Chapter 19 preamble

Once, when I was traveling on the surface, I met a man who flaunted his religion like a badge of honor pinned to the sleeve of his coat. "I am a person who believes in high morality!" When we sat side by side in front of the bar of a tavern, he proudly told me.I'm sipping my drink, and I fear he's had a lot of stronger drinks.He kept explaining the vision of their religious description and the reason for his existence. He said that all things are fundamentally based on science, based on mechanical operations, and based on some discoverable rules.He even said that if he could get a piece of my flesh, he could work out why the dark elves have black skin. "What element is it," he said suspiciously, "that makes your race different from your surface relatives?"

I think this gothic must have believed what he said: if he could discover the elements that make up the skin of the dark elves, he could make the dark elves more like their surface relatives through the change of pigment.He was so devout, to the point of madness, that it seemed to me that he thought he could change more than our appearance. Because according to his worldview, everything can be interpreted and changed in this way. How can I make him understand that the world is very complicated?How can I let him know that because of the difference in worldview between the dark elves and the surface elves, they have taken completely opposite paths?

For a fanatical believer in high morality, everything can be disassembled and reassembled.Even the magic of a wizard is nothing more than a transfer of energy between universes to them.And one day, they will be able to do the same in their own way.My Gothic friend assured me that he and his fellow inventor-priests would one day be able to perform all the magic of a wizard by properly combining the elements of nature. But he doesn't mention the self-discipline to be learned in the process of wizarding excellence.He didn't mention that powerful magic wasn't born with, but learned over time, day after day, year after year.The process is a gradual, lifelong quest for this great power, mysterious on the one hand, and real on the other.

The same is true for fighters.Gothic believers mention a weapon called an arquebus, which is a tube that shoots things out, many times more powerful than the strongest crossbow. Such a weapon would frighten a true warrior, not because he was afraid of being shot dead, or that something like this would one day replace him.It is because a true warrior learns when and why to use the sword at the same time as he learns how to use the gun.To hand over to someone the power of a master of arms without exercising and proving that the lessons were not in vain is to deny the responsibility that comes with that power.

Of course, there are still wizards and warriors who practiced their skills to perfection, but did not learn the self-control they should have. Some of them have reached a very high level in terms of martial arts and damage to the world, Artemis Entreri might seem like a perfect example, but fortunately there aren't many of these people, mostly because their personality flaws manifest early in their careers and quickly undo them.But if one day the Gothicists gain power and their wrong world view of Lixiangxin is put into practice, then the years of training for a person will lose their meaning.Any fool can pick up an arquebus or other powerful weapon and kill a trained warrior in no time.Any kid could use a Paletonian magic machine to shoot a ball of fire that might burn down half a city.

When I pointed out my fears to this gothic man, he seemed shocked, not by the possibility of destroying the world, but by the pride he saw in me. "What the priests of the Goths invent will make all men equal," he declared. "We will raise the status of the lowest serf." I don't think so.The only thing the Gothician and his companions will bring is death and destruction on a scale hitherto unknown to the Forgotten Realms. At that point I didn't want to say anything more because I knew this person would never listen to me.He thinks that I, or anyone who has reached a certain level of skill in combat or spells, is arrogant, because he cannot see the value of the sacrifice and dedication required to achieve such a level.

Are you proud?If this lowly serf whom Gothicians call me wants to learn fighting skills and comes to me, I will gladly teach him.I would be as happy to see him succeed as I am to see him succeed, but I will demand, and I will demand, that he be humble, dedicated, and fully aware of the power of what I am teaching, and recognize that A force that brings the possibility of destruction.I would never teach someone who does not consistently display compassion and gregariousness.To learn how to wield a sword, one must first learn when to wield it. On a purely emotional level, I believe there is another error in the gothic's line of thinking.If machines take the place of individual achievement in art, what kind of aspirations will people have in their hearts?Who are we in reality with that goal in mind?

I think beware of mechanical designers in society who want to make everyone equal.People's opportunities should be equal and must be equal, but the achievements of individuals in what they strive for are still not the same. — Drizzt Do'Urden