The Arcanic Purges

Content Warning: genocide

Of all the sinister acts that the Beourjen Confederacy has partaken in, the Arcanic Purges are perhaps their most infamous. The common remark that historians and Annalists make in retrospect is how the Purges might've been avoided had the rest of the Triadic been more diligent in its governance.

Start Date

Plasphaer 14, 1493

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Here is printed the 1549 public Annal concerning the 1493 Purges. This journal has been reviewed and signed off by all members of the Triadic, as well as our peers within the Hall of Annals, and we have attested under the Second Son to our most thorough and accurate depiction of the events in question. Please note that any and all histories are a product of their time and that of present day, and may be subjected to variant truth.

A brief introduction to the events must first relay some background regarding arcanists within the Confederacy. Beourjen's mistrust of arcanists is in part due to their belief that the Aveaan Empress was[is] a powerful psychic arcanist, perhaps an avatar of the goddess Psyche herself with her deific talents mitigated to that of an arcanist in order for her to exist on the globe. The Inner Council counted few arcanists among their numbers during their Blood Route crusade¹, and many were weary of House Marnise from its inception².

The first two centuries after Beourjen's founding saw a subtle strain on how arcanists were viewed, heightened by the increased prevalence of slighen in western Beourjen following the fall of the Imperium. A disparity between respectable and lowly arcanists grew out of this. The

Other surgeons' work, other arcanists' work, all seems shallow and grey in comparison with the surgeries conducted under Ruskov's care. There is something prolific, or perhaps enticing? - the right descriptor will come to me eventually - about being a voyeur to his surgeries. He is not only precise but also artful with the scalpel, and his regard of his patients holds a strange intimacy. There are moments when I feel a sharp albeit fleeting desire to be on the surgery table myself. I find myself watching him as much as the gore woven by his firm hands while he is performing, so to speak. No arcanist is more skillful than he, I [incomprehensible].

-A. Duxtour, The Marnise Letters

notion that a well-educated, and to some degree higher-classed, arcanist who relied on the sciences and logic as opposed to their innate deistic connection meant that arcanists in the aristocracy became seen as gifted while those who were unable to afford higher education could not 'unlearn the base instincts of chaos and discourse by which the arcanic deities asserted themselves into mortality'³.

This was the general tone surrounding arcanists in the spring of 1493, and so it might be argued that there wasn't much precursor to foreshadow the Purges. However from looking at a wider scale, there had been several controversies of arcana usage in both Sophre and some of the Protectorate Cauvhs⁴ that caused suspicion in Beourjen Proper of what arcanists were capable of. This coupled with the rocky relations between Commander Duxtour and High Lord Marnise may not have been entirely visible to the public, but was enough that Beourjen University significantly reduced their acceptance of arcanists during the 1480s, and a number of bourgeoisie arcanists within Mareve and the surrounding provinces lost their patronage⁵.

I was lent one of the Sovrik regime's courtesans, which is how I came to know the previous information as well. The key insinuation, though, was that the Triadic is a fucking mess. Half of the representatives are indebted to Duxtour, Duxtour himself is raking shit in a rainstorm, and Chancellor Lespin is a complete fop. And we do not need any Sovrik slut's insight to know that Duxtour has the Obsidian Provinces eating out of his hand. If there were ever an opportunity for him to push forward on some of his more questionable political ideas, it would be this coming decade.

-Councilor Val'Erudis

At the beginning of 1493, Andrei Duxtour held the positions of Beourjen Army High Commander, North Councilor, and South Councilor. He had led eastern Beourjen smoothly through a number of economic and educational reforms, introducing the idea of industry-partnered education, but had been recently absent from a number of forums and trials. His son Alexei later confirmed that this was due to caring for his elder son and heir who was rumored to have been afflicted with an unknown disease⁶.

On the evening of Plasphaer 13^th, his son was rumored to have been caught with an episode⁷ relating to his unknown affliction, and Duxtour brought the boy to House Marnise. As a more thorough recounting of this night is reported in documents relating to the Marnise Trials⁸, we will refrain from detailing it here, but suffice it to say that Duxtour's son was found murdered by Ruskov Marnise the following morning.

Duxtour took Marnise to trial that day, as well as publicly disclosed his son's murder to the crowd out front of the Curias. This incited a rally for House Marnise's execution and the persecution of all arcanists. The High Judge made an appearance attempting to mitigate the disturbance; the rallying devolved into violence, and the High Judge was beaten and stoned to death. In his stead, Duxtour decreed the execution of House Marnise in its entirety, and ordered 'all traces of arcanium with the City of Mareve to be deposited into the Obsidian.'⁹

The Councilors of nine other Beourjen Provinces made similar orders of arcanic purgation¹⁰, which consisted of disposing of all products containing arcanium, and leeching or draining the blood of arcanists into the river. The bodies of any non-surviving arcanists¹¹ were then burned to prevent their becoming hollowed.

Most purges outside of Mareve were shut down by Sovrik forces within a matter of days¹², however the High Guard held the capital for much longer - an aggressive search was carried out within the city that lasted for upwards of two months. Dozens of arcanists threw themselves into the Obsidian in lieu of waiting to be found and leeched by the High Guard, and Hellfisher's became a daily, bloodied spectacle. By Lunaetre the Loched Quarter had mustered their own forces, albeit short-lived. The High Guard cut down nearly fifty percent of the city's slighen¹³ before the Quarter reverted back to simply hiding and defending themselves.

