Lady of Ice
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
[SIZE=9pt]GENERAL INFORMATION[/SIZE]
~~~Excerpt from the Thesis of Lunara Grayson~~~
[SIZE=9pt]The Church began its existence with only a handful of trained force users, our historical records put it at only 25, the founders whose names have gone down in the annals of our history. These were the original 25 force users who had been caught up in the original exodus, moving their way through the refugee ships during the journey. We already know that during their journey and in the first years of the founding of the Imperium how important they were in settling disputes without calling in the weight of the law. Yet with the founding of the Church of Light those 25 found their responsibilities had increased. No longer were they solely responsible for helping the people in front of them, nor was theirs just the mission of training force users, instead, those 25 individuals now needed to provide care to the entire Imperium and to train all the force users that would be born thereafter. Even with the addition of willing non-force users to their ranks this was an incredible task, especially for the users who were themselves of differing abilities and levels of training.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]If all 25 had been able to focus on one task, on the training of new force users then maybe they could have provided a cadre which would have been able to maintain their force tradition down through the ages. Sadly, that simply wasn't possible, their responsibilities were too spread out, their time too needed for them to be able to concentrate in one place as they had wanted to. Instead, only 5 of the trained force users could be spared to train future force users, while the remainder were forced to use their talents to assist the growing Imperium. This wasn’t nearly enough masters to train all the acolytes coming their way, and they were forced to give up the one on one training regime that was so popular with other groups of force users, as our contact with the wider galaxy has pointed out. Instead of the path of the Jedi or the Sith the early church of light created a more formalised lesson structure forming their students into classes who maximise the time and effort of the teachers. This meant that they couldn’t teach more than the basics though, there wasn’t enough time to pass on the more advanced techniques, not knowing how dangerous force users could be.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Those first years of learning were characterised by teaching people to use their power responsibly, while only the most basic of lessons were taught the character focus of that time can still be seen today in the training provided to our paladins especially. The roots of the past are strong within the church, but as the classes were taught in the past, it was inevitable that the students would experiment with the new abilities that were opening up to them. Especially as they became the teachers. The Light in those days, what the rest of the galaxy refers to as the force, was barely understood, the early church knew that it was capable of amazing deeds though, mental and physical. It was those physical abilities which were easiest to explore, and where much of our tradition is based. Early manipulation of fire led to the naming of the order of flame, and we have always, since then, been a tradition which has focused heavily upon the elements.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Pyrokinesis is the amongst the first skill that’s learned by acolytes who can touch the light, the founders of the church believed that learning to control the energy of the flame was a good way to learn fine control. Weaving the flame into patterns and designs required a control over the flow of energy that serves in learning to both respect the light, and to manipulate it. This then progresses out into the creation of fire, the fine control of using the light to create a spark that you can manipulate. It is at this point that the tradition of the Church really diversifies from the traditions of the Jedi and other force traditions, while our paladins are very similar to users of other factions, differing primarily in their affinity for use of elemental attributes in conjunction with their attacks, I do not see many traditions aside from the Sith sorcerers who are analogous to our mages. As a summary, the Paladins of the Church are those who chose to hone their ability to utilise the light to support themselves in combat or defensive situations. The mages, however, are those who chose to step back from that, with an affinity for losing themselves in the use of the light and in their control over it. While we demand all members of the church to know how to defend themselves, those who have an affinity for control of the light to the extent of the mages are rare, while often not the best fighters their abilities on the battlefield should not be dismissed and they often provide the linchpin of a battle with their ability to weave the light into vast displays of power. It is the mages who can rain shards of ice upon an enemy army, or attack with a thousand fireballs, it is they to who are most capable of providing intangible benefits to our troops, connecting them in the light. While the number o mages might be rare, they are often amongst the most innovative and precious resources of respective generations of the church.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]In studying the other force traditions of the galaxy we can see that there is a focus on what they call the Light and Dark sides of the force. Classifying certain abilities as evil, and to be shied away from, or to be abused. The Church has no such compunctions, without the history the Jedi and Jensarii, the sith have had we were forced to find another way to look at the Light. As a gun is only a tool, a sword is a tool, the Light is but a tool in our hands. What’s more important to the church is the intent behind the use of the Light. If it is used to heal or to kill, that is the difference in the use of the light. If a tool is used to help people, then no matter what that tool is it can only be helpful. Whether it’s fire, ice, electricity, these can help as much as they can hurt. It is in the use of the Light to hurt people that the church ran into problems, problems that were assuaged by the creation of the Order of the Shadow. It is a sad necessity to have those warriors willing to use their abilities to strike first, to attack without being attacked or provoked themselves.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The Orders of the Shadow and Flame exist in balance, the two sides of the same coin, both orders train people to fight, train them in combat. The difference is, where the Flame is focused on defending people, the Shadows are focused on the act of killing, or using their abilities to hurt people. Both orders are focused on serving the people of the Imperium, and both fill a necessary role, it is just unfortunate that the warrior based Order of Shadows are vilified by the rest of the Imperium for their willingness to strike first and to strike hard, often in stealth and from the very shadows they’re named after.