have that certain uses of magic such as the creation of undead beings, or perhaps all magic, as well as certain technological developments, such as the creation of warforged, are beyond the realm of 'nature' in that they are only created by this last category of actors. This one understands that you deny that there is a meaningful distinction, but this one maintains that your denials seem to be outside the common understanding of this term, and this one wonders whether you see a meaningful distinction here and would like to propose another term for this distinction?"

"You say that warforged and undead are not 'unnatural' by your formulation of that term, yet many people say that they are 'unnatural'. This one suspects that you are using the term differently than many others. Perhaps you would like to use an alternate term to describe warforged and undead?"
[/sblock]

 

[jkason]

Midian

Midian chews his lip again, then nods, conceding to Boromar.

[sblock]"You're probably right that my arguments are perhaps more with the semantics than with the sentiments. I'm certainly not claiming the Mourning or anything of its like is good in any sense, that's for sure.

"If you're looking for a term that lets us demarcate warforged and undead, how about the simple 'constructs'? It speaks to the earthbound sentient actors who took part in giving them life without dismissing them out of hand for their unique parentage."

Midian takes a drink from his mug when it arrives and leans back. "And that," he declares, "is about all the nature philosophizing I have in me this evening, Bor. What with the surprise lack of diplomas and the decisions to be made yet, I'll save my mental energies for the possibly-lengthy group debate I think we might have here."[/sblock]

 

[Ozmar]

Boromar accepts this, knowing that his flesh-and-blood fellow students quickly tire of subjects that he would spend days discussing, if possible. He takes the hint and quietly thinks on what Midian has said.

 

[Shayuri]

Whisper toys idly with her glass, shooing the suds around in a little spiral. She has yet to drink, since for that she'd have to remove the mask and reveal some face or another. And she wasn't in the mood for that just yet. This was a time for truth.

"I then cast my vote for the Mournland, the Seren Isles, or Xen'drik. In deference to our loquacious friend, I retract my earlier suggestion of Riedra."

She raises her glass to Boromar.

 

[SelcSilverhand]

Vhir ponders long and hard before voicing his opinion.

"We've all heard stories about the cursed place called the Mournlands. A site of tragic death and destruction. My mentor said the spirits of the land are tormented there and warned me away. He pauses for a moment before continuing. "However there we may be able to do some good and put some of those spirits to rest."

"Though Frostfell, Riedra, the Demon Wastes, and other exotic locales have a great appeal, I feel personally drawn to the wounded land.

 

[Bront]

"My personal preference would be the Demon Wastes, Aerenal, and perhaps Riedra. I think I could pass on a mournland trip for now. I agree that we need to be a bit more... seasoned for something as unique as that." Johan adds.