Warborn BladesThe Warborn March · the second school
The War Table
Sun Tzu wrote thirteen chapters and every one of them is public domain, so this school is cited the same way the forge is: each answer below is derivable from the text itself. A wrong answer is answered with the reason it is wrong, and you may try again as often as you like. Nothing here is timed and nothing here is scored against you.
The ladder of rank
You stand as Unblooded — 0 of 10 grounds answered. 2 more and you are Proven.
- Unblooded · 0 grounds
The table is open to you. Nothing is asked and nothing is owed.
- Proven · 2 grounds
You are counted as a soul who reckons before she marches. The camp captains will speak plainly with you.
- Captain · 4 grounds
You may be trusted with the ordering of a line — the March names you over the field, and the war table opens its middle grounds.
- Warlord · 7 grounds
The hard grounds open: manoeuvre, the general's own faults, and the reading of a field. Your standing is spoken of in the hall.
- Marshal · 10 grounds
Every ground of the table stands answered. The house counts you a marshal of the March — a standing that cannot be purchased and was not.
The ten grounds
I — Laying Plans
The Reckoning Before the March
"The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought."
II — Waging War
The Cost of the Long Campaign
"There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare."
The chapter before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rank, not asking.III — Attack by Stratagem
The Whole Country Taken Whole
"To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."
The chapter before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rank, not asking.IV — Tactical Dispositions
The Ground You Cannot Lose
"The good fighter puts himself beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waits."
The chapter before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rank, not asking.V — Energy
The Direct and the Indirect
"In battle there are not more than two methods of attack — the direct and the indirect."
The chapter before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rank, not asking.VI — Weak Points and Strong
The Water That Takes the Shape of the Ground
"Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground."
The chapter before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rank, not asking.VII — Manoeuvring
The Deviation That Arrives First
"Take a devious route, and after the enemy, arrive before him."
The chapter before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rank, not asking.VIII — Variation in Tactics
The Faults That Undo a General
"There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general."
The chapter before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rank, not asking.IX — The Army on the March
The Signs the Ground Gives
"Dust rising in a high column is the sign of chariots advancing."
The chapter before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rank, not asking.X — Terrain
The Six Grounds and the Six Calamities
"He who knows these things, and in fighting puts his knowledge into practice, will win his battles."
The chapter before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rank, not asking.
The forge teaches steel; the table teaches command; the sea teaches the hull. Three schools, each cited to its own source, none of them able to pay for the others. Forge Wisdom · Sea Faring · The Convergence · walk the March · the classroom path.