Information and the Information Wizards
The Amazing Hypnoscreens. While the production and distribution of Manna is vital to the physical well-being of the Geltveltians and the supply of meistuf essential to their spiritual health, order and stability in the society depends largely on the manufacture and dissemination of information. It is particularly important that the Elves be fed a steady supply of the correct sorts of information lest they begin to think for themselves, a circumstance known to be the major cause of social disorder and disease. Information is disseminated largely by means of hypnoscreens, which are everywhere in Geltvelt. Every home has several, and they are found in nearly all public spaces. It is nearly impossible to escape them. As Geltveltians are not particularly interested in pure information, it is packaged in the form of amusement, a kind of sugar-coated pill. The Geltveltians swallow their medicine gladly in this form. To insure the highest quality and purity of information, the content of the hypnoscreens is carefully controlled by the megaguilds who are scrupulously concerned for the maintenance of public order.
The Tusk-Towers. Information is created and supplied by wizards who ply their arcane craft in imposing palaces constructed almost entirely out of mammoth tusks. These “tusk-towers,” as they are known, serve a dual purpose: manufacturing information and cleansing the brains of young Geltveltians. Geltveltians have a horror of dirty brains. After spending many years in the tusk-towers, young Geltveltians emerge with spotlessly clean brains, ready to serve as examples and guides for the rest of society.
While brain-cleansing is a vital function of the wizards, their most esteemed task is manufacturing information. There are many specialties. Some wizards study the way the world actually works. Their function is to enhance the production of Manna and meistuf. Finding increasingly efficient means of production greatly increases trolltolls and is thus a great boon to society. It is understood that the most important function of all the wizards, no matter their specialty, is to help maintain social order. This true even of the literature and arts wizards. Their role in maintaining social discipline is a bit surprising. Despite the vigilance of the Trolls, there is still a mildly subversive if largely ineffectual movement among the Elves which they call “progressive politics.” The social role of the literature and arts wizards is to loudly espouse an absurd parody of that movement so as to make it look utterly ridiculous. It is not known for sure exactly how these wizards have been persuaded to become total laughing-stocks for the greater good, but it has been conclusively ascertained that they are enormously pleased with themselves and are remarkably successful in their assigned social role.
The most amazing of these wonderful magicians are the gelt-wizards, who are responsible for generating information about the occult and mystifying relationships between glitter gelt, MagicManna, meistuf, and trollstuf. They are truly amazing. They have no need to worry in the least about the way the world actually works; the Trolls in power (those with the most trollstuff) simply tell them what information is needed and the gelt-wizards wave their wands and conjure it up. Their pronouncements are backed up by pages and pages of arcane magical symbols that nobody but wizards can decipher, but the meanings are usually crystal clear: taxes on trollstuf are bad; taxes on shveice are good. Freedom means that Trolls have a sacred right to trolltolls and Elves are free to apply their shveice at the lowest possible price. Chance-taking is good, especially in the part-market. The shveice of the Elves is a commodity, so the cheaper it is, the better, but a continual increase in trolltolls is a benefit to the whole society. These marvelous dictums of the gelt-wizards are so wonderfully surrounded by graphs and charts and reams of mystical symbols that everyone just knows that they must be true.
