The Celesticon: Prologue
Heritage Monographs, the official press of the Moon
Mage Guild, is pleased to offer the fifty-third
amended reprinting of the Celestion. It has been a
long standing tradition to carefully maintain and
recopy this tome since the time of Empire, and it is
perhaps the only book that survives from those days
in such a unique fashion.
During the passing years, honored enchanters have
added their own comments and researches to the
Celesticon, proving some old processes accurate and
disproving others. Where others have added comments,
the amendment's author and date preface the addition
itself. Unlabeled paragraphs are by the original
author. Like many other Moon Mages young and old, we
at Heritage Monographs consider the Celesticon to be
the premier resource of enchanters young and old.
Due to the immense wealth of information stored in
the Celesticon as well as the sheer size of the tome,
we have broken this reprinting of the great book into
smaller and more manageable portions. This volume
contains the unabridged prologue in its entirety.
A short note about the original author of the
Celesticon, Carem Mozcele -- During the height of the
Empire and the "Golden Age" of the Celestial Compact,
Carem was one of the premier pioneers in the arts of
enchanting. A devoted member of the Assembly of
Xibar, she was responsible for the creation of the
now outdated spells Moonlight Invocation and Enchant
True. Bear in mind that much of the Celesticon was
written from her perspective.
PROLOGUE:
On this, the third Akroday in the month of the
Lirumian Jay, year three hundred and ninety-three IY,
I begin the task of writing what I hope will be a
comprehensive guide to document my enchanting
discoveries. I encourage others to amend these pages
as the years pass, such that our work will live long
after we are dust and bones. It is our legacy which
we must preserve so that our grandchildren can rise
to the heights we can only dream of now.
Lunar enchanting is alive and well, even half a
century after that shameful Timbleton debacle which
threatened to destroy the guild and swallow its
knowledge forever. Even within the now healthy
guild, enchanting is a rare art. Some claim it was
not created but rediscovered. Signs in ancient ruins
imply that sigils have been used as far back as
twenty five centuries ago.
I have transcribed all my knowledge on sigils in a
later chapter. Since sigils can not be scribed onto
paper, an indepth discussion of their nature is
precluded. I will have to assume that the reader is
already familiar with their basic nature, but have
included what I can in chapter five.
AMENDMENT -- Celestian Prescillea Brimblade, 662 IY:
I have a bittersweet addition to this remarkable book
with an incredible discovery: There is indeed a way
to store sigils. I have added my detailed notes to
Carem's chapter on sigils. My only hope is that this
survives the current political strife, looting and
book burning. I pray for my descendants and hope
their lives are better than ours.
Those familiar with sigils are probably aware of the
unusual lengths we must endure to create a magical
tool capable of scribing them properly onto items.
This will most likely remain common knowledge
throughout the years to come, but I feel obliged to
include it in the Celesticon. Despite the effort to
make an Enchanter's Burin, I still do not consider it
to be a proper enchantment and so I'll place its
creation here in the prologue rather than taking up
valuable space later in the book.
First, a definition. Those who have etched metal or
stone are already familiar with a mundane burin. We
don't really know where, when or by whom the first
Enchanter's Burin was made, but they are similar in
design. Ours rely on a more involved creation
process.
The first stage is to gather an appropriate material
to make a handle. Some trimming may be involved,
clearing it of bark or stray angles. Many things
make good handles depending on whether you are
interested more in quality, sturdiness or aethestics:
Hooves, limbs, and even carapaces.
To begin, the material must be soaked in day old
shlodaen extract when the acid is at its weakest but
not yet inert. A good washing follows, since the
handle-to-be must then be boiled in a pure oil and
free of all the shlodaen's acid. The handle must be
sanded and polished until smooth afterwards. When
this is complete, at least seven Butcher's Vein
mushrooms must be gathered while blooming, their
juices rendered, and then applied to the handle's
ends. A choice spell is then used to energize the
object.
AMENDMENT -- Guildmaster Prime Darrial Braun, 127 AV:
We have found that the sigil of Yavash, if scribed on
an appropriately shaped and sized item, will
eliminate the need to soak, boil and further prepare
the material for carving. Oddly, and much to the
Inquistor Mages' chagrin, ribs work well as do the
horns of certain creatures.
AMENDMENT -- Magus Elvaka Kre'Domar, 339 AV:
Ironically, the teeth of the angiswaerd which so
heavily infest the unrestored portions of Throne City
make good handles. We're sure that the angiswaerd do
not appreciate this irony.
AMENDMENT -- Magus Elvaka Kre'Domar, 345 AV: Imbue
works wonders at this stage, acting just like a
Yavash sigil.
