The New Arcana

A manifesto, by Grand Magister Kass under the guidance of Malkor the Magister, detailing the new magic that was implemented to save Torovia and create a weapon powerful enough to smite the gods themselves. The pages of this manual is written in a strange text and seems to be missing much of the full text. It is an outline of experimental magic, spells, and artifice from a past civilization. There is a note pinned on the top of the stack of parchment.

(Note) Grand Magister Kass has sent a few scrolls for the mages in Chaplin's force. It includes some new spells that we think may aid our people in going toe to toe with the enemy. I have included some of our mentors' writings on these spells so that his mages may more quickly master said spells.

(Text)
Page 1: We never expected to be visited by one of the magi of the Arcane Triumvirate, however it would seem that our cause was righteous enough to attract the aid of Malkor the Magister. It is no surprise, with Hrothgar falling to the corruption of demons, it became clear that the forces of Elysium could not keep their promises of protection, even coming from one of the Heavenly Chorus, and our eternal nemesis, Veritas of Truth. With this revelation, Malkor came to us offering untold knowledge. While Hrothgar and Visya were powerful in their own right, Malkor was a jack of all arcane trades, but rapidly becoming the master of each one. Upon his arrival he has shown me how we can develop spells from the ways of the Elysian clerics or the elven druids, or even from those who practice the forbidden dark arts. He was clear that to use it would not be without some cost, powerful magic is indeed dangerous and to experiment with it invites the chance of death.

Many have already died and I believe more will continue to do so until we master this art, but it will be worth it. With this new power we will become as immortal as the gods themselves, and then we will be able to leave our dark stronghold that has become a prison, and walk in the light again. Furthermore, we will ensure that every Torovian family bears the magic in their blood, so that generations to come will never suffer as we do now. We will start by adapting magic of other forms to the arcane, much more malleable for our practitioners of magic. Then we will continue to develop new spells, a stopgap measure that will give us the ability to fight back against the outsiders, to ensure that we are not wiped from the face of the Mortal Realm before our ultimate work is finished.

Page 2: Malkors tutelage has been invaluable. The breadth of his knowledge is unfathomable, matched only by his power and ego. While he is sometimes difficult to work with, we together have developed a potential to ensure the survival of Torovia and her people. We have sought out the two of the Torovian knightly orders, what remains of them after the conflict with the outsiders that is. The Holy Knights and the Mage Knights both sent representatives to consult us. We plan on combining arcane magic with that of the divine. The Holy Knights have always toed the line with the Mage knights when it comes to Arcanus, and while they are masters of the holy rituals surrounding the pantheon, the Mage Knights are much more adept when it comes to the practice of magic. However, our interest in the Holy Knights, as per Malkors recommendation, was their connection to Ro. One of her domains is death, which we are seeking to subvert, and Malkor thinks that divine magic granted by Ro could be used to ward off death.

The knights seem to be in disagreement over our plan. The representative of the Holy Knights seems to think what we are doing is sacrilege, we have detained her for the time being. The representative from the Mage Knight fully understands what is at stake, and cares less for the traditions and culture of the Torovian people, as like us, she understands that keeping those values close to our hearts will mean nothing if the outsiders obliterate us. If the queen were to be swayed by her fervent faith mongering, the queen could very well shut down this project, and unknowingly doom us all.

Page 3: We have begun construction on a magical device, based in some part on the Weaver’s Forge. This is a prototype that will allow us to test the device on individuals, the full ritual will not be able to be replicated by device due to the scale of it, but instead will need to be conducted by a series of powerful mages in unison. I have begun training my four apprentices in the ritual. The four of them, alongside myself and Malkor, will be able to complete the ritual and affect all of the Torovians living in the deep realm. But that is still some time down the road, and time is of the essence.

