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A Gift From The Skies: Muun’Trivazja Introduction: This lore piece has a companion! While you may be a rebel who doesn’t play by the rules, it would be best if you read The Moon and the Maker first. It details Metztli, and fleshes out the Daemon of Time further. This lore, A Gift From the Skies, goes into the mechanics of the magic gifted to followers of Metztli. While the magic will remain a predominantly Kharajyr-controlled magic, any who follow the path of the Moon-Mother are given the opportunity to learn it. Think of it like Runebinding, or Shamanism. Muun’Trivazja is the magic gifted to the priesthood of Metztli. The goddess granted her most devout limited control over her divine energy, Muun’. With this power, the priesthood has been capable of great feats, though they come at a cost. Blindness and premature aging are common amongst members of the priesthood as a result with meddling with divine powers. The original Sages, who first received Metztli’s blessing, wielded Muun’ similar to the casters of other orders. However, in their arrogance, they rose too high and spited the goddess. To humble them, Metztli cursed the order with the burden of the Moonpool, a well of divine energy where casters of the order must bathe to refill their stores of Muun’. Muun’Trivazja is composed of three faucets; Moonbinding, Moongazing and Cronoshaping. These arts must be taught individually, alongside how to store Muun’. As a practitioner of the art becomes more adept as storing Muun’, they become able to delve further and further into the other aspects of the magic. States of Muun’: There are two basic types of Muun’ utilized in casting, Waking and Sleeping. Sleeping Muun’ energy with no purpose. It is passive energy that the priests are able to store inside themselves and carry with them. However, Muun’ is not an energy natural to the priests and it will seek escape by any means possible. Priests are trained to hold the energy inside of them while they go about life, and once they can hold the energy without fear of leaking, they can begin to expand their capacity. A coalition of priests, traditionally known as a pride, is able to pool their Muun’ in order to accomplish greater feats of magic, with each priest fueling the spell from their own reserves. Once a priest activates the Muun’ inside them it becomes Waking Muun’. Waking Muun’ is the visible aspect of Muun’Trivazja. It is energy in action, power with a purpose. Once a priest casts a spell, a portion of their Sleeping Muun’ is transformed into Waking Muun’ and escapes from them, given a purpose. Muun’Trivazja: “The Moon-Mother granted us a chance at redemption. After the first of the Sages fled, taking their hearsay with them, Metztli gifted to the new Priesthood a power unmatched by any of the new land; The power to grind mountains to dust and see what cannot be seen. The power to fight against Absyyl and its servants. The power of the Moon, Muun’Trivazja. ~The Dead-Sky Scrolls | A New Order The first skill an acolyte of the priesthood learns is the art of storing Muun’. Due to the arrogance of their predecessors, priests of Metztli do not naturally regenerate their divine energy. They must instead fill their stores at Moonpools, wells of energy fueled by a portion of Metztli’s Daemonic energy. Attunement to the goddess simply grants a priest the ability to hold this energy inside themselves. Muun’Trivazja is the baseline progression for a practitioner of the magic Each art must be trained individually, but they are useless if a priest is unable to muster the energy to maintain them. Essentially, a priest cannot cast spells with energy they do not have, therefore they cannot increase their tier in one of the other arts without first attaining that tier in Muun’Trivazja. Moonbinding (Teltica): “They adorned themselves with the same blue stones that decorated the temple. It hung from necklaces, bracelets, they even pierced their ears and lips with the stuff. The things seem unstable though. I saw one of the earring-wearers slam into a wall, and lose half their face in the resulting explosion.” ~Tales of the Kharajyr Moonbinding is the art of charging a piece of specially prepared lapis-lazuli with Muun’, granting it mystical power. To begin, a Moonbinder must select a block of lapis, the holy stone of Metztli, and carve it to shape. The stone must then be engraved with images and prayers in Kharahatla. These help to focus the mind of the enchanter towards the task at hand. The stone is then filled with Muun’ from the crafter, a process