Arcana Code History and summary in brief

Arcana Code
Arcana Code: The physical Representation of magic. Discovered using Ancient studies passed down through lore. Arcana Code is the direct result and culmination of years of vigorous study. If used properly it can literally control most magic. Powerful Practitioners of Primal magic and Blood magic can nullify Arcana code with an innate understanding of their magical art. Arguably the greatest Discovery of Arcana Code is the ability to create artificial life with this code one can create and control a various degree of Automatons.
Automatons: With the discovery and perversion of Arcana Code Practitioners could create life out of inanimate materials Stone and metal being the most popular. Arcana Code uses various enchantments and varying degree of magical components. These used along with the code, Practitioners (sometimes called Artificers) can create False life out once a heaping pile of lifeless Scrap or rubble.
The Code: The code is a tangible representation of magic. with the proper channels one can see the very structure of magic glimmer before them. With the proper training (And modifications) one can manipulate the structure as a puppeteer manipulates strings. The code appears to those that can see it as glimmering green culmination of symbols, letters, and numbers. Followed by a grid outlined in magic illuminations. With the proper molestation of these symbols and grids. One could potentially alter the very fabric of time and space.
Code Mages: Magic users who can see and manipulate the code are called Code mages. They are often referred to as the Epitome of magical advancement. One does not become a code mage overnight. First you need to study the code your entire life, as with most Arcane studies this is not nearly long enough. Code mages can hardly be consider living, while they originated as beings of flesh, they had modified their bodies with various machinery. Living eyes cannot behold the code no matter how long it is studied. Living flesh cannot interact with the code so flesh must be made of inorganic material. Code Mages must undergo rituals to become one with the code. This is called Attuning to the Code. The oldest of Code Mages alter themselves to the point where they become more machine than human. Removing their organic heart and replacing it with an artificial one, some even alter their own brains.
Code Mage Madness: The path the Code Mage travels between living and machine becomes twisted. Code Mages Soon spiral down to their inevitable end. eventually they perish and a new Code Mage takes their place. While Code Mages live exceptionally long lives, none yet has yet found the perfect recipe for Eternal Life.
The Beginning: It all started when a human wizard named Wallenforth discovered How to make semi sentient beings created out of metal. he was a hero throughout the Continent. He had created nonliving beings built for one purpose, to serve. Wallenforth was a very accomplished Arcane magic user he was old and very talented. through various enchantments and long studies with various metal smiths. Wallenforth had discovered a way to create beings who can make living a little easier. Initially Wallenforth’s efforts were noble. He was able to build machines that could go to market in case some one was crippled. He built hardy working constructs that helped farmers tend their fields. The constructs never had to sleep. they never had to eat. All they required was a fully charged Code Stone. Wallenforth became very wealthy because of this. In time the aging wizard’s operation grew. He was able to manufacture constructs and Code Stones which he sold to people who could afford them.
When Wallenforth died His children received the rights to his research, which until his death was kept secret. Wallenforth had three children, two sons and a daughter. The daughter wanted to keep her father’s “good natured” legacy alive by providing constructs to families in need and began cutting prices on various machinery. This didn’t sit well with the two brothers. They conspired against their sister, killing her and her family. The youngest brother was ashamed of the crime he helped commit and fled to escape his brother’s influence. The oldest brother established a kingdom of constructs and servants. His kingdom grew larger every day. His army bolstered by nigh un-killable recruits. The youngest brother’s heart was heavy with shame. He sold his father’s findings to various other kingdoms throughout the continent and Vanished, never to be heard from again.
The Age of Constructs: Also known as the Age of Metal, strife and destruction razed the land. Living soldiers all but disappeared, they were replaced by nearly indestructible warriors. Organic beings couldn’t stand a chance against these constructs. All seemed lost.
Hope: From the south, rumors emerged of living warriors. These living beings had discovered technology that could destroy the machines. These warriors were come to be called “Code Breakers” They had magic and weapons that could destroy a machine as if it were made of flesh. Over the years the popularity of the code breakers flourished, Powerful factions appeared all over the continent.
Code Breakers: The first Code Breakers were revered as heroes throughout the land. At the forefront of every opposition there was at least a small group of Code Breakers leading the charge. These Heroes could be soldiers leading assaults on machine war parties. Mages who could bolster armies with various anti construct magic. Spies who would work in the shadows, defeating the machines with subterfuge and guile. Codebreakers were trained to be elite at their craft, Utilizing special weaponry and a menagerie of spells at their disposal. No one knew where they came from. Most suspected they were trained by descendants of Wallenforth’s youngest son. However, no proof of that affiliation ever came to light.
