The Arcane

Nothing is ever lost completely

The Arcane is the foil to Lucidiation. It is old magick seperate from the Dream that is sourced from the Fold--a sort of nebulous concept similar to the Cosmos. While not understood in a literal sense, the Fold is percived as a natural force--something that exists inately in all living things, including the Illucid. It is due to this ubiquity that Arcane has been omitted from all Thuumdalic practice, because the view of the Church is that to be Thuumdalic is to Dream. So it is that in recent memory the Arcane and its practitioners are regarded as graceless, primitive and exist in a far different standing than Lucidiettes. 
However, it is belived that the Arcane predates Dream magick, despite it being cosmically comparable to the Dream. It was the practice of the original Kraunsgaard, the object of study at Kraunsworth College, and the cause of the Manasurge. And far beyond Basal, the Fold had been discovered independently by far flung peoples all across Croft, so the Lucidiette Mass cannot claim dominion over the practice. But, due to Lucidiation, study of the Arcane has diminished and all Basalite schools teaching the ways of the Fold have had their doors shut. The Arcane has become a hermetic pursuit--isolated, quiet, and perceptive. Arcanists will often make pilgrimage to forgotten sites of Arcane significance, schisms from the Manasurge, and pay exubrant fees in black markets for outlawed texts.

Scholarship

It is not uncommon for Arcanists to have a tutor or mentor. The nature of these relationships vary, but as all established schools are outlawed within the central continent, prospective students will sacrifice time, dignity, and health to achieve their Arcane goals out of determination, or obsession. These tutalages are often invariably taxing upon both the student and the mentor. Due to the danger of tampering with pure, volatile magick, students will often perish withinin the first year. In fact, it is not uncommon for mentors to refuse to recognize a students name for the first five years of tutelage, as they do not want to crowd their mind with the names of dead prospects should they fail. 
However, simply surviving is not enough for continued mentorship. A student must thrive under their mentors guidance. The Manasurge occured because untrained, untalented, and unchecked Arcanists tampered with forces beyond their understanding, and the event destroyed both the reputation and security of all Arcanists to come. Without a governing body like the Lucidiette Mass to keep Arcanism in check, it falls upon the mentor to determine if the student is a benefit or a danger to all. If they are deemed a threat, the mentor will personally execute them and find a new pupil.

Practice

If the student is deemed worthy, they will be gifted three Thimbles. The Thimbles are conduits for Arcane magick akin to a wand or a staff, but has designed to be subtle and concealable. All Arcanists live with the hope that none but other Arcanists will recognize a Thimble for what it truly is, so the Thimble has evolved to have two uses: to channel the erratic Fold, and to act as a dogwhistle for other Arcanists. 
There are three primary Thimble architectures. There is the Flathead Thimble, the Peaked Thimble, and Bowed Thimble. 
The Flathead Thimble is the necessary architecure to cast defensive spells. Its construction is broad, protective, and conservative; it heightens and pronounces spells that safeguard the caster. 
The Peaked Thimble is the necessary architecture for offensive spellcasting. Its construction is pointed, sharp, and exaggerated; it is the most flamboyant and excessive of the Thimbles, and stands out as much as a Thimble can. 
The Bowed Thimble is required architecture for restorative spellcasting. Its construction is soft, harmless, and comforting; it is the most modest of all Thimbles and rests upon a finger as if it weren't there at all.
Thimbles are generally constructed out of precious and semiprecious metals, and each architecture is predisposed to a certain material. For example, a high-quality Flathead Thimble may be constructed from tungsten, while a poor quality Flathead Thimble may be constructed from gold. Inversely, a high-quality Bowed Thimble would be constructed from gold and a poor quality example constructed from tungsten.
Thimble Architects experiment with wide arrays of material combinations varying from gemstones to natural fibers to traditional metals in the pursuit of constructing the perfect conduit. It is a tireless endeavor, often thankless, and done entirely in solitude.

After all this time, you still refuse my name? I have passed all of your trials; have I not earned your respect?
It is not that you do not have my respect, it is simply that I have forgotten a time when you had a name at all.
-Mentor and desciple, somewhere in Durram.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane