Formulist

Overview

A formulist is a profession around Pisocenia and some countries close to their borders. They are employed all over the world, but the profession originated in Pisocenia, where you may find the most Formulists.

In general it is close to the profession of a bookbinder, mixed with the profession of a historian and a science-based scholar.

Breaking it down

What they, the Formulists, are doing is simple: seeking knowledge, stories, history and everything noteworthy outside of the ordinary. There are not many Formulists in Pisocenia and fewer in Koria itself. The training is hard and the person has to be special. All of them has to be able to keep secrets even under ruthless questioning and torture.

Most Formulists are freelancers, only bound to the guild and allowed to research and study their own topics (if agreed by the leaders) and can get contracted by people or organisations to examine and create a book about said topic. Their payment is a fortune, mostly. It doesn't have to be bland coin, it can be an artefact or jewels or something entirely different. It just has to be expensive enough to cover the employment of the Formulist.

Formulists know secrets of all kind and some tend to the more darker themes, but some other dive into more mundane topics like household items and procedures or the love life of ordinary people. Which is the most requested topic and the topic with the most secrets and discreeteness.

For a Formulist there are a few core question on each topic:

• What?
• Why?
• How?
• Result?

Contractual Obligations

The guild of the Formulists is not as secret as one might imagine like the Inquisition. No, they are just no so well-known to the public and they normally do nothing to keep it that way.

To hire a Formulist one can do two things: write a letter with an introduction, a rough outline of the topic you want to explore, maybe a starting date, and the targeted/expected payment and subject for negotiation. Or one can just knock at their door and speak to a representative, but this time a little bit polstered with information so the dispatcher can assign a Formulist.

It can be that the dispatcher calls the potential customer in their office to break down the timetable, meaning to have a look how urgent the project/topic is and when the next Formulist is available. This is the last cornerstone one has to take and here the contract can still fail or not come into production at all.

In rare occurances a Formulist is at the guild and both, Formulist and contractor, are introduced to each other. The contractor has nothing to say in terms of which kind of Formulist they are getting. Even the rare occurance of having a Garladan as a Formulist has to be accepted.

If time and date of the projects and all other requirements are met, the contract is becoming official. The contractor leaves the guild and will met the Formulist again one day prior to the projects start.

A result well met

Whatever comes out of the employers desired topic is in a large tome with their name, insignias and specific runes on the cover so it is distinguishable and identifiable. Each tome is unique and can't be copied. For example The Workings of the Body and how to craft body-altering spells from a now long-dead sorcerer (really dark and gory stuff) is locked inside a vault with twelve different heavy Ritual of Lock spells.
The love-life of the Vacant with his wife and concubines - including both of their magicians - was crafted to perfection and is now locked behind thick layers of glass, protection spells and wards. Openly in one of the Vacant's rooms as an invitation for the curiosity & creativity of various authors and to invite thiefs as a well-armed trap.

Formulists Book by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Male Formulists

Male Formulist at work by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Male Formulist at work by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Male Formulist at work by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Female Formulists

Female Formulist at work by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Female Formulist at work by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Female Formulist at work by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Clothing

It is not ruled out or a requirement, but most, if not all, Formulists wear robes in all forms, lengths, sizes and colours, combined with leather and various metals. Most of the Formulists have at least two sets of clothes in their home - not in the guild, those are mainly offices - to choose from. Linen and wool are the most common materials, but some use silk as well. The main reason why robes are so favourited is easy to explain: they hide the body and pretty much everything the Formulist want to keep close, but not seen. Some hide their staffs or weapons, other conceal their body to lure potential enemies into a false sense of security, others to to just hide luggage. But the convinience of a robe is probably their most favourited feature.

A lot of Formulists wear a mask which hides their face or at least a great portion of it. This has two reasons: first, they don't want to be recognised by former employers for self-protection and second their accumulated knowledge starts to alter them.

Appearence

Formulists look like normal persons at the start of their journey. But after a time, mostly happening after the third or fourth assignment, their faces, if not entire bodies start to change. Strange veins, patterns or colourisations start to appear on their skin and the most common effect is that the eyes are starting to change colour and start to glow. Most seen colour is in the spectrum of red, so everything from blood red to purple, yellow and orange. There are also sightings of blue and allegedly the leader of the guild has emerald green eyes. Those changes are the reason nearly every Formulist wears some kind of mask to hide their face. Some show their face or only the eyes to assert some kind of superiority or to induce fear or respect.