Magic Scrolls

In nomine Tarcur,

Deus draconum et potestas absoluta;

Magnam potentiam tuam invoco!

Da mihi potestatem percutere inimicos meos.

producant super eos interitum.

Meteoron arcesse! Has gentes dele ex hoc plano exsistentiae.

et pande eis verbum tuum!

Ego servus tuus humilis hoc peto in nomine tuo.

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An ancient scroll of the middle Silver Age, dated 232 kSA. As it was, this scroll would have granted the reader incredible power and gave them authority to summon a meteor large enough to destroy a city and the surrounding farmlands. This destruction would have obviously caused the deaths of a countless number of people. Such was the power of invoking the gods in those times.

- Salika

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Overview

Magic Scrolls are ancient artifacts of forgotten technology and magic. It is not currently within the power of Iron Age people to duplicate. They are creations of the Olimians, the Silver Race, an ancient people who had absolute control over magic and the authorities of the universe except the gods themselves. They used these scrolls to call upon the authority of the gods, temporarily granting them their power.

Summoning the power of a scroll back in ancient times was a dangerous feat that would often injure or kill the reader, because taking in the power of a god is often too much for the human body. The risk was worth it however as the power granted was much, much greater than anything a silver human was capable of on their own.

These scrolls can be found in rather unsettlingly large quantities in old silver age tombs and ruins, especially from within the The Olimian wastes. Thousands of examples are known. Most are stored in the Golden Library in the Empire of Irrelith, though many kings across Vreathe also have these scrolls in their personal libraries.

The written language within these scrolls are familiar to the people of Vreathe. It is almost the same language as the people of Milcea and Irrelith speak, and most languages in Eastern Vreathe are descended from them in some way. Translating most of these scrolls are an easy feat that any scholar worth their glasses could do in a matter of minutes.

It is a good thing that the scrolls no longer have power. When the gods left Vreathe during the Bronze Age, they took most of their Aether with them. Without this aether, the scrolls are useless. the words within are barely able to summon a scrap of power. Still the knowledge contained within are quite valuable to many different people so these scrolls are often worth thousands of Beryls.

Most Scrolls are nothing more than paper, made of parchment or vellum. Other materials were used as well including crushed and molded reed and rice paste. the ink used on the paper is usually carbon ink, often with some unknown form of aethercite crushed into a fine powder and mixed in. Often drawing accompany the written word on the scroll.

This paper is wrapped around a wooden base, though some more exotic materials have been found. Many of the best surviving examples of ancient scrolls are covered in wax or some sort of other protective substance.

- Salika

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Reading a Scroll

When a person decides to read a scroll, they must have a firm voice and speak clearly. They also have to pronounce the words perfectly as they are. This requires being fluent in ancient silver age languages. Reading a scroll consumes it. The scroll will disappear after being read out loud read properly, fading into ashes and scattering in the wind.

In the modern times of the Iron Age of Vreathe, reading a scroll does very little due to the lack of godly aether for the scroll to draw on, but as the scroll is reas, the reader will often feel a tingling sensation. If they close their eyes, they might get glimpses of images, flashes of long lost history and knowledge. It is possible that the person's eyes will glow in the color of the god they are calling upon. This is about the extent of the effects however.

During the Silver Age, the effect of reading a scroll were much more pronounced. Iron Age humans have plenty of writings from the Silver Age about the effects. As they read aloud, person might start to feel great pain. They might have to scream out and might not even be able to finish the scroll. Their eyes will brightly glow the color of the god they are channeling.

Aether Lines, or magical cracks in reality, will apear on their skin and spread around as they read the scroll. If they can manage the pain and finish reading, they will temporarily have the power of a god. After the effects of the scroll end, some people can be permanently blinded, crippled, or just die, bursting apart in godly energy.

In nomine Alom,

Deus Infinitit.

Invoco scientiam vestram!

Da mihi potestatem uti tua;

da mihi infinitorum scientiam;

Omnia scire cupio;

ut sermonem tuum aliis pangam!

Ego servus tuus humilis hoc peto in nomine tuo.

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A scroll calling upon the infinite power and knowledge of the Elder God Alom. This was a popular scroll to use back in the day, but supposidely had a 95% fatality rate within minutes of reading. Infinite knowledge is dangerous!

- Salika

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Prayers to the Gods

The majority of scrolls found on Vreathe are in the form of prayer in one way or another. Nearly all scrolls start with "In the name of" and then the name of the god they are calling on. Then they ask the god for what they want, whether it is power, knowledge, or some other thing. The scroll then ends with "I, your humble servant ask this in your name."

This is a little absurd because most scrolls written in the silver age were written after these gods were imprisoned by the Silver Race, with some exceptions. From the point of view of Iron Age humans, it would seem like they are praying to the gods, calling on their power, but in reality, the Silver Race is just playing by the rules of the universe. If you want godly aether, you have to pray to them. Fortunately for the Silver Race, the gods had very little say in who could channel their power, so long as the person praying knew and said the true name of the god.

The question is then often asked, couldn't the Silver Race just pray to the gods and be given this power? This question is somewhat complicated. Yes, they could, but without a magic scroll, the power granted was small and it was granted only if the god allowed it. The reason why magic scrolls were so wildly powerful was because of an unknown aethercite used in their creation, an aethercite with a type of magic that even the gods had to bend the knee to.

