Magic users in Meln
Arcanamagic
Archaists Will - Knowledge - Figures
The word arcana is a derivative of word “archaic,” which itself means ancient or eternal. Archaists are wizards, who control this ancient and original type of magic. When speaking of archaists also more modern term “arcanist” may be used.
The archaists must know how everything affects to everything. According to that information and with a strong will they are able to shape magic and that way “the spirit and matter.” Archaists use their willpower for shaping the borderlines of the spell and activating it. Runes drawn on solid surface or in the air ensure and lock the desired effect and make the spell stronger.
Archaist should have especially strong willpower, because controlling the arcana requires much more than controlling of divided magic. Studying to be an archaist is possible, but very difficult. Most difficult part is to strengthen one’s willpower. Practically archaist must believe impossible so much it happens.
"The truth about real and original magic, Arcana,
is much more frightening knowledge that you will ever learn.
At the same time it is the only key
to that ancient power of creation."
- Morgadur, Master of arcana -
Travelers
Willpower – knowledge – rhythm
Time travelers are archaists who have specialized on the rhythm of cosmos or in other words time. Officially they are called “The time travelers”, but gradually their appellation in spoken language has been simplified to a Traveler. Their spells base on moving in time and manipulating the time. With their spells they are able to abandon the course of time and end up into the Temposium. Through that dimension of time the travelers can move to ethereal future, shady past or back into their own time. They have great power, but also great responsibility.
The traveler needs a lot of time when moving people into Temposium. The more there are people to be transferred the more time is required. When concentrating on transferring between Temposium and some other plane of existence, the traveler falls into a deep trance and is very easy target to hostile creatures.
The event of past hasn’t necessarily happened,
If nobody knows it has happened.”
- The spirit of time -
Time manipulation always causes paradoxes or in other words impossible situations. They can be either small or large. The paradoxes are traveler’s ways to affect, but too big paradoxes would cause the death of the traveler. The paradox is bigger the more creatures know it to be happened.
The travelers avoid needlessly going to the past. They have learned to look out the past. A common intual is usually only afraid of the future, but all travelers are much more afraid of the past. For travelers all happened events are more dangerous than those happening in the future, because “the blue ghosts” strive to repair happened matters by any means possible. The blue ghosts are the spirits of time, the ancient people of Temposium and time. Transporting outsiders in time is always very risky, because the outsiders don’t necessarily understand the consequences of their doings in already happened events.
The extreme example of negligible seeming paradox could be that a traveler unnoticed kicks a stone down from a slope. That stone causes a landslide, which crushes a king and his son and the rest of their hunting party. Because the kingdom is left without a ruler, a revolt takes place. The revolting grows to a civil war, which causes death of half of the nation’s people. This would be classified to be a disastrous paradox. But the traveler shouldn’t have to be worried about? Actually he should: The travelers own father could die in that war, which would mean that the traveler would never be born. That would lead to that the disaster would not happen and the traveler is born and then causes the paradox, when he doesn’t born… That would be a cosmic paradox. Task of the blue ghosts is to prevent these cosmic paradoxes by any means available. A small paradox is the easiest way to prevent a cosmic paradox. A small paradox is to go into the past moment before the cosmic paradox takes a place and move the traveler from time to eternity. People left to grieving would never know what happened. For them the person in question only disappeared. A lot of people disappear also in normal conditions, so one traveler doesn’t mean anything in a large scale. That way the damage is considerably smaller.
All paradoxes however don’t cause the instant death of a traveler. In a way travelers are precious and by intual criteria very impressive characters. The archaists are extremely rare and travelers are even rarer among archaists. They have their own meaning even in the scale of gods. The meaning of travelers is great in both good and bad. Therefore any traveler isn’t moved from the time to eternity because of a small paradox. The more experienced the traveler is the more remarkable he is in the large scale. By the same token the larger paradoxes he is allowed to cause the more remarkable he is.
