Glory fades into bloodstains; if you would wage war, ensure that it means something.
Misano is the Saint of War and Diplomacy, raised up by the God of Strife for her unmatched talent for strategy and knack for finding victory both on and off the battlefield. She is the patron of the general and the tactician, the diplomat and the logistician, the sergeant and the soldier in the mud. She holds that war should be fought for keeps, not for some idiot’s idea of vainglory or other foolish reasons, and that if you start a conflict you should have a plan for finishing it with the least bloodshed possible. She believes that conflict between peoples need not involve bloodshed, and praises those who can end a war at the negotiating table equally highly as those who can win one on the field of battle.
Misano is the Saint of conquest and war, of bloody battlefields and political machinations, of diplomatic negotiation and hard choices. She is a calm and quiet voice of counsel, never encouraging conflict but always making suggestions for how to best conduct it. Misano is looked at askance by many, for her and her Heralds have been indirectly responsible for some truly terrible bloodshed over the millennia. However, she maintains that her purpose is a holy one, despite the toll it takes in lives; she claims that mortals would wage war upon one another regardless of her intervention, and that without her guidance those conflicts would have been even longer and bloodier than they already were.
As a mortal, when Misano was placed in a situation where violence was the only possible path, she did not just win — she crushed her foes, and was able to offer mercy to them and their people as a consequence, reducing the bloodshed that would otherwise have happened. She took the lesson to heart, and when Vallaros raised her up as the Saint of War she made it her mission to teach mortals to fight war well, so that they might win with as little blood being shed as possible. It’s a constant and never-ending struggle, but she views it as her holy purpose and tries to guide her followers as best she can without violating the strictures placed upon her by her Sainthood — she cannot fight their wars for them, only teaching them how to wage war.
Misano has also over time partially taken over the aspect of Diplomacy, which she shares uneasily with Baellin, one of Alethos’ Saints. Her perspective on the matter is that diplomacy is simply another way of waging war — one without nearly as much bloodshed involved, and so inherently worth the attempt, no matter how likely or unlikely it is to succeed. She views diplomacy as a mirror to warfare — strategy, adaptation, and knowing your opponent are just as critical at the negotiating table as they are on the battlefield, and she revels in the cut-and-thrust of a good political or diplomatic negotiation. She views diplomacy as preferable to war, but has a dim view of peace being an option in every instance; sometimes there simply is no peaceable solution to a conflict, and so war must be waged to settle the issue.
Misano holds the following as the highest virtues:
You must show resolve when you embark upon a path under Misano’s gaze. When you decide to commit to war and conflict, do not flinch. Understand the brutality and horror of what you are about to do, and pursue your goal without hesitation. If you stop halfway through, all of the lives and futures lost because of your actions have been wasted. Similarly, those who pursue conflict without bloodshed face a test of resolve in maintaining their position and getting as much as possible for what they are willing to give. Do not let your opponent upset your equilibrium; hold fast to your resolve, and get the most that you can out of any negotiation.
Speed and tactics win battles; strategy and logistics win wars. When you begin a conflict, always have a plan for how you will prosecute it. Misano despises those who fail to plan, and refuses to give advice to those who could not be bothered to think for themselves. She views a failure to strategize and carefully plan out a campaign as inherently wasteful, as it means both that your chances of victory are reduced and that you’ll most likely have to spend more blood and treasure to achieve that victory. Be prepared for every conflict you enter into, so that you can win as swiftly and cleanly as possible.
No plan survives contact with the enemy. You must be able to adapt, to overcome, when the enemy comes up with something unexpected or some other external force disrupts your plans. Those who depend upon their stratagems succeeding, without being able to change them to match the circumstances, are doomed to defeat, while those who focus on ensuring that they are able to adapt to changing circumstances are much more likely to succeed.
Misano holds the following as the worst of sins:
Misano does not speak much of physical strength, compared to the other Saints of Vallaros; her domain lies within the prosecution of war, and captains, generals, and rulers do not need to be able to slay their enemies themselves. However, she does maintain that a certain level of capability is required of every leader. The ability to keep up with your forces, to eat the same food and sleep in the same tents, to inspire the people who follow you; that is the kind of strength she demands of her followers, the kind that inspires warriors and soldiers and lets a leader actually lead rather than simply issuing orders.
Just as Misano expects her followers to plan and strategize before they set out upon campaigns, she also expects them to think before they act. She teaches that recklessness, action taken without spending the time to think through its consequences, is to flirt with disaster — one reckless decision may work out, but a hundred will soon enough lead to your downfall. Failure and loss are an inevitable part of conflict, but if you act without thinking you run headfirst towards them, rather than planning a route around them, no matter how precarious it might be.
While she is without doubt the Saint who is most associated with large-scale bloodshed, Misano is the Saint of conquest, not of violence itself, and she believes that unwarranted cruelty is abhorrent. Inflicting pain isn’t itself a problem — one cannot pursue conquest without doing so — but causing pain for no reason other than to cause pain is a sign to her that a mortal is likely to corrupt her divine message and turn from a conqueror into a monster, and she will not tolerate that. Even using cruelty for a purpose, if it becomes routine or commonplace as part of a campaign (torturing prisoners to try to intimidate guerrillas, for instance) wears on her patience rather quickly. She views such behavior as a failure of character, command ability, and creativity in solving the problem, and those who do such things regularly tend to fall out of her favor.
Misano appears as a small-boned woman with slightly tanned skin and shining straight black hair done up with a pin resembling a sword. She has a long scar across her face, and wears a ruby-studded eyepatch over her right eye. She is normally depicted wearing a robe or kaftan, with a black paper fan in one hand and a white porcelain mask in the other. It’s taught that, while her face is exposed, she is willing to speak informally with and teach her followers; when she puts the mask on, however, she speaks as the Saint of War, and expects her followers to listen and obey without questioning her. She is never depicted as wearing armor or wielding a weapon; the only reliable account of her personally engaging in combat has her luring her foes into a trap and stabbing them with her hair pin while they were helpless.