The Axiomatic Paths

Infrastructure Element | Orravyn | Enlightenment Tool

These paved walkways of pale gray or slate stone, inlaid with glowing scriptwork etched in iridescent blue or copper, are a physical representation of Orravyn's ideals. The embedded glyphs progress in readable intervals every few steps. On more complex Paths (like professor-coded student trials), the stones form interlocking geometric spirals, forcefully slowing the walker’s pace and demanding attention to detail.

Each inscription is written in fluid, living script—an arcane dialect known as Mentac, which changes slightly based on the walker’s internal reasoning and prior exposure to logic. At night, the path is gently lit by the script itself, creating winding trails of thought-glow through the city.

Purpose

Each path is made of smooth-cut stone inlaid with glowing axioms, dilemmas, and first principles in a flowing script readable as citizens walk. The paths are designed so that a person traveling along them must physically engage with philosophical or logical concepts at each interval. Some paths include interactive sigils that present ethical puzzles as you step on them, requiring you to mentally resolve them before the path fully lights. These interactions are subtle and non-intrusive, but Mentats often mark those who rush or avoid these paths as lacking in discipline. Culturally, the paths promote introspection and critical thinking in their citizens, and while they are avoidable (one must choose to walk an axiomatic path) the Orravyn citizenry finds themselves regularly engaged by the questions the paths offer.

Often these pathways are open to the public, and many Orravynians embrace challenging themselves with the rigors of the Lyceum. Even visitors to the Orravyn find themselves drawn the Paths, attracted by the non-threatening method of mental discourse. Most districts assign Pathwardens, typically retired scholars or younger scribes, who maintain the paths and update them with new axioms debated and agreed upon by the Council.

Mentat Training

Students often walk these paths before exams or public debates to center themselves and review key logical frameworks. Professors at the Aethryn Lyceum regularly assign Axiomatic paths as part of their course curriculum and evaluation of students' mental dexterity. These specialized paths, sometimes called "Threads of the Veiled Truth", are crafted by master Mentat professors as intellectual gauntlets. Each professor codes a segment of the stonework with context-sensitive axioms, false premises, layered metaphors, and mental decoys—all magically bound to respond to the walker's interpretive engagement.

When a student begins walking one of these paths, the engravings subtly shift based on their known academic background. Each section poses a logical misdirection: an unsound conclusion, a flawed dichotomy, or an emotionally charged fallacy. Students must "think through" the issue by mentally identifying the flaw and forming a counter-truth. Only then will the next set of engravings activate and the path continue. The entire journey forms a deconstructed argument or an advanced concept in their field—one that can only be grasped when the misleading layers are unraveled.

More advanced students are occasionally asked to design their own short segment of a path to be tested by their peers or underclassmen. A prestigious honor at the Lyceum is to have a segment of your original Path Puzzle added permanently to the public archive.

The Principle Axiomatic Path

Beginning at the outer approach to the Spire of Echoed Judgment, the Principle Axiomatic Path paves the way for entrance into The Mentat Council's primary meeting chamber. Before any formal Council session or major diplomatic negotiation, every participating voice—be they Mentat, foreign emissary, or dignitary observer—must walk the full length of the Principle Axiomatic Path. This is not merely ceremonial -- it is seen as a precondition for legitimacy.

Each section of the Principle Axiomatic Path challenges travelers to invesitage their political assumptions, true intentions for the meeting to come, and breaks down preconceived biases, mentally preparing participants for the reasoned discourse ahead. A failure to complete the path is cause for removal from negotiation proceedings. No few foreign dignitaries have found their bluster and false declarations broken down allowing for a far more meaningful negotiation inside the halls of The Mentat Council.