esotericas

"Nice!" Says a member of the Celestial Trust.

"Dear God," prayed a harrowed Ayrikiv, from a tent at the edge of Savoy, "Dear God, deliver us."

[!]AMIDST SHOWERS OF RAIN ONE SPRINGTIME AFTERNOON A FLYER FINDS ITS WAY INTO THE STREETS OF VELETZ AND KAROSGRAD. IT BEARS NO NAME OR SIGNATURE. THIS, OUR WAR: THOUGHTS FROM A MAN WHO ONCE CALLED HIMSELF ADRIAN. efore I begin I wish to say that these words are my own. They are my own thoughts and memories and opinions. The inaccuracies are mine and I have not been compelled to write this except out of my own feeling that I should. I also wish to say that I take no side in this war that plagues Humanity. Neither side is wholly just nor is either side wholly unjust. I have not fought for either side and I do not intend to except to protect the ones I love. hat I think the Haeseni and the people of the Canonist Leagues do not understand is what Adria once was. I do not comment on what it is now because I can not say what it is now. But once Adria was something I had not thought possible. I was born in Haense and lived there for my early childhood. When I was a boy I left my home and settled in Adria. The people of Haense were to me much like the northern climates: cold and unwelcoming. Adria was nothing like what I had known. It was a home to the wayward people of the world. I was not shunned for being without a home instead I was given a home and a hot meal and offered work and protection before they even knew my name. The people of Adria were not haughty political nobility. They were the tavernkeepers the street children the soldiers the merchants. The children of Adria were devout in their faith and in their love for each other and for their home. It was a place of futures not of pasts. Ancestry and bloodlines and history were irrelevant what mattered was what lay in front of us. t was not paradise though and I do not claim that it was. I faced cruelty and danger and manipulation. I was encouraged to swear oaths I did not understand and saw more pain than a boy my age should have to. But there was nothing I did not see there that the children of the Brotherhood of Haense do not also see. Adria was just as much a place of abuse and suffering and pain as Haense once was. But it was warm and friendly and hopeful and it had a future when all Haense had was a past. have not lived in Adria since Duke Heinrik seized power from the King of Aaun. I do not intend to return. I speak for many of the once-Adrians when I say that the change Duke Heinrik wrought was not change his people wanted. In the years I lived there I watched the place I had started to call home become a place of fear and danger and control. Friends were forced from their homes and executed for crimes undeserving of death. I have seen this same suffering this same pain on the streets of Haense. Holy men spilling blood on blessed ground. Fathers killing daughters for the crime of feeling what I felt when I was a boy: that Adria was a place that wanted them when nowhere else did. I have watched Adrians take prisoners and threaten execution they have slain members of the church. They have forced people to speak against their will and spread lies for their own image their own gain. write all this to remind you Canonists and you Adrians that before we are Haeseni or Adrian or Petran or Minitzian or anything else we are GOD’s children. We are one race one people and to spill the blood of our enemies is to spill the blood of our brothers our sisters our mothers our sons. o ask either side to halt their attacks is foolish because neither side will accept that they have done wrong. But blood spilt for an unjust cause is blood spilt in vain. LIFE IS GOD’S GREATEST GIFT TO US AND HE WATCHES ALL OF US AND HE SEES HOW WE WASTE IT. can not attach my name to this document because I know there will be people who try to silence me if I do but I plead that you listen and that you understand.

"Not even twenty, and she's on the Council," mused Alyona's mother as she read over the announcement, from wherever a woman of her disposition might read such things. A dark bedroom, perhaps, or an underground laboratory. "It's like I said. She will outgrow Haense, long before she reaches the age at which most would grow into it." "Attagirl."

