Role

Chapter 4

Some say of Galathaniel that he is too pragmatic to be truly good. Others say
of him that his lofty idealism may inadvertently, someday, lead to evil. To
both he says, "You are manifestly wrong."

When Galathaniel looks in the mirror, he does not see someone who is entirely
pragmatic. He also does not see someone who is exclusively idealistic. No, he
sees instead a Pragmatic Idealist - an ambitious and power-hungry individual
who desires power not for its own sake, but instead for the consequent ability
to effectively stand up for what is good and right.

Being a Pragmatic Idealist, to him, means taking the path of least resistance
toward accomplishing the greatest good for all. Make no mistake, the ends do
not justify the means - Galathaniel is clear on this. He also sees the value,
however, in speaking softly while wielding a big stick - of diplomacy and
sheathing an iron fist in its velvet glove.

Given all that, he routinely aids those who are Orderly or of the Light when
he reasonably is able to (albeit he is allergic to younglings, still in the
Academy, who feel entitled to much better than fine leather!). He also
regularly speaks to anyone who is willing to engage in conversation, be they
Magistrate, Herald, Fortress member, Imperial, Outlander, Villager, orc, Scion
or the unaligned.

Indeed in one conversation with the Mummy Lord Itzenxilaatl, that undead
creature proclaimed a lofty ambition to cull the weak and ignorant, thereby
bringing about a world of equals. To which Galathaniel replied something along
these lines, "If you cull the weak then who will you have left as servants? If
you cull the ignorant then who will we have left as students? In the case of
both, you suppress potential - for were you not once, even you, a babe - weak
and ignorant - upon your mother's bosom?"

In another conversation with one zealous Maran protesting bitterly
Galathaniel's being a friend to "dread necromancers and vile anti-paladins",
the Magistrate calmly replied something along these lines, "If your monument
to the Light's final Victory will be a mass grave for drow children, then what
kind of Light is this, sir, which will have prevailed?"

These then are the ramblings of one Pragmatic Idealist, one Galathaniel
Cordatus who aspires to eventually surpass Trothon's mastery of the Arts
Magick, and - as Provost someday - bring all Thera under a Great Aegis of the
Blood Tribunal!