Sorcerers

Sorcerers are new to Kala, generally being thought of as something emerging from the Breaking, or following it. Magic, to sorcerers, is less about memory and ritual than it is about pattern and emotion – they are, in essence, imposing their personality upon the Universe and asking it to bend to their whim. To 99.99% of the population, there’s no difference, except that Sorcerers rarely sleep alone if they don’t want to, and their powerful personalities lead to their close integration in a post-breaking society. The lack of ritual and the scorn in the which typical Wizards held them actually helped in public acceptance, with many villages that would have burned out a mage in the hard years after the Breaking accepting a sorcerer as a valued community member – if not perhaps warmly.

Origins

While there are many theories of where Sorcerers first appeared, there are a few clues buried in the distant past. The most promising source is contained within the Thought Matrix of Tellume Elthsaine, a condensed version shown below:

Who Are We, and Where Did we Come From?

First. We Are Not Bards that like blowing shit up. We are not confused wizards, or drunk clerics. While what we do is close to all of the above, we cross the lines – and all without spellbooks or prayers. Scary shit for the tome-bound, and a bit…chaotic for most praying types.

So how did we come to be?

Beats Me. Now, us Ika’s are definitely in short supply, and the only trace of our existence goes back to when the Empire and Republic started getting all chummy. While it’s no secret that they’ve been ahem, ‘promoting’ Ikanolaith ‘production’ for a while, the rumors that we were somehow ‘created’ is….silly. Sure, by the Twelve, but not by mortals. But looking at the older magics that the Republic uses, there may be a bit of cross-pollination happening – it’s not like we can’t interbreed, right?(As to why we would….uh.)

What Can We Do?

What can’t we do? Our claim to fame is spontaneous magic – spells on demand. That’s not why the Imperial Navy loves us to little bitty pieces, of course. If you’re new, you’ve been learning the Aktivace cesta(Activate Way), Aktivace zařízení(Activate Device), and Aktivace zbraň(Activate Weapon) spells – mages can cast them as well, but when we do….

When a mage casts Aktivace zařízení, the magic of the spell empowers an enchanted device, which uses the spellpower to do it’s thing. Simple. But – and here’s the cool part- when a sexy death-dealing Ikanolaith whispers sweetly to the device via the same way…the spell activates the device, but the Ika acts as conduit to the universe, sort of like a dam powering a waterwheel. We’re controlling the flow of power, and can get overwhelmed or worn out, sure, but we’re not the power source directly. Granted, this only applies when there’s something to take advantage of the power, but it does gives us job security. We’re more troubling, but less creepy, than, for instance, Lethane power. What’s NOT insane about chaining an Elemental inside a crystal matrix and depleting them like a keg of cheap ale?

How Do We Fit In?

Badly. The crux of the issue isn’t just social, although, that’s a big part of of our issues with the Empire. We’re highly charismatic, leaders and motivators, in a people moved by grace and persuasion. And it’s so easy for us, so easy that we seem to take it lightly. Even though it kills us.

Elven magic, classical, nature magic, is at the core of our people. It’s graceful, slow, and comes from a depth of knowing that’s beyond knowledge and even beyond one individual. In our most basic selves, our magic is our communication to the Universe, through the Twelve. There’s a reason Elven temple leaders are called Wise.

But Elven Magic Magic, spell book magic, build a Fortress and call it Home Magic – that…that is intellect. Graceful, beautiful, even – but underneath, there’s a rigidity and order that only it’s practitioners fully understand. It takes longer for an Elven mage to master the most basic of Arts, because they are learning how to build every thing that use. No different from any of our artisans – to paint, you must learn to make the ink, paper, and brush. You have to hone a blade before you can carve. So the most basic of Elven mages understands magic on a level that many practitioners just can’t. The tools that those mages built, so many lonely, dedicated craftspeople, are tools of intellect. Of rules.

We break rules. We can read a spell book, and suss out how a spell works. And then we change it. We pick up a wand, and powered by our will, it answers. The mages in many ways were right to be wary of us, because if we are not careful, and mindful, we are invaders in our own lands, imprinting tools to our whims and opening Ways that mage even saw. But when you conjuring fire with ease, it’s easier to play with it than fear it.

A number of comments on that document ask additional questions and offer insights into the culture and prejudices surrounding Sorcerers, but it is telling that only the Imperial Navy used what they termed Ikanolaiths. It’s impossible to say why, but the small number of Sorcerers available – which led to bounties for Ikanolaith officers having children, doubled if both parents were Ikanolaiths – and what amounted to a voluntary breeding program of sorts – seems to back this up. But there are a number of sources open fearful of the ‘Power Conduit’ described, as no one has been able to fully detail just where that power is coming From.