VOL. 2 A FORAY INTO ALCHEMICAL PHILOSOPHY EX OFFICINA ALCHYMISTAE BEING, BY NATURE OF ITS NAME AND ITS WRITING, AN INVESTIGATION INTO AND REFLECTION ON THE CONCEPTS OF THE MATERIAL, EMOTIONAL, AND DIVINE, AND THEIR NATURES IN RELATION TO LIFE, ALCHEMY, AND MAGIC. -= ҉ =- PREFACE: ALCHEMICAL ALLEGORY & THE CONCEPT OF THE SPHERES lchemical allegory is the use of symbols and narrative in order to relate Alchemical processes or philosophy. A hero’s journey of growth and change may symbolise the fundamental change that occurs during Alchemical processes. The idea of the Spheres is allegorical and stands as a tool for perception: one of many lenses through which an Alchemist may choose to view the world, according to her needs or her values. The Spheres are not to be interpreted as literal or concrete. Instead, they stand as symbols to provide meaning to Alchemical processes, and to guide the actions of an Alchemist. he three Spheres of existence represent the world in which all Descendantkind lives. The Material is the Sphere in which most Descendants focus their lives, whether that be on satisfying the senses with indulgence, campaigning for political power, or accumulating wealth. Pervading invisibly through the Material Sphere is the Emotional Sphere: the Sphere in which emotion, souls, and the mind reside. Scholars, artists, philosophers, and Alchemists all direct their attentions on this Sphere instead, by interpreting and engaging with the abstraction it holds. Third and encasing both the previous is the Sphere of the Divine. Not Divine in a religious sense, but Divine simply to mean transcendent. The Divine Sphere is home to all things beyond the inherent scope of mortality: Aenguls, Daemons, Spirits, the Void, and the Creator. While the Material and Emotional Spheres are readily available to the Descendant, the Divine is (or should be) entirely separate from mortal existence. Mages of many varieties, plane-walkers, and priests all engage with the Divine. I he most tangible Sphere is that of the Material. It is the home of the senses, of solidity, of objects. The Material is experienced through the five senses: touch, taste, sight, smell, and sound. As is the case with denizens of the Emotional Sphere, those of the Material are wholly mortal, and are subject to the cycle of birth, life, and death that all mortal things are subject to. Not only Descendants, but animals, plants, the ground beneath one’s feet–all of Material existence is made and destroyed and re-made as the wheels of time turn endlessly. he core inhabitants of the Material Sphere are ones lacking proper souls, both organic and inorganic. Plants, animals, fungi, yes–but also soil, water, stone, metals, gemstones. With few exceptions, in the case of things like Aurum and blood, these inhabitants are restrained to the Material Sphere. t is the unique gift of Descendants to exist simultaneously in both the Material and Emotional Spheres, bound by both their soul and their body. However because a Descendant’s perception is mainly done via the body and the five senses, the Material is the primary lens through which a Descendant experiences the world. It is through their effects on the Material Sphere that an ordinary Descendant might perceive the existence of the Emotional or Divine Spheres. hat is not to say that the Emotional and the Material are entirely separate from one another. Both the body and the soul exist somewhat between the two. Just as wandering spirits may put a chill into the air, or feelings of anger can cause a body to physically heat, the inverse is true as well. Aurum and blood are Material objects capable of interacting with the Emotional, through their interactions with the Material body. his is one core distinction between an Alchemist and any other Descendant: through years of study and practice, an Alchemist is capable of perceiving and engaging with Alchemical Signs and Symbols without aid, despite said Signs and Symbols being by nature purely Emotional. ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ II he Emotional Sphere is home to not only souls, but metaphor, creative thought, feelings, symbols, and other abstractions. Many aspects of the Emotional Sphere are confined within the Material body, but yet others are entirely outside of it. Beyond the internal experience of feelings, thought, and other such things, the Emotional Sphere’s influence on the Material is one much more subtle. It is the unnameable quality that separates life with all its beauty and triumphs and ugliness and sorrows from simple blank existence. The lack of a soul, and thus the absence of connection to the Emotional Sphere, is what separates false lifeforms from true lifeforms, be those undead, mechanical, or something else entirely. ust as the Material world has its own unending cycle of energy, the Emotional does as well. Given the Material existence of most Descendents, this energy remains largely separate from the Material Sphere, however some mages choose to interfere with the Emotional plane to tap into this power. Those mages get their power not from Aengudaemons or the Void, but from something residing in the Emotional plane, be that by harnessing the souls of the dead, harvesting from the blood of Descendants, or any other of the potentially myriad means. I do not claim to know of them all. nlike those mages, the Alchemist does not take from the Emotional, to serve their own gain. Instead, by Extracting Symbols from her reagents, an Alchemist is transforming them from Material to Emotional, and then harnessing the abstract, vague nature of the Emotional to shape the Symbols into whatever Material brew she wishes to create. longside things such as psychology, the arts, and other studies that unite the Emotional and Material, Alchemy is one of the few pursuits which engages the full spectrum of Descendent experience. ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ III lthough the Emotional and Material Spheres may exist alongside one another, the Divine is wholly separate. If the Emotional and Material were the air and water that form clouds, the Divine would be the sky in which they floated. It surrounds and encapsulates the world as we know it. ot strictly Divine in the religious sense of ‘from or of God, or a god,’ the Divine Sphere is instead Divine in its fundamental separation from the mortal. It holds any and all forms of existence that transcend the other two planes. By nature harnessing this Sphere is forbidden to Descendants, as the Descendant existence is tied wholly to the Emotional and Material. Those who choose to ignore (or perhaps in their minds, surpass) their nature and attempt to subject the power of the Divine to their will are frequently unstable, and this use and abuse of Divine power can so often lead to the corruption of both the body and the soul. he residents of the Divine are those above mortality, beyond the cycle of time. They are forbidden both the benefits of life, as well as its detriments. To be Divine is to forgo pain and pleasure, joy and sadness, life and death. t was by Divine hands that the mortal world was shaped, and it will be by Divine hands that it is destroyed. CLOSING THOUGHTS reiterate that these concepts of Material, Spiritual, and Divine are concepts alone. Do not interpret this as claims to their existence, but instead as an exploration of their meaning. Instead it is through understanding the Material and Spiritual that one might come to understand what Alchemy is, and by understanding the Divine to understand what Alchemy is not. o be good without knowledge is to be weak. To be knowledgeable without goodness is to be a danger. It is only when these faculties are united that we may truly serve Mankind. ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ SIGNED,

