Erekus: Kazrin Shaping

"First gift of the Stone Father- that we may impose our shape upon the world as he once did." -Ergoth Kalreski

The Language of the Stone: Thungrian Rift-Script

Before any discussion of Kazrin magic is to be had, one must understand the source of its power. The creator of the Kazrin -- Thungri, the Shaper, god of earth, structure, and immutability -- birthed the physical plane of the chaos of the Rift, unifying the then boundless Valanvluve, the Rift Sea, into a section of structured existence, bound by a language of his design. Amongst scholars of man, Rift-based languages have been referred to as Rift-Scripts, to keep their distinction entirely seperate from languages of physical space, made to be spoken. The rift-script made by Thungri is referred to as Thungrian Rift-Script (I will hereby use just rift-script for sake of simplicity). Mages of any Kazrin form bear the ability to see this script as it is present within the materials which form physical space. It is through knowledge of rift-script and it's characters that mages are able to alter the characteristics of physical objects, by shifting the noun and adjective characters present within a given object's Rift Shadow. Erekian magic (commonly called shaping and more academically reffered to as rearrangement) is the magical ability to modify adjective characters present within rift-script, alongside the common ability of riftsight: to see the Rift upon the closure of one's eyes, most importantly for the Kazrin, to see the characters of rift-script present in materials around them. As mentioned previously, Erekian magic is reffered to as "rearrangement" by those more well versed in Kazrin magics and their teachings. This is because Erekian magic, in it's simplest form, is the rearrangement of rift-script characters. Specifically, adjective characters as I mentioned above.
Now, what do I mean when I say "adjective characters"? Specifcally, I am referring to any rift-script character which applies an effect to the parent material, being the noun character within rift-script. For example, the modern Kazrin character "Grin" is denoted from the rift-script character Girnar, which applies rigid hardness and durability to the parent material. Kalk, predecessor to modern Kal, serves as an additonal example. It is an adjective character that when attached to a noun parent, returns that object to solidity. Solid referring to the state of matter, not to strength or hardness. If applied to water, Kalk will create ice, but irrespective of temperature.

Uses of Erekus and its Subsects

Wielders of Erekus are the builders and smiths of Kazrin society, commonly serving within the Forgebound, who serve as the chief teachers and recruiters of Erekian mages, as opposed to the School of Magic and Engineering, to where one may expect all Kazrin mages to be taught. Like with many other schools of magic, Erekus is divided into specializations, as no one mage of Erekus can master all aspects of its power. These specialisations usually involve a focus upon a particular material school, as rift-script remains generally consistent among materials of similar makeup, and so mages of more specific schools are able to memorise the code manipulation required to particular effects upon a particular material group. Only the most absurdly powerful and intelligent of can do so much as exert a singular effect upon all material schools. Quite simply put, the system of schools exists out of a necessity, so that mages may focus on their specializations. There are many, but I will list the most common, though really, few hold any official status, and the changing of times denotes emerging new schools and the death of lesser ones. That being said, they are as follows:

1. Ergos - the manipulation of stone
2. Megli - the manipulation of metal
3. Grakus - the manipulation of glass
4. Budzeth - the manipulation of wood
5. Altrus - the manipulation of crystalline substances
6. Alfgiz - the manipulation of water
7. Kalflunar - the manipulation of molten rock / metal
8. Jelkor - the manipulation of gasses

As you can likely tell, there is no real system to these groups, with some being as broad as all gasses, and some as narrow as specifically crystal structures. This is all, of course, because of need. When there is demand for mages of a particular sort, that sort is made a group and so grows and divides into more and more particular specializations. For example, within Ergos there are Kalflunaric mages wielding molten stone, Jelkor mages turning granite to gass and back for easy transport, and so on. There are countless subcategories of these greater schools, with fewer and fewer practicers the more specific the niche. As a further example of a school birthed from need, I shall discuss Altrus; it certainly stands out amongst the others as oddly specific. The name Altrus is derived from Altrine, of course then derived from Grun Altrin whom discovered it, but I digress. Upon the discovery of Altrine and its myriad of uses by the Altrin family, there quickly came mages who would attempt to manipulate the crystal. The problem with manipulating Altrine is its capability to store excess energy within itself, naturally sourced from the mana pools it grows from. This energy, if not removed prior to manipulation, makes the the crystal unstable. Any modification upon the form of the crystal causes an immediate implosion as the structure set to contain the shikik energy within is temporarily broken. Later on, Altrus mages would come to understand this, and would serve commonly under Dronkil Ironfist and the greater Ironfist family whom rule the trade of Altrine in Xlandia. A single Altrusan mage can replace an entire factory of altrine refining equipment, should they be in good shape and reasonably powerful. So, these mages often serve the Ironfists as emergency replacements to damaged machinery, taking it's place while an engineer adresses the issue. To provide another example of Altrus in use, the many statues and central dome of pure, refined altrine within Alkin-Hurkin are the works of Altrus mages, commissioned by the Ironfists to decorate the hold.

Limitations of Erekus

Erekian shaping is incredibly powerful, of course, but is subject to a host of restrictions to do with the mechanics of rift-script and that of Erekian magic itself. Firstly, volume cannot be increased. Material cannot be conjured, it must come from something. An Erekian mage can enlarge an object by pulling material of identical make from nearby objects, but not by means of magic itself. Second, the noun cannot be altered. That is to say, if you are manipulating granite, you cannot turn it to copper, or water, or any other thing, because it is granite. You could alter its traits to mimic other materials, sure, but the base remains unchanged, simply modified by adjective characters, and bound to the overruling characteristics of that material. Third, material code cannot be unmade. It is of riftborn energies which transcend physicality, and is this incapable of destruction, only able to be changed, as Erekian mages do. Finally, as I have gotten into above, there is the limitation of knowledge and ability. An Erekian mage can only modify so much material at once, as they must manually edit the code of the material, which is greater the larger the volume. An Erekian mage can also only learn so many abilities, and usually only within one material school, as learning an alteration requires memorising all code edits required to execute the desired change. It is important to recall that Thungrian Rift-Script is a divine language, born by the unique mind of a being not limited by life or physicality. Ultimately, the minds of Kazrin, though strong of stone and steel they may be, fall far short of understanding the language as they would their own speech.
Of course, I neglected above to mention a possibly more obvious weakness of Erekian magic. Said weakness is of course the incapability of manipulating living things. This is because the code which forms living, growing and changing creatures is different than that the Kazrin understand, which was made by Thungri. It is a different language, similar to theirs, but twisted and bound to time and an invevitable degredation. This language is Ryan Rift-Script, the language from which Aelfen magics are based. As such, the folk of the deep remain incapable of modifying it, let alone understanding it. Not to mention most Kazrin would sooner spit upon the script, naming it as heresy to Thungri's design, than try to learn it.

Construction vs Deconstruction

Within Erekian magic, there is little distinction between construction and deconstruction, as in the end, all manipulation whether to build or destroy is born of the same rearragement of rift-script characters. Of course, with Kazrin being as they are, a people bathed in a fanatic love for construction, there is the common preference for the use of magic to build, but that does not mean deconstruction as an ability is seen as useless. Those who choose to focus more so on the aspect of deconstruction are often used alongside repairmen to make repairs to complex machinery, being able to divide the machine into its components to identify issues. They can also be employed as sculptors, rune-carvers, and many other careers having to do with the removing of material from a greater whole. Many mages with talent for such fine, finessed deconstruction often end up as revered artists to clan leadership, or as the honoured rune-scribe to many a wealthy Kazrin noble. There is certainly oppurtunity to be found both ways, if one can sidestep the cultural distaste for the deconstruction, degredation, or division of material.