The Sword and the I

The following is an exert from the Book of Circles, written by the legendary Yokudan hero Frandar do Hunding hel Ansei no Shira, and dealing with the arts of swordsmanship, Sword-Singing, and strategy.

Know that our name, Sword-Singers, is not accidental. It is not a poetic allusion to our prowess in combat, nor does it illustrate the beauty of an artisan performing his craft. Our name draws from the Universal Tune, and how we might shape it.
Everything around us is Sound, and from Sound, Music. By listening to the Music, one may adapt to it, and variate on it. This is Singing, and this is the core of our craft.

Singing is not merely vocal, and it is simplistic to think of it as this. Singing is to change what is heard. Just as one makes new lyrics to a popular tune, so may one change the course of the Universal tune.

Yet how come we may shape our surrounding, yet most may not? This is rooted in our craft, and in our mastery of the Sword. Hold the Sword up, and you shall see it is I. It is the Tower which shapes our world, and forms our paradigm of the world, and the world itself.

The Sword is the extension of the self, and the purest extension is the Shehai [,that which is called Spirit Sword]. It is the I manifest, the taking shape of the own Tower. It is because of this that introspection and exploration of the world are vital. How would a Singer now himself, when he is not able to know others, or look himself in the eyes? When the self, the I, is found, one may attempt at the Shehai.

When taken shape, the Shehai forms the Sword-Singer's Song. It is this that shapes the Tune of the world, by violence and by elegance. To be an artisan is not reliant on strength or agility. While these might help against a weaker opponent, it is not enough against a skilled artisan. To defeat another swordsman, one must know their opponent, and to know another is to know oneself.
We are all part of the Music, and we all variate on it by ourselves, one more than the other. To know another is to hear the Music, and their Song. By hearing the Music, one may know both self and other, and by hearing the Song, one may distinguish the two. The Tune is Universal, but the Song is not.
When one hears both the Music and the Song, then one may strike, for the Song is an extension of the I, and tells all about the Singer.

Know that as the Sword is the Stone of the Tower, so is the Sword our Tower, with I as its Stone. Know that we are all Towers in ourselves, and it is this that shapes our surrounding. A Sword-Singer employs his craft to further his Song, shaping the Tune in his own way.