Arcanis-Touched

WARNING!!! This article will contain a lot of reference, some direct, some indirect, to rather...sensitive topics all around. Reader discretion is advised!

Anything under a

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tag I am deeming excessive even for a mere warning up here, that is gonna be gore/horror/or even talking about things that in modern real society we'd have to refer to as legitimate war crimes in great detail. So take that under advisement before reading

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"There are no words left to descibe the horror that has descended upon us. Men skinned and burned, women....taken..... broken, tortured, burned at the stake. Children butchered like cattle, babies trampled or drowned, homes burned, villages gutted. For what. They claim it is the work of the gods. They claim that those whom practice the Arts of Arcanis will destroy the world, and take everything from us. Do they mean like how that templar....how he....how he took everything from me. How he took my innocence! My freedom! My ability to trust, to feel, to love!!! Is that what they mean most holy father!? Answer me you coward!? Is that what they mean!!!"

"For one hundred and fifty bloody years this crusade has marched, slashed, burned and raped the world. Now the Aethyr, weakened greatly, begins to crack again. Another Sundering, that is what YOU threaten to bring. Your templars pray on tainted grounds before committing acts of the most grevious kind, unaware their faith, their prayers, are heard, the power taken in by the things beyond in the Void, not by whichever Ascended they call upon. Our ancestors would not wish this. Your new gods would not wish this!

But no longer. We shall wear shame and fear no longer, for we are right, and you are wrong. Depenwood alone stands fast, a place where the old and elders teach temperance and guidance. You come here and spit on that, though it is Talia's way. She was magick, she was of the Arcane!!! You do not understand the delicate nature of balance. You do not understand the great dangers, nor the great benefits. Magisters, true and well trained and raised ones, keep the balance strong. They strengthen the Aethyr with their mere existence. They protect us, all of us, the whole world. They are a gift from the Ascended, a gift with grave responsibility, but no curse.

No longer shall we run. No longer will we hide. One hundred and fifty years, Father. I buried my entire clan, a bloodied victim of crimes so unspeakable, acts so heinous, that no young girl, barely past her third decade, a child by the standards of my people, should have to know of, much less survive. All at the hands of those whom claimed to be on the side of holy righteousness. No. No. no more! No more shall the faith protect.

No more excuses shall they have for behaving worse than orcs or fell beastmen. At least they oft show the mercy of a swift death. But it is funny you know. You were right father, all of you. You have fulfilled your own prophecies. By your very actions, by the policies and behaviors of the faithful, you have pushed us to our breaking point. Talia stands with the Magisters for I, for we, are all her blood and you dare defile us. You dare deny what she was. You dare to take from us everything. Look around you, you old wartorn fool. Your church in ruins, your congregation, every man woman and child will die to the magick this night.

Bow not your head in shame, and dry those tears. Look at me. Look at me!!! We are not animals like you and your zealots, the 'Children of the Ascended'. No. We shall grant you the mercy of a swift death. Take a deep breath father, for you will see Sir Kartheart more clearly this night. May he condemn your soul for eternity for the actions you have committed and endorsed. But before we do, I wish you to know something Father Torvac. Something almost amusing, even in these dark and foul times.....which is that you will be right. All your prophecies, all your doomsaying? All that trollop about the Arts of Arcanis breaking and destroying the world we know, about the end of eras, about a cataclysmic change? You will be right. So very right. We mages will break the world as you know it. We will destroy it, tear it down to its foundation stones. We will do this, because if the last century and a half are what you and your 'faithful' mean by the world we all know? That is not worth perserving.

An excerpt from an ancient journal perserved by the family of Tel'in'naviri, from the journal of Elysia Tel'in'naviri, Matron Saint of the Talian faith, and the first Grand Magister of the Magisterium, the founder of the Emerald Order, circa 342 SuD, discussing a well known event and her recording of it after the fact. The Kelethan Ascension Purge, targeting the the followers of all the other Ascended in the city at the time. Father Torvac was a dwarven priest, a worshipper of Sir Kartheart and the highest ranking divine official left after the initial battle, whom was not a follower of Talia.

Estimates of the number of dead in this purge, not counting the city wide civil conflict for days before it, range from 4000-8000, though most historians agree the number is likely closer to 3500 total in this single evening and event that this journal entry references. This makes sense, given the populations at that time were not quite as high or as dense in settlements as modern times. But it is key to remember this was a coordinated event, at the same time, all across Depenwood, the Month of Mercy, as it would become known, macabre though it is, likely saw north of 150 thousand non combatants slaughtered, all of them purged for their religious beliefs, as retribution and to send a message. This is all that is talked about, this event. But the truth of the matter is that though no such mass killing can ever be justified.....the response was equitable to the treatment those whom committed it were recieving at the time, and equitable to how they and their kin and neighbors had been treated for a century and a half.

