At the end of the letter, an additional post-scriptum spans over more space than the initial message."Athaon Hobard,
Following a discussion on powers between our fellow Defier Chi Lin, my humble self and a few other new faces, a female devil who goes by the tag of "Maraphiel" and speaks of herself as "Baator's diplomat" voiced to me her desire to organize diplomatic discussions between Baatezus and some of our representatives.
When probed for a less vague reason for me to disturb your thoughts, she mentioned "concrete business to be discussed", "warming relations" and "building dialogue" as her objectives. I did not inquire further than a Namer should and accepted to forward her demand. In spite of her natural skepticism on our work, I believe she found our arguments sensible and saw their appeal.
I do not have further details on her goals but have good reasons to believe similar talks could be organized between her and Godsmen.
Should you need a messenger to deliver an answer, she is a customer of my modest shop and I would thus be able to deliver your word to her in a timely manner.
Yours,
Namer Jules.
Indeed, under the letter lies a thick, leather-covered volume that has been hand-copied to abide by the principles it lays out. In half a dozen chapters and following the short "On Arcane Sobriety" title, the book alternates between theoretical discussions and empirical examples to build the following arguments:"P.S. As a side note and if your limited time allows such an uneconomic venture, you will find with this letter the draft of my first book on what I coined "Arcane Sobriety" when I first developed the concept during my arcane studies. Its main argument suggests that relying too much on arcane magic tends to blur the boundary between the "mundane" and the "extraordinary", resulting in an inability to appreciate the value of both. I believe some of the principles it establishes could be readily adapted to convince zealots to apply the same logic in their misguided spiritual practices. Although not explictly calling out powers in such a work could be deemed hypocritical, I believe it could encourage a decrease in worship among these folks who are the least receptive to our arguments by showing them how their excessive worship actually reduces the value of their (unwise) devotion. Although I am currently testing these arguments with the two new Namers I sent you over the last weeks, your insight on my work would honor me."
Chapter 1 claims that relying on the extraordinary to solve mundane problems blinds people to the value of the mundane. For a justification, the chapter relies on numerous examples, for instance to claim that "Only by suffering wetness can a man fully know the value of being dry."
Chapter 2 suggests that relying on the extraordinary to solve mundane problems entails a loss of experience and skills that make people dependent on external forces. The chapter includes many examples of famous wizards gone powerless in dead-magic contexts or in situations where they could not utter a word, along with examples of more reasonable and versatile wizards who went out of hardships.
Chapter 3 highlights how relying on the extraordinary to solve mundane problems deprives people of the pride of achieving. The chapter narrates the story of a farmer who took great pride in an achievement as mundane as ascending a high mountain for his cows to graze, while a second story tells of a wizard who grew blase of his own powers after he could no longer find satisfaction in his much grander achievements.
Chapter 4 argues that relying on the extraordinary to solve mundane problems also reduces the value of the produced solution to the problem, be it mundane or extraordinary. Examples in this chapter mostly revolve around wooing and courting games to suggest women prefer receiving hand-picked rather than summoned blooms or that putting efforts into carving a gift from wood makes it more valuable than carving it magically. It concludes by stating that relying on intermediary forces always reduces the value of the produced solutions, with critical questions such as: "Wouldn't your own badly written poem be worth more than the grand work of a ghost writer? If not, then what but selfishness explains why you don't hire some henchman to make love to your better half?"
Chapter 5 details the problematic ego bursts such reliance on magic for the mundane can entail, by preventing people from fully understanding their low importance in the grand scheme of things. Such boost to wizards' ego would then get dangerous by blinding them to their flaws and spawning disproportionate ambitions. Examples of Torilian power-seeking wizards gone crazy tyrants follow.
Chapter 6 finally explains how relying on the extraordinary to solve mundane issues also reduces the value of the extraordinary, by claiming that "once made ordinary, the extraordinary ceases to be just that. Falling into the mundane, it then becomes unenjoyed banality due to arguments developed in Chapter 1."
For a conclusion, the book recommends to strictly limit the use of arcane magic to these instances where a) the mundane can’t reasonably provide a working solution and b) the absence of a working solution is insufferable. The author sums it up by coining it a shift from "the utility" to the "necessity paradigm."