The now readied material is carved, which involves
tapering the tip and notching the handle to hold a
gem. Predictably, you would then affix the handle
with a good, clear gemstone. I've found that
woodsmen are quite good at handle carving, being
naturally adept at such things -- if you can show
them how to do it properly.
Several types of sigils will bind the finished
product, and the Lunar energy is necessary to create
what I call "shunts." These shunts direct the power
of scribed sigils, channeling it like an aquaduct
does water. Both the Wren and the Nightingale are
useful for this, and, once bound, complete the
project. Be warned that the pattern will eventually
deteriorate. The sudden release of the Lunar energy
when the burin's sigil patterns collapse generally
break the burin, and the enchanter will need to make
another. I recommend keeping several handy if you
are to be a serious student of the enchanting arts.
AMENDMENT -- Lady Erzebet Crowther, 356 AV: Several
other sigils also work for this final stage, with
varying effects on quality and usage. I'm shocked
that no one has noted this here in the Celesticon
before now.
There is much debate on how much is necessary to be a
devoted student of enchanting. Some of my peers
think that if you can make a burin, you are
officially an Enchanter. I completely disagree.
Burin creation is only the beginning, and making your
own is nothing more than a simple rite of passage
into the creation of magic devices. A true enchanter
is specialized like I am, having many spells at her
disposal solely to create enchantments.
To this end, I have compiled and even created spells
to assist the serious enchanter. My favorite is
Enchant True, which can energize and bind a sigil
with a single touch. Moonlight Invocation is
probably the most commonly known and used enchanting
spell, but frankly I don't care for the limitation of
only being able to use it within a Lunar Shrine.
While it has impressive effects, I prefer to be free
to wander and share information.
Trace Web is a handy spell for divination tools,
which I've outlined in great detail in a later
chapter. Its applications are awe inspiring.
Another useful spell is a more recent creation by the
esoteric G'nar Pethians known as Artificer's Eye. I
don't know much about it since I haven't had a chance
yet to toy with it, but from projects I've seen other
Enchanters complete, it will quickly become a
standard spell.
AMENDMENT -- Inquistor Magus Syorelle Thornbay, 477
IY: My own experiments warrant mention of the spell
Dazzle. Highly impressive for sigil powering.
AMENDMENT -- Lady Jacqueline Crowther, 302 AV: The
new Imbue spell replaces Enchant True, which had
horrid flaws as anyone who ever used it knows. Imbue
is functionally superior in many ways. Artificier's
Eye is now commonly referred to as the Piercing Gaze
spell.
AMENDMENT -- Enchanter Finialle Corwind, 319 AV:
Erzebet Crowther informs me that as a pleasant
surprise and coincidence, mere days after its
creation, she has found a new use for Shadows.
AMENDMENT -- Enchanter Xathvier Calvaradde, 358 AV:
I have never found Trace Web in any books, and nobody
I've talked to knows the first thing about it! I
guess the only references are here in the Celesticon.
Luckily, we have a modern equivalent to what Trace
Web was supposed to have done.
AMENDMENT -- G'nar Pethian Cryeole, Years do not
matter. Look. It is seen, and shared. This we know
from our most sacred text as shared by G'nar Peth
himself:
When He was first found and touched;
He smiled unseeing upon the blessed one.
Whispering a lone word, "Phoenix," unto his ear,
And watched as cambrinth came undone.
AMENDMENT -- Lady Erzebet Crowther, 361 AV: I am
outraged! According to the Book of Prophecies, G'nar
Peth was first "touched" ages before the existance of
the provinces, nevermind the existance of the Seven
Star Empire. Why was this information withheld from
the guild for so long!? And why is Cryeole adding it
HERE, where it is clearly inappropriate?
AMENDMENT -- Scholar Scyndoryn, 361 AL: I apologize,
Lady Crowther, for scribing this permanently in the
Celesticon, but I must question how you were allowed
by the Pethians to even look at that fabled book to
know what its contents are. Still, there is no need
for mudslinging and outrages. The Celesticon was
written for the simple goal of making sure that the
magical arts of enchanting were never lost to future
generations. I urge Heritage Monographs to keep
Cryeole's comments as they are, despite their obvious
inappropriate positioning. Let our children debate
the validity of its placement.
I have gone into much more detail in later chapters
on these spells. I feel as though I'm straying from
the purpose of this prologue. With that said, I end
this introduction. Turn to the first chapter and let
all Moon Mages add their knowledge to this tome over
time, such that future generations can stand on our
shoulders and reach the skies.
By My Hand, 393 IY
Carem Mozcele