Obligatory App Post
Character: Tara
Series: Hitherby Dragons, by Rebecca Sean Borgstrom
Character Age: Unknown, but adult.
Job: Bereavement counselor
Canon: At the edge of the world there is a great sea of chaos, and living beneath and within and upon it are all manner of strange and wondrous beings. Among them, the name of the good ship Honest With Myself is known and feared: a stone Buddha statue is her figurehead, and the skull-and-crossbones fly from her mainmast; her captain is the dread bodhisattvah-pirate Tara, who strives against ignorance and desire in order to bring enlightenment to the world.
Tara takes great joy in all aspects of life, whether rescuing a strandedtraveller or battling bandits. Her boundless enthusiasm and love for all living things -- even if she's occasionally forced to kill them -- are matched only by her prowess in battle. With a sword in her right hand and a lotus in her left, only the most terrible opponents can match her skill and contest her righteous dharma. A wise bodhisattvah, she follows the noble ninefold pirate way: right mindfulness, right effort, right concentration, right intention, right pillaging, right sailing, right consumption of the rum, and right the heart that does not tremble to take up the sword against the enemies of the path.
Sample Post:
Karma is a curious thing.
One moment I am a pirate captain, swimming in the sea of chaos. The next, I'm stranded in a swamp, counseling right action in the face of bereavement. Who can say what caused one condition to arise, and one to fall? It's true that I've caused many to abandon the illusions of the world in the course of my career of piracy, but that truth answers only the why of things and not the how. Besides, the methods of a pirate are not those of a counselor, and so far the only bereavement I've encountered is a desire for more bananas. Given the look in that particular gorilla's eyes, I don't imagine he had the usual uses in mind. Before I could ask him to clarify he made untoward advances, forcing me to free him for rebirth on the Wheel. I'm afraid that I can't guarantee success in my duties without a cannon to enforce the transition to Nirvana.
This place is surely rife with ignorance and desire, wherever it may be. Why, as soon as I arrived I was set upon by a kind of anti-bodhisattvah which lived in the poisoned lake. Where my blade is an effulgence of universal compassion, her many tentacles were an expression of worldly desire, and we matched compassion against desire for many hours. In the end, fortune favored her more than I, and had I not possessed the double-jump enlightenment and used it to leap to safety, I'd have experienced her worldly desire in a manner I'd much regret.
To battle ignorance and desire sword-to-sword is a fine thing, and worthy of a pirate-bodhisattvah. But here it's difficult to practice the other aspects of the ninefold pirate path! Right mindfulness and right effort are all very well, but the walking dead and lecherous gorillas are hardly proper targets for right pillaging. As for right singing, I've heard more renditions and variations of "Hoist the Colors" than any pirate ever should, and most of them filthy to boot. What very bad eggs have to do with piracy or material desire, I've yet to determine. And this is to say nothing of right consumption of the rum, which seems entirely out of the question.
Still, this is but a detour on the Way. Perhaps root beer will suffice.
Series: Hitherby Dragons, by Rebecca Sean Borgstrom
Character Age: Unknown, but adult.
Job: Bereavement counselor
Canon: At the edge of the world there is a great sea of chaos, and living beneath and within and upon it are all manner of strange and wondrous beings. Among them, the name of the good ship Honest With Myself is known and feared: a stone Buddha statue is her figurehead, and the skull-and-crossbones fly from her mainmast; her captain is the dread bodhisattvah-pirate Tara, who strives against ignorance and desire in order to bring enlightenment to the world.
Tara takes great joy in all aspects of life, whether rescuing a strandedtraveller or battling bandits. Her boundless enthusiasm and love for all living things -- even if she's occasionally forced to kill them -- are matched only by her prowess in battle. With a sword in her right hand and a lotus in her left, only the most terrible opponents can match her skill and contest her righteous dharma. A wise bodhisattvah, she follows the noble ninefold pirate way: right mindfulness, right effort, right concentration, right intention, right pillaging, right sailing, right consumption of the rum, and right the heart that does not tremble to take up the sword against the enemies of the path.
Sample Post:
Karma is a curious thing.
One moment I am a pirate captain, swimming in the sea of chaos. The next, I'm stranded in a swamp, counseling right action in the face of bereavement. Who can say what caused one condition to arise, and one to fall? It's true that I've caused many to abandon the illusions of the world in the course of my career of piracy, but that truth answers only the why of things and not the how. Besides, the methods of a pirate are not those of a counselor, and so far the only bereavement I've encountered is a desire for more bananas. Given the look in that particular gorilla's eyes, I don't imagine he had the usual uses in mind. Before I could ask him to clarify he made untoward advances, forcing me to free him for rebirth on the Wheel. I'm afraid that I can't guarantee success in my duties without a cannon to enforce the transition to Nirvana.
This place is surely rife with ignorance and desire, wherever it may be. Why, as soon as I arrived I was set upon by a kind of anti-bodhisattvah which lived in the poisoned lake. Where my blade is an effulgence of universal compassion, her many tentacles were an expression of worldly desire, and we matched compassion against desire for many hours. In the end, fortune favored her more than I, and had I not possessed the double-jump enlightenment and used it to leap to safety, I'd have experienced her worldly desire in a manner I'd much regret.
To battle ignorance and desire sword-to-sword is a fine thing, and worthy of a pirate-bodhisattvah. But here it's difficult to practice the other aspects of the ninefold pirate path! Right mindfulness and right effort are all very well, but the walking dead and lecherous gorillas are hardly proper targets for right pillaging. As for right singing, I've heard more renditions and variations of "Hoist the Colors" than any pirate ever should, and most of them filthy to boot. What very bad eggs have to do with piracy or material desire, I've yet to determine. And this is to say nothing of right consumption of the rum, which seems entirely out of the question.
Still, this is but a detour on the Way. Perhaps root beer will suffice.