Ackesh - Qazun's Ward

The existence of sentient mortal life, flora and fauna, and -- itself are not products of nature. These things are artifical, carefully crafted by the Eshan through the power of Ácolitus. Yet, not all creation was equal in this regard. Sentinent mortals, known to the Eshan as their collective children, possess characteristic which divorce them from the instinctive animals and inanimate life surrounding them. It is reason. The Eshan possess this trait as well, and it is what separates them all from the meaningless energies and natural manifestations of matter. What is reason in relation to Ackesh? It is the title given to the separation between individual consciousness of mortals and Eshan against the infinite consciousness of Ácolitus which permeates the entire universe. These mental defenses are empowered by the Eshara inherent within all sentient mortals and varies in power between races. Aemar suffer more acutely than the Etayen for example, though the Etayen suffer from unique ailments which offset the benefit. This inherent Eshanic power provides a passive shield against the passive force of Ácolitus’ conscious, ensuring the autonomy and independent thought of the mortal in question. However, this shield is not unassailable. On the contrary, the fundamental domain of Ackesh is the manipulation and destruction of these mental shields along with direct alterations to the mortal body. A skilled practicioner might decimate the mental defenses of his opponent in a single strike, rendering them vulnerable to a series of symptoms later discussed. The same practicioner might also save a fellow’s life with similar ease. The importance of Ackesh in contrast with other unnatural energies is that it affected the mortal body on the most fundamental level. Bodily energy manipulated with Ackesh is the fabric of the victim him or herself, rather than an outside power imparted onto them. It strikes the core in the most literal sense. Qadal has seen Áckesh be used for purposes both ill and benign, and this balance between good and evil within the practice has defined the history of Áckesh throughout Qadal.
For all that said, Áckesh cannot be viewed simply as another form of unnatural energy. It is something far greater than the works of both the Eshan and mortals. Áckesh is the consciousness and creation of Ácolitus- a window into the living entity from which all life and existence spawns. This window opens within the body and spirits of every mortal. Ácolitus dwells inside them all. Understand the relationship was such- everything beyond the mind is a physical wilderness, including the mortal body. Everything within that wilderness is subject to natural cycles of growth, decay, and death; they rise from dust and return to dust. The mind is thus separated from its own corpse by unfathomable gaps of reality. One might look to their own hands and see something that exists in another universe than the mind which processes the visual information. This is the pa
disharmony between what is seen and experienced and what truly exists. Indeed, every mortal perceives stimuli in their own manner befitting previous experiences and dispositions. How can this be such? Eyes which see water might think nourishment and salvations, other might fear drowning or its infinite inky depths. It is discordant. Áckesh is the empowered ability to manipulate or assault that essence of fundamental consciousness to achieve either benign or terribly malign objectives.
The formative conflicts of Áckesh speak to its potency and mystical properties. Independent minds occupy their own realms, as was stated, along with what exists beyond one’s mind. All physical existence is the consciousness of Ácolitus, the manifestation of Ácolitus, and the playground of separate cerebral beings known as the Eshan. When mortals were granted consciousness by Qazun, then other Eshan after the First Feud, the number of these independent creberal entities housed within physical vessels expanded exponentially. That fact is what drove Ácolitus to war, for there was personal fear of such expanding consciousness within his greater essence and fear of what they might do against him.
The ignorant masses would scant consider it, but everyone experiences the side effects of Áckeshir influence: dreams. When mortals sleep and their minds wander, they conjure premonitions of color, sound, feeling, people, and events without apparent purpose. These things seem jarbbled and nonsensical to the average mind, yet they represent a strange venture of our consciousness within the endless nexus of minds gathered within Ácolitus. Without manipulation of Áckesh, these dreams come and pass without incident, just drops within the everlasting storm of mortal existence. Using Áckesh, however, can expose the mind to this deluge by breaking down its defenses. Without a honed mind, the sudden flood of emotions and information can either drive an individual mad or plunge them into a catatonic state. This can additionally be the fate of those whom Áckesh is used upon, regardless of the victim’s history with that energy.
If the destruction of our minds from within dreams was not chilling enough a prospect, the power of Áckesh can have devastating effects upon the mortal coil if allowed. Indeed, apocryphal tales and horrific experience alike tell that those whose mental defenses are too weak to reject the essence of Ácolitus begin to devolve into ashen beasts and lose their mortality. Their wits and reason and completely stripped, and thus they become wild. Next, their bodies begin the process of internal disintegration. In a manner similar to the infamous black breath disease, the bodies of the afflicted vaporize from within. The mind is the first part to be destroyed, as that is the organ directly targeted by the unleashed power of Ácolitus. A person under attack by such energy possesses that small window to save themselves or be saved. Once the mind is destroyed their lives are forfeit. After the mind turns to dust, the rest of the body follows of the ensuing weeks. Eventually, the mindless husk of a body crumbles into dust and bone fragments. Perhaps the darkest reality for those assailed by Áckesh is the fact that remedies and protection are rare and illicit. Nobody can save you. The piercing wails of your collapsing mind and body are met with silence or disgust. At best, local authorities can offer a swift and painless death for the afflicted. Mastering Áckesh thus requires the nemeshari to completely control both mind and body. Without discipline of the mind, the nemeshari is critically vulnerable to the boundless power of Ácolitus, which is an all-pervasive force strong enough to tear mortals apart.
