On the 7th of Novari, a mindcrafter by the name of Clor Poliero held a very ignorant speech in the chantry of the Bright Compound of the Academy, southeast of Hydlaa. As, today, ignorant speeches pop out as numerous as the weed in the forest, there was no reason to respond to it. I can't explain otherwise the numerous booklets entitled "Poliero's speech to Healers and Mindcrafters" that can be found around, than supposing that he has since had them printed privately. Unfortunately, this speech received some small and well undeserved attention in academic circles. Let us put his misconceptions to their final rest.
Poliero's speech began with an only occasionally factual accounting of famous magicians, from Walr Rinzu, Fertedian Dalko's personal illusionist, to Narth Teder, the famous healer who saved the second level from the grey pestilence. His intent was to show that where it matters, a Mindcrafter relies on the Azure Way, not on the Blue Way, which supposedly is an Illusionist's particular forte (for the divinatory spells). Similarily -- he says -- a Healer does not rely on the Blue Way but on Crystal Way. Allow me first to dispute these so-called "historical" facts.
First of all, Poliero rather pathetically includes Walr Rinzu in his list of "underachieving" mindcrafters. Warl Rinzu was not a mindcrafter of Yliakum -- he was simply an illusionist in the employ of Fertedian Dalko, the worst ruler Yliakum has ever had, thus which spells he cast in the various battles he quoted, are irrelevant, not to say they are only unsupported rumors. Besides, to use an insane traitor as example of rational behavior is an untenable position. What would Poliero prefer? That Walr Rinzu used the Azure Way to destroy Yliakum by a more "traditional" means? That his dire mind-rotting illusions were yet cast in a gracious and magistrale way?
Besides, that's beyond the point. Rinzu did not summon at all, or create, the megaras that crashed into the crystal, by spells of Dark and Brown Ways as Poliero alleges. The truth is that, while a traitor he was, at least as much as his master, we know that, for too many reasons, it was in his interests to keep Dalko alive. Just consider he was his magnate and a good excuse to cover his back for all the magical experiments and atrocities he committed. For the more, Poliero doesn't explain why Walr Rinzu was executed by the population, after Dalko's assassination. Why should they kill him if he helped them? The answer is they knew he was a traitor like Octarch Dalko. Poliero belives the whole point is about the megaras... -- like we cared about this insignificant detail -- we don't know where the megaras came from, but we know for sure they were not a magical conjuration but just authentic megaras hypnotized by the means of Azure Way spells. Rinzu did not use any other way but Azure.
Poliero calls Teder "an accomplished Healer" but not "a powerful student of the Blue Way". This time I congratulate Poliero on correctly identifying a Yliakum Healer, but there are many written examples of Teder's skill in the Blue Way, which is very important a mean for healing too! The fact he is famous for his healing arts doesn't mean that all he knew was the Crystal Way. The Hydlaa librarian, Jayose, for example, wrote extensively about Teder casting the Soul Twist on the tefusangs, making their strength and speed useless by freezing them istantly. The conjurer who commanded those creatures, at that point, quickly fled. What is this, but an impressive example of the Blue Way?
Kerwist was not a Healer from the Academy, but an independent traveller and scholar, to begin with. Let alone the other "facts" he conveniently accounted.
As the basis of his argument, Poliero uses his misrepresentation of history. Even if he had found three excellent examples from history of magicians casting spells... outside their way... — and he didn't! — he would only have anecdotal evidence, which isn't enough to support an argument. I could easily find three or many more examples of illusionists casting healing spells, or healers teleporting. Or - what can I say...- builders cooking their meals even if they are not cooks? There is a time and a place for everything.
Poliero's argument, built on this shaky ground, is that the Blue way is not a true way. He calls it "weak and insignificant" as an avenue of study, and its students inept, with a false sense of calm and self control while they are just retarded. How can one respond to this? Someone who knows absolutely nothing about casting a spell of the Blue Way criticizing the Way for being too simple? Summarizing the Blue Way as learning how to do a "few tricks of everything", to "create light illusions" and to do "weather forecasts" is clearly absurd, and he expounds on his ignorance by listing all the complicated factors studied in his own Azure Way.
Allow me in response to list the factors studied in the Blue Way. The Blue Way is all about purification, so, more than in any other Way, requires a clear mind. While the means of delivering damage are not as powerful and simple as those of the Red Way, which bases exclusively on the strength of the element Fire, in the Blue Way the more gentle element Water has to be used in a much more intelligent way if meant to produce really useful effects. The means of delivering the spell itself, infact, depends on the form of the element water, wether vapor, ice, liquid or used in conjunction with other elements (each with advantages and limits); wether cast at touch, at a range, in stripes, in circles; wether targets the ground, the enemy, the caster itself or is set as a trap to release it's power in a second moment: they are all factors that matter if you wish to produce certain effects or others. Damage is possible in the form of wounding with cones of sharp ice or by other means, like freezing the opponent at all. It may seem the Blue Way requires an excessive amount of redundant thinking and hassle, but its potentials are not inferior than any other school. Just consider that skilled Blue magicians can raise the temperature of the water present in the body, boiling the opponent alive almost effortlessly. Through empathy with Nature, the divination spells are focused on the whole dimension Time, not just future, but past, present and future all together. The understanding of those principles is not banal and requires months if not years of attuning to the Water and steady mind. Blue Way requires quick and analytical thought: what are the possible obstacles and how may they be assailed? What environmental factors must be taken into consideration? Water alone doesn't do as much as water combined with the envornment. Poliero suggests that the Blue Way is shallow and can't be subtle. Per contro I can say that, even if the Azure Way deals with mindcrafting, this doesn't mean it has to be subtle, see for example the bold curses that fall under the mantle of that Way, that recklessly disorder and affect the victims in a way bolder than the Dark Way. The contrary can be said about Blue Way, which grace, even for material and dirty affairs, is always kept in mind by its practitioners as fundament of the Way. The Blue incantations for even the most terrible spells are mistaken by those ignorant in the way as sweet chants and exquisites dances.
The Azure Way and the Crystal Way are two distinct and separate entities from the Blue Way, and Poliero's argument that they should be merged into one is patently ludicrous. He insists — again, a man who knows nothing about the Blue Way, is the one insisting this — that "divination" is part of the mindcrafting, broader art dealt with by the spells of the Azure Way. Similarily he insists that "healing diseases", domain of the Blue Way, is only a subgroup of "healing", specialty of the Crystal Way. The implication is that Life Infusion, to list a spell of Crystal, is a close cousin of Purify Blood, a spell of Blue. It would make as much sense to say that the Azure Way, being all about the influencing of mind, is of no use because the Dark Way exists, which practitioners learnt to disable others' minds at all, at a distance and so Azure Way is part of the Dark Way, as a tool in their hands.
Even if Poliero said this, I would have invited him to go on and tell them at the Dark Compound across the road. After all they were responsible for the grey pestilence he accused in his speech and a Weakness spell couldn't do much harm in his head, considering its current status.
It certainly isn't a coincidence that a "master" of the Azure Way -- or shall I say a kid? -- cast this attack on the Blue Way. The color Azure is, infact, just a light version of Blue and he is well jealous of the vivacity of the color that he lacks and craves.
