Codex text
Like many of you, I defended slavery. It was just how things were, and a part of a natural order. Some—those with magic, those who ruled—would always be given care of others. To mistreat the enslaved was a mocking of this sacred duty, grounds for the harshest punishments. Cruel slave-owners were the problem, not the institution of slavery.
I was, quite simply, wrong. There is no defending the practice of owning of another person. I am ashamed I ever did, and will be eternally grateful to those who helped me re-examine my beliefs.
I hear you ask: When we tear down the structures that inform our culture, what is left? I challenge you—those of you who profess leadership, who would set yourselves above others—to see past what you've been taught and to forge a path of your own. And if you need foundational principles, then I charge you to choose from these: respect, compassion, understanding, love.
—Magister Dorian Pavus, from a speech given to the Magisterium