The North and the Mechanics of Being
The technological wonders coming out of the North have prompted many in our ignorant lands to regard our distant neighbors with suspicion. The Cult of Rankar refer to inhabitants of the Laurasia as heretics, and the Council of Mages spews vile propaganda about pogroms in which witches are beheaded and magical books burned. True, magic is banded in the North, for the Laurasians made a choice one-hundred years ago to rid themselves of a dependence on sorcery, instead embracing science and mathematics. This Enlightenment is responsible for the many amazing inventions Laurasia has produced: steam ships that are powered by coal; gunpowder and firearms; zeppelins that float high above in the clouds. Critics say that the Northerners have made a terrible sacrifice, trading their souls for a godless existence. This is pure hearsay; I have met Northerners, and let me tell you, they are as human as you and I. I must admit that their language is strange, and their habits and manners much different from our own, but they are not like the men of the Shivering Isles, who are doomed to degenerate into ravenous walking corpses. Were we to do as they do, then all of Capetia would benefit! Indeed, it is inevitable that magic and mages become distant memories, for if we do not match the technology of the Laurasians, we may one day call them Master, for their ambitions are plain, and it is only a matter of time before they set their eyes on the South.
--author unknown
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