Shredders
So called “good” travelers understand this and respect their privileges and don’t willingly stick to any events of the past. The real danger is caused by accidentally caused disastrous or cosmic paradoxes. “The time-shredders” are so called “bad” time travelers. Unfortunately they can also be said to be the most powerful of all wizards. They have all time of the world and they are cheeky and courageous to use it. They live by their own benefits on borders of “disappearing” and existence. They have advanced to be talented to make themselves so important that they could cause even disastrous paradoxes. Disadvantage of their “career choice” is that if they suppose too much of themselves they would pay by “the disappearance.” During all ages many travelers and time-shredders have been moved from time to eternity and there are also those who have disappeared by a common ways. Those disappeared have varied from powerful time traveling dragons to overeager humans. It takes a lot of time from the blue ghosts to repair disasters caused by the time-shredders.
Wizard magic
"Book-wizards" Knowledge - Voice - Matter - motion / shape
Book-magic bases on remembering. Wizard must read his spellbooks and memorize all magical syllables, pauses and their effects. He must also remember activating material components and gestures and runes forming the spell. Like in all other ways of magic, also in book magic the wizard must, in addition to all, remember how different spells react between each other and also know the tactical situations.
Wizard, who uses book-learning, must first learn reading and writing. Not until then starts a real studying. At first a young wizard must study well a magical language developed for writing the spells. An example of a language is chadris and its first level “wyietlan”. When wizard’s skills increase, also his knowledge increases and is enough for handling the second level of chadris, which is called “manchas.” And so on, after manchas come “fenchal” and finally “balf.”
In this way of casting, memorizing is easier, if knowledge is tied to magic. Drawback of this way is that spell is erased off from wizard’s memory right after the spell is cast. This means that the spell must be memorized again before it can be used again. Therefore the wizards using the book-magic must always carry their spellbooks with them.
"Focus-wizards" Will - Knowledge - Matter - Voice
Focus-magic bases on the use of powerful magical item. This item is usually diamond, because magic works best in it. Focus-wizards don’t necessary have to carry spellbooks with them, because they don’t have to remember as detailed descriptions of their spells as book-wizards must. Will and subconscious mind compensates the remembering of runes and gestures. Focus, which focuses magical energies, replaces material components. Focus-wizards however must remember all magical syllables and pauses. Remembering these is eased if spells are memorized in forms of verses or “gibberish”.
Focus-magic is slower than the book-magic, because channeling magical energy through a focus takes its own time. Without a prepared focus, wizard is completely incapable of casting spells, even though he has all needed knowledge and will in his mind.
Active preparations of own personal focus usually takes time from one day to few starturns, depending on how powerful spells wizard is going to cast through his focus. It is little frustrating to measure focus in money, but in broad outline can be said that the more valuable focus, the more powerful spells it can channel. Say that silver necklace, which costs about forty aucries (value of a horse), could work as a focus of a beginning spellcaster for a spells of the lowest degree. Focus for a spells of the middle degree would cost ten times more. And focus for spells of the highest degree could easily cost hundred times more.
Focus-wizard can only have one prepared focus at time, because he must pay undivided attention to his focus. Focus is prepared around the clock. When wizard travels the focus with him, he in a way prepares his focus all the time. Even every unintentional touch or gaze belongs into the preparing process. Passive preparing can also be called devotion or acquainting. The focus and the wizard have own auras and preparing is linking these auras together. For this reason it is very hard to measure the value of the focus in money, because during five years passively prepared silver necklace is more valuable than a new diamond staff costing 1000 aucries.
Usually focus-wizards have also many more financially valuable jewels with them than only the focus. Even spellcasters not using focus-magic might carry at least one valuable jewel with them. If they are caught by hostile creatures, they can give an impression that they will become harmless without that one certain bluff focus. This way they might get very important advantage.
Rune-singers Knowledge - Voices - Words - Motions
The rune-singers are commonly regarded to be the oldest way of wizardry. In the ancient times the rune-singers were the oldest of the tribes and knew the secrets of magic via music and poetry. These real and original rune-singers do not anymore exist in civilized world, but outlying villages and primitive people have cared for folktales by means of these respected rune-singers. Especially the elves have plenty of rune-singers among them and they even have their own guild for the rune-singers. In this fragment the words and voices are noticed as a separate ways of magic, because the magic of rune-singers, troubadours and charmers mainly bases on them. In this case those are separate ways of magic.
