The School of the Damned Equation

(Excerpt from a book given to the new apprentices at the School of the Damned Equation. No date, but the librarian believes it was printed somewhere in Nibenay in the 2nd Era)

Numbers, apprentice. As you begin your studies, you will learn that numbers are the secret language that ties reality together. It does not matter if reality itself changes or if existence is not as we see it; the numbers tell the truth. That is why the foolish and the wicked prefer words, since words are more beautiful and easier to bend.

Shezarr was the inspiration and the instigator, but Magnus was the architect of Mundus. It was he who created the schematics and diagrams needed to construct the mortal plane. But when Magnus left, creation was unfinished, incomplete. Only Julianos, the wisest of those who remained, was able to understand the numbers left by the Mage. He found the element that was missing and completed the formula. Thus, the Damned Equation was born.

For centuries, the School of the Damned Equation has been working to uncover the secret formula of the world. Our journey is long and difficult. The signs you see on the Wall of Julianos are but a part of the equation. Decades of research may be needed before we add a single new element to the array. Sometimes, a critical mistake is spotted and the work of generations must be undone. It is painful, but necessary. We work not for ourselves, but for the people that will come after us.

Our enemy is the power of ignorance, which can shatter mithril like glass. Those who try to change reality without understanding its formula first dance to music they cannot hear and build towers they cannot climb. Julianos says: “know the truth”. To realize our own ignorance is the first step in the path of knowledge.