It isn't known what this aethercite was, but scholars have their theories. Some say it is the blood of Tazil himself. Tazil, also known as Tarcur, was the God of Dragons and Absolute Power. He was known for dominating other elder gods during the Golden Age, imprisoning them deep within the planet Tarsuros and draining them of their power.

In nomine Tarcur,

Dominator Renae;

Virtutem vestram appello!

Da mihi potestatem hostibus funditus exitium!

Omnia perdere volo!

Ego servus tuus humilis hoc peto in nomine tuo.

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There is no shortage of scrolls that go straight to asking Tazil for power to destroy. But even Tazil himself would be reluctant to grant this much ability to destroy. The dark god had a particular plan for how to end the Golden Race and summon the creator to end all things, and just destroying the world to destroy it was not one of his goals. To put it simply, a magic scroll forcing Tazil to give up his power was necessary.

- Salika

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Working Magic Scrolls

About the only scrolls from the silver age that do anything at all are Scrolls of Beirunes. These scrolls were originally meant to call upon the power of a trapped fire god and rain destruction down upon large swaths of land. Today, they can be used by a mage to create a fireball.

This is all well and good, but most mages can create a fireball solely from Mana when they are about ten years old, and can likely create a much more powerful fireball than the scroll will allow. There is no question that Silver Age people could do the same thing. And since the scroll is consumed in the process, it's pretty much useless....unless the level of fire magic granted was truly destructive, equal to that of a forest fire or an entire volcanic eruption.

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There are Scrolls of Saint Nora that are still produced in large amounts by The Church, specifically for use by healers and priests. These are some of the only scrolls still produced on Vreathe today. These scrolls do have power because Saint Nora is still close to the world of Vreathe, sitting within Meliheal.

These scrolls still are nowhere near the power level of ancient ones, but they are used as healing instruments, calling on the power of Nora to bring some level of comfort to those that are suffering. Nora's power can be used to greatly enhance healing, remove curses and diseases, and more moderate effects. There are more powerful items out there like a Phoenix Pinion or a powerful potion, but those are extremely rare. the Church has these healing scrolls by the thousands and they sell them for a decently low price too.

One type of these scrolls is known as a Sending Scroll. The purpose is for exorcising a soul from a recently deceased body and sending them to the World Tree to be judged by Nora. This is preferable to the spirit lingering for days, or sometimes years after they die while they slowly wander to the World Tree on their own.

Oh Santa Nora, Madre de Reyes,

Regente de la Fuente de las Almas,

Por favor,

concédele a esta pobre alma un salvoconducto,

Que tu juicio sobre ellas sea rápido y justo,

Si son dignos, guíalos a la otra vida,

y si son indignos, arrójalos en las tinieblas,

amén

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Aerynn

"Being a descendant of Saint Nora, I don't actually need these sending scrolls to send a soul to the afterlife."

"I still use them though, because when I do it with my own power, I always end up in the Wellspring for a brief moment and I see the the scale that Nora uses to judge people when they die. I don't want to see a person get judged by her. She's kind of scary! Once was enough for me..."

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Enchantments and Words of Power

The modern variant of Magic Scrolls are Enchantments. These can be as simple as a short arc drawn on a piece of paper. Usually the material is a charcoal paste, which is then charged with mana, and is known as a Mana Arc. Many of these enchantments also have Words of Power written on them, and they are usually in the form of prayer, specifically to one of the four original elder gods: Alom, Yanneth, Nora, and Tazil. Other gods can also be called upon, but they offer significantly less power or none at all.

It has been said before that scrolls of Saint Nora work because she is inside the World Tree and therefore close to Vreathe. The reason magic scrolls work for the other three elder gods is because they are imprisoned in the Moon Nodan, a lesser moon of Vreathe that usually follows the Greater Moon Kalbeth in its orbit, but has recently gotten much closer. These gods are therefore much closer to Vreathe than any other.

It is said that the Goddesses Laza and Kalbeth can also be called on because they reside on the greater moon Kalbeth, but as those aren't actually their true names, enchantments with them don't work. This is also true of the long dead Dragon Lords. While their corpses litter Vreathe with their aetheric corruption, as no one knows their true names, enchantments made with them don't work.

With the use of mana arcs, the enchantment doesn't need to be read, it is always active and always working. It just needs to be charged with magic, though special forms of ink are made that can ensure it always has at least a small magic charge.

Along with Aethercite crystals, enchantments form the basis of much of Vreathe's technology during the Iron Age and much of the world is dependent on them in some way. Af the lesser moon Nodan has gotten much closer to Vreathe in the last thousand years, enchantments made with the names of Alom, Yanneth, and Tarcur have gotten more powerful, and newer more powerful enchantments are made using them all the time.

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An enchantment from a copy of Fruela's Self-Updating Maps. There is a prayer that circles around the outer edge, that starts with calling on the power of Alom. There are also various numbers and calculations present on this enchantment. It all has power and means something. This enchantment is the basis for many objects used across Vreathe such as an Entangled Letter.

- Salika

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Stop using the Elder Gods as words of power!

Every time you enchantment an item with their name, you summon the lesser moon Nodan.

Every time you utter the true name of the gods, every time you channel their power..

you bring the lesser moon just a little bit closer to your world, inviting your own destruction!