|
|
Post by Arogash the Unforgiven on Jan 19, 2017 20:00:30 GMT
You stumble across a copy of this book in Pakellan or one of the Free Cities. Without question, some well-meaning soul has tried to burn it to ash, but the book proves unusually resistant to fire. Portions of the binding have perished, and many pages are missing or ruined. On each page, a few smudged lines remain visible.~ ...as the ancients have said, 'tis best to be both loved and feared, but if you should be forced to make a choice, choose fear. 'Tis more reliable... ...hence the crudity of such a technique. Why look to throw a spell as one would a corporeal weapon? Consider instead that a man's heart is of the same matter as his skin, and the skin offers no real barrier to the right kind of spell. And subtler still is that which affects the target at a higher level, bending his fate, his balance, his luck, his health. Trust not in crude constructions: the simpler they are, the simpler the countermove... ...for 'tis written that the Swan is dead and we have killed him...
|
|
|
|
Post by Arogash the Unforgiven on Jan 21, 2017 7:08:07 GMT
...look to the Dwarven Triangle. Idmidum, Copperhead, Pabila, each more remote and enigmatic than the last. The three great fortresses keep a truly low profile: I only stumbled on their names after much study. It is said they have arts beyond compare which dwell at the intersection of the material and the aetherial, cunning machines which partake of magic in their operation...
...true dominion lies in consent, for convince a man that your interests are his and he will fight for you forever...
...you will find that malevolence can be instilled quite easily in many objects. Consider the pain and fear of an animal butchered and skinned. Traces of that inclination can be found in leather, fur, antler, horn, and bone. Such traces can be exaggerated, serve as anchors for more profound workings, as also the wood of mobile or sentient trees...
...and when the contract is broken, those rights return to the individual who once gave them, including the right to be sole arbiter of violence...
|
|
|
|
Post by Arogash the Unforgiven on Jan 21, 2017 19:57:16 GMT
... those powers and actors which claim moral superiority so often expose themselves to charges of hypocrisy. A sin, regardless of its true magnitude and impact, seems much the greater when committed by a nation or leader who walks tall...
...we are besieged by the forces of mediocrity and pretension and path dependency...
...were brought to a single place, more or less united, and identified. And then they faced the long grind of actual work, work that did not give them the pride and prestige that was so crucial to their self-identification. Phase one identified those willing to act, to commit. Phase two identified those capable of committing even without the rush of battle and easy achievement. It identified the portion of dark magicians that can think strategically, pick their battles, await the proper moment, identify the right opportunity, and take the initiative...
|
|
|
|
Post by Arogash the Unforgiven on Jan 21, 2017 19:58:39 GMT
...all people fall into one of three categories. Independent operators, leaders, and followers. Many independents and followers believe themselves to be leaders, or crave acknowledgement as such. There's no shame in being a follower, a supporter. There's no shame in being an independent rather than a genuine leader. There's no reason to denigrate such people. Correct evaluation is simply about understanding what they're likely to do given any given set of stimuli - and how to craft those stimuli to identify who, in their heart of hearts, is whom...
...growth and regression defy my simplistic cladistics. But consider this: can a true follower become a leader, or would any similar process just be a matter of uncovering innate potential? Exert pressure on ten snowballs. Nine crumble, but it turns out that one had a stone hidden inside all along. I claim that some believe they are followers, only because they don't know what they genuinely are. Self-knowledge can develop so randomly, and so often in response to pain...
|
|
|
|
Post by Arogash the Unforgiven on Feb 3, 2017 19:46:14 GMT
...and thus we see that good and evil are products of the mind, not self-existent. But what value does or should the mind attach to them as concepts, once divorced from outside authority? Hence we must each find our own balance between ideal and pragmatism, to say nothing of identifying those ideals which are of greatest worth...
...we emerge from the cave, then, and see the true forms which have cast the shadows. No longer is our world restricted to shapes flickering on a wall...
...understand the ways in which a mind may embrace flawed reasoning; to wit, consider your estimated time for any task, and how much the task doth tend to exceed the prognostication. Therefore, plan as though a task will take far longer than any prediction...
|
|
