Walkers
The Frithitt turned and smiled sadly at her fellows. Before her were gathered clansmen and cousins, friends and fathers. Her mates were there too, somber, approaching with a shawl of blue silk which was drawn carefully upon her shoulders and left there. Purring softly and speaking words only for their ears, she touched foreheads with them one last time before parting. Under the hushed gaze of her clan, she turned again, back toward the gnarled entryway in the great old Godsgrove tree, the entryway which hadn't been there a fortnight before. It was dark, low enough that she'd need to stoop. Steadying herself with a breath, she ducked through, leaving the Godsgrove behind. And so she walked... and went on walking, a very great distance within the tree, long after she should have reached its other side. Trembling, she straightened her back and kept her mind focused. The featureless dark spun around her, and as her eyes refocused, she found that it was not the dark, but an endless multitude of colors, shifting incomprehensibly. She was walking back the way she came, and she wasn't. Up became down and left became right, but she found that she still knew the way. She also realized that she wasn't alone. Something else was here, far older and greater than she. And it linked arms with her, the two speaking unknowable words among the rainbow tide of this other world, sharing their secrets. When she reemerged from the tree many moons later, the Frithitt who returned was not quite the same as the one who had gone in. Her purpose, however, remained ironclad. Now she had the ability to fulfill it.
The Magic of Frith
What would in other worlds be called "magic" was only rarely known as such on Frith. Instead, it was more commonly thought of as "Mystery", and those Frithitt capable of its use were "Walkers". As pejoratives, they were sometimes called sorcerers or witches by those uneducated in, or disapproving of, their ways. Mystery was an ever-present natural law of Frith, emanating naturally from its land, flora, and fauna. The exact limit and amount of Mystery in the world could never quite be quantified, nor could the full extent of its power. It is this essential uncertainty which gave rise to the phenomenon's name. What is known is that the unpredictable workings of Mystery were most pronounced in the wild places of the world, causing odd natural phenomena seemingly at random. This could include the appearance of altered animals with greater size, aggression, and magical ability, as well as unnatural weather and bizarre "hauntings" of physical locations. Frithitt could also be affected at random by exposure to Mystery, with effects ranging from loss of mental cohesion to outright death, as well as more fantastical ends. Understandably, the inability to predict the effects of Mystery or to directly manipulate it (in most cases) led to the phenomenon being misunderstood, mythologized, and feared. Known properties of Mystery from a scientific perspective include a telltale fluctuation in the "signal" it produced, showing that Mystery was a type of energy and, indeed, a wave. The existence of this signature enabled specially designed machines to track its presence, though never with 100% reliability. Chemical alterations appeared to be the most common effect, whether effects on bodily chemistry or neurochemistry, or the outright transformation of one element into another. Mystery was usually not visible, except when wielded directly. In these cases, it would burn a bright, otherworldly pallor, resembling in all respects a flickering flame without any heat. The air and colors around it would appear washed out, as if overexposed on film. The exact color varied depending on its source and use, usually matching a Frithitt's eye color. This meant that the normal range of colors for visible Mystery while being used was very broad, with known common shades including brown, yellow, green, blue, orange, and more rarely gold or silver. More exceptional hues of Mystery are also recorded, with some cases likely being mythologized, but others credible. While wild Mystery changed nature in seemingly random, cyclical patterns, Mystery wielded to a purpose could accomplish anything its user intended, albeit only within a certain range, usually restricted to about ten miles. Historical uses ranged from mass healing to mass destruction, from augmentation to conjuration, and from small miracles to massive upheavals that altered the very course of history. The breadth of Mystery was as great as the uncertainty surrounding its origins, ensuring it a central place in Frithitt history and mythology.The Walkways
As noted above, it was almost impossible for Frithitt to actually control the naturally occurring Mystery of the world. As "almost" would imply, however, there were extraordinary exceptions. Neither an inborn talent nor something that could be learned from books, gaining this power was instead accomplished by entering what were known as Walkways. Appearing seemingly out of nowhere in places with high Mystery, these tiny doorways led out of Frith's dimension and into a realm of pure thought and magic. The exact details of this realm may well be impossible to describe, especially because those who walked it were usually unfit (or recalcitrant) where recounting their experiences were concerned. It is, just the same, known that this realm was described as being spacially and temporally transcendental, visitors experiencing only moments there emerging months later in the "real" world. It also held a multitude of colors and strange geometries in a swirling void. Walkers long claimed that they found a companion there when visiting, though just who this companion was identified as varied much depending on the case. Usually, a god, spirit, or departed ancestor was named, though in every case the presence was numinous and hazy. Curiously, all sources agree that the act of becoming a Walker could not be completed without imparting some of one's own secrets to this companion, though what a god would need with these secrets cannot be explained. Of note to scholars is the fact that all known Walkways were small, and in fact too small for an adult Frithitt to comfortably enter, forcing prospective Walkers to stoop. Children seldom survived the travails of Walking, and accordingly some have speculated that the size of the doorways was in fact meant to accommodate the earliest ancestors of Frithitt-kind, who were indeed