Debate over Denial - RPLOG
Participants
Date
7/6/477
Log
As it approaches noon in Firmament, a curious sight reveals itself. Surrounded by a handful of students, a goat of a professor has emerged from that illustrious institution known as the Firmament Academy, climbed on a small stand comprised of soap crates and is addressing passers-by on their way to noon mass.
The fellow certainly has come prepared. Awnings shield the worst of the sun from both him and part of the audience, and a number of seats have been prepared on the form of crates. The spectacle draws a few curious stares from some passing guards, but since the flow of traffic isn't impeded and everyone knows academics are crazy anyway, they don't do much for him.
The speech is already well under way, although it's hard to make out the details until one draws closer.
Among the collection of beings at the Academy, Selena unsurprisingly meanders through the highways and byways of the district - though the sight of anyone grandstanding in the academy in such a fashion isn't as common as one might think. Surely enough, the wolfess makes her way over the crowds curiously.
A tailflick, a rumble, a murr. Flora is out and about, carrying a clipboard with several notes, along with a paper-filled satchel as she moves about the area, silently observing the goat as she slinks closer. She casts another glance in the direction of Saints' Square, before smiling and mingling with the crowd.
Passing through the area, Cedric takes notice of the gathering near the academy, and letting his curiosity take over he wanders towards the crowd to try to hear the goat's words a little better. He makes his way through the crowd, trying to get near the front so that he can get a better look.
"...And I say, these are the rules which where apparently placed on the Creator merchant who attended to us last week. A copy was duly passed to the Academy," the goat says in loud, clear tones to the small crowd that has gathered. "They are very restrictive rules, I should add. I can understand no weapons of war - that is a reasonable restriction to place upon such merchandise. But look at this! What of purely peaceful spells and artefacts? Why would the Creators have reason to deny these to us?
"I, Associate Professor Lewis Pastor, have been studying - and treating - many illnesses for years on end in this glorious institution, and it is many a time that I have had to watch a patient die when all other treatments failed, when the church's few sacred doctors were all in use or recuperating. I am invited to the merchant's display, ask him if he could treat, say, a gravely fetid wound - and am told that yes, this is possible with the wonders of the Creators, but they are not for sale at any price, and for the most pathetic of pretexts, too!"
Selena raises an eyebrow at the commentary of the being's argument, rubbing her temples somewhat. It'd be hard to tell if it was expected or unwanted in the wolfess's eyes, but either way... The woman moves over to the being and coughs politely. "Isn't that topic better suited for a discussion at noonday mass rather than grandstanding in the academy district?" She asks perplexedly. "As much as I agree that it's unfortunate that creators aren't selling us cure-alls and the apex of their achievements, it's been cited that the creators overseeing this want to preserve our culture. Even our methods for treating disease could be considered part of our heritage, and if we could cure all ills, then where would the now-healthy population live? There's only so much food produced by farms, and while there aren't many numbers on the subject from what I understand, we'd end up living outside of our means." She states - the woman taking a tone obviously intended for reasonable debate rather than outright dismissal.
"May Flora ask a question? What if, hypothetically, mister Pastor did get those devices and then the creators leave, like they did before? Beings would rely on them, and when they break... Beings have no idea how to treat illnesses anymore... Flora is not saying Flora likes the ban on certain items, but... Relying on the Creators' technology for such a crucial thing... It sounds like a bad thing to Flora," the cat offers, looking up at the goat. "For the same reason, Flora can't ask for other objects, or even knowledge... Because without discovery... Can a being really say they understand something?" she asks, looking directly at the goat. Her own tone is more... Harsh than Selena's, but not dismissive either.
Cedric doesn't really have much to add to this debate, but he stands among the crowd listening with some interest towards the arguements given, nodding in response to Selena and Flora. These were all perfectly reasonable assessments of the situation.
"Ah, a reasonable debater, at last. None of that 'but it were the Creators who said it, their will be done' babble. Such nonsense." Lewis squints at Selena a moment over his horm-rimmed glasses. "Madame Hearthkeep? Your presence is welcome here. As opposed to what mine would be, were I to head over to the nearest church and make my views known there. If I will not use a ready-made venue, then I shall have to prepare one myself. Which my students have graciously helped me with, naturally.
"But to answer your concerns. That was the said pretext that I had considered in private, and it reeks of rank hypocrisy. Already in their own missives to us, they flaunt our styles, our fashions, they desire our art - I hear that the Creator doctor who was deported certainly had no interest in preserving her own culture. Why go to such lengths to 'preserve our culture', as they claim? Thinking back to the first fateful day which the first Creators landed in Shralesta, myths made real, they have already impacted us by their mere presence. And now even though they walk amongst us, converse, make demands, and deign to sell their fashions - well, if that is not a change of our culture at its most base level, I don't know what it is. The rich will want to emulate the Creators, the poor will want to emulate the rich. I personally find lives to be more important than some nebulous concept, if you will excuse me.
"Neither do their wonders exist isolated from each other. Are you saying that you would rather have good beings die avoidable deaths so there are fewer mouths to feed? Amongst those which were allowed on the merchant's craft were those which would allow us to better harness, and steward the land's bounty.
"Now, for the other concerns. I see none - the merchant has agreed to provide training for the devices he has agreed to repair. And clearly Madame Longtail does not rub two sticks together when she wishes to light her hearth, does she? No, she builds on the knowledge of those who have gone before, so that her life is easier. What purpose is there in asking us to rediscover these things, if we can be taught the fundemental concepts? Why should we forget things that we know, instead of building on them? The desire here is understanding, Madame Longtail, not blind ritual. This is why I am behooved to stand by the wayside this fine afternoon, giving my opinions to the populace."
