They're very much... not pacifists. They're scholars, sure, but in a world where that turns you into the most ridiculously, absurdly, powerful mages in existence. One only needs to look at Louisioux and the rest of the Circle of Knowing to get that. Sevestre was part of an actual assassin force who hunted down people sharing Sharlayan's secrets, and they've actively developed several forms of magic, primarily for defense but, again, assassins. They've got magiteck researchers that would make Gaius go pale. They were researching a godsdamned wish-granting primal (and incidentally, a forger of Trigger Weapons such as Save the Queen). Just because their philosophy is to <kupo!> off at the first sign of trouble doesn't mean they're helpless.

This thread seems to be made in bad faith, really...