>Kolinahr is the highest level of the Way of Surak - supposedly,
>the total obliteration of emotion. That wouldn't be particularly
>useful to a Jedi; they're supposed to be in control and dispassionate,
>but not an emotional void.

"I will not feel. Feel is the world-killer. Feel is the little death that brings with it utter genocide. I will face my feel. I will stuff it deep inside me. And when it is deep enough, only I will remain."

>As it happens, I'm toying around with the designs for a Vulcan
>character who doesn't follow Surak's teachings - not out of a sense of
>rebellion or because of a mixed-blood issue, but because that's the
>way she was raised. The Surak quite arrogantly present themselves as
>The Vulcan Culture, but I believe that's about as accurate as, say,
>the Chinese presenting themselves as The People Of Earth.

Is this a split between ST Vulcans and UF Vulcans? IIRC, ST Vulcans are 99.44% Surakian, specifically because Surak showed up at exactly the right time with his philosophy to prevent global war on a scale we humans can barely imagine.

My understanding of ST canon says that, in his or her natural state, a Vulcan is even more a being of passions than a human is.

>
>The group the embryonic character belongs to are all for intellectual
>discipline and logical thinking, but they declined to embrace the
>emotional purging of Surak's ways back in the day. They recognized it
>as an unhealthy way to live and correctly predicted the "if all you
>have is a hammer" mindset that the Surak obsession with logic and
>reason gives rise to. Rather than ditch the planet like those who
>would become the Romulans did, this group kept their city - it's in a
>part of the planet the 'average' Vulcan wouldn't want to live in
>anyway - and are proud of their distinct culture, even if the vast
>majority would really prefer it if they did move to another
>planet. :)

Wow. Vulcan Amish. Who'da thunk?

Ben, if you name this embryonic character "Jebidiah" or some variation thereof, I will hurt you ;^>

--rR