The
War of Hubris destroyed the Academies and Libraries of the Arcane across
Talahaea, and killed most of the wizards in the realm. The Cult of Magic in particular deployed their countermagics and commissioned the ‘mage-killer’ items for their troops. Losses were great, but the wizards were all but eliminated, and alongside the other decrees of foundation, the Church Octaval issued the decree absolute. The Church holds that the Arcane
Magic of the wizards is an abomination which inevitably leads to corruption and disaster. A similar ruling holds over druidic magic, which is deemed irredeemably contaminated by the horrors of the
Primal Wild, and the powers granted by unsanctioned deities.
The Doctrine Absolute
This is the Church creed, set down in the decree absolute, which forbids the study of Arcane lore and proscribes the worship of gods outside of the eight cults of the Church. The decree absolute is the simplest of all the decrees of foundation, setting out in concrete and expansive terms the criminality of arcane practice. It declared that arcane magic is the supreme source of evil and corruption, which continues to be accepted doctrine despite the lack of a sound theoretical base. It emerged from a widespread distrust of the arcane, catalysed by the reign of the
Mage Sovereigns.
The terms of the degree are enforced by the agencies of the Office for the Doctrine Absolute: The Search, the Hunt and the Question.
- The Search is the largest of the offices, responsible for conducting routine investigations into suspected arcane practice. A large part of their work is tracking down neophyte sorcerers before their power manifests, and they employ many Negators - sorcerers bound to Church service and specialising in countermagics - to enable them to peacefully subdue their quarry and bring them into the fold.
- The Hunt takes over from the Search when a more aggressive stance is called for. They are the ones who hunt down practicing wizards and most particularly warlocks.
- The Question is the office responsible for enforcing orthodoxy of ritual and worship, and for tracking down druidic and non-comforming worshipers.
Wizards
The Doctrine Absolute holds that wizards are misguided and dangerous, consumed by ambition. The study of magic leads inevitably to corruption, and the teaching of magic is an act of sedition. Even magical texts are seen as inherently evil, a source of corruption waiting to infect any reader. Possession and study of arcane texts is proscribed, and punishable by fine or imprisonment. Casting any arcane spell is punishable by imprisonment, while the organised study of magic, the keeping of an arcane library, creation of magical texts, the practices of demonology, diabolism or necromancy, or maleficium (causing harm by magic) are punishable by death.
Sorcerers
According to the Doctrine Absolute, sorcerers are intrinsically tainted by arcane force, but through no fault of their own, and may be saved by pious observance and submission to the authority of the Church. Sorcerers who are found by the Search as young children are pressed into the service of the Church, either as ‘Negators’, or as enchanters, working alongside the Artificers. Those who are discovered older, as they come into their full powers, are more likely to be imprisoned or killed.
Warlocks
Warlocks are held to be irredeemable by the Doctrine Absolute, their souls damned by the pacts into which they enter. The Search has no business with warlocks, save to report them to the Hunt for persecution of the most extreme kind.
Artificers
Artificers operate under the authority of the cult of crafts, and have secured an odd status as ‘safe’ practitioners of magical study. In large part, this is because the Artificers’ Guilds supplied, and still supply, enchanted items to the Church, including antimagical artefacts. Despite their sanction to practice, artificers are subject to constant scrutiny and assessment by the cult of Ilmar.
Bards
Bards are tolerated under the auspices of the cult of joy, so long as they adhere to the teachings of the approved colleges, but distrusted, and every use of magic is a cause for scrutiny and investigation. In particular, the College of Lore’s magical secrets are viewed with suspicion, as they are too close for comfort to the studies of wizards.
Druids
Thanks to the erstwhile God-Queen of
Ardheim, the Church has a particular distrust of the Primal Wild and its trappings, and for the druidic faith as a whole. The Question takes a particular interest in folk cults, to ensure that they are not too far from orthodoxy, and too close to the druidic path. This distrust also clings to the Oath of the Ancients, which is not considered appropriate for respectable exemplars of the Church.
Magic Items
Magical items are subject to strict
licensing and regulation.
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