The old rune-singers respected the facts. They composed their songs only by imitating the facts. They study old stories, information and teachings and by utilizing those they advise the members of their tribe in many matters. They act as neutral judges in arguments. They advise the fellow tribesmen from heartaches to war-tactics.
The powers of rune-singers are baled out from the existence. They have learned to focus surrounding existence through seven “ur-points” of their body. The lowest “ur” is located in groin. It is base of power and it represents the primitive strength and sexuality. Second “ur” is around navel. The powers needed for living and birthing are located there. Third “ur” is located below breastbone around diaphragm. It represents physical strength and is the focus of physical strength. Fourth “ur” is in chest around heart. It represents emotions; love, hate, passion and loathing and everything between. The fifth “ur” is around throat. That represents communication, speaking, singing and social connection. The sixth “ur” is located in forehead between the eyes. It represents the awareness of the surroundings and also seeing. Seventh “ur” is the most powerful one and that is the thought. It is most difficult “ur” to control, but the powers of rune-singers base on that the most. Depending completely on the type of the spell, the power for the spell could echo from any “ur” point. The seventh point however is the one which directs and carry out the magical fulfillment.
Present-day town troubadours create their own tales by the real events. They are more like entertainers than information spreaders. Temptresses, tempters and troubadours are the rune-singers of civilization. Usually commoners confuse bards and troubadours together. The essential difference between bards and troubadours is that the bards are psionics and troubadours are magic users. Skills of real bards base on mental charming and information gathering. The troubadours to same extend are story tellers, emotion awakeners, experts of mental images and singing seers. They are illusionists by the way of music.
Tempter is a male wizard and cheater, who has specialized to a charming magic either through music or through a mere voice. The tempters get along well in large societies. They use their magic to manipulate people (especially women) to reach their personal goals. For most tempters their way of living is amusing game. The charming magic also consists of a small amount of item charming, so nearly all tempters and temptresses know some item charming magic. In item charming magic essential part of the ways of magic are also the material components.
Temptress is like a male tempter, but this way of living goes around in woman’s blood. The temptresses have always born to be especially beautiful. The magic of temptress is an innate gift or curse. The temptress has specialized to the charming magic through singing, dancing and flirting. When a temptress is singing and dancing, men have difficulties to not to watch and listen. Usually other women resist rather well charming of temptress. Other women also hate, fear and envy the temptresses. The mere karma of temptress makes the other women jealous even though both women would be in a deserted island and would saw each other very first time.
The temptress gets its magical powers from the essence of men. Only a flirting with men gives the temptress power to cast the low level spells. In sexual intercourse the temptress can fill up her magical reserves from the man. After that kind of night man is very exhausted and feeble. His glance is glazed and shivers shake up him for couple of hours. The man looks like he would be sleeping eyes open. Every now and then he awakens to observe his surroundings, but soon sinks back to his thoughts. Usually man also have dummy happy smile on his face. After the night spent with a temptress a man could sleep around the clock. After good sleep he is again in a good condition. If the man dies during the act, the temptress would get temporarily extra magical energy.
The temptress can never fall in love, or she would lose her blood inheritance. The temptress knows to have fallen in love when she becomes pregnant. The temptresses always give birth to a daughter. If that happens, the daughter always gets her mother’s blood inheritance. Also the beauty of the mother disappears and moves to a daughter. Severe change in life styles of the old temptress certainly causes a change of the way of living. Depression or losing one’s will to live, are a common consequences. Even bitterness towards own daughter is possible.
By an old tale a proud beauty Bregna challenged Dretan the goddess of lies and temptation for proposing the knight of Protair. They decided that the winner’s reward would be the beauty of the loser. The knight got through Dretan with help of Protair and when Dretan tried to get rid of Protair, Bregna pretended to be an innocent country girl and charmed the knight with her innocence. That way Bregna won the contest and got part of the Dretan’s beauty. Unfortunately drawback of the beauty was that Bregna could never fall in love with anybody.
