Steles

Steles

By: Susie Ellicks, Jen Duffy, Katie Endress, and Colleen Griffin Period 6

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

“‘This’ he said, ‘is a stele.’ He touched it to an inked mark just below his shoulder, a curious shape almost like a star. Two arms of the star jutted out from the rest of the mark, unconnected. ‘And this,’ he said, ‘is what happens when Shadowhunters are wounded.’

With the tip of the stele, he traced a line connecting the two arms of the star. When he lowered his hand, the mark was shining as if it had been etched with phosphorescent ink. As Clary watched, it sank into his skin, like a weighted object sinking into water. It left behind a ghostly reminder: a pale, thin scar, almost invisible. …

‘That was an iratze, a healing rune,’ Jace said. ‘Finishing the rune with the stele activates it.’ He shoved the slim wand into his belt and shrugged his jacket back on.” (93-94)

This idea does not seem very feasible scientifically, but it could possibly work on a smaller scale as a placebo. It could be used on people for protection or on people who are injured, for example medical officers using it to treat soldiers, but if it is used as a placebo it may not work on those who over-think it. We chose the stele for our technology because it seems like a very cool, powerful idea that would work really well, especially on little kids if it is used as a placebo. Ethical questions that it brings up would be Would it be moral to only share the technology with certain people (like the military or important government officials) and keep it from the general public? Or should everyone be able to use it?