Charlie's response was a stock phrase, true, but it carried some truth in its glibness perhaps because it was being said by a man who had practiced making it sound profound. Magic itself was a cheat after all, a way to bypass the the costs and efforts of struggling mundanely. It was axiomatic that anything that could be done with magic could be done by human hands - all else was archmagic - and so Avamande was forced to admit that he had something of a point.
"Mages," they began slowly, clearly aware that they were trying to discuss ethics with someone who appeared to have none, "are the greatest of cheats. We do not win gold or fame by our chicanery, but power. This is why many fear us, and why we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard of conduct." The fact that Avamande had explicitly avoided joining the Circle of Spells in order to not be bound by their standards was not lost on them, and the hypocrisy sat in their stomach like a rock.
"It seems that conversations with you will be rather stimulating, Charles," they continued, darting past the awkwardness of the situation they had trapped themselves in. "Lyra is one of the finest Scriveners in the world, certainly within Kalzasi." And undoubtedly the greatest in the city who did not work for the Circle.
"Scrivening," they further said, now firmly reestablishing the conversation on comfortable ground, "is akin to writing down a set of instructions for a five year old. Everything must be just so, and a single errant command can lead to calamity. There is little that cannot be done with it if you keep that in mind however, the only limitation being the capabilities of the mage. And, of course, the wealth of dragon shards at their disposal. I could, for example, create a pictograph powered by aetherite to sustain a Negation ward indefinitely. Or at least until the shards ran out."
"Mages," they began slowly, clearly aware that they were trying to discuss ethics with someone who appeared to have none, "are the greatest of cheats. We do not win gold or fame by our chicanery, but power. This is why many fear us, and why we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard of conduct." The fact that Avamande had explicitly avoided joining the Circle of Spells in order to not be bound by their standards was not lost on them, and the hypocrisy sat in their stomach like a rock.
"It seems that conversations with you will be rather stimulating, Charles," they continued, darting past the awkwardness of the situation they had trapped themselves in. "Lyra is one of the finest Scriveners in the world, certainly within Kalzasi." And undoubtedly the greatest in the city who did not work for the Circle.
"Scrivening," they further said, now firmly reestablishing the conversation on comfortable ground, "is akin to writing down a set of instructions for a five year old. Everything must be just so, and a single errant command can lead to calamity. There is little that cannot be done with it if you keep that in mind however, the only limitation being the capabilities of the mage. And, of course, the wealth of dragon shards at their disposal. I could, for example, create a pictograph powered by aetherite to sustain a Negation ward indefinitely. Or at least until the shards ran out."