For once, being a slow reader was a gift. As Alasdair pored over his friend's publication, he began to pick apart the intricacies of the Kortrevich's words. He smiled.

"Ready fer another dose o Ayrian madness?" Questioned Alasdair, showing the flyer to his sweetheart, Lorina Varoche. @bumblefina

"An alcheme is nothing, as you just made the word up," Responded Manon, crunching on a handful of Petran grapes. "And an Alchemist is me, which you already know."

VOL. 1 TWO ACADEMIC EXPLORATIONS & THE BEGINNINGS OF UNDERSTANDING EX OFFICINA ALCHYMISTAE BEING, BY NATURE OF ITS NAME AND ITS WRITING, A STUDY ON THE PART OF MY APPRENTICES, HER ROYAL HIGHNESS ELENA NOVELLEN AND HER GRACE ROSLIN BARUCH, FOR THE PURPOSES OF INTRODUCING THEM TO THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ALCHEMICAL STUDY, AND TO STUDY AS A WHOLE. -= ҉ =- nderstanding the world is a skill fundamental to Alchemy. Without the skills to discover the nature of things around them, an Alchemist would never be capable of enacting Alchemical processes, of creating their own recipes. Understanding is what transforms Alchemy from a tool with which to create potions, to a lens by which a scholar would view the world. Although my students have not yet advanced enough to learn Alchemy itself, setting the groundwork for understanding is fundamental to their education. For this, their first project, I have tasked my students to choose an organism, seek to understand its nature, and then explore the contradictions inherent within. These are their explorations. he writing that follows is the work of students, and the base information has been fact-checked, however these pieces are the work of analysis and opinion, and should not be taken as factual in themselves. I ARACHNID ENGORGEMENT & PROLONGED LIFE ithin the depths of the realm, cramped within cracks and crevices and caves which wind and spread further than descendant knowledge, an unknown kingdom reigns supreme over the darkness–a kingdom of spindling legs and sharp fangs. Spiders with white eyes and pale flesh wander the internal parts of the earth, awaiting the next doomed descendant or unknowing animal who wanders down into these depths. Dubbed the “Araneolus Veneni Incrementi,” this creature is newly discovered upon an expedition which brought a group of descendants, Humans and Elves alike, down into the cave systems in search of a missing Bokolo - a beloved companion of the Elven people. fter several days of extensive research and experimentation, I uncovered how the spider venom worked. These spiders lack much strength, perhaps due to the lack of sunlight within the caves, yet their venom is more deadly than the bite from the arachnids jaws. Like normal venom, it infiltrates the body of its victim, although this specific venom differs as it does not seek to kill its prey immediately. If anything, the venom simply weakens the creature it has attacked, although it seems to prolong the life for the victim for some time. Some sort of variation of this poison actually produces the muscles of the victim to become engorged, doubling if not quadrupling the size of the victim from its normal build size. It could only be predicted that this engorgement is meant to produce more food for the spiders to consume, especially seeing as it is seldom often an unknowing victim will wander into the deadly grasp of these arachnids. This is their evolutionary gift of creating more food for their family in order to grow themselves in size of numbers. s horrific as this arachnid species may be, I find it a bit ironic how fearful I was upon my study of this species when a similar way of life exists within our own Canonist kingdoms. Cattle breeding and poultry farming actually holds a significant similarity of a descendant species raising and bulking up a creature for consumption. Raising an animal from birth to full maturation can be seen as a form of companionship if not for the inevitable fate of a particularly sizable animal that is slaughtered for its meat in order to feed a group of people. These parallels between humanity and these arachnids, which we dub monsters, stand to represent all that must change about our perception of ourselves, and the world. Perhaps we are the monsters, for acting as these beasts do. Or perhaps we must learn to sympathise with creatures such as these spiders, despite of their uncanny appearances. Regardless, it seems evident that a change must be made. We may see ourselves