"No, they are not. And more the pity, that. The Emperor would never have allowed this.... Church." He almost spits the word, "to gain such sway. Rationality and enlightenment through magic and science, held aloft as a torch to light the darkest places..... that was our way. Religion mystifies and claims there are things we will never understand, and ascribing them to the divine. It rankles my heart."

He stares darkly at a scroll, this one about a more recent battle near the rift.

"War, though, war never changes. There is only war."