Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jan 16, 2005 13:19:54	Dear Inquisitive readers: A student recently asked me a question in my upper-level Human and Racial Studies class, something that had been brewing in our collective subconscious for sometime now, I believe. It had been two weeks since a warforged soldier had been beaten to death in the streets by a mob of angry worshippers in the Sovereign Towers district. As this very chronicle reported, the soldier in question had been discharged after the Treaty of Thronehold was signed and had been brutally 'dismantled' clutching a scroll with his application to the Pavilion of the Hosts' training facilities. As the soldier was being turned away rather publicly, a crowd poured out from the Cathedral of the Cleansing Flame; many of the worshippers felt very strongly about the 'warforged situation', and apparently much of the crowd had lost family to warforged, or had read of their battles in the various Chronicles. Of course, the mob that formed and made short work of the soldier was brutal by any standards; despite that fact, many authorities came dangerously close to praising the crowd's reaction. The Cathedral even held a service for the members of its congregation that were trampled in the crowd; members who had died likely trying to tear apart that soldier, who had once likely fought in their defense. That said, my student's question did not surprise me; my own reaction, however, did. I hadn't planned on personally speaking on the issue; I encourage each student to formulate their own opinions, even to the point of lecturing longer than I do in class. That day, however, was different. I have included my full response, as recorded by my familiar and relayed to me later. Even I am surprised at its certainty when I read it; it harkens more of the prophecies from the Host's Priests than my cynical, skeptical syntax. Here, then, is the transcript of my response; "Do I think the clerics of the Host should accept warforged as students? Yes; I believe they should have. Controversy would have indeed been sparked, but all it would have taken were a few short tests to determine that there was no divine aptitude in that soldier, no chance to delve into religion's magics. Why then, we must ask, did they turn him away? Give him to the mob to be torn to shreds, the mob that formed even as the priest stood on the steps of the Host's own temple? There is but one answer; they were afraid. They were afraid that warforged might indeed have that essence, that divine stuff that is needed to spark a connection to the Host's mysteries. If it were proved that the deities favored warforged and held them in equal value of our own... Sharn itself would shake. I believe that one day, 'forged may seek out in droves the divine path of a priest, or a druid, despite their outward appearance and obviously artificial being. However, there is, I believe, one part of them that is not artificial, is not worldly, and is in its essence, divine; something that had been proven to exist simply by the priest's refusal and the mob's brutality. The existence of a warforged soul. That was what Merrix d'Cannith never foresaw when he powered up House Cannith's first creation forge; that one day, part of his creations would wind up being shaped by something, or someone, else. Because of the varieties of souls, just like variety in everything else gods-made, warforged stopped being mold-pressed super-soldiers and became something else; life. And so, the day may come where the orcs of the Eldeen Reaches extend a hand of friendship and acceptance to a 'forged, allowing him to join in their druidic traditions, and write new chapters in the history of the Gatekeepers. Living constructs may soon bring forth great and powerful magics, both as wild-eyed sorcerers and as learned mages studying here, yes, even here at our own University. The time when warforged priests, true priests, extoll their faith and the virtues of the Host or the Flame with equal fervor and righteousness as the flesh-and-blood prophets do today. The day will come when the creation forges are once again renewed, by the warforged; but this time, instead of fueled by war or some power-hungry, hate filled 'prophet', they will be fueled by peace, and run by the need to create life. This day will come; and perhaps, after all, Merrix did see this when he designed them, when he first built them. Maybe this was to be his legacy, and not just Cannith's. Maybe he played god; but maybe, just maybe, the gods inspired him." Augustus Fain Tenured professor, Philosophy, Morgrave University 4 Dravago, CR 998
#2 zombiegleemax May 22, 2005 17:09:44	As a Veteran, a Human, and a Citizen of Sharn, I am appalled by this senseless death. That the Warforged were created is not an issue in dispute. So were we all! I hope and pray that all of Sharns' citizens will reflect on that fact.