Regarding the Calamity

“…I completely disagree with the assessment of Archon Palavast. To say that the Calamity was caused by some weapon of science would be like saying feces was the result of consuming fresh water, rather than urine. If scientific knowledge was the cause of the mighty blast that day, a blast seen from a thousand leagues away according to some nomads in the far north, then why have we, the epitomes of science and reason, been utterly unable to discover its mechanism. No, after a lifetime of research and the reading of hundreds of scrolls and tombs, I remain convinced that this was the result of an arcanum which has since been banned and forgotten. We have no doubt that the High King knew the true occult nature of this event, and that the very knowing of this was precisely why he forbade the arcane arts. That’s right! I have said it. We propose that it is not because magic was false that the High King outlawed it, but rather, that it was real, and when he saw its terrible power, he decided rightly that this did not belong in the hands of men.

I am not saying, wise brothers and sisters, that this art or science, if we call it a science as I think we should, I am not saying it should ever return to the realms of men. Let it be gone and forgotten. Still, I am a man of reason, and my reason forces me to admit that our current model does not explain the events surrounding the Calamity and the collapse of the second kingdom. Who among us knows why strange coils snake their way through the rafters of our royal palace in Belmaras? Coils, I will remind you, that have proven impervious to our weapons as much as our acids. And if things like sacred objects be only myth, then why did the Torch of Reason, our High King himself, melt the Elrin King’s sword as soon as he took it? Why did he cull the mages and kill the alchemists if there was no value, and therefore no harm, in their arts? You may call me an ugly finger, but I am merely a finger pointing at an ugly truth. Magic is real, and we have forgotten that. For now it is no harm, but I can not help but think it will eventually be our folly.”

~ Banned Scrolls Regarding the Calamity, Portfolio 229
Scholarch Visina’s Apology before his execution
Recorded by scriptor Rabbard, during Visina’s trial, seventy-second year of our Third Kingdom