Price of Power, Sorcery (Karanduun Setting)
“I have gazed upon the endless world, and have found the truth of all. The gods and all. Spirit and all. The truth is worse than what the truth itself can tell. The truth itself is Sorcery."
- Dekano (Dean) of the Salamangkero University of Truth and Faith in Sanctuary, Metropolis of Indigo, 1101th Year of the Masked Moon or the 843th Year of Yavum's Slumber in the Age of Luminance
Sorcery is the form of supernatural aid most magic-users call upon. They all have one thing in common -- they call upon laws and realities and effects from another realm.
Kulam, is the first form of Sorcery, otherwise known as Natural Sorcery. Classes that have the Espirituwal Power Source usually practice this. Those that practice Salamangka might think this to be Witchcraft, even if their own Sorcery came from this. Another name for Sorcery is the “Folk Magic”, otherwise known as the “Primal Path" or even "The Old Way”, resonating with the first few steps of when the first few Races knew Awareness, and learned to use the power of nature to their advantage.
Kulam comes from the usage of actual items that have spiritual symbolism within them, and fusing them together or otherwise using their symbolism to their will. This power draws upon the Natural or Primal world. It draws upon the spiritual significance of things that already exist and are material, and deals with the manipulation of it through natural means, such as aging, or fermentation, or whatever else, by combining or otherwise applying.
Applying Shadowed Ashes upon yourself can cause a veil of shadow over you, for example, or otherwise the usage of a potion mixed with various dream-inducing herbs fermented with alcohol, when thrown to the ground, can induce harrowing illusions upon those who smell it.
Taruna, otherwise known as Theurgy or Spirit-calling, is the one used by many shamans and priests of the gods. Those that pull upon faith such as those in the Divine Power Source as well as those that deal with spirits in the Primal Power Source. Many katalonan call upon the power of the gods and spirits to aid them in many things.
The most common form of this is calling upon the Healing Grace of Mapulon, God of the Seasons and Health, wherein they invoke their grace and pray, alongside the application of various herbs. The other (arguably more popular and accepted form) of this is the invoking of the nature spirits to come and heal the wound, for they believed that the Gods of the Skyworld had no time for being their intermediaries. Holy Warriors -- those who fight with abilities and powers bestowed upon them by whatever God chose them -- are rarer, but also rampant. They revere the Apo and make sure their will is not unheeded, or otherwise not deterred. Sometimes, these Holy Warriors can turn upon their God, or whatever else.
Salamangka is the natural evolution and -- amusingly enough -- mixture of the two. This type of Sorcery -- otherwise known as Wizardry -- uses Natural Laws, and then invokes -- usually using prayers -- Supernatural Deities who can help them assert their will upon the world. This is calling upon powers from deep within their secret soul, and are usually the powers called upon by those in the Arcane Power Source. Their Sorcery comes from their own Souls or Bala, their own Power. It is Sorcery that only came to light when the strange peoples of the Al-Kaigian Empire arrived, bringing with them their codified knowledge of the natural world, which hierarchy and framework the Zuhayran Sages copied. Most notably, the wisest of Sages and Bards took these and fashioned an entirely new Sorcery upon them, which was based upon Symbols and Will. This form of sorcery has proven to be the most efficient and useful, for it eschewed much of the natural rituals of Natural Sorcery and the need for an intermediary of Divine Sorcery.
This has also become a Sorcery that applied itself well with the creation of new technology, as opposed to Natural Sorcery which relied on the spiritual power of Nature itself, Arcane Sorcery only bothered with the usage of these spiritual power when used with another form of technology. Thusly, from this Ships that Rose to the Air was born, from the fusing of various Sky-aspected Trinkets (bird bones, feathers, white crystals, captured steam) into an engine that harvested and then converted its power into motion energy. Other than that, here came the infamous diwa-harvester engine, that harvested the burning Bala of diwata and anito and converted them into pure energy that can be used for anything. Salamangka is the fifth branch of Natural Philosophy and Savantry, and is mostly the science of manipulating the arcane forces that exist within the world, as well as manipulating the four other branches of Natural Philosophy: Agbuhay, the study of life, Kapnayan, the study of matter and the natural world, Liknayan, the study of the forces that move everything, and Buturan.
Buturan is the study of Diwa, Spirit, the Soul, and the underlying mechanics of the universe. Buturanero are those that codified the four types of Diwa.
In the setting, especially natural philosophers, are distinguished by their titles. These titles are usually "[insert natural branch here]" and then add an "-ero" at the end.
- Agbuhayero are those that study life professionally.
- Kapanyanero are those that study Kapnayan professionally (a branch of this is Sigwasan, which is applied Kapnyan basically, and is mechanics and artifice mixed together. Those that study here are either called Mekanikos or Sigwaseros, but Mekanikos have become the more popular term. Mekanikos are (Artificers).
- Liknayanero are those that study the forces of everything. Those that study Salamangka usually major in Liknayan if they want to manipulate the natural forces of the world with their sorcery.
- Salamangkero are those that study Salamangka and practice it. To a Salamangkero, Salamangka is as much of an art as it is a science, and they usually use the four other branches of Natural Philosophy to supplant this.
Back to Main Page → 4e Homebrew → Campaign Settings → Karanduun