CLASS: China during the Three Kingdoms Era

[Professor Doloyovich]

Klaraan was wiping down the large blackboard that hung from the wall. It was next to the pull down screen, which covered part of another blackboard. However, the one he was cleaning was part of a series of shifting blackboards that could be used to reveal more information without having to write everything in real time.

On the projector burned a map of the Three Kingdoms era, with historically accurate names, and general outlines of where the northern walls were, as well as highlights of the main cities. Klaraan put down the eraser, and stepped away from the blackboard to look at the projector.

"Ahh China... You are gorgeous in your old forms. What has happened?"

But time for waxing poetically over the ancient beauty of China would have to come later on. The bell rang, and students took to the hallways, and the raucous noise that accompanied them filled Klaraan's ears. He looked over the class roster, noticing that there was a blank spot, meaning he might get a petition;

1. Sara Quinn_______
2. Ryuu Hikari_______
3. Trizen Takano_____
4. Damien Kross_____
5. Emi Hitokata______
6. Gabriel Seran_____
7. Matrim Gallagher__
8. Thirteen Silivasi___
9. Adrian Hanlon____
10. _______________

He shrugged, and watched as the students filtered in. He gave it a few minutes after the second bell, allowing all the students to find his room, speaking of which...

The walls were lined with maps and posters featuring many different cultures and countries of the world. Alongside the blackboard was multiple pull down maps, though Klaraan preferred the electronic method of the digital projector which burned forever with his many maps and images he liked to show off.

On the back wall were a few book shelves, full of books on everything historical. There was a large desk at the front, near the ELMO that was hooked up to the projector, where Professor Doloyovich's laptop sat. The desk was a clutter of papers and books, of all types.

As all the students filtered in, he smiled at each, motioning them to sit wherever they pleased. As he saw the final student walk in, he began calling role;

"Sara Quinn
Ryuu Hikari
Trizen Takano
Damien Kross
Emi Hitokata
Gabriel Seran
Matrim Gallagher
Thirteen Silivasi
Adrian Hanlon

My name is Professor Doloyovich. I have no nickname, but if there is one you'd like me to call you by, please tell me. I am all for a relaxed atmosphere, as long as we remember that we are all scholars first.

Now, I want you all to take out a piece of paper. I know, I know, don't grumble. Its not a test or a quiz, I haven't taught you anything yet.

What I want you to write down, is your name, your email, your age, and something about you. As this is an elective, you're all of varying ages and activities, I want to get to know you all.

Once thats done, pass them to the front row please."

[Damien Kross, Jester]

The thought of a class on the Three Kingdoms was interesting indeed. As I'm sure with many, my interest in this era arose from Dynasty Warriors, but from there, I grew to love the era itself- motly the misadventures of a certain strategist named Sima Yi. Indeed, this would prove to be a fulfilling class.

I entered the room, returning the professor's smile, and took a seat in the front row. As always, I donned a black suit and purple undershirt, wanting to make a good impression on the teacher.

He called role, and once beckoned, I replied with a simple "Here." No need for anything witty or dumb... This wasn't the place for that. There was a time and place for everything.

Going along with his instructions, I wrote down the information he wanted. But hmm... Something about me... Let's see... Well, I can't think of anything too original, so, I wrote I am a Pillar of PHS42.

I kept it on my desk, accepted the papers from behind me, and awaited the true beginning of this class. I hoped against all hope it would be worth the time...

[Adrian]

Adrian, dressed in a pink-and-black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black jeans, stepped into the class. He placed his black messenger back on the first seat his mind said Hey, shitbag, sit here, which happened to be a seat right behind the Jester. He dropped himself into the seat with a louder-than-necessary thud, however, it was not necessarily so loud as to be distracting. He nodded to the Pillar in front of him, and spoke a single word of greeting.

"Damien."

Whether he got a reply or not, Adrian would lean back in his seat, nodding an acknowledgement and a silent 'hello' to the professor. Truth is, Adrian didn't know too much about China at all, much less during the Three Kingdoms Era; however, he had heard his father reference the Romance of the Three Kingdoms once or twice. He supposed it was the nagging, faint amount of familiarity that drew him to the class.

