Brightmagic

[kasiotfur]

 
The Brightmagic of the mortals has three fathers.
First of them was Dhurin of Kardo Gasta, a dwarf, who lived in 8c. of the Second Era, who ‘separated the Earth and the Sky, the Red and the Blue’. It is said, that the magnitude of his achievements can not be fully comprehended; too great they are to be visible. We live and die within them, we see and feel through them, with them we think – they make the very foundation of our world - and ourselves. However, all of that has a name, that allows to understand, at least partially. That is the Logic. Think of it as a set of tools, or even as a scalpel of Gigantic size - with which Dhurin separated Known and Cognizable from Inconceivable, the Red from the Blue. Before the mortals had been living in the hell of constant change, in the reality governed by laws they could not comprehend – on which they depended totally. You can compare it to the situation of a man, that will treat the reality and the dream as one and the same thing – he lives in a kaleidoscope of variable worlds, not able to distinguish one truth from a thousand illusions… all of that until the final loss of his existence. And so for mortals before Dhurin’s time, ‘the Existence’ meant ‘Chaos’. From this Chaos Dhurin separated the Red, the Order – that is the reality, where the mortal is the mortal, just himself, and as much as himself. Even tough the waves of the Blue would rave all around, the safe haven was established, the mainstay of sanity – a bud from which developed the present world.
The laws of the Red Logic, one of them being the rule of cause and consequence created the present, and then the future and the past. That is how the History started.
According to the common, traditional belief, Dhurin’s work had been finished. It had rooted into the world and it had become one with it; Gigantic and ever growing throngs accept and apply the rules of Logic, and live according to them – even if they are not aware of it. In the allegories, Dhurin is the foundation of the Tower – the symbol of the Brightmagic.
The second father is Sulmanann, called Ruancarian; a human (lived for 125 years [814-939IIE]), who formulated the Truth of Dher Khoioll, the magic of the Three Entities – and with this deed he set the scope for the development of the Brightmagic for three thousand years. According to Sulmanann a mortal, the child of the Gods, consists of the three Entities: the Fire (Mind), the Light (Soul) and the Darkness[1] (Body). Each of them is the outcome of the hundreds of elements – all that exist - joined together. And so in each and every mortal all energies of the Existence are united; each mortal is able to learn more about them and understand them… he is also able to use them and command them. Sulmanann’s Truth has been modified in course of Time, but these modifications are not so important – the idea on which the Truth had been constructed, remains. The mortals can expand their awareness, enhance the Red, they can understand the laws that govern the Existence – they can strive for greater power.
The world of the mortals became expansive; the elemental magic turned into its ‘sword and shield’.
The Truth of Entities influenced all aspects of life, but especially mentality, the way of thinking, attitude towards reality. The definition of what is possible became blur; single mortals and whole nations would gain more or less power, stronger or weaker magic… What for some people used to be the Red for generation, others would consider a dangerous, incomprehensible Blue.
Since about 10c. of III Era the scholars of the West - the biggest conglomeration of coherent and consolidated brightmagics – claim, that the development of Sulmanann’s teaching has come to an end, and the magic is about to reach a new, higher level. In the allegorical Tower, Sulmanann makes the main core.
It is said, that the third father of the Brightmagic is Azzarel. Nothing is known about him for sure. He could have lived even before the First Era, and he was not necessarily a mortal… Although his dignity is very recent, and although he didn’t deliberately open any new epoch, as Dhurin and Sulmanann did – at present he is believed to be the first of the three, and one of the most outstanding mages ever. Azzarel was unsurpassed alkemist[2]; the masters of this art today, who study his papers, say that they still only vaguely follow his trace. The person of merit here is Sulmanann, who compiled and arranged numerous fragments of Azzarel’s texts, using them in his own research. Together with the spreading of Dher Khoioll and development of the elemental magic, the craft of the alkemy was also studied more thoroughly – in fact it has often been defined as one of the numerous aspects of the magic of elements. For centuries the alkemists would gradually  discover and adopt more and more of Azzarel’s achievements, in this process making use of the most recent scholarly conquests of the elementalists. Finally in the 5c. of the Third Era, the co-called Alkemical Revolution broke out in Halrua. The accuracy, efficiency, but primarily flexibility and versatility of this art made its masters as desired as gold… New academies were set up, the old schools modified, laboratories[3] renovated; production increased rapidly… In 7c the countries of the West had already passed the period of changes and entered the Time of welfare, that lasts till today. Of course, the potential of alkemy is much greater, it is currently the most dynamically developing branch of magic, and the studies of Azzarel’s texts have never been so feverish and rapacious.
The great alkemist is represented as the top part of the Tower, which is by no means complete, still in construction, reaching higher and higher up – to the Stars.
Now it is Time to go further. The next brightmagic is the art that used to be called ginna and that has now the name of bureaucracy. It is an odd thing: powerful, and yet surprisingly weak, heroic (yes!), and pathetic at the same Time. No mortal brought it into being, but each generation changes it in a way, develops it, forms, creates anew. The very beginning of the bureaucracy was simultaneous with the beginning of the brightmagic. Its core was the extorting, imposing and enforcing the laws in the young, springing up communities. The first ‘officials’ – ginnal – were in fact warriors and it was their duty to ‘protect the blood’, that is human life; for decades and centuries they would guard their settlements from nameless creatures, forgotten to-day. At last, the forces raving over the world subsided – or the mortals learnt to live in their shadow. The population was growing and new difficulties appeared; ginnal started to settle the quarrels, ensure the compliance with various rules and bans (which often stemmed from Times before the brightmagic). People’s mobility was increasing, the world was more and more open, the trade was thriving – the number of laws was growing. The introduction of the writing was a breakthrough – that is how administration appeared. Ginnal had put down the weapons, and seized stylus, quill and paintbrush. Bigger, more specific, more and more inquiring… For it turned out, that hitherto existing division between Red and Blue is not enough to let the mortal live in a relative peace – within communities. Their behavior, customs and life had to be curbed – thanks to that certain predictability was achieved, and with that also order and the basis of safety. Obviously, non-brightmagic forces of the Blue were still a constant threat, but at the same time they contributed to the strengthening of bureaucracy, its organization and development. Defense against the Unknown was more and more effective. And finally real Giants were constructed, so huge, that incomprehensible for the mortals, digesting thousands of information; in the most brightmagic countries it would squint its Gigantic eyes-lakes over each and every citizen – bureaucracy, ginna of our Times. Even the Red is in need of clear, enforced laws.

