Officially, Arril's lecture was of no greater or lesser importance than any other that week. Officially, the sole value of it would be the information conveyed within it, with Arril merely being akin to a dispenser of that information. Officially, Alagar, more used to directing shipbuilders than scholars, could have hosted the lecture and nothing would change.
Reality does not bother much with what is or is not official.
In practice, despite Arril's lack of psychic capabilities - usually a prerequisite for joining the (unofficial) upper echelons of Tizca's scholarly society - his knowledge of how to utilize psychic powers to create advanced technologies, his understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the use of psionics, and, most importantly, his skill at conveying this information to others in an easily-understood manner have all made him unquestionably the premier mind of the increasingly-shining city. Dissent is tolerated, but to admit that one does not even consider his positions is to mark oneself as a fool. And it is no secret that it is from Arril that the recent age of innovation sprouted, with many of the scholars putting their work into developing better ways to produce more advanced technologies happily attributing their inspiration to him.
It is with this in mind that one may see the truth of Arril's lecture, just now beginning.
"Welcome, everybody! Thank you all for coming today, I am honored."
Like many of his fellows, Arril was clad in undyed cloth garb; though the people of Prospero were beginning to become more prosperous, both the difficulty of producing dyes and Arril's own long example had discouraged ostentatious displays.
"I believe I may take it as given that all of us are familiar with psionics." Chuckles lightly sound around the room, and Arril grins. "Yes, that wonderous gift, which has allowed us to survive and, indeed, begin to prosper here. Surely, the field must be oversaturated if even I, without any personal capability in such things, may conduct research upon it." More laughter, but Arril's face becomes serious as he pulls himself to his full height.
"However."
The word silences the room, as the scholars turn their full attention to their host. The joking is over.
"For all that we rely on psionics, for all that psychic powers fuel our society and defend us from the Psychneuein, we understand remarkably little of how they work. How to train them, how to defend against them, those we have learned through practice, but the underlying principles have long evaded us. Until today."
A screen, previously unused, flickers to life. Prominently displayed at the top is a set of blueprints, as well as a picture of the tool they describe - an item resembling a telescope, albeit clearly distinct. Below them are an array of images, perhaps reminiscent of the view from inside a technicolor supernova.
"Many have described that they feel as though they are drawing their powers from someplace else. Today, I bring you proof it is so: images of the psionic plane, acquired with the psionoscope."
This is true, albeit somewhat misleading. Tizca's scholars would, given Arril's specialties, assume that the item was one of his own invention and creation. Instead, it was borrowed from the archives of the Cabal, a rather outdated model that would not be able to see especially clearly - a boon when sharp images of daemons may prove hazardous to one's mental health. Furthermore, it was designed with prior knowledge of the Immaterium's existence, rather than being designed to prove its existence. The introduction of the tool had been considered extensively before it was agreed to be deniable enough to be acceptable to spread.
"However, I have not been idle with this tool, as simple images, important as they may be, are not truly sufficient to convey the importance of this discovery. If all we could do with this new plane was look at it, it would be rather useless to us. No, I have studied the psionic plane. I do not bring only pictures, I bring you data, and with data, actionable knowledge." Accordingly, parts of this body of data replaced the prior images on the screen, although the head of the slide indicated that more complete details could be found in Arril's new research paper, already available at the standard distribution locations.
Here is where falsehoods creep in. Arril could use the psionoscope to gather this data, but it would take much too long, especially with his lack of psychic ability. Instead, the data was gathered by junior members of Prospero's Cabal cell, and while Arril certainly participated in studying it, he was guided by others with more knowledge of the Immaterium than he held. Despite this, he understood enough to teach others some of the underlying principles that would be helpful both in practical usage and in further research, and teach he did.
Wrapping up the explanation of the mechanisms by which the Immaterium functioned, however, Arril became solemn.
"Unfortunately, my lecture cannot solely be good news. All of us have lost friends to the Psychneuein. We know how they prey upon those who wield psionics. They are a blight upon our world. And forced to fight them daily for survival..."
The screen switches again, to one large image. The center is one of the same from earlier - what looks like the inside of a colorful supernova - but the borders have expanded. At the edges of the image are roiling masses, making the center look calm and plan in comparison. And as much as they are riots of color, they are also noticeably much darker than the center.
"...to only suffer from the Psychneueins, we have been lucky. The psionic plane is remarkably calm and stable within our solar system, but beyond it lies chaos."
And Chaos, but that could be further explained in time.
"Put simply, we are not properly prepared for what psionics would be like if we were to leave Prospero. Our knowledge and skills have been sufficient for us here, but we face little opposition when we compare our planar environment to the worlds beyond. And that is merely in the nature of the environment itself; just as we now know the Psychneuein reside at least partially in the psionic plane, it is not beyond reason to say that other things may reside in there, too. And to survive in the dangerous environments that exist beyond Prospero, they too must be extraordinarily dangerous." More than they could know.
Arril sighs. His audience is silent, worried. This is what lies beyond?
But then Arril looks up, smiling. It is not a happy smile, and indeed, is small enough to be difficult to perceive from a distance. It is a smile of determination.
"I understand that this may all sound bleak. We have seen beyond our home, and the worlds beyond are hazardous in the extreme. What we know today is not enough to pierce the darkness.
But we are not limited to what we know today."
Against his night-blue skin, Arril's golden eyes shine like stars.
"Knowledge ever begets knowledge, and today, we know more than we did yesterday. Tomorrow, we shall know more again. We have been revolutionizing the nature of industry, and the lives of all who call Tizca home. That is not going to stop, nay, it shall only grow from here! Every day that we learn, we learn how to learn, and we learn what else there is to learn. The psionic plane did not become as it is upon observation, it was already like this; now, we simply have the tools to learn about it. Now, we have the tools to learn how it works. There will be dangers, that is of no doubt, but so too are there opportunities. To be hasty would invite disaster, but to cease learning will kill us just as certainly.
This is only the beginning of our studies. There is so much to learn, more than we ever could have known before."
Eventually, they would be taught of the dangers of Chaos. When they have learned to control their powers, to control their selves. The Psychneuein were training, of a sort, to learn to protect one's soul from that which would prey upon it.
When those things were gone, then they could safely be taught.
Today, they know some of how the Immaterium works. Today, they know some of the dangers that reside within it. Today, they know more than they did yesterday.
Tomorrow, they would know more.
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Topic: The Perpetuals - Warhammer 30k (IC) (Read 9516 times)