OMENSWORN: MAGIC OF AYOTHA

NIGHT OF THE VACANT THRONE: magic of ayotha

The world is a fragmented, ruined shell of what it once was, and magic is what ensures it stays that way. In Ages past, before the Night of the Vacant Throne -- when mankind and the other races of Ayotha were given the chance to meet a sliver of what it was that they had foolishly called their Gods -- the world followed the rules set out for it at its creation. Arcanery, in a very generous sense of implying it existed at all, was only a theoretical, philosophical exercise, conducted in meeting halls and lounges by societies that simply enjoyed dressing their social circles in a different kind of trapping. It did not exist; not merely as the world sees it now, in this broken age of horrors, but at all, and when it did arrive, it did so on the wings of nightmares.

Magic is not some mystical recipe its practitioners follow on a day-to-day basis to casually manipulate the world around them; while it affects very real results in the world around it, these results are consequences of another reality being imposed upon ours and causing the one we live in to shatter, albeit in -- at least hopefully -- a controlled fashion. As far as scattered records can ascertain, the application of this knowledge came at the hands of the humans of Ayotha first, as most of their peers and the other races struggled not just to rebuild but to survive in the lloigor-wracked wasteland that was once a comparatively peaceful, fertile world. After the Night of the Vacant Throne, rumors of uncovered writings which allowed real magic, real power, to be channeled through a dedicated practitioner and out into the world. These writings were collected in an utterly forbidden grimoire that came to be known as the Black Book, a tome with many speculated origins. Some say the Book is a legitimately living, sentient other, alien and conscious entity with unknown and sinister purposes. Others say that it exists simultaneously in other times, other places, other worlds, and exists conterminously to spread its influence in the past, present, and future all.

​What is incontrovertible, however, is that the following of parsed and translated rituals found in this book or copies of it has wrought unmistakable horror upon the world and those in it. While the Night of the Vacant Throne was responsible for the destruction of cities, towns, and life, the magic found in the Black Book is responsible for the corruption of what remains and what has been built to try and effect repairs upon those shattered remnants. While there is real power to be found in the practice of these rituals, the overwhelming vast majority that even know of the existence of the Black Book are far from willing to pay the cost of not just their own sanity, but that of their friends, loved ones, and fellow men. Every so-called spell cast brings Ayotha closer to a tremulous reality merged with that of wherever the grimoire truly came from, and even amongst the universally loathed practitioners, all but the maddest can recognize that that would bode very, very poorly for our world and those living in it. Most do not know of the intricacies of magic, of course, but they know enough and have heard enough of rumors to wish to stamp it out where it exists. People have been strung up, burned, tied, and quartered, even tortured to death over days over mere mention of witchcraft, and this is the case through almost all true civilization. There exist, of course, esoteric societies, occasional outposts, even whole races of people who feel differently, but these people are outside of their own universally reviled as destroyers and corruptors of the highest order, and they are ruthlessly hunted and slain by those who catch wind of them. Only in the vast, far reaches of the untamed world is this viewpoint ever relaxed, and even then, it would still be a poor idea to reveal oneself -- fear is the most powerful motivator of violence.

The Black Book

HOW MAGIC MANIFESTS IN THE WORLD

Magic is horrific and corrupt, even healing magic faces the same stigma and with good reason. The Slender Crown drew magic with him when broke through into the world with disastrous results. Once upon a time the use of the Black Book was required to use magic, but as the Slender Crown's influence spreads magic is becoming increasingly easier to use. This is by the Crown's design. These are EXAMPLES. Spells can manifest in different ways but it’s never subtle. Eldritch energy and power is the theme behind the powers. Ask players how their spells manifest (just remind them of the origin of the magic itself. They can probably come up with something cool - Please no stupid cat ear shit. This isn't your favorite anime.)

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• Magic is NOT subtle. There is no "hidden" casting of spells in the setting.

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• Grade Zero Spells: (Within reach) Plants, whether living or clipped, wither and die in the immediate presence of the magician. Water ceases to pour or fall, suspended in the air. Sounds become dampened and muffled. An aura of distortion appears around the caster, as if they were a mirage.

 

• Grade One Spells: (Within a room)  Objects begin to twist, curve, and fold in the presence of the magician. The aura of distortion intensifies to darken the space around the caster, and yet their own image becomes sharpened and brightened. When the magic is cast, water will turn to salt and sand. Fabrics rend as if torn by unseen claws, pages are torn from books, and a chorus of deep, piercing voices echoes the words of the magician's invocation.