He would raise his hand when his name was called, and pull out a sheet of paper when it was appropriate to do so. He wrote down his name, email, and all of the information, but, like Damien, found himself at somewhat of a loss as what to put about himself. After thinking about it a moment, Adrian shrugged, and put his pen to the paper.

I used to have a lot of money. Now I don't.

[Matrim Gallagher]

"Here," Matrim would say for roll call. Matrim would be near the front, to the right of Jester and diagonally in front of Adrian. He would have entered the class shortly after Adrian himself. Matrim was sporting some new stuff, including the fact he was School Captain now. But he wasn't sure what to write on the piece of paper itself. Not that it mattered, it was just useless trivia, so why should Matrim stress what he wrote on the paper? Maybe he just liked being something special. Like as if writing the perfect statement would make him get an A.

Matrim Awren Gallagher, MAG@******.com , Age: 18

Interesting Fact: I have had two heart surgery's and am currently on my third heart.

There's a tid bit about Matrim the teacher wouldn't soon forget. Matrim would hold onto his paper and turn around ready to collect any from students sitting behind him. Once he had gotten anyone elses paper he would place them on his desk in a neat pile until the teacher got up to pick those up.

So I'll be learning about China.... I spent some time in China... don't even remember what parts.... seems like a lifetime ago....

[Ryuu]

Ryuu walked down the hallway, his shoulder bag slung over his shoulder. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt, a black jacket, loose black track pants, and black Converse shoes. Reaching the classroom, he walked in, as he saw the teacher smile at him, as Ryuu nodded back, before looking over and saw Damien, Matrim, and Adrian were already here. He made his way to one of the desks, the row Matrim was sitting in. As he passed Matrim, Ryuu nodded at him, before he sat down behind Matrim. He then placed his shoulder bag on the ground, and opened it, pulling out a binder and a pencil bag. His pencil bag had a popular Korean icon on it, but he really didn't care what people thought of it. He leaned back in his chair, and stared out the window, waiting for class to begin. He wondered how many other students would come, or if anyone tried to sneak into the class since they were late. Ryuu checked the clock hanging on the wall, a couple more minutes left.

Once the rest of the students had arrived, Ryuu, who had been staring out the window by this time, lifted his cheek off his hand, and looked at the front. "Here." Ryuu answered when his name was called. Once the roll call was done, the teacher introduced himself as Professor Doloyovich. He then told them to take out a piece of paper, assuring them it wasn't for a quiz or test, he wanted them to write down their name, e-mail, age, and something about them, and pass the paper to the front once they were done. Ryuu pulled out a piece of paper, as he paused for a moment, thinking of what to write, before he decided, and began to write.

Kazuya Ryuu Hikari, ryuuhikari@*******.com, Age: 16

Interesting Fact: I'm the son of the former head of Hikari Industries in Tokyo.

Ryuu then saw Matrim turn around ready to collect the papers from anyone behind him, as Ryuu handed him his paper, and went back to staring out the window. So they would be learning about China. Ryuu had spent some time in China before, specifically, Shanghai and Xi'an. When he had been in Xi'an, he had seen the Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi, so he was interested in learning about the ancient history of China, especially the dynasties.

[Trizen Takano]

"Present." Yeah, he knew he sounded like a keener, but he was pretty formal in that regard. The three kingdoms dynasty was definitely something he was looking forward to learn about. During his time in China, he learned a good amount, but it was a smaller portion when learning about the China's first empire... but that too was buried deep in his mind when thinking about all the Japanese history he had to learn. His father was a very proud historian, though Trizen knows he probably wouldn't remember a lot of it.

Taking out a sheet of paper as the teacher instructed, Trizen wrote down his info and an interesting fact?

'Man... what's interesting about me? Uh... hmm....'


Name: Trizen Takano
Age: 15
E-mail: [e-mail]
Interesting face: I play music.

[Sara Quinn]

Sara made her way as quickly as she could on crutches to the classroom. Reaching the door, she peeked in... and groaned. Not again. Why did she always get classes with these bloody people? What the hell...