known as Attuning. This transforms the lapis into a piece of Charged Lapis, giving the Muun’ inside of it a task to accomplish when it is activated. Once a Moonbound relic is Attuned, the Muun’ inside of it is Living and cannot be harnessed or redefined. The object may be refilled with Muun’ from another source, a priest may even allow the relic to draw from their own reserves of Sleeping energy instead of its own, but once it runs out, the Charged Lapis violently explodes, spraying shards of stone in all directions. The purpose of the stone is left up to the crafter, however seeing as the enchantment is fueled by Muun’, the relic is only able to accomplish a task that is possible with the magic in the first place. This means that a Moonbinder is unable to craft objects with enchantments that are impossible through Muun’Trivazja. Cronoshaping: “It is said the Sages of old could tear vast temples from the past. They would gather, a pride of priests circling the ruins, and begin their chant. The Moon-Mother’s gift would swirl around them until, block by block, the building would stand tall once more.” ~Upon the Altars of Old | Book II Cronoshaping is the most powerful of the priestly arts, as it allows a practitioner limited control over Metztli’s dominion, time. A Cronoshaper expels the Muun’ stored inside of them, and utilizes it to manipulate the way time flows in the area. The Muun’ manifests itself as a thick swirling fog, ranging from blue to a deep purple color. The mist itself is malleable, and may be shaped by a member of the priesthood into a number of forms. The most common are either domes or waves of Muun’ projected over the area the caster wishes to effect. Once an area is shrouded in a priest’s Muun’, they sever it from the natural flow of time and begin to move it in accordance to their will. While Cronoshaping allows the user to manipulate time, it still has its limits. Cronoshaping is incapable of effecting unwilling targets. This is because Cronoshaping depends on the priest being able to anticipate the actions within the section they have severed. If a Muun’Trivazja user attempts to Cronoshape a once-strong wall into a crumbling ruin, they are able to because they know that given time stone will inevitably fall to pieces. Once a variable enters into the equation, the Cronoshaper is unable to anticipate how they will move through the new flow of time. As a result, anything the variable interacts with will also become an unknown quantity in its own right. This accumulation of unknowns shatters the veil of Muun’, as the priest is no longer able to anticipate what happens along the timestream. This is known as a Variable Cascade, and will result in the spell shattering. Cronoshaping is also unable to rewind an object past the time of its creation. For example, a rusted sword could be rewound to a point where it was once usable, but it could not be taken past that point and turned into the raw iron that was used to forge the blade. A crumbling wall could be rewound to a point where it once stood proud, but could not be taken back to the mortar and stones used to build the wall. This is called the Law of Temporal Conservation. The magic, however, comes with a price. As a priest continues to manipulate time, they will grow hunched and wizened. Dipping into the flow of time will prematurely age a practitioner of the art. Cronoshapers tend to age half again as fast as is normal, leaving them weaker and frailer than they were. Moongazing: “Ja’Sutal burst into the palace, ranting and raving. He ran through the doors of the palace, yanking tapestries from walls and goblets from hands. The young priest screamed of things to come; An army of beasts, ships being sent out to sea, and watching over it all a great eye of fire. He was pronounced mad by the Sages, though now he is heralded as the first Moongazer.” ~Upon the Altars of Old | Book III Moongazing is the most respected art a member of the priesthood may master. When a priest turns their eyes towards the ebb and flow of time, they must learn to focus their Muun’ into a lense through which to see the world; Turning their eyes to the future or the past. When a Moongazer turns their eyes to the timestream they channel their Muun’ into a sort of lense, allowing them to see into various points in time. A Moongazer may turn their eyes to past events, but never past the point of Non-Remembering, where Ancient History meets the rest of time. No priest is able to pass that point, simply because their bodies cannot hold enough Muun’ to go that far back. A Moongazer is also unable to see