The Emperor's Words

Speech by Leo August, given to the Philosophia Academia Byzans 23rd of March 1656.

“My friends, my fellow sons and daughters of learning, I speak to you on this most grave of hours.”

“Out way of life is threatened, out very existence at a risk, our loves are in danger, we are hunted by the foul hand of the Roman Inquisition, whose masters want naught but the total ignorance of all our kind.”

“Many of the great masters have already been lost, Philip Larsson, the great biologist, who’s work with the wildlife of his ancestral homelands, where killed when he visited the University of Paris, Lord Hufton, the magnificent polymath and engineer, who’s great aqueducts and laws of Gravity, dead, by the foul poisons of our great enemy.”

“Lady De Saíncalir, the great painter and poet, raped, burned, mutilated, never again shall her great creativity and personality grace us again.”

“So many other have been lost, their voices forever silent, even I have been attack, avoiding death several times, we must resist this, we must fight!”

“The future has come to us, we must grab it, wield it like a weapon, and we must NEVER, NEVER allow the foul agents of Ignorance to claim it from us, WE are the future my friends, and we shall stand before this ocean of ignoramuses and troglodytes.”

“We have lost Grandmaster Sokrates the fifth, descendant of the ancient philosopher, who’s bloodline is now all but gone, only a last son, who I have arranged to be sent to the distant south, in the African nations he will be safe.”

“This is a disaster of unimaginable magnitude, and although we are wise, we cannot fight back with strength of arms, for we have no armies, no soldiers.”

“I suggest you all flee, abandon the great Academy here in Byzantium, flee to the North into the great Scandinavian kingdoms and the Finnish Republic, there you will be safe, flee to Africa, to Arabia, by Hades, flee to the distant Eastern lands.”

“It matters not where, but run you must, exile is our only option, for death now faces us even here, the Byzantine Emperor has done all he can, but the great Crusade called against him, now make it all but impossible for him to continue to support him.”

“So we must leave our hallow halls, where great Philosphers, Artists, Engineers and Masters of Logic has walked since it’s founding, neigh two millennia ago.”

“I have no more words, for words are now meaningless, words cannot describe the pain we all must feel by now, so I leave you with these words my friends.”

“Everything for the People, the People for the Everything.”

“Good luck.”

Master Leo August never made it into exile, as he was killed in Rabat, before he managed to make his way to the University of Timbuktu, where he would have been safe, many of his peers did manage to get to safer areas, and most of their knowledge was not lost.

The Great Purge did however throw most of Southern and Western Europe into a regular dark age of Ignorance, it did however also spawn a new age of Learning in Northern Europe and Africa.

Thank you for your time.

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