Now, while the explicit connections between Áckesh and Ácolitus are the best-known facets of that nemeshir discipline, there is a distinctly mortal element. Describing it is somewhat difficult. Suffice to assert that there are weak, fundamental energies which are residual to mortal creation. Among mortals, the keenest manifestation is a subtle sensation one receives when in close proximity to another. It is akin to emotion. Perhaps, one might believe, this fundamental aspect of Ackesh is the foundation of emotion itself, being the clay from which anger, joy, and envy are molded. A mortal might therefore gather
sufficient “power” from this font to overpower and break an opponent through their mental facilities. This requires considerable time, immense prowess, and returns weak results in comparison to Ackesh called forth through Eshanic or Vojûnic means. However, it can be done. Ancient masters of this esoteric art among esoteric arts are recorded from oral histories and scant written records throughout the Awakening and Classic eras. Anything earlier is speculative.
“Osethera was feared by her enemies. She gathered them together in pens like animals and took one a time into her home. A terrible strength brewed in her heart, for she could bend warriors like brittle wood might be broken. She loved to seat them in front of her and speak with them for vast spans of time, piercing their spirits with grey eyes and learning the small and great things without much effort.
Those who were bent but little were released among their people, sowing fear among them as the effects of her curses became clearer over time. The few who were weak and bent more were kept as personal servants and subjects of Osethera, who took pleasure in ordering them the worst tasks which they could not deny in their broken state.”

Dehmuraw of the Edrastocel Remembers Osethera

Warmasters of the Weeping Era – 487
Those who were victims of these cruel methods suffered moderate injuries associated with later Ackesh. Their mental stability was damaged to near breaking, causing madness or despair. In the worst cases of the weak minded by nature, their mental state was devastated. Cracks and intrusions of Ácolitus’ consciousness seeped forward to ruinous effect. The afflicted lost their memories, diminished in their ability to reason, and in later stages were deprived of consciousness altogether and became entities of instinct as all other beasts. No material cure existed in those centuries, so those who were damaged terribly were lost forever without hope. The sole respite was Eshara, with which the Eshan could reconstruct the mental barriers which were shattered. However, this respite was beyond reach for many mortals in the religiously fragmented Qadal of the Classial era and Etayen dominated Ascension era.
Despite the dire histories associated with it, the power of Áckesh has beneficial qualities that make it viable beyond the hands of tyrannical lords and manic nemeshari. Indeed, the practice of Áckesh in the proper hands can heal mortal wounds and disperse illness more effective than any natural or unnatural remedy. This is because Áckesh concerns the essence of the mortal body and its connection to the Creator. When a nemeshari uses Eshara or Vojûn for healing, they are using outside forces to alter the conditions within the body. Áckesh alters the internal conditions of the body to cure internal injuries. Figures such as Good Mother Myrana of Everos, whose story is discussed father along, was the epitome of this duality. She lived during the decades following the Great Conflict, and thus heard of the atrocities delivered upon innocent people by the malign use of Áckesh, which will also be discussed rather along. She refused to abandon the immense potential of Áckesh and became masterful in its use by strengthening her mind and spirit over the course of years. At the height of her power, it was said she could grip the wrists of an ill man and completely destroy all remnant of the disease or feel the wounds of a struck soldier and close them without strain or labor. She became a legend within her lifetime. Elsewhere around Qadal, in places such as Nevan and the Semyr, intellectuals attempted to discover the inner meanings of Áckesh and its healing capabilities. The Axodraharik in particular were notorious for dabbling in this energy for good and ill- controlling and destroying their subjects and enemies while healing their allies with unheard of power. Among the great nations of Qadal, Yor’shagon was the only state to adopt Áckesh and use it widely. However, it was ordained by the theocrats of Orduza that Áckesh and its secrets should not be revealed to unworthy mortal races. The lack of formal education in Áckesh has been an enduring dilemma.