events leading up to their death, attempting to do so shatters the vision as the mind is unable to comprehend its own death. When a priest Moongazes, their eyes light up with a radiant white light. They fall into a trance, seeing that which has been or will be. Gazing into the past is the simplest aspect of the art, requiring the least amount of Muun’ to maintain. As a priest turns their eyes to more recent events, the spell requires more and more Muun’ to maintain. Once a priest passes the present, the spell requires less Muun’ to maintain. Then as one passes the present and moves onto the future, the energy cost is lessened but the visions swiftly grow vague and imprecise. To begin, Moongazing the past is the simplest of arts. A priest simply focuses their Muun’, and turns their eyes to events long past. Gazing in this manner uses up the least amount of energy out of all the arts of Muun’Trivazja. A skilled practitioner is able to turn their eyes to events long past for hours at a time. One of the most respected aspects of Moongazing takes place while searching the past. Namecallers are Moongazers who have dedicated their life to seeking out the names and histories of those fallen from Ilhuicatl. When a Kharajyr dies on the Isles of Endless Night, their name and deeds are wiped from memory. However, their past remains, open for Moongazers to search through. Namecallers spend their lives searching through ancient tomes and Gazing the past, searching for the names and legacies of those forgotten by the rest. Seeing the future is an imprecise art at the best of times. Specifics are withheld in favor of omens and symbolism. Some say this is because the future in itself is unknowable, other say the goddess does it intentionally to keep her priests from knowing more than is good for them. Whatever the reason, seeing into the future will never give a direct answer. It will always be shrouded in uncertainty. Some visions may never come to pass in the first place, the future being an unknowable and ever-changing place. Moongazing the present is the most difficult art a priest can learn. To see the future, one requires a totem that holds a strong link to the object to be scryed. The more direct the link, the stronger the vision will be. Distance also affects the strength of the link. The further something is from the Moongazer, the more difficult it is to envision them. Long distances may be offset by a better link, blood or bone being the strongest, and vice versa. Moongazing does have its limits however. Gazing into the present will only show things directly linked to the totem, and nothing else. A stone from a castle wall will show only the castle, and not the inhabitants moving about inside. A bloodstain will reveal the bearer of the blood, but not their surroundings. Extended Moongazing comes at a price, the eyesight of the Gazer. Moongazer will gradually lose their sight as they continue to peer into events beyond their ken; Their irises fade until their eyes and their vision are completely and totally blank. The Stone of Metztli: “The Stone was found floating above the waters of the Temple. It was jagged and sharp, a blade that hung in the air above the sacred pool. The Kha’ were drawn to it, like moths to a flame. They felt the pull of the Moon-Mother upon them and they could not turn back.” ~Upon the Altars of Old | Book IV When the first Kharajyr fled from the crumbling Khalenwyr Empire, they landed on the new land to start anew. The remaining Sages, humbled by the creation of the Moonpools, were reluctant to spread their art further. They fled from the fledgeling Empire, vanishing from Kharajyr society into the deep jungles of Anthos. Their shame drove them from their people, taking their gift with them. Metztli watched as one by one, the Sages succumbed to the dangers of the land. Without pity, she watched as those who had dared rise beyond their station fell and crumbled to dust. Satisfied that her people had once more been turned from the path of Absyyl, she granted her people one final boon. She traveled once more to the Well of Moonlight and picked up the knife that lay at the shores of the great lake. She hurled the lapis knife, dark with the dried blood of the goddess into the glowing water. It sank, falling through the crack into the Mortal Realm and manifesting itself above the waters of the temple. So the Stone of Metztli, and the Athosian Moonpool came into being. The Stone of Metztli granted the Kharajyr the ability to forge a connection with the Moon-Mother. The wisest and most devout were chosen to become the first of the