He nods with her reminder of technology, conceding the point. Advances in that do go a long ways as well, of course. Any man of science can agree to that. And where would Yharnam be without the ingenuity of the Workshop, the Powder Kegs, all those trick weapons the lot of them made?
Micolash is hurriedly flipping through the pages of his book, looking for the passage he'd mentioned. "Oh yes," he says as he does so, reassuring Adia of her impressions caused by the augur. "The Great Ones are intrinsically linked to the sea. Kos, some say Kosm, especially. Others, as Vacuous Rom, are linked to lakes, Formless Oedeon to stagnant water." He pauses, looking up to smile fondly, if vacantly. "And Ebrietas is quite beautiful. And her name, while sharing the root word for 'drunkenness', also speaks of a genus of, ah. Skippers. Butterflies." He smiles wider, as if to cap that explanation, then turns back down to his book. Where is that page he-...Ah!
Micolash holds the book out and open in front of him, clearing his throat in preparation to read. Also, he has to take a moment to adjust the distance he holds the pages out at, squinting until he gets it right. Someone must need reading glasses. His reading voice is a lot like his speaking voice, which is to say a nasal drone, but at least the strange cadence is gone for the most part. It's different when he has to adhere to someone else's written cues.
"The Strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty. Hence the right of the strongest, which, though to all seeming meant ironically, is really laid down as a fundamental principle. But are we never to have an explanation of this phrase? Force is a physical power, and I fail to see what moral effect it can have. To yield to force is an act of necessity, not of will—at the most, an act of prudence. In what sense can it be a duty?
"Suppose for a moment that this so-called 'right' exists. I maintain that the sole result is a mass of inexplicable nonsense. For, if force creates right, the effect changes with the cause: every force that is greater than the first succeeds to its right. As soon as it is possible to disobey with impunity, disobedience is legitimate; and, the strongest being always in the right, the only thing that matters is to act so as to become the strongest. But what kind of right is that which perishes when force fails? If we must obey perforce, there is no need to obey because we ought; and if we are not forced to obey, we are under no obligation to do so. Clearly, the word “right” adds nothing to force: in this connection, it means absolutely nothing.
"Obey the powers that be. If this means yield to force, it is a good precept, but superfluous: I can answer for its never being violated. All power comes from God, I admit; but so does all sickness: does that mean that we are forbidden to call in the doctor? A brigand surprises me at the edge of a wood: must I not merely surrender my purse on compulsion; but, even if I could withhold it, am I in conscience bound to give it up? For certainly the pistol he holds is also a power.
"Let us then admit that force does not create right, and that we are obliged to obey only legitimate powers. In that case, my original question recurs."
Now finished, Micolash looks up, pale eyes bright with expectation towards hearing Adia's thoughts.
here we go with massive transcript from a book from the 1700s
Micolash is hurriedly flipping through the pages of his book, looking for the passage he'd mentioned. "Oh yes," he says as he does so, reassuring Adia of her impressions caused by the augur. "The Great Ones are intrinsically linked to the sea. Kos, some say Kosm, especially. Others, as Vacuous Rom, are linked to lakes, Formless Oedeon to stagnant water." He pauses, looking up to smile fondly, if vacantly. "And Ebrietas is quite beautiful. And her name, while sharing the root word for 'drunkenness', also speaks of a genus of, ah. Skippers. Butterflies." He smiles wider, as if to cap that explanation, then turns back down to his book. Where is that page he-...Ah!
Micolash holds the book out and open in front of him, clearing his throat in preparation to read. Also, he has to take a moment to adjust the distance he holds the pages out at, squinting until he gets it right. Someone must need reading glasses. His reading voice is a lot like his speaking voice, which is to say a nasal drone, but at least the strange cadence is gone for the most part. It's different when he has to adhere to someone else's written cues.
"The Strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty. Hence the right of the strongest, which, though to all seeming meant ironically, is really laid down as a fundamental principle. But are we never to have an explanation of this phrase? Force is a physical power, and I fail to see what moral effect it can have. To yield to force is an act of necessity, not of will—at the most, an act of prudence. In what sense can it be a duty?
"Suppose for a moment that this so-called 'right' exists. I maintain that the sole result is a mass of inexplicable nonsense. For, if force creates right, the effect changes with the cause: every force that is greater than the first succeeds to its right. As soon as it is possible to disobey with impunity, disobedience is legitimate; and, the strongest being always in the right, the only thing that matters is to act so as to become the strongest. But what kind of right is that which perishes when force fails? If we must obey perforce, there is no need to obey because we ought; and if we are not forced to obey, we are under no obligation to do so. Clearly, the word “right” adds nothing to force: in this connection, it means absolutely nothing.
"Obey the powers that be. If this means yield to force, it is a good precept, but superfluous: I can answer for its never being violated. All power comes from God, I admit; but so does all sickness: does that mean that we are forbidden to call in the doctor? A brigand surprises me at the edge of a wood: must I not merely surrender my purse on compulsion; but, even if I could withhold it, am I in conscience bound to give it up? For certainly the pistol he holds is also a power.
"Let us then admit that force does not create right, and that we are obliged to obey only legitimate powers. In that case, my original question recurs."
Now finished, Micolash looks up, pale eyes bright with expectation towards hearing Adia's thoughts.