She debated skipping, but figured since she had made the effort to get here on her crutches and stuff, she might as well do this. So plastering a smug look on her face, and a smile, she entered the room and chose the closest open seat in the class. It looked like they were almost ready to start and she wasn't going to waste her time trying to maneuver through the class to the back. This put her front row, right next to her favorite pillars, to the left of Kross. She sat down on the edge of her seat, facing them. "Hey boys~ How's it going~?" She smiled and nodded her acknowledgment to the others in the second row.

At the sound of her name she turned to the front of the class a simple "Ya" coming from her. She listened to the instructions and took out a piece of paper and a pen from the bag she slipped off her shoulders and dropped to the ground next to her.

She chewed on the back of the pen as she thought about it. Not much thinking needed really. The thing that got her was the last thing... Shit...

Name: Sara Quinn
Email: s.quinn@****.com
Age: 17
Fact: .... I'm going to kill you ^_____^

She grabbed the ones from behind her and placed them on top of hers, quite proud of herself... because... well... crazy Sara is crazy you know.. ... <3

[Gabriel Seran]

Gabriel strode into the class quite unconcerned about it at all, there were more testing things on his mind. The battle with Mr. Purple still edging at his mind, the future. He was always quite good at history in the past learnings but of course he excelled in European history, he needed to being a noble and all. His eyes peered over the class quickly testing the waters with curiosity. He broke them up into two groups; us vs. them.

On the Us side were: himself, Sara, Ryuu, and Trizen. He didn't doubt the support on his end if things were to go a bit messy here but a growing rivalry between Matrim and himself was becoming more evident as they continued to bump into each other. He didn't bother to give the man a look. Just a flip of the hair and an ignorant roll of the eyes.

Then of course them would be the two pillars: Matrim and Damien, the Damien character he had less of an affinity for in fact he flat out disliked him. It would be a combination of the bitter comments and his snobbish persona. Though it wouldn't matter long enough, the second he got the pillar cornered he'd beat it out of him.

as for Adrian, he didn't quite know him well enough they'd fought once and kept up quite well for himself. Though based upon the apparel of the absent Earth Dragon, he suspected foul play on his behalf.

Noting the teacher's instructions Gabriel did it to the very last detail wondering what he'd give away, what bit of hidden secrets he could play to.
-I am the Duke of Lyon.
interesting enough to have royal ties to French provinces. It wouldn't save him in Chinese history.

[Emi Hitokata]

Just seconds before the bell rang, Emi rushed into the class, breathing heavily. Sweat was plastered on her face, which happens when you spent the break playing soccer in the halls and then rushing to the next class.

It would have been nice to sit in the back where the teacher wouldn't be able to notice her, but she had spotted Ryuu. He was near the front, and after much thought, she grabbed the seat next to him.

"Hey."

She turned her legs, so that half of her body her body would face him. Except for one of her rivals, Matrim, she was unfamiliar with the other students in this class, which could mean new buddies for her to hang out with.

Or just more rivals.

She took the piece of blank paper distastefully. Why the hell would the teacher want her e-mail address? She wasn't comfortable with keeping contact with a teacher outside of school. In the end, she only wrote her name and age.

Interesting fact: I don't like giving me e-mail out. If you want to talk to me, then contact me through my boyfriend, Ryuu. 死ね

At the end, she wrote the Japanese word for "Die!" for two reasons: to show her dislike for the guy and to avoid getting in trouble for writing an English cuss word. Also, she kept the piece of paper covered with her arm, just in case Ryuu gets nosy.

[seishounohana]

Emily wasn't pleased.

She just left for a week to japan to deal with some stuff, and now... she just heard that she had missed the sign-ups for a class she had been looking out for. Darn! Not liking the idea of giving up, Emily ran across the school, searching for the room for the said history class. She had just come back from night shift on a hospital, working 4 to eight hours every other day as a Nurse assistant to compensate for the lost income she had when school became an all-week affair.