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]~End of Excerpt~[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]~Excerpt from the chapter on uses of the light~[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]It appears, upon examination of the records made available to us by records of the wider galaxy that there are traditions out there that have existed for longer than the Church has, and which may in some areas be deeper and have a greater history, in others are perplexingly limited. The lightside traditions as a whole seem to limit their access to the force for fear that certain abilities draw on emotion, I refer to the majority of the Jedi’s unwillingness to use electrical based attacks. Their ability to internalise the force seems greater than all but the greatest of our paladins, but when it comes to fine control and manipulation of the elements around us, they seem to fail t follow us in that regard. While we have some examples of their use of these elemental powers, the majority seem to shy away from them.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]While it is undeniable that our understanding of the light has far to go by mere dint of the time spent learning about it, it is my belief that in terms of practical use of the light we are equal to any tradition out there, different but not inferior as some people feared. We have much to learn, and there are whole aspects of the light that we have never considered, but despite that, in some areas, we actually seem to have the advantage, in particular, our ability to manipulate and control the elements seems to be our greatest asset, as all members of the church have the ability to manipulate and shape all the elements, and our mages, in particular, are capable of great feats.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]~End of Excerpt~[/SIZE]
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
[SIZE=9pt]The text was written by Lunara Grayson, now known as Lunara Azure, during her final year as an acolyte as part of her tests for promotion. The topic she chose was an examination of the Traditions of the Church of light in comparison to the information made available to the Imperium about the other force traditions of the galaxy.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Intent: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]To submit an excerpt from a thesis explaining the force tradition of the Azure Imperium as written by Lunara Azure[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Image Credit:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] N/A[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Links:[/SIZE]
Azure Imperiumhttp://starwarsrp.net/topic/138096-azure-imperium/
Lunara Azurehttp://starwarsrp.net/user/19936-lunara-azure/
Church of Lighthttp://starwarsrp.net/topic/138447-the-church-of-the-light/#entry1885458
[SIZE=9pt]GENERAL INFORMATION[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Media Name: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]The Force Traditions of the Azure Imperium[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Format:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Thesis[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Distribution:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Scattered[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] (select locations through the galaxy): Available in all branches of the Church of Light records[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Length: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Medium[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Description: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]The text was written by Lunara Azure as part of her honours thesis, required for her graduation from Acolyte of the church school with honours.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Author:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Lunara Azure[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Publisher:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Church of Light[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Reception: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Liked by the members of the church the Thesis passed and Lunara’s promotion went through with high honours.[/SIZE]
~~~Excerpt from the Thesis of Lunara Grayson~~~
[SIZE=9pt]The Church began its existence with only a handful of trained force users, our historical records put it at only 25, the founders whose names have gone down in the annals of our history. These were the original 25 force users who had been caught up in the original exodus, moving their way through the refugee ships during the journey. We already know that during their journey and in the first years of the founding of the Imperium how important they were in settling disputes without calling in the weight of the law. Yet with the founding of the Church of Light those 25 found their responsibilities had increased. No longer were they solely responsible for helping the people in front of them, nor was theirs just the mission of training force users, instead, those 25 individuals now needed to provide care to the entire Imperium and to train all the force users that would be born thereafter. Even with the addition of willing non-force users to their ranks this was an incredible task, especially for the users who were themselves of differing abilities and levels of training.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]If all 25 had been able to focus on one task, on the training of new force users then maybe they could have provided a cadre which would have been able to maintain their force tradition down through the ages. Sadly, that simply wasn't possible, their responsibilities were too spread out, their time too needed for them to be able to concentrate in one place as they had wanted to. Instead, only 5 of the trained force users could be spared to train future force users, while the remainder were forced to use their talents to assist the growing Imperium. This wasn’t nearly enough masters to train all the acolytes coming their way, and they were forced to give up the one on one training regime that was so popular with other groups of force users, as our contact with the wider galaxy has pointed out. Instead of the path of the Jedi or the Sith the early church of light created a more formalised lesson structure forming their students into classes who maximise the time and effort of the teachers. This meant that they couldn’t teach more than the basics though, there wasn’t enough time to pass on the more advanced techniques, not knowing how dangerous force users could be.