There are old tales that saturate the history books with stories of the power and of the might of the age of blood; when savagery and brutality was the way of life and there was nothing so eloquent as the power of the Source. Then there was only the power of the Blood Pits of the Skagriagaard, the alchemy of the Zoranethi, the mysticism of the Giant Kin and the Glamour of the Fae. There was war and chaos and anarchy and then the Void came seeking words of power that had been lost to its unknown master. Those words are, if pre history is to be believed, the power to shape worlds and to master the building blocks of all magics. It is also known that these words or words closely akin to them were carved into the comet that blazed its way across the sky and came to impact the crust of this world in the deep wilds of Helgath where Eaölfheim prospered. When that most great and glorious of events embraced the world so too did our ancient power and from it all power that spreads across Daer Akmir today. So the comet was named after the power that it created, the power that gave life to the world that we now inhabit, that created the races of the world and birthed the Empires and the Kingdoms of this great civilisation. It was called the Source Comet.
The source Comet represented Magic long forgotten from another time and another age where it was referred to as the Nexus. With it came hidden secrets and beings from some dystopian place, some oppressors some oppressed and they spilled over into the world. Their power was dubbed the Arcane and was nothing like we had ever seen before; it dwarfed all other forms and realms with its strength and ability to change reality around it. However this power lasted but mere moments from histories point of view as the Gillieabad Spirits, so free roaming for so long, bound themselves to places of power to neutralise this strength. To the Earth Tribes it was the ultimate sacrifice, to the beings of the Nexus it was an act of war but to those that were to come later it was a gift that could not be over looked. The power Arcane was greatly diminished and it was a power that could never truly be mastered by those inhabitants of the world however the Source of all magic to come was left behind and that was ours to take.
For many years after the arrival of the comet early mages tried to master the power that now saturated this world. Many become extremely proficient in its art but these were spirited away by the Arcanists that arrived with the Nexus; The Kaytaar. It took many years for the College of Sourcery or Council of Magic as it was then to form under the guidance of the Kurt Nagerson whose impressive power in the realm of the Sourcerer led him to become an Emperor of the three Kingdoms (as was back then). During this time the mysterious Kaytaar had established themselves as a force in the world but where once, in their home world, they were eternal, they were made mortal by the forces of Vaklam. To counter this problem they undertook a task to locate the legendary Zoranethi, the Sea Tribe who had mastered the arts of transmogrification of the body and the soul. When they found them they used their terrible power to enslave them, a move that would haunt them in aeons to come. Together they caused the collapse of the Gillieabads power in the Forests of the Chosen, stole the second moon from the Sky and created the Shadowed Lands where they would come to dwell. Much of the College turned its attention to this new threat born of the comet, but it was soon to be discovered that this world was not the only one touched by power.
The world of Zartherinyialial hung in the black sky, frozen and near inert, in the early stages of development when Vaklam was a seething mass of Earth Tribes and battle. Already life was forming there, life that would form into what many of the ignorant folk of the world would call Elementals and Fundamentals but this was before the time of the great sundering, before the Mazamarati, before Vorok Core and the founders, the Nexians. In this baptism the world was changed along with the three other worlds that hung around an infant Sun and through their skies a great blazing fire screamed across the heavens giving birth to a power that bears many, many similarities to the Source that gives us the power that we have experienced: The Sourcerers have come to know that Comet was the home of the Kaytaar and that it came to Vaklam with the intention of reforming their power and their own world here. What we were unaware of, even until recently, was that the Nexus was home to many other forms of life including the Founders of whom we will speak to at the end of this text, let us first examine the beginning of our contact with Veknymolchaniye
Сливк was a Lairdan Gan, according to the legends, who had been a member of what is now called Valordian College. Rumours surrounded his past claiming him in one camp to have belonged to a powerful group, working as an artificer and battling Daemonfoe whilst others painted him as a disgraced member of the Nagerson College who had consorted with the great enemy. Other stories would plumb the depths of his parentage and lay various great or nefarious deeds at his door to such an extent that despite his obvious skill he buried himself and his past into the paperwork and bureaucracy involved in the formation of this new College. However his impressive abilities as a Sourcerer could not be overlooked and he often found himself involved in journeys to the world of Ruaeth Kajhar in the name of Diplomacy and the Valordian College. His entourage, the Aelith Raym, were involved in much of the trade and talk that occurred to bring about the peace and union between the houses and the College. Eventual Lords of the Colleges acknowledged him and gave ground to him as did the Ueahrn that could do little to counter his words and his intelligence. Little did any side know that they were being observed and that the calm, uncompromising Eaölf had become the target for a hitherto unknown group.
