The Pthena Maxim

I never got around to describing the perils of hubris on the Narcissism thread. It was hard to concentrate with all the other problems of the World demanding attention. But in the background of all that noise I was busy attempting to come up with a story plot to both explain hubris in a fictional way and add some distance from myself so as to offer a more universal application.

Try as a might, I have failed to come up with a decent plot. So I'll just up and write out the results of my own hubris.

On Hubris

Far out on the edge of what appears to be the infinite etheric fabric of reality, woven by Fate herself, there is a small cordoned off zone of pure chaotic void. Near the cordon is a plaque which indicates the danger and also the meaning, if such a word can even be used in this context, of how that void came to be.

This plaque marks the spot in time and space in which Pthena the Hubristic challenged Fate to a duel.
This hole you see before you is the scar left. It was a horrific battle. There was no winner. Reality suffered slightly and has healed over given Time. This scar marks what may have been lost irretrievably. Pthena, on the other hand lost all semblance of sanity. It took years, decades, and the intervention of deities for him to regain semi-normal functionality. Some part is broken permanently. His own scar as memorial.

Direct your glance over there. You will notice that what he attempted to prevent, occurred regardless.

Fate has now decided, at the urging of certain deities, to rename a very basic maxim, in memory.

Pthena's Maxim

Never use magic against Fate

a reply to: pthena

Thanks go to
JJproductions for:

NA!!! Never Another

This story is a re-telling of a story I wrote in the late '90s
I managed to avoid breaking a taboo involving others without permission.

NA can also be Never Alone.
So at the same time Never Alone is also honored due to the piece of me broken off.

Win Win

a reply to: pthena

Nicely written!

a reply to: JJproductions

Thank you.

I hope you don't mind me bringing you into it without permission.

I'm still getting the hang of staying within bounds.

a reply to: pthena

For sure!!!

a reply to: pthena

Very good, pthena.

I would say, never use magic, period... dangerous stuff!

a reply to: Encia22

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I couldn't remember the name of the 10 hr long movie, which perfectly illustrates your point. It's The_10th_Kingdom. I had to do all sorts of tangential word searches to find it.

But first:
I don't remember the date, location, or audience, but I do remember that I was giving a long dissertation once. I don't even remember the topic or even the lead up. All I remember is the conclusion:

...And so I have come to the conclusion that there is no circumstance or situation for which the outcome is bettered as a result of using magic rather than not using magic. Therefore I will no longer do magic intentionally.

So in the movie there is a scene where someone could have a wish magically granted. So the person wished for $millions. It showed up outside their door. They tried to hide it quickly because the cops were on the way. The money had come from a nearby bank.

The moral being: If you change something here, then something has changed there. It doesn't just happen from nowhere. And you don't have any idea the consequences over there, out of your eye sight. So just don't do it.