comment: | Thomas Morgan, brainwashed judge, brother of [[TrainMorgan]] Confucius is relevant as the guy who banished Items of Power from Earth to give humans an even playing field and avoid distracting. * Trying to take over * Trying to keep the items of power here, to keep Earth as it is. * Dedicating items to a faction is ok, that doesn't spread to the real world as more than fiction. * Good guy protecting the real world from magic items/power corrupts. * May want to destroy items, via some sort of destructive Item or Woglys * Against the magic slider * Question: What place does magic have in the real world? ** Or something about how he can justify denying others the choice about magic to preserve their independence? ** "Is it the humane thing to preserve human independence by keeping magic from the world, knowing the suffering that magic could prevent?" ** Answer1: Self-reliance will better allow people to end their own suffering. ** Answer2: Even good magic can be corrupted and taint humanity. (Thomas Morgan's canonical question was "Why do such terrible things happen in the world?", if we want to use that.) name: Confucius player: Jayson Lynch gender: m stuff: | [[Light]], [[Royal]], [[History]], [[Persuasive]], [[Local]], [[ThomasFake]] contacts: |- \Saruman{Some sort of wizard. It's \their kind that were corrupting and enslaving humanity before you put an end to all that magic nonsense.}} \Publisher{\They is actually a friend of yours, despite being from the \Wild{} faction. \They is more interested in information than science, but the two are often one and the same. Besides, it is nice to have a friend to chat with about the philosophy of helping humanity.} body: |- <> \cenquote{"Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself."}{-- Confucius} Earth needs to be free of distractions. Magic merely diverts the attention of humanity from truly great things. Magic makes them think that they are powerful. Power corrupts. With too much power, humanity will inevitably destroy itself. While some might be fine with this, you are not. Once upon a time, the Earth was filled with all sorts of items of power, leaving magical trails of chaos and destruction in their wake. You did not approve. Many listened to your teachings, but even they were swayed by the promise of magic. The temptation of power. Somehow, you had to protect them, even against their wishes. With a wave of your hand and a few well-chosen ritual words, you banished the items of power and their corrupting influence on the Earth. As always, you sought to save humanity from themselves. Humanity must be protected. This is the code of Sterility. Here in the Place Without Recourse, that which does not exist can be given form. Ii Ma, the horrid bulk, the terrible ruler of the Place, holds back the chaos and hides many dangerous things from humanity (some of which you banished from the earth to begin with). But now, he (it?) lays dying, his hold over the Place weakening. Someone must take charge! Order must be preserved! If need be, that person will be you. You have taught others the right way to act -- the principles of sound judgement and the proper concerns of a sage. Your teachings have always provided the masses with the correct way to live, even if they didn't understand it then. You know what needs to be done. The unreal places and the things that are not will be coming into existence, whether you will it or no. However, if they are kept in the Place Without Recourse, then the ruler -- in his capacity as a Fetch, a secret-keeping sequestering god -- can hide the contents from humanity. So, let the others recreate the world. Let them quest for their items of power. Let them dedicate them to their philosophies. But do not allow any of them to be sent back to Earth. This must not be allowed. You would rather see them destroyed. You know that your opinions are not shared by everyone. \Saruman, for instance, always makes a big show out of \Saruman{\their} magical experiments and magical creature eugenics projects. \Saruman{\They} will probably never truly comprehend the danger these items pose to humanity -- but others might. For instance, you have found an unexpected friend in \Publisher. Sure, \Publisher{\they} might be a little over-obsessed with the freedom of information, but facts are what science is built from! It's always fun to have someone with whom to debate the best way of helping humanity. Similarly, magic must not be allowed back on Earth. Science is the way of the real world, a tool that humanity can safely use. This is a time when change is possible, but magic is a corrupting influence. Although... at times like these, you recall the question that Ii Ma posed to you when you first arrived: **"Is it the humane thing to preserve human independence by keeping magic from the world, knowing the suffering that magic could prevent?"** == Notes == You're confident that you are who you think you are. You are an ancient Chinese scholar; your parents are long-dead and you have no siblings. It would be improper to admit no possibility of error, even in something as basic as this. But you are secure in your self-understanding; for someone to convince you you're wrong they would need to be \Persuasive and be able to argue from the \FilialPietyBook. == Goals == * Become the Warden of the Place Without Recourse. * Keep Treasures, particularly magical and/or dangerous treasures, in the Place Without Recourse, or at least ensure that they're Isn'ts. (Fictional magic is much less hazardous.) * Find a way to destroy particularly dangerous items, if possible. * Keep the Magic world quality as low as possible. username: badgedesc: |- <> A Philosopher in Flowing Robes number: <> castinghint: | Your character is \name, a judge in the Place without Recourse. Once long ago on Earth, you banished all of the magical artifacts (which provided corrupting power to humanity). Now, here in the Place without Recourse, where the Isn'ts of the world could be turned back into Ises, you must keep Earth sterile from the corrupting effects of magic. Costuming:\\ Ancient Chinese bureaucrat's robes. Suggested reading:\\ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius\\ http://imago.hitherby.com/2006/11/the-story-of-zhengs-son-3-of-5/ wrapup: <> CR: <> password: <> claimedby: Eddy status: drafted answers: | [[ThomasAnswer1]], [[ThomasAnswer2]] email: jaysonl@mit.edu