We have faced several setbacks, in part due to the advances of the forces of Venandi and Veritas in the north, and the demon Wrath in the south. The forces of Elysium have begun to seal us in, preventing us from gaining any supplies from our smugglers in the north. In the south, Wrath has made it as far as the drakepit, putting to death most of our breeding female subjects. The queens wroth on the knights and beast handlers responsible for their defense will pale only in comparison to that of the demon lord himself. Time is not on our side and our work must begin quickly.

Page 4: We have decided to test the device, however there are few who feel comfortable doing so. I have made the decision that the first subject will be the Holy Knight who we have detained. It was not a decision I came to lightly, but Malkors counsel is correct, it solves a problem and we cannot spare any of the bright minds of those working here in the Arcane Ward. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It is my sincere hope that all of our hard work and preparation, studying the ways different natures of magic combine, the effect of magic on the body, the intricacies of elven, varl, dwarven, and nether magic and how parts of them can be leveraged in our favor will prove this test a success. I will happily submit to the queen's law once all of Torovia has achieved immortality, and we can begin to grow as powerful as the gods, or at least the minions who claim to fight in their names.

The trial was a partial success, however I regret to say, our test subject is dead. At first it seemed like she had no adverse reactions, and although she was enraged at what we had done, she was in good health. However as time went on, her anger only grew, and we realized that the rage inside her was not normal. We discovered this too late though. She was able to escape her confinement and kill a dozen or so of our researchers. Malkor and I came across her feasting on their corpses, and with a snap of his fingers, he disintegrated here, leaving not but charred bones and ash. I tried to stop him, perhaps the effect could be reversed, but he is all too eager to flaunt his power, and he is especially fond of disintegrations. I believe I have some theories on how to improve however, magic effects the mind in an odd way, so I am allowing Malkor to train my apprentices, Darklyn, while Ghent and Parrin work under my direction developing the ritual and plotting out where the circles must be drawn.

Page 5: We have crafted a few spells based on our friend from the Balancekeeper Clan. While these spells may not be powerful, they are but yet the beginning of the Torovian mastery of elemental magic. The spell Instant Freeze can be used by multiple mages to allow our infantry to travel across rivers quickly in order to make a quick escape. It may also be used to trap our foes in said waters when their pursuers follow, however it is likely to be a sacrificial tactic. Blaze, a dangerous fire spell, will be helpful for preventing the Celestial Hosts infantry from crossing the narrow mountain passes. The spell emanates an aura of blazing heat, allowing our forces to do massive damage to the Chosen foot soldiers in the rocky confined spaces.

Page 10: One of our most successful projects has been the combination of natural elven magic and the divine. Daybreak is a spell that combines the radiant affinity of the divine with the natural power of the sun. Although our sunlight is created by the arcane, the spell is no less potent, causing significant damage and potentially blinding the target. It has, unfortunately, an additional use. Some of those who have fallen in the pursuit of our ultimate goal have succumbed to the darker side of necromancy, they have become the undead. Neither living nor dead, these abominations are no longer Torovian, and rebuff the laws of Ro. This spell has been effective at returning their souls to the afterlife, and obliviating their abominable corpses. There are some among us that seek to control the undead to use as a weapon, but it is too sacrilegious, and we are not yet that desperate.

Page 13: One of the greatest advantages the Celestial Host has against us is their ability to fly. Our winged foes have leveraged this to their advantage and it is what allowed them to so easily penetrate out mountain defenses. I have designed a new spell that I believe will allow our mages to not only take to the skies, but also become formidable foes. The spell allows the caster to sprout wings of silver, much harder and more lethal than any angels wing. The design of the spell was inspired by the archangel Judica's wing armor that allows her to be a master of offense and defense in the sky. I have also improved upon it, by allowing the caster to fire silver feather bolts at nearby enemies from the wings, and if need be, expend all of the feathers to launch a powerful barrage at a large number of enemies. This should only be used only as a last resort, or to deal critical damage, as doing so will end the spell. Mages should also consider preparing the Slow Fall spell in case they lose concentration, or are forced to use the barrage effect of the spell.

Type

Manual, Magical / Occult