Andaris Library
A late night last night and an early morning today. Sintih had been spending many breaks in the library over the past few trials and he would continue to do so while his thoughts remained in disarray like they were. Every time he wrote something down and giving him a chance to settle down, more thoughts and ideas kept flowing in. This trial, Sin was sitting without any other books or notes in front of him, just him, the quill and ink and the empty piece of paper on the desk.
Why ranks should be based on proven merit and ability and not be able to be bought. It was a long and windy title and most likely one that Sin would never be able to put out there if he ever wanted to combine all these writings into a book or tome of some description. Understanding people is one of the most difficult things to do. Seeing a person's nature, their thoughts, is a skill that is highly coveted, or should be, by any ruler. Whether it is a natural affinity for others and being able to read them like a book or whether it is a magic that allows you to read what goes on in someone's mind matters not. What is important is the ability itself. Such a commodity should be prized above all, more so than even the heart of a Jacadon.
Good and bad are different and their appearances often are clouded or mixed together. Not one being in existence is perfectly good or bad. People who steal might do so in order to feed their children. People who praise others out loud might think them fools deep inside. Cowards in the face of battle might have no problem standing up for their friends in a social argument. The man who kills for a living might be a doting father when he's at home while the friendly doctor that healed you might have poisoned entire villages before he came to you. Good and evil are both parts of a person and being entirely part of one of the two is impossible.
Sin quickly read over his words, happy to see the lack of mistakes in his text. He knew he felt strongly about these things, something that had stuck with him ever since he'd applied for becoming a squire. He'd seen many a knight capable with weaponry in a higher rank while they were mean to new squires. And he met knights of the lowest rank who showed a deeper intelligence and understanding of the military than most others. The system seemed flawed to the young, and ambitious, Eidisi.
So then how would you determine who is who when you lack the ability of insight or the skill of magic to determine the true value of a person? There are various tests designed by better minds than mine that could seek out the truth in people but most of them all come down to six simple ideas. What you need to look for in a person is as follows:
- Question them about law, right and wrong to observe their ideas.
- Outmaneuver them in an argument so that they lose verbal legs, see how they change.
- Present them with a problem and see how they go about solving it.
- Arrange for trouble to see how they react to it.
- Present them with profit to determine their modesty.
- Give them a task and a time limit and see how trustworthy they are.
With these questions and actions, you can determine the person someone is underneath their natural mask. Where you should make the mistake, however, is expecting someone to pass all of these tests. Only the truly legendary can pass all of these tests and come out as near perfect examples of beings.
Sin dipped his quill back into the ink. This time, the words seemed to just flow out, as if he was literally turning his thoughts into ink on paper. He'd never been so efficient before. He hadn't slept better than usual last night nor had his breakfast been different from any other trial. Sin couldn't find a good reason as to why he was doing so well this trial but seeing that he was, he wasn't about to waste time thinking about it when he could use it to get some extra work done now.
Now, why do these tests and questions matter to the appointment of a commander? Commanders come in all shapes and sizes, with their own desires and plans for the future. How can one person know them and assign them to the best of their potential? How could anyone not immortal understand all these thoughts going on underneath the exterior of any man. Or woman, for the ability to command is not limited by sex or race or physical or mental capacity. Now, I understand you are probably questioning why I don't consider a lack of physical or mental capacity negative for a commander.
There are many historical commanders that we take stock from, that are used to measure the current selection of commanders by any nation or ruler. In total, there are nine types of commanders that one could be classified as. It isn't unheard of for someone to embody two or even three of these classes.
Those with high morale standards, who guide with virtue and are courteous to all, who know when their troops need to rest, to eat or to warm up, are called humanistic generals.
Those who do not run away from a task, who aren't interested in riches and who hold honor above all, are called dutiful generals.
Those who are humble, who don't boast about their victory, who can tolerate others despite being stronger than them, are called courteous generals.
Those who you cannot grasp, whose movements and responses are as varied as the immortals of Idalos, who are struck with disaster but come out with fortune, who turn imminent defeat into absolute victory, are called clever generals.
Those who reward and punish according to the action, who give rewards when promised and whose penalties are the same for all ranks, are called trustworthy generals.
Those who go on foot or by horse, who can take on a hundred men, who are skilled with all close ranged weaponry, are called infantry generals
Those who cross vast distances in the blink of an eye, who can shoot from a horse or a the sky and hit the wings of a fly, who are in the vanguard when attacking and in the rear guard when retreating, are called cavalry generals.
Those who can make an army tremble with their name alone and whose determination makes light of powerful enemies, who are hesitant to engage in a meaningless fight while courageous in major battles, are called fierce generals.
Those who consider themselves lacking when they see the wise, who follow good advice like a river, who can forgive their rivals but are firm, who are uncomplicated in person but difficult in their strategies, are called great generals.
These are the nine types of generals you will find in the world. Out of these, the infantry, cavalry and the fierce commander are all physical commanders. That is not to say that they lack in mental abilities but they rely more on their own presence and skill at arms to lead their troops than on clever tactics or long hours of preparation. The other six commanders, the humanistic, dutiful, courteous, clever, trustworthy and the great commander, are all mental type commanders. As before, they aren't weak when it comes to ability at arms but they rely more on preparing and devious schemes and tactics to position themselves better than the enemy in order to take them down.
Write out:
- Commander capacity (amount of knights commanded)
- Negative traits of generals
- Loyalty
- Skills and desires
Sin leaned back from his work, holding it up with one hand as he read over it carefully. Not having used any books to write from, Sin was surprised to see the amount of mistakes he'd made was zero. Using his own thoughts to create a text seemed to befit him better than constantly going back and forth between various books and tomes and trying to combine their words with his own to form a proper sentence he could understand six or ten arcs from now. The only problem with writing from his own thoughts was that it was all wishful thinking. At best they were untested theories he had about the current system or how they should do things. None of that meant that he had the experience or knowledge to actually be right about what had been written.
Sin put the quill down and closed the ink well to prevent spilling any of it. He sprinkled some of the fine sand on his paper in order to dry the ink more quickly. The process took only a few trills during which Sin made sure he had all his belongings with him. When he thought the ink to be sufficiently dry, he picked up the sheet of paper he'd written it on and put it underneath his cloak as he pulled it tight around him. The cold Ashan air would cut right through his clothes if he wasn't packed in nicely. The trip home was done carefully to prevent slipping and falling in the mud of the season.