[1] We also consider ‘murk’ (darkness does not fit here entirely well), but we don’t know what connotations it has, so I guess we will wait for your opinion;)

[2] We replaced ‘ch’ with ‘k’ also in polish version, for it stems from the alkemical terminology in SOAP; the first alkemical color is called ‘alh’ (red) and the last, seventh is called ‘kema’(transparent)

[3] ‘laboratory’ from halruan ‘labor’ – work; the term common in the III E, referring to what we call ‘factories’

[kasiotfur]

The next magic is rather a feature than magic for mortals. So closely it is tied with the brightmagic, that it was only about a hundred year ago, when it received the status of separate entity – Tradition. This term is used by educated people, mainly mages – others apply here many different word. Routine, predictability, every day life, stability, certainty, repeatability – even if you list them all, they would not express its full meaning. Its something more than a friend you know well, neighbor you greet every morning, safe and dangerous place… Tradition refers also to the elements, energy and matter – the paths of the wind and streams, the flow of the rivers, crunching of the trees, splashing of the waves… - all of that lives and moves on beaten tracks. And back to the mortal creatures: the tradition of blood, the specific set of characteristics handed down in the family; traditional way home, traditional pocket in which you will put a coin, traditional opinion; traditional words and custom… In general, Tradition is well-nigh unconscious acting, with no will involved, inert in some aspects, but eventually – purposeful. (This inertia shows mainly in its sluggish process of change; for instance the Alkemical Revolution, although it broke out in few weeks, was growing for centuries – that is how long the river changes its bed). The separation of this aspect of the brightmagic turned out to be necessary when it appeared, that there are forces able to influence the Tradition directly (that is, however, much beyond the capabilities of the mortal mages).
To the five aspects listed one can also add the magic of writing and reading of the sounds of speech. It is essential for bureaucracy, strengthens the Tradition, and what is most important, it unites and joins the people in spite of the limitations of the Time and space; in this respect, the voice and speech of the mortals can not match their writing. The boundary between life and death shifts peculiarly; as a result of writing down thoughts and words a part of the mortal becomes -immortal. The consequent benefits are numerous, that’s why in the countries of strong brightmagic the learning of reading and writing is common and compulsory.
These are the six great domains of the brightmagic: Logic, elemental magic and alkemy, bureaucracy, Tradition and writing. Here is the last one.
The seventh brightmagic, the most dignified and serious, is the Priesthood. Although, similarly to the Red world, the Priesthood stems from the mortals – it would be difficult to find greater contrast and disharmony of the idea. The Gods can not be comprehended and understood with a human mind – they are the creatures of the deepest, most faraway Blue – but in every heartbeat thousands of birds-prayers fly into the sky, to seek their mercy. The mortals are protected by divine Forces and divine Weapons; living Gods dwell in the temples in hearts of towns, avatars of immense power walk among humans, destroying their enemies, protecting the order of which they themselves are contradiction…. Since Dhurin’s Times till today, for 3,500 thousand years, the mortals suffered on numerous occasions the Wrath of their creators – but they understood, that even Gods are tied and limited with certain laws. There are no more Priests who would dare to command the Gods, but there are still rites and prayers, which (if they were performed properly) have to be granted … One way or the other, most of the prayers are accompanied with imploring psalms and expiations – for the supreme Will of Gods is still predominant over the mortals. What would keep an avatar from destruction of town and its people just after the defense if this defense was coerced with arrogant and haughty ritual?
In the opinion of the mortals, the mightiest and most important Gods are those, who have power over their souls. Even if you live in a strong brighmtagic what of it, when after death you can expect only entire doom – loss in the void? Life after death is not a matter of faith – it is a sure thing, promised to these who follow appropriate path… Life like that can be compared to one great ritual, one praising hymn; the Gods demand appropriate sacrifices, prayers, compliance with certain celebrations. Through this labyrinth the mortal can be guided with no mistake only by the one that was born in it – the Priest. There is also other serious problem. It is not just a phrase that ‘Gods are Jealous’. You can be bound for a one, and one only (chosen by a mortal himself), but at the same time you insult the others, and, no doubt, their followers … All the more, the Priest is the only warrant of the brightmagic after death.
I hope that I have managed to express the sense, the core of these six (seven) domains - from them arise the features of the brightmagic. They shape the mortals of Turblanda, through this prism they see all the Existence – or at least the part they can perceive. The matters touched above are the Red (in Dhurin’s terms). Now I will move to the magic and matters of the Blue, which people attempt to comprehend, name, classify, describe… The brightmagic is expansive, in its nature lays adopting and examining – you can compare it to the solid town (Red) that overlooks the abyss; even when the crag gradually subsides, citizens persist in attempts to tame and understand the abyss. And so the paragraphs below are not subjective or objective truth – they are just current estimations. (Obviously in SOAP reality – similarly to our world – hardly anybody can look at things with such a distance).