Another Lesson (Open RP)

Valaria stepped into the small lecture hall wearing tight black robes with a low cut neckline that revealed some skin.  Her hands were covered in tight leather gloves and her hood was down.  As was usually the case she carried no lightsaber to class.   Val looked out over them, noting the students who had impressed and those who had thus far failed to as her purple lips curled into a smile.
  "Good afternoon everyone.  So good to see you all so eager to learn.   Now let's get right into today's discussion hmm?"  she said pacing lightly as she waited for the room to fall to silence.  "We'll be talking about passion today."  She pauses a moment.  "Passion is one of the key things that separates the light side from the dark side.   And that separates us from the Jedi.  It drives us, empowers us, and gives us strength.   And as I pointed out last time, if one is not careful it will rule them."  she looks out over the class.  "Tell me then what do you know of passion?"  she asks waiting for replies.

Zirellax looked at Lady Valaria as she spoke, red eyes steadily gazing upon her teacher's form. For once, she was not wearing her usual armor, but instead wore a purple trenchcoat, showing lots of skin with only her breasts being covered, as well as grey pants, gloves and boots. Maybe she had finally eased up a bit or maybe she just wasn't in the mood for armor.

She raised a hand in response to the question posed, "Perhaps I am not the best suited to answer given that I do restrain myself quite often, but passion, basically, is displaying your emotions in some form or another. Love, being flirty or having a romance. Anger and hatred, which most Sith seem to be well acquainted with," she pauses a moment, pondering, then continues, "I think, passion allows a Sith to continue in whatever path they have chosen. I am passionate about my research, it gives me the drive to go forward in my goals."

She finishes, falling silent, and resumes her gazing at her teacher.

Pel wore her usual ensemble to class, and though her own general lack of covering seemed unnoticed by herself, she spent a good deal of time noticing others. She finally tore her gaze from the Lady Valaria as Zir spoke, speaking quite quickly on the heels of the Chiss-Sith's words.

"Emotions are not passion. Passion may be emotion, but all emotion is not passion," then she looks at Valaria, "I have seen much passion. My family embraces it. You ought to see the love my parents have for one another," and then she seemed to gaze dreamily into recollection, then a blink announced her return, "Passion is something wanton, something possibly reckless, something seems to push down the rational. Damn the consequences!" she announces, seeming to give in to the very topic of discussion in her reply, pointing out with the index finger of her right hand, body jerking as though she had stabbed the air, maybe some parts giving a soft jiggle, then she paused, giggling, a light flush rising on her pale skin as she looked at the teacher.

Valaria chuckles at Pelagie's reply, a smile on her painted lips. "Indeed. Passion is all of those things. And love...what an interesting choice. Few Sith embrace love. As Zirellax points out most choose hatred or anger. Why is it do you think that is?" She asks looking at the class. "And Zirellax, do keep in mind that one does not need to actually display their passion to feel it."

Zirellax showed no embarrassment upon being corrected, simply listening to both Pelagie and Valaria.

She once again speaks up as the teacher asks her question, "I don't see why love should be ignored by most, I do believe having a loved one can make you stronger in more than one way. As to why most choose utilizing hatred or anger, perhaps it is the easiest way to enhance and progress their strength. It is not very hard to let yourself become angry or give in to hatred, whereas falling in love and showing that to another seems to be foreign to a great many."

"There is no inherent reason to ignore love. Yet it is one rarely used. It is in fact often considered a weakness."

Aurore meekly raises a hand before speaking "Some see Love as a weakness because the person or thing you love can be used as leverage against you by possible enemies.....i think"

Valaria nods to Aurore as she raises her hand. "A very valid point Aurore. Love can be a weakness just as any other passion can be. And perhaps one easier exploited."

Pelagie had been listening as the topic unfolded, eyes moving about in the direction of the speakers, the workings in her mind almost visible in the slight furrow of her brow and the lack of pinpoint focus in her eyes. She speaks again, beginning in a slower, musing tone which increases as she gains more obvious concentration on those in the room.

"Love may be exploited, yes," she nods slowly, "But it may be done so as a benefit or a hindrance. If you try to coerce or compromise someone by using their love, they may just not succumb in the way you desire. But you can use love to inspire dedication, truth, loyalty. This could make a very strong, interdependent force," then as a quick aside, "Though I guess a lot of the Sith ways are more individual."

Aurore coughs a little "what it is to be Sith is in the eye of the beholder, there are as many different interpretations of the code and 'Passions' as there are Sith in the Empire...umm...maybe? i have no idea what i was going for there i apologize" she says before sinking back down in her seat a little as if trying to hide.

Valaria smiles softly and nods to Pelagie. "Very good points Pelagie. And it is a lesson one should apply whenever one is seeking to use someone's passions against them. You cannot be certain how someone will react. Whether it be to threats to their loved ones or to trying to drive their fear." she looks to Aurore and gives her a nod as well before looking back to Pel. "As for what you said you have likely hit upon the reason that few Sith seem to embrace love as their passion. It by it's nature tends to require a certain degree of unity with another and very few Sith practice such. If more did then the war might already be over."

Hurme have been surprisingly quiet for the whole lesson this far. Mohawk headed woman sits at the back of the class, slouching on her chair, but still listening carefully with her arms crossed over her chest. She's been turning her attention to whoever speaking at the moment. She raises her hand slightly and clears her throat, "For me passion is that something that keeps me alive and kicking. Something that keeps me getting up again after falling over and over again. Passion is something that just makes me -not- to give up."

"And that Hurme is something the Jedi lack. Passion can fuel you when you've exhausted everything else. It can make you far stronger if you can rule it."

Pelagie slowly looks from Hurme back over to Valaria. She paused a moment, looking at Hurme as though a bit surprised by the insight displayed, then she turns her focus to the teacher, reflecting on what has been said before she speaks, eyebrow slightly furrowed.

"Rule passion? Does that not make it less ... passionate?" she seems a bit unsure of her choice of words, eyes widening slightly as she looks upon the teacher.

Valaria looked Pelagie and nodded at the young woman's astute observation. "Yes you're quite right. It does diminish it some. Control in this case being traded for power. Learning how to balance the two is a difficult lesson. As is learning when to release control and give in to your passions. That is something only experience can tell you."

Mohawk headed woman speaks again while tapping her fingers on her crossed arm. "This is basically what we talked about in our lesson about Sith code. Passion gives us strength and can be a wonderful thing, but you should rule your passions, not the other way around. And you shouldn't let others use your passion againts yourself. At least that's what we were talking about then."

She straightens up a little bit to fix her position on the chair and she looks at Valaria. "Passion is what makes us to reach to our goals, grow stronger and take what we desire. But when reaching to a certain goal we tend to focus on that goal, which can narrow our views on, if not completely ignore, everything else."

"You can ignore something important when just focusing on your goal. And if that happens, it can be used against you. Like Red said in during that last lesson, passion can make you predictable. To prevent that, you should try to see the bigger picture, take a step back and try to see that thing from the different angle. Although, that is hard and I have to admit that I have problems seeing the bigger picture sometimes."

Valaria nods again. "Very well put Hurme. I'd like you all to reflect today upon your passions. What drives you and what your goals are. And while you're at it, try to reflect on what you might have missed due to your focus. That's it for today's lesson."