By the legend nowadays temptresses are daughters of Bregna.
Seers Knowledge - Figures - Words - Matter
Seers are wizards who have specialized for gathering knowledge. They are highly appreciated members in all societies. Often being those who found schools and libraries in cities. Nearly all arch-wizards belong into this wizard category. Young seers usually don't have enough money for expensive books, therefore they must personally gather their knowledge by the most difficult ways. When seer has gathered some knowledge he can start teaching young nobles and other novices for money.
Tittle "seer" is granted for a young wizard when he has successfully settled down, earned his status amidst society and can pay his living with his knowledge and experience. After this rulers of society propose the young wizard to be a seer-candidate. If proposal is accepted, candidate is called in to the examine of arch-wizards. If the candidate manages the hard outlook of life examine, he will get the title of seer, keys to the great library and laboratory and gets rights to study rune-magic, which is meant only for seers.
Seer must study many languages both normal and magical ones. For this reason they are also called "masters of rune". Magical skills of seers base on the rune and ritual magic. Their spells are very complicated and persistent. Many knowledge gathering spells usually take many hours to complete.
Seer and alchemist are often conceived to be one and same profession. This is not actually surprising, because nearly all seers at least pursue alchemy. Both professions need same kind of persistence. Since all seers always have possibility to go in the Great library and laboratory, they have great enticement study also alchemy.
(Great library is place where only seers and mystics have access. Rumors tell that it could be located somewhere on the border of dimensions.)
Exceptions and borderline cases
Emotionalists Emotion - Knowledge - Words - Motions - Matter
(Emotion-magic - Emotionalists don't know, they feel)
Emotionalists are wizards and act according to laws of magic. Really they are mentalists, but they still affect to magic. Emotions, which emotionalists use as their resource, is very powerful and unexpected source of energy coming from psyche. Emotionalists cast same spells as wizards, but make it by the longer way. They use psi for taking advantage of magic in the desired way. Emotion is very powerful but unexpected resource. Sometimes it could be disastrous and sometimes like a gentle breath of wind. To get the desired effect, emotionalist must know what kind of voice, motion and matter he needs and the emotion tells the amounts and order. Impulsivity is the work-related-injury of emotionalist. Wizard can learn to become emotionalist only through knowledge. First he must apply the knowledge-word-motion-matter way and when it is in his "spinal cord", he can start "improvising" with emotion.
Emotionalists are unique spellcasters found from Meln. You can read detailed description about emotionalists here: Emotionalist
Mystics Will - Knowledge - Symbols
Mystics partially belong into the same category as seers. The only difference between mystics and seers is that mystics are able to develop psychic powers in addition to magic. Mystics rather rarely have time to work with alchemy, so the great laboratory is usually used only by seers.
In addition to psi-powers mystics study also ritual- and rune- magic. Because rune-magic can only be learned only through basic knowledge of wizard magic, base spells of wizards are not foreign for them.
Kar'Aster, who at one day created the great library and laboratory, was originally only miserable market magician. By way of dreams he found his hidden psi-powers and became the first mystic.
Although mystic would be only normal short living human, he might live to be even 500 years old. This extraordinary length of life arises from the first real test of mystics. They are trained to survive in the matter between dimensions. In the matter, which is said to be protoplasm, the candidate feels that his consciousness expands and head would blow up. If the candidate survives under that great pressure and is able to return into the great library by his own ways, he gets the title mystic.
The name mystic comes from that mystics are able to move very unnoticeably. Suddenly they just are in place and within an eye blink they are again gone. It is just the "protoplasm" that helps them to move from one place to another and even from dimension to other. For this reason it is very important that mystic can survive under hard pressure.