Сливк vanished during a precursory visit to the edge of the Harrow Gulf along with the Aelith Raym in a raid formed by what we know now were the Veknymolchaniye, although at that time they nearly sparked a war between the Royal Basin and the Ueahrn. Сливк emerged from the Harrow Gulf after only a few weeks in concealment and put an end to any idea that he had been taken under forcible coercions. A few days after that he and the Aelith presented their vision of the Сливк College, detailing the houses that followed the Mirrored Truths and demanded that edifice from Zartherinyialial be allowed to stand here in the world of Vaklam among the mortal folk. It was a choice easily made and soon the College joined the ranks of its comrades with Сливк firmly at its helm: Justice is Blind. This has stood as the motto of the College for Centuries; since its early inception; the College of Ice and Vapour has been treated as the shadowy, dubious and sinister version of magic through the basin. It is an image that perhaps the College has assisted and abetted over the years and it is one that has stuck.
During the early years of their formation the college, as the Raym grew in power and created sub branches of themselves, formed a great many dubious alliances with, hitherto unknown, houses that seemed to cross the Harrow Gulf away from Zartherinyialial and onto other worlds . Many of these proved to be detrimental to both the College and to the safety of the basin in general as the dwellers of those distant worlds attempted to exert political and social influence on the then rulers through their control over the prominent Sourcerers of the day. Suspicions ran rife and the old stories began again as many remembered the supposed duplicity of the Lord of the College; the Controlling Power was bought to force and a huge investigation unleashed against those of Ice and Vapour. Eventually through this effort and the support of what turned out to be the untainted Tsims, Kali Tsims and the efforts of various Council of Magic members Сливк and his supporters were overthrown. Сливк it was discovered had been killed and replaced in bizarre and unwholesome ceremony in the Harrow Gulf several years earlier by a prominent Veknymolchaniye whose influence was to be felt for many years to come as it escaped into the world. This early taint has hung over the College since that day and despite various other leaders attempts to neutralise such stigma there is a definite feeling of enmity between the College its Sister. Many great heroes have come from the College to stand against the enemies of the Basin. But perhaps these heroes have been few and far between, their actions have been a little too zealous, they have tried too hard and proven nothing. And so to this day a sinister pall hangs over the college and its members, a gentle distrust mingled with the respect that such a caster should demand, the power of illusion permeating all.
So the years rolled by and the College became powerful as did the other elemental Colleges. But there was infighting amongst the Arch Mages and their protégés and a war between the wizards threatened to endanger the lands. Those that knew the ancient words of power or commanded great strength came together and formed the College of Controlling Power to govern the other five and to give opposition should the Clergy rise to political strength. The formation of the College of Controlling Power (CoCP) heralded a massive change for all of the Sourcerers and a settling of power. Despite the clear power that was flowing from the four realms the early conclaves had greater dangers that drove the dynamics of the direction that we as a collective would take. The Daemon Foe were at our door and the Sourcerous Colleges were not only older and more heavily established but they were also seen as natural, pure and drawing power from the world. The term “Source” was called into question and the right of our followers to designate ourselves Sourcerers was stripped from us, we were renamed fully to Elementalists, as we know now, an incongruous term.
During those early years it was difficult for us to develop our potential with the Collegiums, the rules of the CoCP had yet to expand to understand what we were; we did not draw power from what was understood to be the Source of Magics. We were drafted into combats against Daemon Kind that we could not win, our magics were different, whilst they were effective the corruptions of Nagerson, now Morrigun College, did not enhance them as it did theirs. However Сливк College came to the fore as spymasters and information brokers and were employed as such during peace and wartimes; our coffers filled with funding and our mastery of the magics that sustain us was developed quickly and efficiently. Sadly our chequered past overshadowed our normal efforts and the guild has never made its way onto the Council main, and so Сливк College now served two masters; the Veknymolchaniye and the CoCP as well as their own ends as they tried to fully master the power that was at their command.
But time has passed and Сливк College has become a centre for diplomacy and learning, focusing on those arts and the skills of illusion, misdirection and shadows. Battle and warfare have never really been a part of their code and ethos although they will always take the field if they are needed. Instead they have made the difference to the disasters that have befallen the Basin and indeed the world through their actions however sedentary they may seem. Despite these actions their open door policy on those that they admit for training from various corners of the world have led them to be mistrusted and excluded from some of the higher echelons of power. However the internal struggles of the Colleges cause the formation of alliances that none saw coming and this is often overlooked. Alongside us The CoCP soon became one of the most powerful political groups, standing off frequently against the clergy. However its superior organisation and its unbreakable consolidation has allowed it to become the closest advisor to the Crown. The wisest choice and decision for all involved.
Holly Goodall
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