small bipedal felines of the right stature to use these portals conveniently. Archaeological evidence has never provided substantive evidence that these proto-Frithitt ever used Mystery, however. Irrespective of this, Mystery must have been a force known to the earliest Frithitt ancestors, and indeed unto all creatures great and small from the beginning of the world. Ancient traces of the energy signature of Mystery are found in Frith's oldest strata, implying that the magic was born with the very world itself, if not before. Its effects on Frith's evolutionary history are cryptic and best discussed elsewhere. The entryways themselves may have manifested in stone, wood, or earth, with only scattered reports indicating that they could appear in Frithitt-made structures. The sheer act of construction and the taming of nature seemed to repel the Walkways, as well as naturally occurring Mystery in general. Despite the general refusal of Walkways to open in urban areas, certain aspects of Mystery still manifested in the largest cities, arising naturally from the mass of Frithitt present there. Once appeared, a Walkway would remain visible until entered, reappearing if the prospective Walker ever happened to return and then closing behind them forever upon their reemergence. The last known Walkways were closed by the Imperial School of Mystery in 19770 FA on the order of the royal family amid growing concerns about the unpredictable powers of Walkers and their ability to disrupt the hard-won unity of the planet. They had hoped that binding the Walkways would allow the Empire to mandate who could or could not gain the gift of Mystery. This had unforeseen effects, however. It became apparent, in time, that the forced binding and closure of the world's Walkways had seemingly shut off an important outlet for the world's Mystery, causing it to rapidly diminish over the succeeding decades. By the time that the scope of the problem was known, the last Imperial Walkers who knew how to unseal the Walkways had died. With them went any hope of unsealing the Walkways and returning the world's magic to a normal state. As time passed, Mystery largely passed from living memory, with only the occasional, cryptic instance of wild Mystery existing in hushed rumor to allow any to still believe in its presence. Although the historical accounts and certain works present in the world continued to speak to its past influence, it was believed by the end of Frithitt civilization that magic had gone from the universe and that only the works of faith and science remained to be wrought. One imagines that, in the end, they briefly felt very foolish when the Mystery returned, bursting the seals of the Walkways like a leaky dam, and destroyed all life.The Walkers
Tales of great sorcerers from Frithitt history might falsely give one the impression that, after the trials of the Walkways, wielding Mystery was in any way easy. In fact, "wielding" may be a misnomer, as Frithitt capable of its use could in many ways be rather seen as wielded by the Mystery and not the other way around. Walkers were, in a sense, only avatars of the natural force upon which they called, their wills sometimes subsumed utterly by a seemingly non-Frithitt intelligence. This intelligence was never malicious, but much in the same way that a tornado or an earthquake can kill hundreds, the mere fact of its presence could spell disaster in its natural course. Would-be waterspeakers often found themselves unconsciously causing floods. Fire worshipers were often prone to burn anyone and anything around them as if it came as naturally as breathing. Even healers could find their magic causing unintended effects, cancers spreading in their patients in seconds or plant life springing into being and choking entire towns. It seemed that Walkers almost always paid a dear price for their power, a price paid in a piece of their own will and soul. It was often said that Walkers lost something of themselves in the Walking, which perhaps explains the aforementioned secrets the Walker must give. Some scholars of Mystery believed that these "secrets" were in fact memories, accounting for why many Walkers, upon their transformation, forgot massive chunks of their lives or identities. Others postulated that this scouring of the self was to make room for something else within the Walker, perhaps the "companions" with whom they Walked taking up residency. Dark legends abounded that Walkers were in fact possessed, or in fact already dead, being puppeted as shells by this un-Frithitt force. In spite of all this, the Walker would almost always go about the purpose for which they originally sought their power, sometimes mechanical or rote in the doing, but single minded all the same. Although many of their stories ended in disaster, many others accomplished their goals and faded away, leaving behind great works and folk legends telling of their deeds. Here follows a brief accounting of some historical Walkers, their goals, and their powers. Saaf Salahan, the Dread Wizard of the Crown of Krratin. Existing in early Kettket folk legend from the Vale of Krratin, Saaf Salahan was a Walker of considerable might who was said to have built the Crown of Krratin as an affront against the Eternal Sun. His Mystery was of a purple as deep and unnatural as his eyes, and carried with it the powers of mental manipulation. From his Ebon Tower, legend said that he puppeted the Kettket settlers, pitting them against each other and obscured the wills of the righteous. What motives he might have had beyond sheer perfidy are not passed down by the stories. The existence of this wizard is very much in doubt, as no archaeological evidence of his reign remains. However, it remains possible that his legend grew from fear of real Krratin Walkers from the valleys, who would have opposed early settlement of the bluff-dwelling Kettket. Interestingly, some scholars have pointed out that Salahan may be a corruption of "saLehin", or "of Lehin". The Lehin Clan is among the oldest of the Krratin clans, with possible roots going back to before the time of Kettket settlement. The lineage's long history with Walkers is certainly suggestive of a deeper link. This intriguing possibility cannot be substantiated, however, and so Saaf Salahan remains only an old legend and a window upon the cultural impact of the Vale's earliest conflicts.
Type
Metaphysical, Arcane
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