She was slightly groggy from the lack of sleep, but more or less still attentive and still pleasing to look at. Emily was wearing a blue set of hospital scrubs today, with her hair tied up in a bun and a white pair of shoes. It wasn't long when she was finally able to ask someone where the class one and finally arrived, opening the door. She quickly placed a note at the professor's desk, bowing lightly in apology before taking a seat up in front.

The note was a written petition to allow her into the class; considering the great workload she had right now, she hoped that the professor would allow her to stay. Otherwise, she might as well skip the day and go home. She was that tired. Being a working student is tough. Even more so that she had retired from authoring manga.

She then set out on writing up that thing the professor told them to do.

Sacricia Emily Lourdes E. Delos Santos, emilydelossantos@*******.com, Age: 15

Interesting Fact: I just retired from authoring japanese comics a few days ago.

[Aternity]

Bloody hell! Where was the class?! She'd left over an hour ago to find the class, but for some reason, everywhere she tried was wrong. All wrong. Wrong wrong wrong! And now for the first time, she was getting frustrated. Enough so that she wasn't in her right mind to do the obvious thing. Look into the future...find it, and change it. Instead, she wandered right up until the bell, and finally found her way in...

The problem was now to learn. A blind girl didn't do so well in a class where writing was required, and for some odd reason, or by the odds of fate, she was stuck in one of those classes. Setting her bag down, and sitting herself, she received a slip of paper. On it, she read...absolutely nothing. It was utter blackness.

"Uhhh..."

She flipped the card upside down and inside out. It was absolutely no help.

Blast it all.

Blind people and reading...they didn't go so well together.

[Trizen Takano]

"Here, let me help..." Trizen saw his friend, Aurora. She settled down in front of him and looked confused. He always wondered why everyone called her Thirteen. Was she that age? Well, whatever the reason, he found it stupid that the school didn't supply any sort of means of help for the blind. Or if it did, she wasn't getting it.

The young boy got out of his seat and took his pencil with him. Two steps forward, the boy squatted down at the left side of her desk and placed his hand on hers for a moment before placing it on the sheet. It was to make sure she knew he was there. Figured taking the sheet unassumingly was a bad idea.

"I'll fill in the sheet for you, Aurora," he said with a nod, "The teacher wants our name, age, e-mail address and something about you. Probably an interesting fact or something."

[Professor Doloyovich]

Klaraan queued up the powerpoint he had set up for the class, wonderfully done, actual thought and craft put into the simplest of things. He walked in front of the row's, to give the students some actual idea of how tall he was, grabbing the paper's. He saw the one boy helping the other girl, who seemed to be blind.

He smiled at them, heartened, and let them take their time, collecting it from her personally after they were done.

He clicked the power point. A movie began playing, part of John Woo's new epic Red Cliff. It showed a few major players during the time; Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhou Yu, Gan Ning, Zhao Yun, Zhuge Liang, Sun Shang Xiang, and the two leaders, Liu Bei and Sun Quan. They were talking strategy, and the scene ended with them all looking down on a map.

During the small time of the video, Doloyovich read through all the papers. He specifically set aside two of the papers, one of which was Sara Quinn's and the other Emi Hitokata. The clip ended, and Klaraan raised the lights. He cleared his throat so as to garner everyone's attention, his red hair spilling behind him, stark contrast to his white complexion.

He shuffled a few papers, and then began.

"First of all, let me say thank you to everyone who has signed up. Emily, you're petition is approved, and you may stay. I am sorry to hear about the loss of your comic drawing job.

As for everyone else... Thank you. I will only use your email for sending out homework reminders, as well as important articles for your reading pleasure. There is no personal use, and if you did not provide an email, I guarantee that you will fail this class due to lack of appropriate homework.

Next, Sara and Emi, you are both to stay after class today. Everyone else will be leaving early today, about 10 minutes before class normally ends.

Anyways, on to the topic at hand; China. The Jade Empire. Civilizations longest lasting people. The history of China is a long and varied road, with the rising and falling of dynasties and peoples, rulers from inside and out, oppression and suppression of people.

However, we're focusing right now, Sangoku Jidai, as the japanese have named it, the Three Kingdoms era. An era of great turmoil.

Now, who knows anything about this time?"

