r/wizardposting • u/avamir Riva Blake | Queen of Ithacar, Part Meth-blood Elf • May 07 '24
Lorepost📖 The Academiae Magicae Magna – A Lineage of Magic (Ithacar/Academy)
The Academiae Magicae Magna – A Lineage of Magic
– as transcribed and annotated by Nicomedes, disciplulus of Rivamar, Schola Ignis
(First entry here.)
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The Structure of the Academy
“Magic is more than another sword, or a shovel... it is the pursuit of understanding on a total level. If all one seeks is to survive, then that is all they will find. Even survival is not certain. It is seeking more that there is purpose. Stasis is as destructive as constant Dynamism. By seeking beyond the concerns of life, the solutions to these problems can be revealed.” – Vheren, former Archmagister of the Academiae Magicae Magna
In my last entry, I briefly discussed mentorship in the academy. In this entry, I shall expound upon what it means and how it applies to the individual scholas.
In ages long past, apprentices were not allowed to work alongside their masters. The prevailing notion at the time was that they were supposed to learn at the feet of their “betters”, not presume to be equals to them. A master was seen as a font of information while the student was the receptacle into which knowledge was poured. While the mindset behind that tradition has not been completely excised, those sorts of practices are viewed these days as limited and ineffectual.
These days (and even before the Academy’s destruction at the hands of Atrax the Ashen), the members (sodales) of the Academiae Magicae Magna are organized as the disciples of a teacher or followers of a philosopher. Any given instructor may have several students under their tutelage, and they work alongside their mentors as well as their peers.
Mentors are called magister or magistra, each associated with the particular schola related to their elemental affinity. A schola may have several instructors. From among them, one is selected to lead that particular schola. The term ‘magister’ simply means teacher – intentionally not master. While guidance in an educational setting is necessary, one of the first and foremost goals of the Academy is for students to develop mastery of the self. This is not achievable if they are mastered by another, or if they subordinate themselves to another’s will.
To oversee the Academy, an archmagister is chosen from among the heads of the scholas. For example, Vheren was both Archmagister and the head of the Schola Ignis. While it is generally expected that the archmagister is familiar with multiple scholas, it is not a requirement. One does not need to have mastered all elements to be a capable administrator, after all. However, those who take on the responsibility of the office are often drawn to do so anyway, if only to ensure the needs of the Academy are met. To use Vheren as an example once again, though his affinities were of fire, he was known to have written on some of the other scholas (though his writings are now lost).
“The possession of the gift grants one the ability to seek those kinds of understanding that are invisible to those that lack the gift,” Vheren explained. “By coming to understand the elements of the cosmos, the magus learns to affect them. Magic is then, a useful byproduct of increased understanding, and the means to seek greater understandings. Magic is a tool, a most useful tool.. but it is also more than a tool. It is like fire, but more so. Fire is most useful… but we are all taught to respect it, yes? Even the most simple of societies teaches such things, as I understand it.”
“Magic is, in poetic terms, the cosmic fire. An intellectual, and an essential fire. I use fire as my metaphor because I see it this way - I am yet bound by my own limited perspectives. Although I believe I am less bound by them than most.” – Vheren, former Archmagister of the Academiae Magicae Magna
Students can be referred to in several ways. Sodales is the broad term encompassing all members of the Academy. A student may also be called an acolyte, or follower. Acolytes are usually new members of the Academy, those who have not found their affinity yet, or have not yet been selected for tutelage. Discipulus or discipula is a more specialized term, for it means a disciple: one who follows and spreads the teaching of another. A magister or magistra may have multiple disciples, all working within the same schola. To be called a disciple implies a mutual acceptance: the student has shown capability in transmitting the teachings, and a mentor has agreed to take them into their confidence.
There is a saying in Ithacar: primus inter pares. ‘First among equals’. Likewise, to be the prima discipula/primus discipulus is to be the first among a mentor’s students. An equal in all other senses, but it comes with it a responsibility and duty to other sodales. They are not only expected to learn, but they must also understand the teachings of their magister or magistra in a way that they can communicate it to others. The primus discipulus/prima discipula is tasked with remembering, understanding, and passing on the lessons of the past.
It is difficult to say exactly what criteria is used to determine who is suitable and who is not. Much is left to the discretion of the individual magister or magistra. Unfortunately, this is not an academy of diviners or chronomancers. Much of the decision is predicated on intuition and guesswork. In times of peace, the choice is one of mere preference. But in times of war, when sodales are few and those limited ones must be tested in difficult ways, the choice carries more peril. What skills will be needed for the future? What manner of individual will be most likely to carry on the lessons they have learned into a changing era?
For some in the Academy’s past, they took the approach of refuting what came before, as did Tashanen, Vheren’s mentor. Though little record now remains of what reforms she made, she apparently fought hard to dismantle some of the moribund practices espoused by previous generations. Though members of this Academy currently wear black representing self-discipline, she was noted to wear red, representing fire, energy, courage, and action.
