Skepticism is the last refuge of the prophet.

It’s actually one of the many ways in which traditional scrying is more convenient the scientific research. If your research doesn’t come up with a result you like, you’re pretty much stuck, unless you’re willing to fudge the numbers. If your ancient, peerless oracle comes up with a result you don’t like…well, you can always take the opportunity to grow a skeptic strain and dismiss your prophecy as silly, superstitious mumbo-jumbo.

And, yeah…what would the Bones of Quillaretzütplötl know? They’re just some old bones. And who and what even was Quillaretzütplötl, anyway? One thing he obviously wasn’t was big, judging by the size of his bones. Whether he was very prophetic remains to be proven, but even if he was, that wouldn’t prove that the same goes for his sad remnants. And why does the Elder hang on to those bones, anyway? Couldn’t he have given old Quillaretzütplötl a decent burial, at least?

Unfortunately, as comfortable as it is to dismiss your oracle as mere pish-posh, it really is a mental comfort only. In a case where your oracle is right, dismissing it outright might alter your mental equilibrium, but it won’t alter the underlying facts. And here the oracle seems sadly accurate, even if it might be by coincidence. Team Evil has definitely won.

More on Thursday.