Exactly a week after the Quarter's forces had been put down, Red Dawn forces of approximately twenty-thousand arrived at the north gate on Guild orders. The Obsidian's waters had blackened from arcanic reaction within the first day of the Purges, and had subsequently contaminated the current running through Armistace no more than forty hours later. The Guilds had sent Red Dawn essentially for investigation and damage control purposes¹⁴.

They din't lemme put it in the official Annals 'cause it 'relies too much on implication' and 'parently 'inaccurately represents the involved organizations', but I did look into the regiment breakdown and sorteh backlog of how the Guilds typically use Red Dawn to respond. They, ah. . . were very much ready to take out Duxtour, the Triadic itself -- pro'ly House Duxtour as well -- and install a proxy government like they did in Yrvaega.

-Annalist B. Falkren

Duxtour immediately called off the High Guard and ceased all attacks, likely at the insistence of the rest of the Triadic. He willingly turned his titles over to regency for the following month while Red Dawn held investigations throughout Mareve, as well as Clasm and Aderia. Red Dawn, along with Mareve's Civilians' units, began implementing city repairs and recovery.

Red Dawn also oversaw the development of eastern Beourjen's current arcanist bans. These included financial reparations for all arcanists affected by the Purges¹⁵ that would enable them to emigrate elsewhere. Most went either to the Sovrik Bloc or the area surrounding Armistace; those who refused to leave Mareve, or found in hiding, were taken into Red Dawn custody and tried at the Curias¹⁶.

Further breakdown of the effects of the 1493 Purges included the banning of all biological entities containing arcana, with several caveats concerning slighen and arcanist offspring born within eastern Beourjen. This law was not imposed upon the Sophre Bloc, which has historically been less prejudiced about arcanists and arcanium usage¹⁷. A number of other effects can still be seen across eastern Beourjen today¹⁸, and the Triadic actively continues to repair damages from the Purges¹⁹.

I think the strongest lesson that has stuck with me, that I've taken from the whole thing, is how severe a political decision was made on the basis of very personal attributes. The Purges happened not necessarily out of strong hatred for arcanists as a whole, but for my father's feelings surrounding High Lord Marnise, and his son's death. Of course, there is some sense to the overarching idea -- arcanists have the potential to be extremely dangerous and Artyen's death is a clear example of that.

It's difficult to say whether I find justification in his actions. He had lost his son - my brother - and his relationship with Marnise was, ah. . . tumultuous. And I do believe that Beourjen is better, and stronger, for the absence of arcanists. But there's no denying it was a tragedy. It wasn't only arcanists who were killed, many slighen and other groups were as well. I'd like to think I, and my fellow Councilors, know better than to let personal matters dictate our governance in such a manner.

-A Dialect with High Lord Alexei Duxtour, The Reserves

This concludes the 1549 public Annal concerning the 1493 Purges. The private rendition of this Annal may be accessed through the Hall of Annals in the Curias, North Mareve.


Written by Annalist Berra Falkren and revised by Annalist Everette Ratham

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1. ". . . whispers of their blood posing as tether to the gods, and so most turned east or west as we yet plodded south." (Forged in Blood, Unknown)
2. There is no substantial evidence asserting that the suspicion surrounding House Marnise was due to their arcanic heredity or skills.
3. A Theory on the Living Arcanium, Maxille Deserius.
4. Please refer to Appendix B.
5. Mareve City 1490 Annals Census, Clasm 1490 Annals Census, Province of Aderia 1490 Annals Census, Beourjen University Annals Report
6. " . . . there were several croppings of the plague in Clasm and Mareve. He suffered from ill humors. . ." (A Dialect with High Lord Alexei Duxtour, The Reserves)
7. The word 'episode' here refers to a marked increase in symptoms relating to the disease in question.
8. The Marnise Trials Public Annal, 1495
9. The Beourjen Paper, Plasphaer 14, 1493
10. Trader, Nor'Dut, So'Dut, Izreen State, Rae'Dut, Clasm, Aderia, Traddeck, Livern
11. Ninety-eight percent of arcanists who were 'drained' or 'leeched' did not survive.

12. "We have eradicated all Beourjen Army insurgency on the basis of implied threat, and if further threat is carried out then we shall recognize the assault as an act of tyranny by High Commander Duxtour." (Missive from High Lady Jassine Baskle to the Triadic Councils)
13. Mareve City 1493 Annals Census
14. General Phaeradae Gaisanos of Red Dawn Mercenary Company, Plasphaer 1493 Arcanic Genocide Statement
15. A detailed financial breakdown of the reparations and their terms of use and justification may be found in the 1493 public Treasury Report.
16. Tried arcanists were ultimately given the option of relocation to either Armistace or Bezet Ouvre.
17. 1540 public Beourjen Confederacy Historical Summary
18. See Appendix C
19. ". . . of course we are, do you have any idea how much money we dump into Mareve's infrastructure each year? And much of that is because of the Purges, it's frankly . . ." (Statement from High Lady Sadaian Val'Eax)

Annalist Ratham has passed through the Quarter occasionally. For personal reasons, I think. Saw her once, she seemed nice enough.

I think they do try. The Annalists, I mean. But you have to look at the details. No words from any actual arcanists, or anyone who was in the midst of the whole thing.

Of course, there aren't any arcanists left to ask anyway, right?

-Jezen Veskev