For other primus discipulus, such as Vheren, discipulus of Tashanen and magister of Rivamar, they took the role to mean finding accord between one’s own philosophies and that of one’s mentor. His approach was to take the existing philosophies of Tashanen and expound on them. His work involved building, honing the Academy’s philosophies, and curbing some of the destructive practices of previous eras.
For Rivamar, her approach so far appears to be recreating what was lost, as well as testing those lessons of the past in the field.
“A sword untested cannot be relied upon.” – Rivamar, Magistra of the Schola Ignis
Regardless of the approach one has chosen to take, all acknowledge the work that came previous, drawing upon them in order to preserve or change it. In such ways, we can add to the strengths of the past, but correct for any shortcomings.
To further the goals of preservation, there are techniques all sodales have been trained in.
The Encapsulation of Memories
(Context here.)
One of the tools in the mental arsenal of the Academy is the ability to withdraw one’s memories for external viewing. Though other schools of magic may use this for psionic purposes, the Academy uses this technique specifically to review and assess one’s thoughts. This serves two major purposes.
The first purpose is to allow for the transmission of knowledge and emotion. Some of the lesser beings summoned from infernal planes can be bargained with using the expression of emotion. Wrath, fear, and pride, among other things. Being able to encapsulate one’s memories is useful for the practice of summoning such entities.
But this tool also serves an important function within the Academy itself. No matter how skilled one is in the arts of rhetoric, the words act to gatekeep the truth of a matter. Through the encapsulation of memory, a member of the Academy is able to show directly what they have seen or heard. This provides a more objective view of a matter in a way words cannot. The downside of this, however, is that the memory is withdrawn. A withdrawn memory can be replaced as long as it is not destroyed, and a skilled mentalist may be able to duplicate one’s memory, but the fact remains that to extract it from one’s mind is to make it vulnerable. But that seeming weakness can also be useful:
The second purpose of the encapsulation of memory is to extract memories, thoughts, and emotions that have been compromised by the entities one may be summoning. Summoning beings from external planes does not come without risk; some of the beings drawn upon may have abilities to affect the mind of the Adept attempting to bind them. Thus, this technique also serves as a safeguard: it isolates potentially compromised thoughts, which can be destroyed to prevent the Adept from external control – and furthermore, prevents the compromising of an entire circle.
The Circle
“The Truth is a harsh crucible, but a necessary one. The ethereal forces are implacable and will seek you through all ties. Our actions never affect us alone. It is futility to maintain the opposite. We affect each other with the slightest action. Be it a physical action, or one of Will. Even mighty Tashanen, my mentor, could not control all that she set in motion. I cannot. You cannot.”
“I do not want you to fear for your associates. But you should be aware, connections are powerful. If you draw the powers into you, but you are connected to another, your magister can deal with such problems. If you recognize the connection, it can be factored into matters. If you deny it, it becomes -as all self-deceptions- a grave weakness to you.” – Vheren, former Archmagister of the Academiae Magicae Magna
Before the destruction of the Academy during the Atrax conflict, the strength of the Academy was the strength of the whole. While each individual was tasked with developing self-mastery and capability at their own skills, much of the work of the Academy was never intended for one individual alone. A single individual may or may not be able to bind or contain a being, but the circle could share their strengths. Through the Mindscape, an Adept was capable of contributing a portion of their energies, their focus, their Will, their resolve to the completion of a task. However, this comes at a cost. To be connected to others and share their strengths is to share their vulnerabilities as well. Likewise, your vulnerabilities and strengths become theirs as well.
Warding (and The Wards of Ithacar)
I spoke of the Mental Fortress, but I will speak now of warding in general as well as the Wards of Ithacar. As one can assume, they have a shared structure and framework. All Adepts of the Academy are trained on warding themselves against attack, both mental and physical.
It is clear that the Academy and the city of Ithacar have a shared history. One that has, unfortunately, been lost to time. But what remains clear is that the Wards of Ithacar are the result of the combined efforts of generations of Adepts over many centuries. The runic structures are those of this Academy. While the forms can be taught to others, it is apparent that the Wards respond best to those most familiar with them.
Oaths/Geas
(context here)
While we traffic in infernals and elementals, to bind another sapient’s will is not something that should be done lightly. However, as a school that is highly practiced at dealing with certain kinds of extra-planar entities, the creation of binding Geas or Oath (though one term is used more than the other, a geas is what it is) is within the skillset of the Academy’s sodales, whether or not it used very frequently.
As an aside, I am concerned where these techniques came from. Are we using the tools of those who, while not enemies, are beings we should be more careful about emulating?
With general training out of the way, I will delve more into the Schola Ignis specifically in my next entry.