as just and in the right to kill an animal in order to survive and expand our bloodlines, but we surely should not hold such disdain and disgust for creatures who do the exact same thing in nature to survive. – ELENA OF BALIAN ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ II HUMAN HYPOCRISY & FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN ature is often viewed as a harmonious system with a delicate balance of different forces that work in unison to create a diverse system to thrive within. Yet there is a concept often overlooked, as with closer inspection it can be noted that duality is also inherent in nature where opposing forces coexist and intertwine, indicating a sense of reliance upon the other. An example of such a concept can be found in the Mandragora, a plant which has the reputation of halting movement by excreting paralytic spores into the air, while the root accelerates the growth and healing of skin. It is this contradiction that I wish to expand upon further in order to understand how nature can embody duality. ne possible explanation for this function of the Mandragora is that the relationship between harvesting the Mandragora and its reproductive abilities makes it beneficial to further growth. hen one fells an oak it frees its seed, housed in the many acorns which hang from its branches. It is from these whence a new tree shall sprout, if watered and blessed with God’s light. Perhaps, then, these spores may have a similar function, scattered to the wind upon the death of their host to ensure the survival of the Mandragora. As the acorn or the seed dons a husk to guard itself, it is not unreasonable to suggest these spores coat themselves in poison much to the same effect. f this theory is true, then the spores released into the environment might beget a new Mandragora, and thus the paralytic spores could be a defensive mechanism to ensure germination. From the perspective of Man, this might appear inconvenient, but it would ensure that once the plant dies and is uprooted, a new one will grow in its place to create a new source of the root. This would create a sustainable harvesting system that allows Mankind to benefit from the plant’s healing properties while also ensuring the species will thrive in its environment and not be eaten by wildlife before it is capable of releasing further spores in its maturity. t is not a secret that throughout history, mankind has attributed many rewards in life to be hidden behind danger or require great effort to obtain. Whether it is by design of God or from nature itself, this creates a complex relationship between danger and reward, where benefits must be weighed against the potential risks. This phenomenon described is not only limited to the mandragora plant, as we can see countless examples of such throughout nature; a predator must take great risks to capture its prey, but it is rewarded with sustenance and life. One might insist that this pattern seems to be woven into the very concepts of nature itself, suggesting a greater purpose or design behind it. Perhaps it is with this that the challenge and danger inherent in obtaining rewards is meant to test the perseverance of life itself, ensuring that reward is offered only to those who are truly worthy of its fruition. – ROSLIN BARUCH CLOSING THOUGHTS t is my hope that, although these ideas remain as ideas alone, the thought behind this lesson will carry on. To understand is to know, and knowledge is power. It is Human to fear that which is unfamiliar, but the process of overcoming such fear and seeking to understand the unknown provides not only valuable insight, but fundamental skills in reasoning and observation, and the potential for true goodness, which is what any who seek influence over the world must aspire to. o be good without knowledge is to be weak. To be knowledgeable without goodness is to be a danger. It is only when these faculties are united that we may truly serve Mankind. ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ SIGNED, Her Ladyship, MANON YVAINE GODUNOV Court Alchemist of the Petra, The Star Lord, the Ghost of Guise, the Starling Stag, Her Royal Highness, ELENA CASIMIRA NOVELLEN The Princess Royal of Balian, Countess of Rosemoor, Mother of Beetles, and Protector of the Bokolo, Her Grace, ROSLIN ANNASTAS BARUCH Duchess of Valwyck, Countess of Ayr, Viscountess of Voron, Baroness of Laval and Riveryn, Lady of Jorenstadt, Guardian of the Hanseti Coast,