new Priesthood. Guided by the goddess, these Kharajyr were granted visions of a ceremony they were to undertake in order to forge a connection to the Well of Moonlight like the Sages of old. They were taught through visions how to store Muun’ from the new Moonpool and utilize their new abilities to their fullest extent. These new practicioners of Muun’Trivazja created the first centralized Priesthood of Metztli, the order that continues to this day. Should the stone shatter, it will eventually reform itself. The magic that sustains the stone is a form of temporal Moonbinding far beyond the ability of any priest; It allows the stone to reform in a random location once it is shattered, turning back the clock on its own demise. Several times throughout history the Stone has been broken, and the Priesthood has always been able to track it through Moongazing due to their internal link with the stone. The Ritual of Attunement is the process used to connect prospective priests to the Well of Moonlight. It is a lengthy process known only to the oldest of the Priesthood, and is their best kept secret. All that is known is that the Ritual requires the Stone of Metztli to be properly executed. It is not always successful, and those that fail are cast, raving and clawing at their eyes from the order. The Ritual of Disconnection is a similar practice used to shatter the bond between a priest and the Well. Knowledge of this process is even rarer than that of the Ritual of Attunement, and is often reserved to the head of the current Priesthood. Much like the Ritual of Attunement, it requires the presence of the Stone of Metztli, though not much is known beyond that.

The Moon and the Maker: Kharajyr Mythos Metztli, the Moon-Mother: “Fruits of life do beg my pardon, / roaming astray my endless garden. / My will sees metal turn to rust, / And men grow tall from all but dust. / Find me not in book or tome, / For I am the breath and life of home. / Forge noble beasts and kings that reign, / I do this time and time again.” ~Visions of Nightfall | The Second Prophecy Metztli is the goddess and creator of the Kharajyr. Old tales speak of her spiriting away children in the dead of night, with only the stars to witness, to bring to an island paradise of her own making. There she fused the children body and soul with the ocelots of the island through many twisted, magic-riddled experiments. Casting the husks of her failures into the sea, Metztli toiled on until one night the fruits of her labors were rewarded. Upon the beaches of the island stood an ocelot in human guise, his fur white as freshly fallen snow. The first of the Kharajyr was born, Tla’Jhaan, he of the purest form. Metztli was filled with the maternal need to protect her creation, to nurture him in a cold and unforgiving world. She had created the pinnacle of perfection, and sought to replicate her accomplishment, but could never achieve the level of beauty imbued in the first. Nevertheless, she continued to fill the island with other, lesser copies of her creation until the day came where they were able to sustain themselves. She then left, departing the island to leave her children to thrive on their own. Though the Kharajyr had no knowledge of the horror behind their creation, they continued to live on their island paradise, presuming they were always there and always would be. They had no inkling that a divine power had created them, and their worship was nonexistent. To the ancient tribes, survival was all that mattered. Metztli, feeling neglected by the very things she had birthed, decided to become once more entwined in the lives of her children. She returned to the Kha’, gifting their sages and priests with signs and visions, hoping they would unravel the secret of their own creation. Absyyl, the Enemy: “Absyyl, the name of the Sun. It would come; taking the form of a great wolf, black as soot with a single burning eye. Absyyl, the Enemy, who wishes for nothing more than the end of all of Metztli’s creation. Absyyl, who would burn the land to cinders in with his wrath against the Moon-Mother.” ~The Black Prophecy | Book I Absyyl is the enemy of all in the Kharajyr faith. Even speaking its name is a grave crime against the Priesthood. Often referred to as simply the Enemy, Absyyl represents all that is unholy and profane in to the Kha’. It is often portrayed as a wolf, a single burning eye set in the middle of its forehead. In later times, servants of the sun are depicted wearing red robes, and often appear to lead the Kha’ astray. Kharajyr mythology holds to the belief that Abyssl is the