Augury

the prophetic religious magic of Edesenkol.
Though imprecise, cryptic, and often seemingly deliberately obtuse, it is undeniable that Edesenkol Augury is the most accurate technique for prophecy in the world. for this reason, many ruling families around the world keep an Augur (real or phony) in order to consult.
As individual prophecies often apply to someone other than the asker, often hundreds of years or more later, the various informal master-pupil relationships of the earliest Augurs evolved into institutions known as Houses, where techniques were standardised and records of older prophecies were kept to decode. These houses, which number in the few dozen, remain important institutions even now.

History

the origin legends for Augury say that with Condors - senior Augurs wear shoulder-capes of Condor feathers.

The oldest recorded Auguries, kept in the oldest houses, are dated to 4980 Less Foreseen. Despite those houses' claims, their founding probably dates to many years after that time, though still reaching back (judging by the start of their mostly-continuous records) to at least the late 4th millennium Less Foreseen. the exact nature and continuity of these houses, however, is very much up for debate.
most houses are very much newer, typically less than a thousand years old, and their number has long been trending downwards.
with the rise of the unified theocratic state in Edesenkol, many houses were destroyed for refusing to conform to religious orthodoxy; however, as acceptance by the Houses was vital for the first Augur-king and his priests, they were keen to allow some flexibility in doctrine in order to assemble the supporting coalition they needed.

Execution

Precise details vary between the different Houses, but the basic outline remains the same: a question is written or inscribed onto a bone, whilst being held at the forefront of the Augur's mind. the bone is then cracked, and the precise details of the cracking in the bone are deciphered to answer the question. Answers are typically very cryptic, and often, they don't even answer the specific question asked. furthermore, the exact details of interpretation are a matter of great contention between different Houses, and even individual Augurs.

Components and tools

• bones: in particular shoulderblades, thighbones, and skulls, and preferably taken, cleaned, and aged. Some Houses have rules as to how best to birth, raise, and slaughter the beast.
• a means to crack the bones: this varies from house to house, from burning it in a fire, to dropping it from a specially-constructed tower or well-chosen precipice, to using secretive magic words to spontaneously crack the bones, to simply snapping them in one's hands.
• reference texts: not universally used, as some Houses believe in memorising the minutiae of what a cracked bone signifies, but consulting a written codex is more usual.

Primary Related Location

Sremic Kingdoms