Working under the pressure and the pressure itself is dangerous even for experienced mystic. If mystic loses patience of his mind, he has very big change to get lost in plane of existence where human would die before he could even become aware of his surroundings. In addition to madness there is still one more danger, which threatens mystic traveling in "protoplasm". And this danger is caused by creatures living in the protoplasm. These creatures swallow everything else but the protoplasm. Purpose and mode of action of these creatures is unknown. These creatures are sinisterly called "silences". Creatures seem to be same matter as the protoplasm and their bad habit is just literally swallow mystic into nothingness. When silence has swallowed mystic, life of others continue like the mystic had never existed.
Silences were found and this discovery was made in the last part of the age of miracles. A friend of rune master Perferus was in his first real test and Perferus himself was in "stasis" (because of failed experiment). After getting away from "stasis" he searched his friend but didn't find any signs about him. Perferus felt like his friend had never existed. He asked from others about his friend but no-one didn't know the mystic candidate. At first mental health of Perferus was doubted until he proved this horrible theory of silence:
"Creature that is swallowed by "silence" is completely removed from existence. Everything done by person in question, vanishes from history and all events done by the person become done by someone else. The risk to become swallowed by silence can be reduced by setting proves into "stasis" for the duration of the risk of silence. Period of time in question depends on unknown factors, but approximately it last one or two days."
It is not possible to count how many candidates have disappeared during centuries before the theory of silences. But it can be assumed that their number is numerous.
Stasis = Set condition outside of time. Time can't affect thing being in stasis.
Vernacular magic Will – knowledge – emotion – voice – shape – matter - motions
”Throw net into water, don’t put it deep.
Slow wind, my brother, give me gently sweep.
All gods listen to me, don’t waste my time.
Order I, word is key, that is your prime.”
- Velmeran vernacular magic, fisher’s spell –
The poem above is translation of Velmeran fisher’s spell. Only meaning of common words, verse form and metre have been paid regard to in the translation. The translation doesn’t have magical syllables or power of spell included. Below is the spell in its original form and that spell has been generated or rather developed to mouths of velmeran peasantry. To be more accurate, it belongs to peasantry speaking eastern dialect of velmen. Like in all other magic, accent, speed of speaking and pronunciation affects also in vernacular magic.
”Shai saan dun parnechan, efteel enna dimonis.
Biroquane bin il bechan, diverdi annu amnis.
Weema wast, riepold rhen, bezta bin niroliz.
Aldi shirmen felna polgrem, lanqui zim meongiz.”
Same in velmen. Here power syllables characteristic to this spell are underlined.
Because the peasantry is said to be much more thick-headed people than the nobles, they don’t have the possibility to learn sophisticated and carefully formed spells. Even though the intelligence won’t be sufficient, the common peasantry may still have a pinch of magic in their blood. Also national attitude towards magic affects to its commonness among peasantry. These are just the reasons why vernacular magic is more common among some people while some other people lack it completely. It is believed that peasantry can’t be taught to speak in sophisticated way like civilized people. Because the peasantry can’t actually learn to pronounce spells with their right nuances, the rhymes of the spells have been adjusted to style of speaking of common people. They have passed from generation to other in easy to remember and typical metre fitting to common people. A simple fisher for example has no comprehension about what syllables are the power syllables and what syllables should be stressed and when. When he reads the spell like his father and father’s father have read in their times, he will get much more fishes. At least many traditional fishers believe so.
Prerequisites of vernacular magic
Even though common people can pronounce spells, they still don’t understand ways of working of their spells. They are not able to improvise, adjust or create new spells. For that reason the vernacular magic is gradually disappearing from folk traditions. Nobles of many nations however hardly are afraid of that, because in many areas magic is unofficial prerogative of the nobles.
Spells of vernacular magic are much simpler than spells of wizards. The spells and spell effects of learned wizards are usually visible. In some spells magic can tighten to apparent glow or even to bright light. Effects of vernacular magic can be hard to believe. Effects of vernacular spells can always be annulled to be only a good luck. Centuries however have taught them to be more than just a good luck.