In returning to the historical narrative further aspects can be illuminated. In the Ascension era, the element of Vojûn was brought into the equation. Everything was suddenly changed. A domain of nemeshir beyond the Eshan’s direct grasp was now readily available and potent. In relation to Áckesh, it represented a possible avenue to cure malicious ailments. Eager nemeshari and less professional dapplers established themselves as saviors and wardens against Áckeshir influences. Their numbers swiftly boasted beyond those actually afflicted at any single time. A cadre of fear-mongering nemeshir formed on the supposed basis of protecting against terrible Áckeshir forces, more often motivated by personal gain than ultruism. These individuals became powerful agents within the courts of Vojûnic warlords or leaders in their own right. As the era continued, however, certain revelations contested their apparent victories against Áckesh. Foremost, Vojûn is not Eshara. It is not controlled but flows and operates in accordance with its own unreadable will. Inexperienced nemeshari caused terrible damage against their patients suffering from Áckeshir wounds. The breaches made in their mental defenses were eroded further or shattered altogether, causing disintegration and death. For others, the Vojûnic power was a corrupting influence unto itself, and wrought its own damage against the afflicted, poxxing them with sporatic growths or bursting with new limbs and terrible tendrils.
In the hands of Bal’gorod the Usurper, the powers of Áckesh were unleashed upon an ignorant and unprepared Qadal. He and the Atysvala combined the powers of Vojûn with the destructive energy of Áckesh to devastate vast swathes of land and destroy entire populations. During that bloody war, it was common practice for the armies of Sutan to march into a region and sieze control. Once the population was subdued, Bal’gorod himself for a member of the Atysvala would oversee the mass imprisonment of those unfortunate people- hundreds or thousands at a time.
Amid the terrors of Karundar, another aspect of Áckeshir warfare was pursued which was previously known but not capitalized upon- Eshanic depriving. This was the concept that Eshanic essence was situated primarily within the mental defenses afford by Qazun’s ward. By using Áckesh to shatter those defenses and extinguish that essence, whether through Vojûnc or Eshanic means, one might deprive the patron Eshan from their subject’s power. In this way, the traditional exchange of powers which characterized the divine relationship were unminded for the sake of prolonged, attritional warfare. Warriors in Voryndal long knew of these methods and pursued them often in the endless conflicts between fragmented Eshanic nations. In Qadal, it was Bal’gorod who struck against the Corgastorian, Eurobians, and Jequayen with these methods. In the former two cases, the damage was wrought against Corgastor and Euboa, depriving them of the essence which destroyed minds once harbored. In the latter case, the destruction of Jequayen minds meant the slight depletion of Vojûnic energy. The assumption was that the more numerous Jequayen forces would be temporarily harmed without that power, but the practice ceased when the Etûletal arrived in the 2290s.
The end of the Great Conflict in 2304 completely altered how the unnatural energies were viewed by nation states and the average people. There had always been an air of skepticism and mistrust, but it had rarely been articulated or coherently argued. Indeed, the aversion of unnatural energies such as Áckesh was ground in anecdotal accounts of nemeshari laying curses upon villages or whispers of strange folk in the woods who stole the minds of the unwary. Local governments banned the practice of Áckesh in some isolated cases, but nothing worth significant merit. The tremendous bloodshed, widespread devastation, and continental obliteration that came with the rise and fall of Bal'gorod in the late 2200s and early 2300s changed this tolerant mentality. Established realms began to closely research and record the properties of Áckesh, which had bee brough into the light by Unnatural energies that existed outside the purview of the Eshan were afterward viewed as chaotic and the bane of peaceful civilization. The majority of eminent nations in Qadal ordered sweeping bans against its use, such as the Eurobian Empire, the Empire of
Corgastor, the Adashi realms, and the Geldmar Kingdoms. The Axodraharik Theocracy of Yor’shagon that controlled Nevan during the period made no such bans, making them unique in Qadal, as well as a prime refuge for those who practiced. There was resistance to these bans on Áckesh, but the power of popular perception was against them. Those who practiced the art either went into hiding, ceased their practices, or fled to more tolerant regions of the world.
In Everos, the practice of this ancient art met its strongest and most decisive opposition, but in that era found its strongest support. It is therefore a prime case study in how the debates over the banishment of Áckesh manifested in the post-Conflict era. The two actors of this drama were Good Mother Myrana and Velhronunbast Farrien, both of whom had risen to great fame as reformers and visionaries. The former was known for establishing almshouses and organizing disease prevention measures throughout the Corgastorian realm. The latter was known for being the second-Velhronunbast of Corgastor's Sanctuary, whose job it was to bolster the Eshara of Corgastor and tame other forms of nemeshir. He took the nascent organization and thrust it into prominence. He was appointed in 2349, and by 2350 had already ordered the construction of the Sanctuary Spire, which is known commonly as Farrien's Spire. It was finished in 2352 and became the headquarters of the Corgastorian Sanctuary. In 2353, Farrien attempted to expand the influence of the Sanctuary across the Corgastorian domain.
Other bright-eyed individuals sought lessons from her in the ways of Áckesh, eager to heal mortal wounds with such skill. Yet, she refused to enlighten them without the proper mental, spiritual, and physical preparation. In her later years, Good Mother Myrana attempted to establish a school from which to teach students the inner workings of Áckesh.