sun, the antithesis of all that is holy in Kha’ culture. Legend tells that after Metztli unleashed her creation onto the land, Abyssl grew furious with jealousy. He turned his wrath upon Metztli’s children, shining down harsh and unforgiving as he sought to destroy all that his rival has wrought. However, in his fury, Abyssl shone too bright, and could only light half of the night sky. The other half was left for Metztli, and is from where she looks down upon her creation. The Isle of Endless Night, Ilhuicatl: “Tales have long been told of Ilhuicatl. It goes by many names, the Isle of Endless Night, the Mountain of the Mist, the Palace of Moonlight, but only the Kharajyr know it by its first name; Home.” ~Ja’Kussak | The Nature of Death When the creation of the Kharajyr was complete, Metztli left them to develop a civilization of their own upon the shores of an unnamed island. There they lived, until a terrible crime was committed by one of their own. Patricide, when Tla’Xerdun killed his father and took leadership over his crumbling empire. This crime could not go unpunished, and in her fury, Metztli brought ruin to the island, prompting the Kharajyr to sail west to new lands. However, Metztli had made a mistake in her anger. The purging of the Khalenwyr Empire had left hundreds dead, and due to her tampering, their spirits were cursed to walk the mortal plain forever, deprived of the rest they so desperately wished for. Metztli was wracked with grief over the destruction she had wrought, and tried to set things right. She pulled the shattered pieces of the island from the depths of the ocean and, using them as a template, recreated the isle in her own realm. She then gathered up the souls of the Kharajyr, shunned from any other afterlife, and gave them a place by her side in this new life, Ilhuicatl. The Isles of Endless Night are the closest thing Kharajyr religion has to an afterlife. The islands are told to be a peaceful place, with white beaches and shaded jungles. The entirety of the island is shrouded in mist, for there is no sky above Ilhuicatl. The only light comes from the Kharajyr themselves, who shine with a pale silver radiance. Those who live on the isles often form small villages deep in the jungles of the land. Several have reported visiting the Isle of Endless Night. There are places in this land where the barrier between Ilhuicatl and the Mortal Realm is thin, and in those places travelers are able to pass through the veil. Gates to Metztli’s realm appears mundane, a dark cave or a spring deep in the jungle. They lie their head down for a rest by the spring, or follow a light deep within the cave, to emerge in the Isle of Endless Night. These ventures cannot last long, however. If a mortal is to fall while exploring Ilhuicatl, they will awaken where they entered. Great beasts stalk the land, shadowy figures that lurk in the darkest jungles and the deepest lakes. Some sources of Kha’ lore tell that these beasts were created by Metztli to test her people even in the afterlife. Others say they are servents of Absyyl intruding upon the realm. Whatever their origin, any Kha’ that finds itself in Ilhuicatl is bound to encounter one of the beasts. The Night of Temoatlahuilli: “There is but one thing the Priesthood fears. The Night When the Moon Dies, Temoatlhuilli, for when Muuna’ leaves the sky, the souls of the fallen take up her battle. We do not fear for our lives, for they are in good hands, but for the lives of those who are lost in the battle. There are worse things beyond death, I fear…” ~The Dead-Sky Scrolls | Islands in the Darkness Though there is peace to be found in the afterlife, there is also danger in living with the Moon-Mother. Once a lunar cycle, the moon vanishes from the sky; Metztli leaves the Kharajyr for a night to rest and replenish her strength. In her absence, the Kharajyr of Ilhuicatl are tasked with continuing her eternal struggle against the Enemy, Abyssl. This is known as the Night of Temoatlahuilli, or the Night of the Fading Moon. Temoatlahuilli is an especially holy night to the Kharajyr. It is a night of fear and mourning, for many spirits fall in the battle against the Enemy. When the soul of a Kharajyr dies in Ilhuicatl, they are forgotten. There is nothing else beyond the Isle of Endless Night, and so their name is wiped from memory. It is Abyssl’s greatest victory over Metztli, to wipe one of her creation from the earth, so ceremonies are headed by the Priesthood to lend strength to the Kharajyr of Ilhuicatl. The Well of Moonlight, Metztli’s Intervention: “Ja’Sahra knew nothing more after