 

• Grade Two Spells: (Within 150 feet) The distortion around the magician becomes like a violent quake in the air in which they are the only clear and constant vision. Bright orbs fade in and out of view above them in strange orbit. The distortion of physical objects around the caster begins to shape itself into makeshift altars, statues of figures in agony or ecstasy, and gateways, behind which can be glimpsed a maddening landscape of buildings with impossible architecture which is constantly in motion, growing and overlapping other structures contained within. Waters leak from these corrupted figures, and in the trails of those waters grows alien fauna.

 

• Grade Three Spells: (Within 1 mile) The gates of corrupted reality are flung open by a flood of golden light, which turns all shadows to the deepest dark and irradiates all that it touches with reality-corroding magical energy. The waters of Carcosa wash over the land, and bring with them the bleached bones and skulls of the nameless dead. Even the sky above is filled with such light, until the clouds become solid black and heavy with polluted rains. Twin blood red suns slowly descend from the sky above and into the waters below. as he now stands between the vulnerable world before him and the new world behind him. Spires of impossible height and structures of impossible angle hang in the air like phantom projections, and with each step he takes, he advances its conquest.

 

• Grade Four Spells: (The heavens and all the earth below) The Eyes of the Harrowing Omens fall upon you.

The corruption of magic devours the hearts of men.

FACTIONS OF MAGIC: AYOTHA

These are only a few of the factions that exist in the world that relate to magic in some way.

THE GRey cabal

Most people on Ayotha, both city-dwellers and wilderness tribes, are thankfully ignorant of the alien races and cosmic evils that lurk in the world's hidden places. The secret society known as the Grey Cabal, however, is not. A band of scholars, priests, and warriors of faith constantly shore up the world's age-old defenses against forces from beyond the world of Ayotha, fighting a secret and never-ending war against unthinkable calamity. Few members of the Grey Cabal remain however, their chapter master and de facto leader Darius Solomon has lost himself to madness - calling upon many of their covenants to convene at their home fortress of Wellfallen. It was there that he and his maddening priests barred themselves and the majority of the Grey Cabal behind closed doors as they burnt the fortress down around themselves. Now very little but ash and rumor remain.

Witches and Warlocks of Eld

Arcane magic is not a simple matter of study and practice on Ayotha. Humans are born with no supernatural powers, of course, and there is no tradition of arcane scholarship among the human cultures of the continent. To master supernatural powers, a human warlock or mage must turn to non-human traditions, which involves seeking out a suitable tutor or deciphering the occult writings of some earlier race...such as the writings found in the Black Book. The Black Book is a forbidden grimoire filled with secrets not meant for man, passed down through the years from one adept to another. Some say the Book is alive and aware, an alien entity with a sinister purpose. Others say that the Book exists in many times and places at the same time. Whatever the truth, it does not bode well for the denizens of Ayotha. Those who practice magic, sacrifice much. Spells are carved into the flesh of those who wield them.

Clergy of the Infinite God

The priesthoods of Ainerth's finest cities represent a wealthy and powerful social class that jealously guards its prerogatives and secrets - especially the secrets of priestly magic. Those individuals who are initiated into the inner circles of a temple hierarchy gain access to powers that few others understand, but in return they are expected to use their status and their command of magic to advance the interests of the priesthood...and, if possible, the deity Enoch - The Infnite God.

"Foundation. The bedrock beneath existence. The fertile soil, impregnated by moonlight."

"Light dances atop the earth. Where it touches, cinder-soft turf is upturned and exposes this planet to the Sephirot. At midnight a precious conversation takes place between Malkuth and Yesod under the gaze of a hooded moon and we are the words. Our story continues to scrawl itself across the world, forever."

The Blackhand

Thieves' guilds are a fact of life in any major settlement, but the darkened streets of Gifhorn are home to guilds numbering hundreds of thieves. These huge organizations are stronger than all but the richest and most powerful noble houses of other cities, and Gifhorn guild masters think nothing of giving orders that will be obeyed by men and women a thousand miles away. To belong to a guild of Gifhorn is to belong to an army of vicious, conniving cutthroats, an army in which one can climb through the ranks by one's wits, daring, and record of success. While guild members constantly scheme for influence and position, they are quick to close ranks when some external foe insults the guild or damages its operations. After the arrival of the Slender Crown, Gifhorn was crushed under the weight of paranoid lords and maddened nobles. Even the thieves guilds suffered greatly and as a result many of them fell to ruin. Blackhand is one of the only guilds left standing. They fought to reclaim what little of Gifhorn they could, a losing battle if there ever was one. It's rumored they have one of the Harrowing Omens in their possession.