The Source
Arcane Magic’s first language was breathed by the Dragons, and its first laws were fixed within nine indestructible Grimoires whose pages were made to endure the passing of Spires and the ruin of civilizations, while allowing their wielders to pass on their secrets to chosen disciples. The Dragons entrusted these books to the Drakil when the Behemoths descended upon the latter’s spiral cities, granting them a power by which they might stand against creatures that surpassed even their considerable might. The Drakil survived long enough to preserve that gift, though not long enough to escape the ending of their dominion. When their empire vanished, the Fey recovered the Grimoires from broken cities and Dragolith-haunted ruins, guarded them throughout their own ascent, and added spells shaped by the needs and discoveries of their age. Near the destruction of the Feyan Empire, the books were finally entrusted to humanity. Four passed into the tradition that became Dymarth’s Arcanum: Abjuration, Enchantment, Divination and Conjuration, called Summoning in many older records, while Illusion, Evocation, Transmutation and Mind became the pillars of Elemendia.
Life and Mind
The Grimoire of Life, which contained the secrets of immortality, healing and creation, was stolen by the Demon Lords. For centuries, they strove endlessly to unlock its knowledge, yet the Grimoire could neither be destroyed nor wielded by their cursed hands. Unable to command its original purpose, they corrupted its teachings and transformed the path of Life into Necromancy.
The Grimoire of Mind was absorbed by its last Holder, Ramanthus, who thereby empowered his bloodline to wield its secrets innately before fleeing Elemendia. Divination was entrusted to the Grand Oracle following the battles between the Arcanum and Elemendia, offered to a neutral custodian as part of the peace between the two rival schools. The surviving records trace with confidence the fate of all nine tomes, whose inheritance allowed mortals to wield powers once reserved for Dragons, Drakil and Fey. Thus each of the arcane schools protect three grimoires in their domain.
Current Schools
The human genius for Arcane Magic lies in continuing the legacy of the elder races. A mage prepares power through endless study, formulae, gestures, precise pronunciation, measured concentration and access to knowledge preserved by generations of scholars. Each disciple follows the path of one grimoire, for it is impossible in a human lifetime to master more than one. The Grimoires are not common manuals from which any literate hand may draw miracles. They are the original sources around which lesser copies, sanctioned spellbooks, guild libraries and entire institutions have been constructed. Transcribing a spell to a new spellbook is an arduous ordeal, where even the smallest mistake may result in a failed incantation.
Its variety is also its weakness.
The Arcanum of Dymarth surrounds its Holders with rank, ceremony and obligations of service, while Elemendia places its Daaris above magistrates and princes, dividing magical instruction according to privilege, wealth and obedience. Arcane Magic therefore possesses unmatched breadth: a disciplined scholar may accumulate protections, illusions, transformations, destructive invocations and methods of summoning far beyond the narrower arsenal of most Feyan casters. Yet its variety is also its weakness. Destroy the library, exile the teacher, forbid the exchange of higher formulae or sever a mage from prepared materials, and much of that apparent mastery withers. Scholarship without restraint may also open a path to corruption. Guild law often restricts ambition only after that ambition has already fed upon something terrible. Thus the badges of the guilds reassure kings and citizens, but no wise ruler forgets that those same badges identify the men and women who know how kingdoms may be burned, altered or bound.
“Nine books outlived the Dragons, the Drakil, and the Fey — and they will outlive us too. We are only their latest readers.”
Eolon of Oemon · Loremaster
