Phardys Horodyas Karanrad

Phardys Horodyas Karanrad is a book of magic generally accepted as having been written by the pseudo-historical thaumaturge Morogyad. Written in the Insular dialect in a highly academic, literary style, it is classified as part of Morogyad's "Tyros canon" and is often regarded as his most directly actionable manual of thaumaturgy.

Content

There is a long history of myths and pseudo-historical tales relating how Morogyad, whose name appears to mean, roughly, "left-haver," accomplishes marvels via cryptic gestures of his left hand. Phardys Horodyas Karanrad, the title of which translates from the Insular dialect as "The Book of Miracles of the Hand" appears to be Morogyad's very self-conscious attempt to produce a learned treatise on exactly how he managed this. There are several points throughout the book where it is clear that the content of the book refers specifically about the left hand, but at no point does Morogyad actually state this. Many first-time scholars, accustomed to working right-handedly, fail to pick up on this and waste considerable time and energy performing the exercises he describes with their right hands. Conversely, others claim to have achieved interesting magical effects by doing just that.
Fully half of the book is taken up by a long, involved, erudite discussion of the utility, elegance and nobility of the human hand. Morogyad itemises three core ways in which the hand may be used, for power (using the fingers to hold a tool against the palm, as in the case of wielding a hammer or weapon), for finesse (using individual fingers to place tools precisely, as one would a pen or stylus) and for connection (using the hand itself to alter the surrounding environment). Morogyad observes that his particular expertise lies in the third technique, and that those who seek information on the first two could probably find better tutors elsewhere. 
A substantial essay then follows on how best to push and pull object with the hand - the most straightforward method of achieving connection, Morogyad argues. Indeed the theme of this essay appears to essentially be to discourage the use of magic to achieve what can be handled with the body alone; why Morogyad would be doing this in an involved instruction manual on thaumaturgy is widely disputed, but his careful itemisation of mundane ways to alter one's environment with one's hands is exhaustive, painstaking and difficult to interpret any other way. The conclusion of this essay, however, is an involved explanation that the hand is capable of feats independent of the muscles of the arm and spine. This includes a brief, polite dismissal of the lionisation of the body by "followers of Krezzan" - perhaps a blush of professional pride over the followers of Morogyad's divine cousin-once-removed.
Morogyad then discusses four fingers as possessing four spheres of influence. Two fingers control the liquid and the solid; one can effect transmutation and the fourth kinesis. By placing these fingers in relation to each other, he claims, the owner of the hand can produce magical effects; the example he gives is that by crossing the "finger of the solid" over the "finger of liquid" and flexing the "finger of kinesis" in an upward motion, a thaumaturge may cause the solid to move across the liquid "like a boat without wind or oars." It is widely speculated that Morogyad's perfection of this particular technique led him to the construction of the Discus of Morogyad. Though this section of the book is of the greatest interest to thaumatologists, it is in fact the shortest, typically filling no more than a hundred pages of parchment.

Commentary

The reasons that techniques described in the book are not practiced on a daily basis by the general populace of the Eleven Cities are twofold. Firstly, the rarity of the book, and the fact that it is written in an antique language, means that most people are unaware of the technique at all, except as a vague folkloric notion that wizards work by wiggling their fingers and toes. In some cities, such as Pholyos, a folk tradition of cursing people by gestures of the hand has grown up around this notion. The fact that this tradition appears to have originated among the Sailors on the Sea of Jars, a social grouping with links to Morogyad via their pre-Wesmodian reverence for his reputed father Zargyod, leads some thaumatologists to speculate that this tradition may be of some use in formulating a book of drills for the technique, but this is currently pure speculation.
Secondly Morogyad does not identify which fingers are which. Although the number of possible permutations is small, the vagueness of his overall description leads most people to give up experimentation very quickly. Morogyad also makes clear that the movements and gestures must be very precise in order to take effect, but does not provide information about how to judge this. Only via painstaking practice, experimentation and drill can anything much be accomplished in this way, and only the most well-resourced thaumatologists have the time to engage in such work. Shortcuts might be found by comparing the contents of this book to the rest of the Esoterica, or with the broader tradition of depictions and discussions of Morogyad, though this hugely expands the number of permutations to be dealt with. 

Availability

Copies of the book in its original language are known to exist in the collections of the Alchemist's Guild of Dypholyos and the Dog of Tyros. Copies are also said to circulate in Ramoros and Oluz, though precise details are scarce. 
The book has been translated into other, contemporary languages; copies in the Chogyan dialect are fairly common. The difficulty that arises here is that much of the elegant precision of Morogyad's use of the Insular dialect is lost in these translations, so working from them adds to the difficulty of an uphill battle.

Type

Manual, Magical / Occult