Horod pal Terenys

Horod pal Terenys is a book of magic attributed to the pseudo-historical thaumaturge Morogyad. It is written in the Insular dialect and is generally regarded as potentially the most useful - but also the most frustrating and contentious - entry in the "Tyros canon" of the Esoterica of Morogyad.

Contents

Horod pal Terenys is a book discussing transfiguration, both in terms of what it is and how it can be effected, which Morogyad argues can be done with the hand. In his introductory essay he writes with considerable passion and eloquence about how the hand can be used to completely change both the shape and the nature of things, and promises that the book contains the sum of his knowledge in this area. As such the book is generally regarded as a practicum of sorts to the earlier entry in the Tyros canon Phardys Horodyas Karanrad, in which Morogyad discusses the hand as a mechanism for working wonders; where the earlier book provides the theory of his left-handed magical technique, Horod pal Terenys provides the practice.
Unfortunately for the modern thaumatologist this is almost the only remotely straightforward thing about this book. Even more so than Phardys Horodyas Karanrad the book is written in a highly ornate, metaphor-heavy style in which sentences often meander for scores of words. This has a number of consequences for its interpretation. Although there is a general sense of intense focus, specific methodological points are hard to come by, and Morogyad's attempts to itemise or systematise lists are repeatedly distracted. For example, he makes reference to an eightfold system of ideas on the transformation of sea life, but these are split into four separate 'lists' scattered across three different chapters, with two not signposted in any way and emerging simply as long, involved similes in unrelated discussions. In most cases it is impossible to tell if what Morogyad is describing is an actual act of metamorphosis or an elaborate figure of speech. As such it is hard to extract any meaningful thaumatological methodologies from the book.
What makes thaumatologists keep trying is the remarkable unction evident in the book. The discussions of the relationship between form and action are intensely poetic and very closely observed, while Morogyad's descriptions of the transition of an object from one form to another - as in a detailed chapter given over to a long, discursive explanation of how to use one's hands to transform metals - border on existential philosophy. The theory, therefore, is that no practicing wizard would go into such detail, and exert such creative energy on a book, without imparting some clues as to his methods. As such thaumatologists exert a great deal of effort in interpreting and re-interpreting passages from the book, with or without reference to Phardys Horodyas Karanrad, in attempts to sift meaning from the prose.

Commentary

It is speculated that the weirdly ornate prose style of Horod pal Terenys is a consequence of Morogyad's own experience of transforming. Consistent biographical information indicates that he wrote the book after transforming himself into both a stone (to escape the ogre Pholdons) and an octopus (in which form he arrived in the city of Tyros). The experience of being transformed in this way, whether or not he accomplished the feat himself, would presumably greatly alter his perception of the world and his place in it, hence, presumably, the discursive, abstruse style of the book. Counting against this are the rather more direct writings of the subsequent "Oluz canon," a point that has led some thaumatologists to speculate that the two branches of the Esoterica were in fact of separate authorship.
The main thrust of scholarship related to this book is that it can be meaningfully cross-referenced with Phardys Horodyas Karanrad. The notion is that the discussions of hand movements in that book can be cross-referenced with some of the discussions of transmutation in Horod pal Terenys to produce some meaningful thaumatological practices. The discussion of the finger of transmutation in the former book, as well as Morogyad's in-depth discussion about the use of the hand to shift and ennoble things, is widely seen as the key here. Considerable effort has been expended to this end, though tales of success are, to date, scarce.
Another interesting point about this book related to the infamous "Ramoros canon". Exposed some years ago as a post-Wesmodian forgery, the Ramoros canon is the work of Ramoran scribe Yoltan Myqolt, who claimed to be copying and publishing a series of heretofore unknown works by Morogyad. Those who exposed Myqolt's forgery observed that his works had clearly been composed with reference to a copy of Horod pal Terenys, though no such copy was found in his posthumous effects. What has been found in subsequent analysis of his work, however, is a series of insightful commentaries on this book which some scholars believe may be instrumental to unlocking its secrets. Unfortunately Myqolt's work was published mostly in a series of flimsy pamphlets which have seldom withstood the rigours of time, and suffered a huge attrition rate when they were revealed to be forgeries, making them hard to find today. The work of seriously cross-referencing the Ramoros canon with Horod pal Terenys is therefore still in its very early stages.

Availability

Horod pal Terenys is a tricky book to track down. Its ornate style makes it all but impossible to translate out of its original Insular dialect and post-Wesmodian copies are very rare. Antique copies are known to exist in the library of the Alchemist's Guild of Dypholyos and the collection of the Jawenyod family of Oluz, and the Commercial Guilds are said to be hoarding copies in one or more of their guidlhouses. Two copies recently came up for sale in Dyqamay, both immediately purchased by the Alchemists of Dypholyos, though why they would want three copies of the same book is not known, unless they were simply playing to their famous desire to monopolise knowledge. What is known is that only one of the two copies reached their compound. The other was purloined by ship burglars on the docks, apparently stolen to order; its current whereabouts are unknown.

Type

Manual, Magical / Occult