Manon Yvaine’s breath weighed heavy in her chest as she read the missive. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw her husband’s face, nor felt the warmth of his arms. Permissible, both. It had been love once but that love had turned to ice, in the years before he left. Illness. As if. Alyona’s name, penned on the bottom of the death of her father. Some sort of irony to be found there, but Manon was perhaps too preoccupied to notice it. "Promise-maker, and promise-breaker both." The rosy memories of a forbidden romance escaped her recollection, there in the self-imposed prison of her own mind. Manon did not remember walking, hand in hand. She did not remember the stolen kisses, the daring escapes, the evenings spent side by side at taverns across the continent. She remembered the recent days. An empty bedside, children so used to the absence of their father that they have stopped asking for him. Manon remembered Courts, Duma sessions, curses and orders, ignored in equal measure. The Alchemist laughed to herself. It echoed off the stone walls of her underground laboratory. Rang out of the glass of the windowpane. Whistled out through the ventilation shaft. It was a laugh that left the air humming. "Good riddance, mon corbeau." The notice let off a pleasing stream of sparks as it burned.

"Nice," said the Court Alchemist, reading over the missive.

"It's Haeseni, not Haenseni. What sort of people are they hiring these days?" Muttered Manon Yvaine as she paged through the horoscope.

Manon Yvaine wonders where her invitation is...

Manon Yvaine pens a letter to Guy's father about his son's alleged misbehavior...

