Throne of Time - Chapter 45-2: Term of Suspicion (Patreon)

"When we speak about magic and history, of course we need to speak of one of the world's most momentous eras. I hope this will be review for most of you, but even if you do not need the remedial education, you need to begin thinking about global conflict in magical terms.

"In ancient times, the world was divided between the northern continents, which contained solely runic magic, and the southern continents, which developed inscriptions. Of course this is an oversimplification, completely leaving out such regions as Febek-Rai, Nau Qin Nau, or the Beiroe Islands. However, it will suffice because of what came next.

"The first contacts between north and south were violent, but nothing compared to what they spawned: the Glyphic Imperium. For the first time, runes and inscriptions were combined into glyphs, not only creating new spells of far greater power but unlocking potential within the other discipline. The Glyphic Imperium swept across the world, conquering every nation that stood in their path."

If Maut-mai had been there, Suria suspected that she would have objected, since Febek-Rai made such a big deal of never having been conquered. No one spoke up, either because they didn't want to interrupt such a serious professor or because they were bored. Maybe this was review for them, but Suria listened with real interest.

"Of course, no empire lasts forever. It is the way of all domineering forces to fall in the end." Professor Rhamsolk spoke these last words with more venom than usual, then his lips twisted in a strange smile. "If you want to learn more about how the Glyphic Imperium calcified and eventually broke apart, I suggest you take a history course. All that remains today are the Imperial Wastes, and those do not concern us.

"No, we are here to talk about how magic continues to shape our politics today. How can it not, since magic is power itself? Yet the particulars can be so important, more relevant than the creeds of propagandists or the opinions of kings.

"For example, the Junnite revolution could never have succeeded without advancements in inscription ink that allowed for powerful spells to be cast even by the poor. Once the odds were even, the masses swept aside the pampered noble class."

"That's a godsdamned lie!' One of the Junnite students nearly stood up, his hands in fists on his desk. "They won via treachery!"

The outburst made the class go silent and Suria saw that the Junnite loopers all looked anxious. This man wasn't one of them and Suria hadn't seen him before, so all she noted was that his clothing was much finer than average. More importantly, he wasn't wearing a Junnite sash... didn't those represent equality? For some it might be a matter of style, but with this man it might be a political statement.

"I don't know you," Professor Rhamsolk said acidly, "but I can guess who you are. The son of Junnite nobles, living in exile from a country to which you can never return?"

"And I won't see my people slandered!" the former noble insisted. "Strike me down if you want, you've already shed enough bl-"

"You can disagree all you want, but in this class, you must bring an argument rooted in political magic. I said that the Junnite revolution was made possible by advancements in inscription ink, evening the playing field. Do you disagree?"

The former noble hesitated for some time, then argued back in less heated tones. "New inks would have benefited everyone in Junn, if it had been distributed fairly. The revolutionaries stole it, entire shipments, to fuel their war. The price of the ink is irrelevant because it all began with theft."

That set off an argument, especially from the other Junnite students. Suria had absolutely no idea who was correct; it was simply clear to her that the topic generated a lot of strong emotions. Even some of the others got involved, which was no surprise since the revolution in Junn was an important piece of recent history.

Through it all, Professor Rhamsolk occasionally nudged the discussion, but mostly he stood back and let everyone argue. As she watched his unchanging expression, Suria wondered if these emotions were his goal. Did he mean to inflame the passions of loopers and incite a mistake? Some of the Junnite loopers had spoken up, but all of them had remained calm.

From there the discussion wheeled on to other topics, usually involving more arguments. Occasionally Professor Rhamsolk would interrupt to give a lecture about how magic affected politics, and while they were interesting, Suria wasn't sure if he was actually a good teacher. The way he spoke... it was polished like he had studied rhetoric, but he always proclaimed his own opinions loudly, never meeting his students with their own understandings.

"Progress is inevitable," he declared sharply. "A superior spell is simply superior, regardless of your political opinions. That is true whether you are talking about the nobility of Junn, the old lineages of Endelyth, or herbalists in the Akrashic Union. Out with the old and in with the new, as they say. Progress cannot be stopped."

"You can try, can't you?" someone brought up from the back of class. "Like the Glyphbreakers."

That set off another round of strong opinions and Suria struggled to follow all of them. She found the whole class a bit frustrating, but it was far worse to be hearing arguments and not even fully understanding them. What she could gather was that the Glyphbreakers were some kind of faction local to Taedria that hated magic, which didn't make any sense to her.

"I'm sorry," Suria made herself speak up between arguments. "I don't know who the Glyphbreakers are."

Some of the students scoffed, but she saw more than a few nods as well. The way Professor Rhamsolk stared at her, she regretted speaking up at all, but after a few seconds he smiled and nodded.

"That question is not amiss," he said, "because this is local politics that may not be familiar to many of you. There has always been anti-magic sentiment in Taedria, leading all the way back to the dark ages when sorcerer kings ruled these lands. Indeed, many of them ruled from this very mountain.

"But contrary to the way some of you speak, the Glyphbreakers are not a single unified organization. They have no headquarters, no armies, and no leaders beyond the local level. Rather, it all began with frustrated workers who saw progress eliminating their livelihoods and tried to stand in the way."

"They've burned down entire buildings!" someone objected. "They've strung people up."

"And they have a broken glyph symbol," someone else added. "You can't tell me they aren't organized."

"Patience," Professor Rhamsolk said, raising a hand to quiet them. "In the beginning, these local protesters were labeled Glyphbreakers by others, but over time, some came to embrace the label. But are they actually an organized movement of any substance? I have my doubts. Most likely the frustrated workers in one town hear about a burned laboratory in the next and they take up the same banner without ever speaking to one another."

That statement was controversial as well, setting off a new wave of discussion. Now that she had some idea what everyone was talking about, Suria settled back and listened more carefully.

The idea of being opposed to magic still struck her as foolish, since even the tiniest villages had all kinds of workers who could use simple spells. But when she heard something that sounded so utterly foolish, she had to wonder if she'd really heard an accurate description. There certainly wasn't anyone in class claiming to be a Glyphbreaker and arguing their side.

By the end of the class period, Suria wasn't sure what to think about anything, and she didn't know what to expect from the rest of the course. She had been scorned by so many nobles that in theory she should be on the side of people like Professor Rhamsolk, who called for throwing down the noble classes. Yet the way he spoke, she wasn't sure if he was just saying it in order to try to antagonize loopers, who were admittedly mostly noble.

Suddenly Suria felt a chill go through her and she didn't hear part of the next argument. Not "mostly" - she had gotten to know the other loopers well enough that she was certain that 100% of them were nobles. While the students at Darkmoon tended to be wealthier, there were a variety of working mages, older students, and scholarships like Suria. For the loop to have included only nobles seemed statistically improbable at best.

Except for Suria. She had no idea what any of it meant or whether this was a coincidence or a clue, but it still left her feeling strangely distant from it all.

As if that wasn't enough to unsettle her, after she interrupted with her question, she felt like Professor Rhamsolk looked at her more frequently. There was something strange in his gaze, and not just because he had those molten gold eyes. Had her question been flawed, or too simple in a way that made her seem like she was faking ignorance? Yet she truly hadn't known, and was feigning nothing.

She didn't get an answer before class was dismissed. Suria left in silence, feeling the molten eyes on her back.