Vernacular spells don’t always work, or work just on the opposite ways as the spells of learned wizards could also sometimes fail. Magical currents, locations of arcana-springs and spellcaster’s own belief and experience always affect to that how well the spell works. Also the place of residence affects. For example in Alcandia a blacksmith, who has moved to Trenesa, can’t suddenly cast a plough blessing spell that has been formed to Lunia’s dialect. This depends on the dialects and other phonetic differences. Many people can’t even cast vernacular spells of their own region and younger generation is losing its belief to it. In countryside vernacular magic is more common than near large towns. Some town wizards are even against vernacular magic. They don’t like that some layman messes up the magical currents and meddle with matters a commoners can’t understand. It would be unusual if learned wizards would have to repair light unbalance of the nature caused by commoners.
Trends of vernacular magic
Spells of vernacular magic base on fiddle-de-dees and rhymes of different occupational groups. Possibly those spells have originally came to folk traditions from studied wizards or even from the dragons. The vernacular magic always passes along as a spoken heredity from father to son just like songs, rhymes and other culture. The vernacular magic has also many rituals. They can be long will-focusing in dim light or almost casual actions like spitting to fish worm.
The vernacular magic can roughly be classified into three classes: natural forces, protections and blessings. All classes however have common feature that they all accede to acquiring livelihood.
Vernacular magic and natural forces: This classification consists of traditional calls of farm animals, weather changing and blessings of betters game and harvest. The fisher’s spell above also belongs to this category. Manipulating natural forces like weather always happens with consideration and is made of common decision of village community. This way it is avoided that every layman-wizard won’t call different weather into region. If rain for example is called, it will not come instantly, but usually after few days or weeks. Also enduring of different weathers like chilling freeze or burning heat belongs to these spells. Even harvest or cattle can be protected from different weathers with this kind of vernacular magic. Searching of water or place of well is typical spell belonging to this category.
Vernacular magic and protections: There are hundreds of different protections. The protections can be used to banishing evil spirits or to create an area evil spirits can’t enter. Almost every beast of forest have own spell, which protects its target from the beast in question or drives it away. The protections are most used way of vernacular magic of mothers. When rightly cast, emotional bands of mothers strengthen their protections spells to remarkably strong.
There is also many different spells and rituals against death and undead creatures. A common egg is most known material component against death. Most people believe that an egg itself contains the opposite of death, i.e. the birth. When used as a component in protection, the egg imprisons the presence of death and the egg as though dies instead of its target of protection. An egg that is used this way is believed to cause misfortune in its surroundings. It is believed that especially eating of that kind of egg leads to a certain death. Therefore “used” eggs are usually buried into graveyards and sacrificial groves.
Vernacular magic and blessings: The blessings are probably the most common of all vernacular spells. Small blessings are cast daily. They can be cast to jewels, weapons, armors, utensils or straightly to humans. The blessings grant good luck and drive away calamity of the target. The blessings can even increase its target’s skills to a certain extend. There are many kind of blessings, but none targeted to caster itself is known.
Common salutes and goodbyes in everyday life are relics of blessing spells. With salutation health and long life is cast for a friend. With goodbyes strength for a rest of life is blessed. Gratitude is a blessing too. Salutes, goodbyes and thanks were very powerful spells in old times of the dragons and were not said daily to half-acquainted. Rightly cast “salutation” could have cured even fatally ill target. Carefully considered “goodbye” could have protected inexperienced youngster through many battles so that he always came from the front alive. Nowadays only few remember actual meaning of that kind of blessings. Strength of these powerful blessings always consumed spellcasters own resources. The spellcaster used its own life-force and lifetime to these spells. The blessing spells could have not been canceled and therefore those were not cast to every passerby.
“Well, how it is said?”, is common perhaps even arrogant question from a grandmother when she gives a momentary taste experience in form of a cream toffee and wishing to get a thanks blessing from child’s immense and uncontrollable resources. Many cultures have taught the future generations to grant salutations, goodbyes and thanks over individual resources. Therefore they have lost their true strength. It has been subconscious defensive mechanism of humans. So many blessings have been granted during times that meaning of them has faded into wordmongering. Nowadays at the Age of three moons only rare “layman-wizards”, can clothe their salutations, goodbyes and thanks to a powerful spells.
Written by : NorAdron
Translated by : MoR
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