A CALL TO THE ACADEMICALLY-MINDED [!] Throughout Almaris, the observant few would find small fliers, penned in an elegant hand. The back of each flyer would bear a simple five-pointed star. ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ [CLOSED] s is so often the case these days, the quality of Alchemical teaching, and of Alchemists, has depreciated in the Human realms. Scholars are not chosen on merit, but on the basis of wealth, class, and social connections. I have waited some years for a suitable student to happen upon my path, but none have made themselves known. Thus, I have turned my attentions to locating one myself. would prefer applicants be old enough to begin their Alchemical tutelage within a few years, and young enough still to be properly taught. This range is flexible, however an age of 10-25 is ideal. Students are not required to be Human, or to live in Human nations, however my intent is to provide Humanity with proper Alchemical education, so race & nationality will be taken into account. ll applicants must bring me three items from the following list, and the stories of how they were obtained, interpreted as they best see fit: ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ THEIR MOTHER’S MAIDEN NAME, MADE CONCRETE A MOONBEAM THE TEARS OF A RAVEN MIRROR-BREATH THE SONG OF A MAIDEN DAISY A PORTRAIT OF TIME ICE-FIRE THE OPPOSITE OF A NECKLACE MANKIND’S FOLLY ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ one of the items may be Alchemical or magical in nature, or secured by violent or unethical means. There are no right or wrong interpretations, only those that are interesting, and those that are not. I will not keep any items of sentimental value to the applicant. NO ASSISTANCE MAY BE GIVEN BY OTHER PARTIES. y choice (or choices) will be highly subjective, and will also take into consideration the quality of the applicant’s conversation, as well as their reasons for wishing to learn Alchemy. student would learn not only the basic Alchemical arts, but would also receive a rounded education in medicine, arts, mechanics, botany, and the religions and cultures of the world, Human and not. he items and explanations may be submitted remotely, however before I make a final decision, we must have spoken face-to-face. DIRECT LETTERS TO: Manon Yvaine Godunov IV Amadea Avenue, Karosgrad, Haense ( esotericas ) ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ ⊢–––––––––––––––––= ҉ =–––––––––––––––––⊣ SIGNED, Her Ladyship, MANON YVAINE GODUNOV The Star Lord, the Ghost of Guise, Alchemist in Residentia at Valwyck, the Starling Stag,

"Why does everyone think Yvaine is my surname?" Manon Yvaine asked, with a mild shake of her head. Still, she smiled on the invitation, and then forwarded it to a friend, alongside a note requesting they be her plus-one.

Adelaide gave a fond nod, palm on her husband's shoulder. "I'm certain she'll succeed."

As Manon Yvaine heard news of the duel, a weak sigh crept from her chest. She murmured an oft-spoken phrase, with as much care and worry as every time before. "You'd better not die, Marius Audemar." It echoed off the cold stone walls of her lab, empty save for herself. "One man can only escape death so many times, but... let this not be the day your luck changes." Manon set aside her brewing and pulled out a piece of paper, settling in to write a letter to that disgraced Prince.

Alasdair smiles.

"There is a letter for you." Came a mechanical voice, twangy and ill-tuned. An automaton stood in the doorway of Manon Yvaine's laboratory, folded slip of paper in its mechanical hands. "Read it to me, Diomid." Bade Manon, as she bottled a potion. "The Barony of Verskaya, loyal to the crown... "Well. Unsurprising, all things considered." Manon concluded, as Diomid finished reading the missive. "I suppose I ought to write to Wolfgang... And see to the children. Get my coat, I'll be off to Verskaya."

Manon Yvaine looks forward to her daughter's future legal career...

Manon Yvaine read the missive aloud to her daughter Alyona, @ibiou and gave the girl a proud smile. "Look! You did it, Lena."

A scholar read over both missives on the subject, with roughly equal apathy. "Nobles," She mused, "are all the same. They act as if they're polar opposites from one another, but at the end of the day... mmh." The papers were tossed aside, and the scholar returned to her work.

"A remarkably uninteresting death," observed one Manon Yvaine, as she scanned over the missive, "for a man of his character. You'd think he'd go out with a bit more.. panache."

Alasdair emerged from Lake Voron, soaking wet, and watched his siblings as they conducted their... very Canonist ritual. He waited to throw up until he was alone again.