Debate At The Frozen Hearth: Synod Official Shows a Winterhold Applicant of the Folly of Ambition

This (heavily fictionalized) conversation was disseminated by Synod officials throughout the Empire to boost recruitment.

Two Imperial mages retire to the Frozen Hearth for the evening. Being countrymen, as well as men of letters, they sit together by the fire and turn to the affairs of the day. The younger man begins:

>Radical: From your clothes and your doleful disposition I can see immediately that you are with the Synod. What brings a reactionary such as yourself to this, the true and final seat of Julianos on Nirn?

The older man pulls a bottle of brandy from his pack, and pours out the first round of the evening. The radical obliges and raises his glass to the elder, who toasts the pair:

>Elder: I raise a glass to the Emperor, long may he live. And long may his servants in the Synod protect his people from the treachery of wizards.

>R: Scandal! The scholars of Winterhold work only in the public interest.

>E: Hah! I will prove to you this is a lie. Will you allow that, for magic to be good, it must serve some purpose.

>R: Surely this must be so.

>E: Then we must agree that not all purposes may be considered equal. Some ends are nefarious, and others virtuous. That magic may be used for nefarious ends - to open an Oblivion gate, for instance - does not justify its existence.

>R: This is where your argument sours. No mage, not even the most progressive, would argue that wanton destruction is the true purpose of magic. You will find no such treachery within the College walls.

>E: Ah, but won't I? Did not the College unearth the Eye of Magnus, an ancient artifact? And wasn't this artifact used by a mage in an attempt to destroy Nirn?

>R: The College cannot be held to account for this incident, as it was an insurgent from the Thalmor what caused the chaos.

>E: But when considering whether magic is good, will you not allow me to assess the indirect effects of magic? You would restrict me from assessing accident, happenstance, or treachery? Surely then all things may be called virtuous when disallowing the analysis of their faults.

>R: Very well, I concede that we must allow for accident and treachery.

>E: Indeed, for treachery or accident is in fact a predictable effect of the wanton accumulation of arcane artifacts.

>R: Perhaps, but no endeavor is without risk. The year's harvest is at risk of an early frost, but we must farm to survive.

>E: You are blessed with a silver tongue, my young friend. But I can easily show where you err - the frost is an inevitability, which cannot be influenced or avoided by the efforts of men. And food is a necessity, which we cannot afford to go without. Yet the unearthing of artifacts is not a necessity, and it creates risk where before there was none. Tell me, what good was done by acquiring the Eye?

>R: The creation of knowledge is a good in itself. Surely you will not deny this.

>E: I will not. But you must show me what knowledge was gained. What books or papers were published? What correspondences begun? The Eye disappeared without a trace, leaving only magical disruptions.

The radical falls silent. In truth, the Eye taught the mages of Winterhold nothing. The elder pushes his case.

>E: Perhaps you are familiar with Arniel Gane - he found the Tools of Kagrenac and attempted to find the Dwemer.

>R: Yes, but no harm came of this.

>E: What happened when last the Tools were used? An entire nation of Mer disappeared from the face of Nirn. Is it not reasonable to conclude that such an outcome was possible when Arniel wielded Keening?

>R: Surely this was possible.

>E: And on whose authority did Arniel risk the lives of every Breton on Nirn, and all Bretons to come?

>R: But wasn't this risk acceptable if we could learn the great secret of the Dwemer?

The elder mage rose from his place, preparing to retire for the evening.

>E: Truly, I have shown you the madness of wizards. It is plain to anyone with eyes that the lives of a hundred thousand men, women, and children could never be held in balance with the curiosity of one mage.

The radical was dumbfounded, being shown the incalculable selfishness he had endorsed.

>E: If Arniel acted in the public interest, for the creation of arcane knowledge, where are his notes? Did he communicate his work to anyone? Leave any record, or any way to find out whether his journey was a success?

>R: You are clearly in the right.

>E: Indeed. Now you see that the first use of arcane knowledge is to police those who would misuse it. This is the prime law of our order.

That night the radical had a change of heart. He returned to the Imperial City and pledged himself to serve the Emperor and protect all his domains from the recklessness of mages.