Philosophies of the Unawakened
An Excerpt from "The Resilient Kingdom," by Master Historian Loris
Historian's Foreword: The Awakened have their great treatises and sacred arts. We, the Unawakened, have our own philosophies, forged not in divine light but in the crucible of mundane survival. They are not taught in academies, but are learned in the counting-house, the workshop, and on the watchman's lonely patrol. These are the beliefs that built Nexus and hold the tide of magical chaos at bay.
1. The Iron Soul (The Philosophy of Resilience)
- Proponents: The Lamplighters' Guild, The Iron Scribes.
- Core Tenet: "Strength is forged in the absence of power."
- Summary: The Iron Soul is a form of stoic humanism. It teaches that the limitations of a mundane life are not hardships, but the very tools that forge character. Magic, in this view, is a shortcut that bypasses these essential experiences, leading to a soul that is powerful but brittle. Virtue is found in mundane work, unwavering discipline, and the simple reality of cold iron and written law. Adherents do not hate mages; they see them as a civic hazard to be managed with the same pragmatism one would use for a flood or a fire.
2. Pragmatic Deism (The Philosophy of Utility)
- Proponents: The [Gilded Scale Consortium](/build-wiki/w/world-lore/locations/guilds-and-professions), high-level merchants.
- Core Tenet: "Every god has a price tag."
- Summary: This philosophy does not deny the existence of overwhelming, god-like power; it simply reframes it in economic terms. A Tier 4 Archmage is, for all practical purposes, a temporary god of their domain. Pragmatic Deism teaches that the correct response to a god is not worship, but negotiation. A powerful mage is a potential business partner. Their "divinity" is measured by their utility, and their favor is secured by contract, not faith. This worldview allows the Consortium to interact with archmages, heretical legions, and cosmic entities with a level of detachment that others find baffling. Their relationship with power is purely transactional.
3. The Technocratic Ideal (The Philosophy of the System)
- Proponents: The Menders' Collective, The Polished Lens Institute.
- Core Tenet: "Magic is a system of physics we do not yet fully understand."
- Summary: A radical offshoot of the Iron Soul, the Technocratic Ideal rejects the idea that magic is "magical" at all. It is simply another set of physical laws to be observed, quantified, engineered, and ultimately, improved upon. Practitioners of this philosophy, like the controversial Artisan-Primus Korbin, are not intimidated by mages; they are fascinated by them. They view a mage not as a wielder of divine power, but as a complex, inefficient, biological engine. Their ultimate goal is to strip magic of its mysticism and integrate it into a rational, predictable system of mundane artifice. This philosophy is detailed in texts such as The Mage as an Engine and The Mundane and the Miraculous.