her vision. She was enraptured by the light that struck the Moonpool, and her eyes lit a radiant white. Her voice deepened, and she spoke, “Follow Rameethar. Raise boats and set to sea like those long dead once did. Flee this land, do not listen to Gazardiel, for he is of the Sun and a servant of the Enemy.” ~Ja’Sahra | The Guidance of the Goddess After the creation of Ilhuicatl, Metztli turned her gaze back to her children. She was shocked to discover that in her absence, tragedy has fallen upon her people. The Kharajyr Empire was falling apart at the seams as a plague swept through her people. The disease resisted all that the Kharajyr attempted to treat it. It spread like wildfire, a curse from the Enemy most likely, as it spread only amongst Metztli’s children. There was nothing they could do to combat the plague, so the goddess took it upon herself to fix her children's troubles once more. Metztli roamed Ilhuicatl for many cycles, searching for a place to begin her new creation. Eventually she found what she sought, a shallow lake deep in the mountains. She stood at the edge of the water, and raised a knife of stone to her hand. In one swift motion, Metztli cut her hand open, and spilled her blood into the pool. The waters began to glow, infused with the blood of a divine. The lake took on a fraction of Metztli’s holy energy, the same energy that has created the Kha’, and gave her a window through which to see her children. As Metztli shed her blood into the waters, a fraction of her power was lost. That power is housed in the swirling waters of her occulus, and remains inaccessible to her. After realizing she could not reclaim what she has sown, Metztli taught the oldest and wisest of her creation how to harness the energy produced by the Well. This is how the first practicioners of Muun’Trivazja came to learn the art. They were taught by the goddess herself through dreams and visions. This creation became know as the Well of Moonlight to the denizens of Ilhuicatl, and is the lense through which Metztli sees the world and the echo of her voice in times of trouble. Through this creation, Metztli is able to reach into the minds of her children and speak through them without fear of becoming mortal. These interactions between Daemon and Mortal are, however, unnatural. The messages are vague and cryptic, and never last long. Meaning is distorted, and much of the communication is left for faith to interpret. The First Moonpool: “The priesthood grew fat and corrupt, gorged like carrion on the Moon-Mothers gift. They became points of worship themselves, as Kharajyr turned to them for guidance instead of looking to Metztli. The Moon-Mother knew something had to be done, lest her people close their eyes and block their ears to their creator once more…” ~The Dead-Sky Scrolls | The First Priesthood As the first of her Sages learned to control the power of the Well, Metztli set them to cure the plague that had decimated her people. The priests did so with ease, using their new powers as easily as they would their own limbs. This caused Metztli to worry. She saw her Sages rising, becoming points of worship themselves. The people looked up to them instead of to her, and they grew arrogant with their new powers. So Metztli walked once more among the Isle, gathering with her a great crowd of Kharajyr. They walked to the peak of the mountain, and Metztli turned their eyes to the Well: “See how my children have turned from me. They have grown complacent and arrogant, gorged from feasting on my gift. I have been shunned by my creation before, I will not allow it to happen again!” Metztli roared out her anger, a cry that shook the Isle. She picked up the stone knife, still dark with her blood, and hurled it deep into the waters. The torrent of energy that had once flowed from the Well to the Sages was severed. Metztli turned once more to the gathered Kha’ and spoke: “I will leave the watching to you, wisest of the wise. No longer will the priesthood draw their gifts directly from my creation; They have lost that honor. Instead they will draw from their own bodies, using only what they can hold. No longer will they forget me, for when their stores run dry, they must come crawling back to my temple.” And with that, Metztli reached through the Well and touched the waters in Her temple. They began to glow, a dim reflection of the Well. A bond was created, not between Metztli and her children, but between the Well and the water. From then on, priests would draw from these Moonpools, and would never again forget their creator and the gift she had given them.