You don't go anywhere near that tower, you hear me?! They'll hear those thoughts of yours and whisk you away. You'll be taken before you even mean to get there--before you can change your mind.
The
Ievlen Empire enjoys the protection granted from
The Blackguard, founded by Edrin Theoril. Once just monster hunters, they recruited several mages to help in their efforts. This was before the mages began to wise up and realize their power could move and shake empires; and that was the first of several events that resulted in the Mass Mage Exodus, also known as the Brievanan Exodus.
After that, the
Oracles who helped plan and coordinate monster staying efforts of the Blackguard also had to do so for mage slaying efforts. Overworked and high strung, they turned to the most recent drug on the market;
Kingsfoil Tea .
The Creation of the Cyclops Corruption
This form of
Corruption was first noted among the
Oracles who made a regular habit of partaking of the tea--anywhere from daily to hourly. The effect they noted--the ability to walk the many paths of possibility, as they put it--indeed took hold, but would wear off, as caffeine does.
To avoid the resulting lethargy, confusion, and existential dread caused by the crushing singularity of existence, many would simply drink more tea.
The Counterculture behind the Cyclops
Oracles were still a part of the blackguard and, before their usage of the tea, were advisors of various groups and companies. Their value relied on their expertise, and sometimes greatly on their foresight.
But none could read minds and none could see the future that wasn't already a practiced mage. With the Mass Exodus of Mages, a powergap was left, readily filled by these advisors, because they had to; who else would fortell weather patterns, read the windsigns of war, or foresee tragedy? Many of the advisors held council together, pooled knowledge, but it was lacking without their mage colleagues.
Thus, while many outside the counter-culture of
Oracles saw this as both a powerplay and a way around the work that mages without classifying themselves as mages, this could be further from the truth;
Oracles to manufacture and to drink the tea out of desperation.
End of the Oracles, Birth of the Cyclops
When the first
Oracles began to show symptoms, the textbook forehead itching, deteriorating eyesight, and lucid dreams, nothing was said and all efforts were made to hide the corruption. Even when the first instance of a third eye sprouting was noted, this only dictated a change in the fashion of the
Oracles, who wrapped their eyes and heads to hide what they had become. About half had transformed when then Blackguard themselves caught on, but instead of destroying the abominations, they were spared and allowed to continue their life within Ievlen as normal as possible, though without leaving a protected and designated building for them.
Grateful but ultimately knowing they would be spared, the
Oracle's plan, it would seem, had worked; they now enjoy a comfortable lifestyle of seeing the many paths of the future together, acting as advisors to Ievlen's secret police, The Blackguard, and even the Patriarch himself.
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