Fringe Philosophy, Vol. V
[The publisher's note claims this volume promotes magical theory too radical for the mainstream. This excerpt is attributed to High Artificer Taura Brinn of Baldur's Gate.] I suppose they seek to silence me, believing that an Artificer of the High House would not stoop to publish in any volume outside of the great Gondian journals they so diligently guard. But they forget that I am not so grand - before I lent my name and my knowledge to the High House of Wonders and all the marvels therein, I was naught but a lazy farm-girl who liked to look up. And that was how I first saw them - the slow and serene earthmotes, entire mountains migrating through the sky above. It was later I learned of their origins - of the ancient Netherese empire that fashioned them, of the residual magic so potent it sustained them still. The wizards of Netheril carved marvels out of the mundane, lifted the earth aloft for industry, for sport. It was later still, after I earned my place at the High House, that I learned of the long shadow Netheril cast along the evolution of our craft. That their great flying cities fell in folly and flames does not diminish the wonders they wrought, and this stubborn aversion to studying them, to learning what they learned, is the very antithesis of Gond's teachings. Yes, many of the catastrophes inflicted upon the centuries were fruit born of meddling with Netherese seed. Yes, their last shining bastion fell into shadow, their lore twisted to Shar's dark and destructive designs. And yes, I say again, whether the High House will sanction it or no - to study the very flame of creation is worth it, even should the fires consume us.