The Ramoros Canon

The Ramoros Canon is a collection of magical writings by Yalten Myqolt. Myqolt claimed to have access to otherwise unknown works by the pseudo-historical wizard Morogyad and to be translating and publishing them, though subsequent analysis debunked these publications as post-Wesmodian forgeries. More recently, however, thaumatologists have observed the potential use of Myqolt's work as a meaningful commentary on the Esoterica of Morogyad.

Content

The Ramoros Canon consists of three long essays and a collection of short analects, initially published in the Ramoran dialect as four separate books between 260 and 265 AWR.
The earliest essay, "On Transmogrification," purports to be a detailed memoir of Morogyad's career transfiguring himself, covering his experiences as an octopus following his escape from Pholdons and how he built on this experience in subsequent episodes when he changed himself into a fish and a seahorse. These changes are all accomplished via the use of left-handed magic, and details are given on precisely how each change is controlled, though not how the process was actually initiated.
The second essay, "On Metals," discusses a flux that can be used to turn copper blue. This flux takes the form of a thin liquid gel - akin to cream, the author states - but is primary constituent is a very precise compound of the blood of four different species of sea snail, stirred with the fingers associated with the liquid and solid states in a very precise way and then brewed at a very high, consistent heat for a long period. This flux will create an exceedingly strong, light metal which will float on water.
The final essay, "On Fluids" deals with the investiture of magical power into fluids via a series of movements of the finger associated with the liquid state in relation to the thumb. The author discusses a series of motions to be made with these fingers in order to freshen salt water, concentrate cordials, and turn wine into different tonics for ills of the lungs, gut, and skin. The essay makes it clear that this technique works best when the fluids are heated to well past their boiling point.
The "Ramoran analects" are a collection of 157 short sayings and observations - the longest of them just 150 words - on the setting up of a laboratory in which to conduct magical research. Many of these appear to be for show but the collection is notable for containing references to the placement of objects in ways that would please both the fire-god Ajqyod and the weather-god Ynglyas, whose cults are, the author claimed, of interest to any modern alchemist.

Commentary

Yalten Myqolt presented the Ramoros canon as a newly-discovered body of work by the pre-Wesmodian wizard Morogyad, a pivotal figure in the history of alchemy in the Eleven Cities. He claimed to have found the books in storage while working for the Commercial Guilds in Ramoros and to be carefully translating them out of a complex code, akin to those used by the pre-Wesmodian cult of Ynglyas, for public consumption. The works were written in the Ramoran dialect (a language Morogyad, although born in Ramoros, is not known to have used for work), Myqolt claimed, because they were to be read and kept safe by the wizard's Ramoran mother. The writings were initially greeted with great enthusiasm by various interested parties and Myqolt was deluged with orders for copies. He filled these orders for strikingly modest prices, claiming he wished to revitalise an extinct pre-Wesmodian magical discipline rather than make a fortune of his own. As such fairly numerous copies of the fairly short collection began circulating, particularly in the western cities.
Within a few years, however, the books attracted criticism. Elpalozian thaumatologist Symoth Sharm in particular was able to demonstrate that several of the adjectives used in the essay "On Fluids" and the analects were post-Wesmodian neologisms which the imprecisely but unambiguously pre-Wesmodian Morogyad could not possibly have used. His conclusion was that Myqolt was in fact a forger passing off his own work as Morogyad's. Proponents of the Ramoros canon opined that Myqolt may have simply chosen post-Wesmodian expressions when conducting his translation, but Myqolt himself never refuted the charge and went into hiding to escape the scandal, never publishing two more essays he had hinted at in his correspondence with customers, or indeed continuing to work as a scribe. He in fact disappears from the historical record; the date and circumstances of his death are unknown.
Upon being revealed as forgeries the Ramoros canon fell out of favour and most of the large number of extant copies were discorded or, in many cases, actively destroyed by Myqolt's disenchanted customers. Only in subsequent decades, when scholars began reassessing the canon out of historical interest and noting how closely informed the essays clearly were by other, more reputable components of the Esoterica of Morogyad, most notably Phardys Horodyas Karanrad. It quickly became apparent that, forger though he may have been, Myqolt clearly had access to copies of now rare and sought-after books, and readers unable to acquire the books for themselves took to picking over his work for hints at their contents. From there some scholars began conducting experiments using his techniques and claiming to be able to make some progress on them, and use them to reverse-engineer some of the details missing from Morogyad's own work. As such, although problematic and almost certainly a forgery, the Ramoros canon has become a noted component of the literature surrounding alchemy and magic in the Eleven Cities.

Availability

The reaction against the Ramoros canon after the revelations concerning its provenance led to the destruction, disposal or damage of most copies of what was, for a brief period in the late third century AWR, one of the most common magical texts in the Eleven Cities. This winnowing left only a handful of copies circulating. To this day the essays are fairly rare, particularly in the collected form which obviously makes cross-referencing easier. Though scribes in most cities may be able to offer one or another of the major essays or abbreviated collections of the analects (the earlier entries in the list being by far the more common) a scholar will probably have to engage in a lot of travel and/or expend a considerable amount of money to acquire the complete set. Those with institutional support need do less such work; complete sets are known to exist at several of the customhouses of the Commercial Guilds and, somewhat inevitably, at the library of the Alchemist's Guild of Dypholyos. Several chapters of the Brotherhood of Rooks are also known to possess copies, though why an organisation dedicated to philosophy and medicine would be interested in such texts is not clear.