Wallenforth’s Gate: In retaliation to the growing power of “Code Breakers.” The wealthiest kingdoms decided they should work together. “For the progression of society, and the continuation of machine servitude.” A city was founded named Wallenforth’s Wonder, later came to be known as Wallenforth’s Gate. The government system supporting the new city consisted of high-ranking citizens who sat in the senate. This senate was said to be of the people, but it was really controlled by those who had the most influence. These influential people were the wealthiest of the citizens. They were the mages who manufactured constructs and sold them. Eventually the Senate consisted of Strictly magical persons and the Circle of Code Mages was born. Wallenforth’s Gate was created as a gesture of good faith. however, through the years it was perverted into a ploy of ultimate control. Controlled economy, controlled government, controlled magic.
Dark times: With the combined strength of the Code Mages and their machine army. The code breakers were diminished to nothing more than private mercenary groups scattered across the continent fighting machines for hire. The land was one again plunged in darkness. Soon there were cities and kingdoms only inhabited by machines and their wealthy masters. To the rich this was paradise. No urchins running around town with their filth, no long days filled with sweat and labor. However outside city gates paradise could not be found. All living creatures lived in a constant struggle with the Code Mages and their automatons.
Hope as a beacon Shines again: One day a hero appeared. A very unlikely one. It was a large and beautifully constructed automaton. It appeared in a squalid village outside of Wallenforth’s gate. At first the people thought it was there to destroy them once and for all. It had brought what seemed like an army of other automatons. However instead of slaughtering every citizen the automatons brought food and clothing. They started helping the people. Automatons began once again doing what Wallenforth Intended from the start helping the common people.
Dawn consumes the Darkness: The squalid village once withered and destitute Started thriving again. The village became known as Wallenforth’s Respite. News spread of the automaton’s arrival and how the people of Wallenforth’s Respite and other villages where banding together . Code Breakers Once again started fighting for the people, rather than for themselves. This time some of them even had their own Automatons. More and more machines were being added to the ranks of Wallenforth’s Respite, some constructs seemed to be defecting. They were no longer under the control of the wealthy or the circle of Code mages. They were in fact being controlled by Wallenforth’s Herald. That was the name given to the large automaton by the people and it stuck. The herald acted much like a person it seemed to have emotions it seemed to have empathy. How this came to be was a mystery to the people. The only constructs they have ever known, where machines with no emotion or sympathy, only acting as ordered.
WAR: The city of Wallenforth’s Gate caught wind of this new morale among the people. They noticed less and less machines were present in the city. Outraged, the city declared war on Wallenforths’s Respite they gathered the most powerful Machines and invaded the now thriving city. They were met, not by an army but by one lone automaton. It was the Herald. The most powerful code mages gathered and attempted to control the automaton using their millennia of combined Arcana Code Knowledge.
Hero Revealed: The automaton revealed itself to be Walenforth’s youngest son. It was discovered that after he sold the technology to the wealthiest overlords’ centuries ago, he fled and lead a life of isolation. He saw what the world was becoming and what he had help create. The guilt he felt from helping kill his beloved sister was too much for him to bare. He began work to right his wrong and vowed to end the darkness he helped create. Somehow, he unlike his brother’s descendants figured out how to become a full construct, seemingly he became immortal while remaining perfectly sane.
The Fall of Wallenforth’s Gate: The brief battle ended with Hardly any bloodshed. The Herald took control of all Automatons within the city and turned them on the Code Mage Masters. With the Instant loss of all their power the Circle surrendered to the herald. A trial was held, and the circle of Code Mages where duly Executed (and dismantled) for their crimes. Wallenforth’s son reclaimed the city named for his father and reestablished the senate abolishing whatever corruption he could.
The World Currently: Wallenforth’s Gate Is a striving Metropolis and the capital of the continent. Wallenforth’s son still watches the city however his construct body stands lifeless in the city square, a monument to what once was. Constructs and People live in harmony together in every town and city across the continent. Even the poorest families have at least one small automaton who helps around the house. Each city has its own political system along with its own Circle of Code mages. They oversee manners related to constructs. However, they hold no sway over the political decisions unless invited by the governing body. Code mages are forbidden to alter themselves any further than what is necessary for their duties managing the cities automatons. Absolutely no modifications can be done to the heart or brain. If a Code mage breaks any of the rules, they are sent immediately to trial overseen by the Council of Magic.
Code Breaker Downfall: With the acceptance of machines in society the code breakers once again have seen their influence decline. They are still active with various factions stationed throughout the continent, in which they inhabit all facets of society. Some are employed with various armies. Their expertise needed to deactivate rogue machines. Some have taken up once again the banner of mercenary work, selling their skills to anyone willing to pay their price.