The First Sorcerer

Summary

During the preparation for the Usurpation, the Immaculate Dragon that would become known as Resplendent in Perfection Mela sought an advantage to overthrow the Anathema. She travelled to the far East, and found herself in a glade.
Ancient standing stones surrounded a deep pool of water in the centre of the glade, and as Mela meditated in the natural beauty of the place, a spirit appeared to her. The spirit spoke to her, and it said:

"A great destiny lies upon you, Mela, one that you must take up now. You are fated to find the Secret Places in the four Poles of the world, and this is the first of them. Once you have found their mysteries, you shall travel to the summit of the Imperial Mountain and claim your birthright, as the Mother of Sorcery."

The spirit gave Mela a Mantle, finer than any she had ever seen, embroidered in gold, which spelled out ten thousand mysteries, and sent her on her way.
Mela travelled to the Northern Pole by foot, seeing both wonders and horrors along the way. In the deepest, coldest North, she found a secret place, a circle of crystals. In the centre of this circle, a blade of pure ice formed from the howling winds. The blade posed her five riddles, to which she knew the answers, as the things she had seen on her journey provided clues. And Mela grasped the Sword of Ice, and continued on her journey.
Her journey took her South, across the Inland Sea, until deep in the desert, she found a spinning, blowing wall of sand that moaned and howled with all the mockery and rage of the Anathema she sought to overcome. But she steeled herself, and strode on through the sandstorm and found herself in a circle of stones within the storm, piece of brilliant amber embedded in the stones. These stones reflected out all the fears of all the world, and Mela plucked out the one that most resembled her fears, and set it upon her brow.
Mela left for the ocean, heading West, until she came to the end of that ocean, where a boat of ebony and gold waited for her. The vessel carried her beyond the borders of Creation, to the whalebone palace of a great prince. The prince welcomed her, bowing before her and calling her the Mother of Sorcery, but she saw through his deceptions as a member of the Fair Folk. Mela and the Prince talked for nine days and nine nights, and on the ninth night Mela took from him his crimson Girdle, and fled back to Creation.
Mela journeyed on the ebony boat until she reached the Blessed Isle, and then walked to the Greatest Mountain. Eschewing the aid of spirits and ignoring the creations of the Anathema, Mela climbed the Mountain with her own two hands. She climbed to the very summit of the mountain, where few had tread before, and she found at that peak a circle of stones, and in the middle of that circle was an egg of crystal. Mela saw herself reflected in the egg, clad in mantle and girdle, with a scarlet gem upon her brow and the Sword of Ice in hand, and the egg cracked. From that egg hatched Mela herself, with every colour known to Creation in her anima. She spoke to herself, and said this:

"The last step is the sacrifice of yourself."

And she touched Mela upon the brow, and the person she had been died. The woman Mela, who was fearful, who was insecure, who was dependent on others, died in that moment, and the sorceress Mela was born, the Mother of Sorcery.

Historical Basis

Sorcery was definitely invented by someone, and common scholarship dictates that that someone had to be Exalted. However, the Heptagram's best sorcerous texts come from before Mela's time, before the Shogunate, which the Realm at large encourages their sorcerers not to think about too hard.

Variations & Mutation

The Confederate of Rivers claims that Sorcery was devised by the First Age Anathema known as Brigid, who fled into the East when her husband was killed and embarked on a very similar journey to Mela.