Editor's Note:
By B. Andrew Hahn,
When I first encountered Soska of the Skogfolk’s ‘The Four Pillars: On the Nature and Practice of Magic’, I was humbled by its clarity and depth. In a world newly awakened to the Grid, where magic had only recently been freed from the Crown’s chains, Soska managed to map its vast, perilous terrain with a precision that feels almost timeless. Her voice is not the cold recitation of a detached scholar, nor the fervent preaching of a mystic; it is the measured wisdom of one who lived the costs firsthand, who channeled and paid for it, and who loved to share that knowledge regardless of the cost. The result is a codex that is both warning and invitation: a living framework that explains not just how magic works, but what it demands of those who touch it.
My goal in this edition has been to honor Soska’s intent while making her work accessible to readers who come to it without the shared history of those early readers. I have modernized the language, clarified technical terms where needed, and added brief contextual notes; always drawing from established scholarship; including Elara Voss’s ‘The Forged Realm’, which cites this codex extensively as its companion on magical matters.
The manuscript came to me in fragments, as portions of the work became viewed as dangerous by some in the years that followed its writing. Select factions felt it taught too much of their secrets and removed sections or destroyed the copies completely, while others injected ideas of their own. In this later case, where the tone or ideas felt alien from Soska’s, or it conflicted with the bulk of the work, I have left these additions out, referencing them as appropriate for the readers own research.
It was also clear that the original was a work written over time; a compilation of Soska’s notes and journals only later gathered into a cohesive work in the peace that followed the Arcane Wars. I have attempted to reconstruct the book as completely as possible to what I believe was its original structure, and in the few cases where there were no hints of a section’s inclusion, I opted to add it where it lends the best clarity to the subject at hand.
It should also be noted that in the compiling of this book, I came across extensive and detailed notes and writings on the Spark. Soska, being of the Spark Pillar, had a deep understanding of the nature of the Spark as a vessel, as well the energy it contains. Even though some manuscripts included these documents at length, I have kept the information in this book limited to the basics, opting to compile the remainder into a future book specifically focused on the subject.
This book stands as the clearest lens we have on the forces that shaped, and nearly shattered, Nemeris. For those seeking the human stories behind the Grid, I encourage you to seek out my other books, ‘TBA Book 1’, ‘TBA Book 2 ’, and ‘TBA Book 3’, which explores the specific voices, including Soska’s own story, in fuller narrative form.
I am deeply grateful to have helped bring Soska’s pillars into sharper focus for a new generation. May it spark a love of learning, exploring, and seeking truth.
B. Andrew Hahn, January 2026
This editor's note reads like someone trying to honor a dead friend's messy life's work while quietly admitting they had to clean up after her. Do you think Soska would have actually wanted her chaotic, scattered journals to be neatly organized into chapters, or was the mess part of the point?