Praedium Archive
Statement by Johann Haber, Gothic Merchant operating out of Fenristadt (License Suspended)
Society as we know it wouldn’t really exist without the help of the Earth Mages. It was the Earth Guild who designed the first bridges strong enough for wagon trains. It was the Earth Guild who designed and built the walls we erect around our cities to keep out invaders. It was the Earth Guild who laid the roads out between the capital and all of it’s extremities so that people didn’t need to navigate the woods or its dangers any longer. It’s the Earth Mages that bore tunnels through mountain sides or make hills more gentle for travel. The important cities of the Throne all have walls that make them resilient to siege weaponry. Having the Infragilis Vigilo on our side makes living in the cities more secure than anywhere else. They are truly the architects and wardens of humanity. They are constantly designing new ideas to make life more efficient for the people of the Throne. They’ve arranged special trade routes between cities like the famous “Emporer’s Ride”, the trade road that travels between Fenristadt and Scrow but takes half the time of a journey of similar length anywhere else. Any time a new town needs to be set up in the wilderness, the Earth Mages are there to lay the ground work and make sure the roads between the nearest point are safe and easy.
The Throne keeps them busy maintaining the upkeep of all the structures they’ve made. Once a year or so they send someone out to put a new enchantment on the roads, or the walls, or the castle keeps where the nobles stay. They’re always paid well for that, and no one wants to be without such a security. I believe they have everyone’s best interest in mind; everyone needs a job, and theirs protects everyone.
No one knows where they meet or where they study though. Some people say it’s out in the wild, far away from the cities. Other people say it’s underground, maybe even beneath the cities down below the very sewers that they laid down. They seem to enjoy their privacy, because I’ve never heard of an Earth Mage living inside the cities that they upkeep. If the only price we have to pay is their fee and the respect of their privacy, I say we have a good deal for the knowledge that we don’t ever have to venture too far out into the wilds to maintain our lives and happiness. God bless them.
