~Arod Thornapple (With apologies to Miyamoto Musashi and The Book of Five Rings)
9:42pm on Soldi, day 49 of Winter, 546. - At nine hours past the noon hour on Soldi, day 45 of Winter in the year 546 of the Mad Emperor's reign, I pick up my pen to write this book. I write it for anyone who wishes to know the path of the warrior and the Way of strategy.
Strategy is the craft of the warrior. There are various crafts. There is the craft of healing, the craft of mysticism, the craft of the tailor, of the merchant, of the baker, of the skinner, of the bard. People practice as they feel inclined.
It is said the warrior's is the twofold way of pen and sword. This is my life, for before exile I was the seventh child of my lineage, born a scholar. After exile I followed the path of the healer until the war, when I set my moonstone aside and took up the way of the sword, of strategy. While not the ideal path to mastery, this has been my road to this moment.
To follow the warrior's path is to accept death without question. While others have been known to die for a cause, this is a different thing. The warrior is different in that studying the way of strategy is to study the way of overcoming foes, singly or in large numbers. This Book of Three Swords is about the craft of the warrior.
The path is shown by the Way of Three Swords. These are the Gossamer, Fell, and Blood blades. By knowing the small things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things, one shall know the Way of the warrior and the craft of strategy.
First is the Gossamer book. With measured grace one learns to float on the winds of combat like a butterfly, giving no more than needed to the dance of blades.
Second is the Fell book. Each swordstroke must be dangerous to one's foe, the more dangerous, the better.
Third is the Blood book. From weakness comes strength, and in any dance of blades there will come a time when from weakness one must strike with great strength.
A warrior who studies the Way of these three blades will learn the craft of strategy, the Way of fighting few and the Way of fighting many, the Way of fighting alone and the Way of fighting with companions. There is nothing that cannot be learned by studying these things. Master the virtue of the swords to govern oneself and the world.
Each weapon has a use. Because of this, one should not have a favorite weapon, but choose the weapon for the moment. Choose the Gossamer when one rides the wind of combat. With this blade use a light hand, and dance well, remaining ever balanced. From a position of balance there are fewer surprises in battle. With this blade, one is more mobile, free to finish one foe and immediately strike the next without sacrificing one's position of balance.
If this does not seem desirable, one must look more closely.
There is timing in everything. Timing in strategy cannot be mastered without a great deal of practice. The Gossamer teaches timing, for it gives the gift of time, and with that gift much can be learned. One learns when to step in and when to step away, when to turn one way or the other way, when to attack and when to hold the blade close and wait.
As with the wind, the gift the Gossamer bestows can be uncertain. The small thing is to listen to the wind. Let the wind show you when to step in and when to step away. The wind topples the weak at little cost. Follow the wind in this matter.
To strike an enemy well, begin with the feet. One must stand and move well before all else. Strike best where the foe is weakest. This is the Fell's greatest strength. When a good strike is possible, as many strokes as possible should be taken if it is possible to step away thereafter. One stroke, otherwise.
This is another question of timing. The Fell takes opportunity from a foe and gives it to a warrior, but the gift is fleeting. There can be no doubt, no hesitation. Care must be taken when fighting more than one foe to strike only the intended enemy.
The Fell blade can be used when alone, but it takes great skill and patience to find a foe's flank or rear in this situation. When this is required is a question of the warrior's skill and the foe's defense.
It takes less skill and patience to use this blade in the company of others. Due consideration for others must be taken when fighting in this situation.
There are those who teach it is acceptable to use this blade to achieve weakness. Nothing could be more foolish. Hurrying to become weak in order to be strong is folly.
This blade more than any other demands consummate timing. Just as in the life of a merchant there is ebb and flow of capital, in a warrior's dance there will be ebb and flow of strength. Do not weaken one's strength by drawing the Blood blade too early, and do not retard a return to strength by holding the blade too long. One must also let go of the blade one breath before a fall.
By this one must understand it is improper to avoid a return to strength just as it is improper to court weakness from a state of strength. To do so would be to interfere with one's natural shift in fortunes.
There is genuine magic in all Blood blades. During my years as a healer I learned respect for the power of the moonstone, the heart of every Blood blade. The gift one bestows comes at a cost in blood. Do not impose will on the gift such a blade bestows. Accept the gift when the tides of fortune offer it.
Use of this blade when fighting alone is most often a gamble. Natural and balanced use of a Blood blade when fighting with others should cause no concern. Think carefully on this matter.
I have devoted the latter half of my life to the study of strategy, the craft of the warrior. This is one Way along the path of mastery. Those who read should know: this mastery cannot be learned from this book. Only the truth that there is a path, and a Way can be shown here.
Daily practice in the art of cutting the enemy is the small thing. From this, know the large thing, the essence of strategy.
I write these last words on the 23rd day of spring, with the breaking of the dawn, in the year 546 of the Mad Emperor's reign. I go now on a private journey and will not return until spring once again graces these lands of exile.
~Arod Thornapple, exile of Puddleby