Quote Originally Posted by SessionZero View Post
Unless the lore book contradicts it somewhere that I missed on my first read-through.
That's why is put the "all but a few" in quotation marks :P That's from the lore book. The full sentence reads:"Garleans have little inborn ability to manipulate their body's aether, however, and thus the arcane arts have ever eluded all but a few."

They eased up on the "absolute no-go, nada, never" in the book. Apparently, "a few" can use the arcane arts. Probably not enough to sustain an army however.