Magister, the term is common parlence now. There is fear, certainly, rightfully so. There is suspiscion, again to a degree justifiable. There is distrust, perhaps not of the person, but of their....defect, or gift, or curse, or whatever term you wish to call it. Once again, to a point this is understandable and even fair. Yet despite all of that, very few are truly aware of what a Magister, or indeed what just someone whom is found to have been Touched by Arcanis actually fundamentally is In what follows we will examine exactly that, and attempt to better understand what it means to be a Magister, what it truly means to be Arcanis-Touched.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

There is another strange perk as well. Those so touched can understand the long dead language of Arcanis....well kind of. We still do not fully comprehend how it worked as a language like in a societal context, but you learn enough to master the necessary sigil shapes you must weave raw manna into in the Aether to basically communicate to the Primordial Essence, that Prime elemental force, so it knows what to do, knows exactly what to manifest. These complex shapes and symbols are all that is left of the rune/pictographic language known as Arcanis, which aptly is also known as the Primordial Tongue, and also as the Tongue of the Old Gods

Did you catch that last bit. Yeah that likely didn't sit very well with the new church on the block as the lost eras of the Sundering ended, and the Era of Rebirth in the year 0001 SuD began. Pretty much from the get go, things were rather vile, but sort of a mishmash, as most of the nations we now know were heavily tribal or broken up into little like fiefs ruled by a local warlords. It is in this environment, after decades and decades of minor wars, and harsh violence, with folks boldly braving the seas to flee both Gavis-Lune and Wyriel to Durol, even without being sure they could make it, or that the continent and the Wylde Elves still existed, that eventually we arrive at 172 SuD.

Culture and cultural heritage

One must understand the weight of loss, oppression and suffering inherited by the Arcanis Touched to truly understand the events of that bloody battle in Kelethan in Hova of 322, and the subsequent Arcanis Crusades of 322-371 SuD and the importance of the Arcanis Accords and the Magisterium, one needs to understand the horrors of that first 322 years. Right from the off, those of zeal and holy righteousness, even as society is trying to reform beyond a town to town, and city-state barebones structure, realizing that they can finally try to reclaim their lives and the homeland that was ancestrally theirs....there were a lot of doomsayers to all this. Many did not believe the great starfalls from the north, the images in the sky, the mighty duals and war visible even in the night sky, reflected by the sheer magickal energy crackling about the northern wastes far from even Durol, was in fact THE seminal struggle for our existence. How could they. Untold millenia raised to persecute and fear any who would suggest leaving the safety of walls and safety, especially at night. Unable to ever travel further than a half a day from one's home, for fear of being out when the sun went down and the Void consumed the world.

Things have of course changed for the better, but that is not relevant to this piece. The Magisterium is a well known institution and the events from 322 SuD on are well enough documented, the church made damned sure of that. However it is unfair to not consider the events that brought such a situation to life. To understand the Arcanis Crusades, one should at least attempt to understand the admittedly poorly done explanation of things I've provided, and perhaps be required to read the more visceral and gut wrenching words of Elysia Tel'in'naiviri which was provided at the beginning of this discussion. Read not just the words, but the context behind them. Realize the world wide totals will never accurately be known, but are likely in excess of 8 million, if one were to hazard a guess. Easily in excess of that over 5 times that for the full 322 years of this persecution before the events in Kelethan that dark Hova evening, and the subsequent declaring of the Arcanis Crusades, and the years upon years of violence and bloodshed, whole sale, with no prisoners that would come after, for decades. Decades that would feel, to common folk, once again like the terror of the Sundering only worse. Because day or night everything you knew, everyone you loved, could potentially be wiped out in a furious storm of violence. Entire villages and towns disappearing over night (or day). It was a conflict more similar to the stories of the Draconic Wars than to war as we picture it. Holy powers, divine fury matched against arcane force. Devastation, utter and complete was often the result. Entire settlements turned to ash, buried, smashed by divine fury. No mercy, no survivors, everyone was a combatant or a colluder. It was total war on a scale not seen on Valerick after the Sundering or since.

