Hedryllian Reflections

Hedryllian Reflections is the second, posthumous collection of essays by Andymalonian jurist and political scientist Tormo Hedryllo. Written mostly in the Insular dialect, it was published in 187 AWR and is of interest to thaumatologists because it contains thought experiments related to pseudohistorical wizards.

Contents

Hedryllian Reflections consists of seven essays, individually rather lengthier than those found in Hedryllo's earlier work. Each one is a thought experiment on how a given set of circumstances would affect a contemporary city-state.
The first, "On War at Sea" discusses what might happen if a circumstance such as the Great Northern War were to spread as far as the Andymalon Republic. Hedryllo treats the matter with considerable delicacy, having evidently first-hand knowledge of the damage the war wrought on Oluz and Elpaloz and indicting it as a needless evil perpetrated on noble communities. His general conclusion is that Andymalon should do its best to keep out of any such conflict, and he gives some detailed opinions on how diplomatic relations with the insular cities should be maintained in the hope that their navies can serve as a bulwark against it.
The second, "On Pyromancy," is a discussion on how the ability to make fire without the usual labour would affect the culture of a city. Hedryllo's opinion is that it would generally be a good idea, with numerous utilitarian benefits, though he offers a number of involved philosophical cautions about how this could lead to the trivialisation of an important social business and a general failure of citizens to recognise and acknowledge achievements. The essay is of interest because it serves as the most reliable source of biographical section about the historical, but much-mythologised, pre-Wesmodian pyromancer Rachard Qorl.
The third, "On Seaborne Commerce," is the longest essay in the collection, and perhaps the least interesting to thaumatologists, being a long, involved discussion of how a state can use taxes and duties to ensure that merchants bring more wealth to a port than they take when they leave. It is noteable for its rather peevish attitude towards the mercantile sector in general and its implied contempt for the Commercial Guilds, which Hedryllo sees as working primarily to their own benefit. The Guilds were involved in publishing the book, making this editorial decision peculiar.
The fourth essay, "On Skilled Citizenry" is notionally a discussion on the place of artisans, particularly metalworkers, in society. In fact roughly two-thirds of the fairly lengthy essay is a discussion of the pseudo-historical wizard Morogyad and his service to the city of Tyros. Hedryllo does not entirely credit the stories, inserting caveats at several points, but at the same time observing that under happier circumstances Tyros might have employed Morogyad to teach his skills to others and by doing so corner the market in metalwork just as Oluz did in glassware. He also provides some speculation on why this might not have been done, arguing that Morogyad might in fact have been a uniquely skilled individual whose techniques could not be replicated. This possibility, however, is one of the reasons he presents for not entirely believing the tales.
The fifth essay deals with foreign relations. Hedryllo goes into a surprising amount of detail about the relative merits of maintaining a regular attache in a foreign city or employing heralds to communicate with foreign powers as the need arises. Both approaches to maintaining foreign relations have benefits and drawbacks, he observes, and he remains intriguingly non-committal over which he ultimately recommends. He also engages in some frankly rather long-winded speculation about the potential use that the Commercial Guilds and the Brotherhood of Rooks may be in the pursuit of accords with foreign powers.
The sixth essay is the shortest, dealing with epidemics as public crises. Hedryllo offers a brief and non-comprehensive but - where it exists - constructive discussion on the need to separate the sick and the sound and close the port of any city in which sickness might take hole. He observes that with competent governors in place a city may choose whether an epidemic is a humanitarian or economic disaster, and offers some phlegmatic speculation as to which they might prefer.
The final essay is about law and order, arguing for the establishment and training of a citizen militia as a public good. Much of the essay is given over to a colourfully ghoulish description of the contemporary state of Loros which Hedryllo regards as a 'former city' devoid of any common cause. The purpose of a city, he avers, is to facilitate peaceful and constructive relations between its residents, and that the cost involved in training and equipping a militia ought to be seen as an investment ensuring that those relations can be pursued.

Commentary

Generally of more interest to politicians and planners than to thaumatologists, Hedryllian Reflections is nevertheless noteworthy for its biographical excursions into the lives and perceived social responsibilities of Rachard Qorl and Morogyad. These comments extend to speculation on how and why these thaumaturges never developed their skills into disciplines that might be taught to students. This is interesting because, at least in the case of Morogyad, it appears to be an error; Morogyad is generally and authoritatively credited with writing the Esoterica of Morogyad, the existence of which, if nothing else, should surely have been known to an educated person such as Hedryllo. Such a lack of insight is unusual in such a famously organised and generally charitable mind. It may be that Hedryllo was making some veiled jabs at the vagueness and lack of obvious applicability that distinguishes the Esoterica, which would be something he would say.
In compiling his discussions of these two figures, furthermore, Hedryllo provides a number of small details about them that other sources do not. He belabours Morogyad's work with "metal discs of many colours," which few other commentators mention. Morogyad is famous, of course, for his construction of the Discus of Morogyad, which is said to be made of a very specific copper alloy, though nobody else describes the construction of this artefact as being the result of a process of trial and error that produced prototypes. Hedryllo provides some discussion of that process, from which scholars of Morogyad as a metallurgist and alchemist often attempt to glean some insight. The suspicion is that Hedryllo had access to writings either by or about Morogyad that have not survived to the present day, and that this information is extrapolated from those sources.

Hedryllo also appears to have believed more or less seriously in the "Shadow Men", attributing the problems of contemporary Loros to their machinations. This is an off thing for such a level-headed commentator to spend time on, but his speculation appears to be an important contributing factor to the association of the city with the tradition.

Availability

Hedryllian Reflections is a well-regarded text and most reputable scribes can produce a copy of it in a few days for a reasonable price. Thrifty scholars often commission pamphlet-sized editions of individual essays, which circulate in sufficient quantities to fuel something of a buyer's market.