Klaraan awaited for hands to shoot up, and would call upon them in order, giving them all to add something to the conversation.

((3 posts and i'll respond again))

[Ryuu]

Ryuu saw from the corner of his eye, Trizen come walking in, as he gave his friend a brief two finger wave before returning to staring out the window. He then saw... Heaven help us all... Crazy Sara is crazy... Ryuu saw a smug smile on her face as she hobbled over with her crutches, and sat down in the seat to the left of Damien, on the edge of her seat. "Hey boys~ How's it going~?" He saw her smile and nod at them in acknowledgment, as Ryuu turned his gaze slightly. "Sara." Ryuu said, nodding back slightly at her in acknowledgment. He then saw Gabriel enter, as Ryuu gave him a slight nod, before returning to stare out the window. "Hey." Ryuu turned his gaze at the sound of a voice beside him, as he turned his head and saw Emi sit down next to him, as he smiled slightly at her. "Hey." He replied, as she turned her legs, so that half of her body was facing him. He then saw Emily walk in dressed in hospital scrubs, her hair tied up in a bun, and looking groggy as she placed a note on the teacher's desk before bowing lightly and took a seat in the front. He then saw Thirteen come walking in, and take a seat, placing her bag down.

Once the class was full and the attendance was taken, he saw Emi take the paper handed out distastefully, as he took his own and started on what the teacher asked them to do. Ryuu then looked over and saw Mr. Doloyovich play a powerpoint, as part of John Woo's new epic Red Cliff began to play, showing a few of the major players during the time; Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhou Yu, Gan Ning, Zhao Yun, Zhuge Liang, Sun Shang Xiang, and the two leaders, Liu Bei and Sun Quan talking strategy, the scene ending with them looking down at a map. The lights then came back on, Ryuu blinked a few times, momentarily blinded, as he heard the teacher clear his throat to get their attention, once Ryuu could see again, he looked at the front. Mr. Doloyovich then began to speak, telling them he would only use their e-mails to send out homework, and if they didn't give one, they would more than likely fail the class. He then told both Sara and Emi to stay behind after class, everyone else was allowed to leave early, as Ryuu looked over at Emi, an eyebrow raised. What did she do, threaten the teacher on her paper or something? That wasn't too far from the truth.

He then began to lecture, talking about the Jade Empire, as well as saying that China's history was long and varied, including rise and falls of dynasties, rulers in and out, oppression and suppression of the people, they would be talking about Sangoku Jidai, or the Three Kingdom's era. "Now, who knows anything about this time?" Ryuu looked around, before raising his hand up, answering once he was called on. "It was part of an era of disunity that was called the Six Dynasties, following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty emperors. There were three kingdoms, called Cáo Wèi, Shǔ Hàn, and Dōng Wú or Eastern Wu. The earlier, or "unofficial" part of the period, from 190 to 220, was marked by chaotic infighting between warlords in various parts of China. The middle part of the period, from 220 and 263, was marked by a more militarily stable arrangement between three rival states, Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The later part of this period was marked by the collapse of the tripartite situation: first the destruction of Shu by Wei in 263, then the overthrow of Wei by the Jin Dynasty in 265, and the destruction of Wu by Jin in 280." Ryuu knew a lot more about the subject, but decided to let other people add in more to what he already said.

[Aternity]

*Tap...tap...tap...*

And then a hand was set itself upon Aurora's own, she knew somebody was there. It was Trizen, the boy she'd met during the riots. He was certainly kind enough, and gentle to boot when it was needed. And right now, she would gladly accept the help from him, maybe to get to know him a little better, and get her work done at the same time.

"Thank you! And let's see..."

She thought about her email, it had been awhile since she used it.

"Aurora "Thirteen" Silivasi, 13 years old, [e-mail], And...other than being blind? I suppose the fact I was born with orange eyes? I'm not sure..."

She gave a shy smile. She honestly didn't know what to answer for that question. And not only that, but she had no idea about the Three Kingdoms era...maybe that's why she was here to learn was it not? Ryuu seemed to be able to answer just as well anyway. She didn't know everything contrary to popular belief...