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Those first years of learning were characterised by teaching people to use their power responsibly, while only the most basic of lessons were taught the character focus of that time can still be seen today in the training provided to our paladins especially. The roots of the past are strong within the church, but as the classes were taught in the past, it was inevitable that the students would experiment with the new abilities that were opening up to them. Especially as they became the teachers. The Light in those days, what the rest of the galaxy refers to as the force, was barely understood, the early church knew that it was capable of amazing deeds though, mental and physical. It was those physical abilities which were easiest to explore, and where much of our tradition is based. Early manipulation of fire led to the naming of the order of flame, and we have always, since then, been a tradition which has focused heavily upon the elements.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Pyrokinesis is the amongst the first skill that’s learned by acolytes who can touch the light, the founders of the church believed that learning to control the energy of the flame was a good way to learn fine control. Weaving the flame into patterns and designs required a control over the flow of energy that serves in learning to both respect the light, and to manipulate it. This then progresses out into the creation of fire, the fine control of using the light to create a spark that you can manipulate. It is at this point that the tradition of the Church really diversifies from the traditions of the Jedi and other force traditions, while our paladins are very similar to users of other factions, differing primarily in their affinity for use of elemental attributes in conjunction with their attacks, I do not see many traditions aside from the Sith sorcerers who are analogous to our mages. As a summary, the Paladins of the Church are those who chose to hone their ability to utilise the light to support themselves in combat or defensive situations. The mages, however, are those who chose to step back from that, with an affinity for losing themselves in the use of the light and in their control over it. While we demand all members of the church to know how to defend themselves, those who have an affinity for control of the light to the extent of the mages are rare, while often not the best fighters their abilities on the battlefield should not be dismissed and they often provide the linchpin of a battle with their ability to weave the light into vast displays of power. It is the mages who can rain shards of ice upon an enemy army, or attack with a thousand fireballs, it is they to who are most capable of providing intangible benefits to our troops, connecting them in the light. While the number o mages might be rare, they are often amongst the most innovative and precious resources of respective generations of the church.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]In studying the other force traditions of the galaxy we can see that there is a focus on what they call the Light and Dark sides of the force. Classifying certain abilities as evil, and to be shied away from, or to be abused. The Church has no such compunctions, without the history the Jedi and Jensarii, the sith have had we were forced to find another way to look at the Light. As a gun is only a tool, a sword is a tool, the Light is but a tool in our hands. What’s more important to the church is the intent behind the use of the Light. If it is used to heal or to kill, that is the difference in the use of the light. If a tool is used to help people, then no matter what that tool is it can only be helpful. Whether it’s fire, ice, electricity, these can help as much as they can hurt. It is in the use of the Light to hurt people that the church ran into problems, problems that were assuaged by the creation of the Order of the Shadow. It is a sad necessity to have those warriors willing to use their abilities to strike first, to attack without being attacked or provoked themselves.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The Orders of the Shadow and Flame exist in balance, the two sides of the same coin, both orders train people to fight, train them in combat. The difference is, where the Flame is focused on defending people, the Shadows are focused on the act of killing, or using their abilities to hurt people. Both orders are focused on serving the people of the Imperium, and both fill a necessary role, it is just unfortunate that the warrior based Order of Shadows are vilified by the rest of the Imperium for their willingness to strike first and to strike hard, often in stealth and from the very shadows they’re named after.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]~End of Excerpt~[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]~Excerpt from the chapter on uses of the light~[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]It appears, upon examination of the records made available to us by records of the wider galaxy that there are traditions out there that have existed for longer than the Church has, and which may in some areas be deeper and have a greater history, in others are perplexingly limited. The lightside traditions as a whole seem to limit their access to the force for fear that certain abilities draw on emotion, I refer to the majority of the Jedi’s unwillingness to use electrical based attacks. Their ability to internalise the force seems greater than all but the greatest of our paladins, but when it comes to fine control and manipulation of the elements around us, they seem to fail t follow us in that regard. While we have some examples of their use of these elemental powers, the majority seem to shy away from them.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]While it is undeniable that our understanding of the light has far to go by mere dint of the time spent learning about it, it is my belief that in terms of practical use of the light we are equal to any tradition out there, different but not inferior as some people feared. We have much to learn, and there are whole aspects of the light that we have never considered, but despite that, in some areas, we actually seem to have the advantage, in particular, our ability to manipulate and control the elements seems to be our greatest asset, as all members of the church have the ability to manipulate and shape all the elements, and our mages, in particular, are capable of great feats.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]~End of Excerpt~[/SIZE]
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
[SIZE=9pt]The text was written by Lunara Grayson, now known as Lunara Azure, during her final year as an acolyte as part of her tests for promotion. The topic she chose was an examination of the Traditions of the Church of light in comparison to the information made available to the Imperium about the other force traditions of the galaxy.[/SIZE]