Yet despite all of that....one cannot blame the Arcanis Touched. Based on what we know, based on the policies and behaviors of the Children of the Ascended for the three centuries before it....they were justified in their actions. Maybe not morally correct. But justified. For when all around you intend to destroy you and everyone you have ever known, slaughter you to a child...what options do you have but to fight back with equal brutality?

Because of all these things and more, the Magisterium is a remarkable thing. Magisters, reognized, given a means to learn, and to exist safely and peacefully, to the benefit of us all. And to the chagrin of the church.
Magisters as we know them got lumped up with witches, sorcerers, and shamans. All arcane magick, void or no, was viewed the same. It was viewed as fell and evil souls attempting to return us to the darkness of the evil beyond the Aether. And that would not do. And so the killings and persecutions began. At first it was what one might expect. Gruesome and bloody work, but business and faith. No torture, no snatching people off the street, just if anyone did things that could not be easily explained (still bad I know) well, that must be magick, you die now. However some damned fool just had to write some shite down and realize magick was somewhat genetic.

Not a perfect system you understand, but its similar to say hair color, yeah? If one parent is Arcanis-Touched, odds are bout 50/50 ish that any kid will be. If both parents are? Still not 100 percent guarantee, but close enough to one for the church. That I think , is when the descent into madness began. That is when the Arcanis Touched, those whom would soon enough respond, began to gather the justification for their actions. Because with this theory and written work in their hands.....the church began ordering familicides. If someone was found to be Arcanis-Touched, all their immediate blood family had to die.

As one may expect, eventually those so touched began banding together, trying to hide from this. All of this is happening in the backdrop of the Reclaimation wars as well, as terrified conclaves of people are found by these most holy crusaders, and guided to marvelous battle to reclaim the homelands of their ancestors for the kin of their future and other such bollocks. So far as we can best guess, the world at that time looked NOTHING like the one that existed when the Sundering first started, however far back that was. It literally as well as figuratively broke the world. So their homelands talk was a bunch of tripe. Effective, but bollocks.

Decades of terror, as one nation formed, then another, but it was slow progress. As we all know Suranth wasn't officially declared reclaimed until but two and half centuries ago. It has been a very long and ardous journey for everyone, every culture, every nation, every people. Yet none had it worse than those touched by Arcanis. Anywhere they went, they were not safe. Eventually their neighbors would turn, close friends would turn, even parents would turn, attempting to slaughter children touched by Talia's gift. They didnt' understand. Yet some survived, and continued to survive. And a great many through luck, skill and sheer will, found their way to Durol, to Depenwood.

Shared customary codes and values

To be Arcanis Touched refers to the innate ability to connect with and manipulate the essence of well...creation as we know it, on some level. Manna, I believe is the technical term used by the well versed and initiated. Think of it as...I've had it described as jewel covered liquid-esque energies of different consistencies found in everything. Now those whom are Arcanis Touched can see intot he Aether, unlike us normal folk, they can see this strange energy in a very finite and physical way, which I would imagine helps one learn how to manipulate it. It is hard to learn to manipulate things you can't even see or picture the behavior of.

Now the main reason for the persecution that still exists even today, the main reason for the Magisterium and for all the conflict around this is because if untrained, uneducated, and left to grow up without proper magickal guidance, those whom are Arcanis Touched are prone to causing all manner of unfortunate events. Random fires, sudden illness in others, rapid and violent plant growth, you get the idea. But the older they get, the more dangerous and larger scale these effects become. Not only this, but those whom are Arcanis Touched are also, in a fashion, Void adjacent. They are not touched by, nor inherently have any part of their essence in the Void, but think of them as a door. A simple, unknowing, unwitting and unlocked door with no security. You can begin to see perhaps where this would be viewed as problematic.

Coming of Age Rites

Magisters all go through something called the Elemental Bonding, a process to mark their graduation, the acknowledgement that they are now a fully licensed and legal magister endorsed and backed by the Magisterium.

It is not well known if there is a similar, if far less well monitored and healthy process for those whom are Arcanis Touched and never end up in the hands of the Magisterium, but I should suspect their would be. What that would look like however, I cannot guess.

Historical figures

Elysia Tel'in'naviri, a Woad Elf, a survivor of one of the first purging skirmishes of when the Reclaimer Templars landed on Depenwood's shores. A Revolutionary, an Emerald Magister, Founder of the Emerald Order, First Grand Magister and Founder of the Magisterium, First Signatory amongst her peers to the Arcanis Accords, Recognized Matron Saint of Talia, the Lady of Leaves, and the last of her most holy bloodline, for she bore no children.