Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Dhe’nar Temple Caste and Sympathetic Magic

05/10/2006

One of the more frequent questions asked of Dhe’nar in GemStone is that, since they do not consider the Arkati to be truly divine beings, and often consider Arkati to be adversaries of mortals rather than worthy of worship (or even worthy of respect in some cases) then how is it that Clerics and Paladins even exist amongst the First Born, never mind seem to be granted spiritual power by the Arkati?

This, in fact, is not a puzzle to the Dhe’nar Temple Caste, because the workers of Spiritual Magic amongst the First Born operate on a different theory of magic than the younger races. While the short-lived mortals perform spiritual magic by making themselves subordinate and submissive towards their patron spirits, the Dhe’nar spiritual magicians operate under the theory of Sympathetic Magic.

Sympathetic magic is the use of images, physical objects, sounds, and other symbolic behaviors which in some way resemble the person or thing one hopes to influence. In the case of Dhe’nari members of the Temple Caste, the Arkati and their behaviors are the subjects emulated.

In other words, Sympathetic Magic is the manipulation of symbols, to create magical effects using the power of the object symbolized. If one wishes to evoke the power of Eonak, one looks/sounds/acts/thinks like Eonak. If one wishes to evoke the power of Fash’lo’nae, one does the same for him, and so on and so forth.

Dhe’nar clerics and paladins therefore draw on the power of the arkati by making themselves as similar to the Arkati in question as possible, and obtain their power in that manner. All Greater and Lesser Spirits have a “pool” of power available to and surrounding them, and Sympathetic Magic allows one to “tap” into that pool and use a portion of it as if one were the Arkati itself. Note that this similarity must be in more than just appearance. Intricate and arcane meditations are required to bring the mind of the Dhe’nar to the proper state as well. 

For a more modern analogy of the overall process, consider temporarily spoofing a network into thinking you were its proper owner, then using its resources/bandwidth briefly to accomplish some other purpose.

This is how Dhe’nar draw upon the power of the Arkati while still seeking to replace them. Instead of worshipping an Arkati, and asking it to bestow a portion of its power upon the supplicant, Dhe’nar who use spiritual magic have learned to access it without having to bend knee to the “gods” and beg.

Note that accessing the power does not automatically confer the ability to use it well, or use it at all. It still requires will, intelligence, and training to wield the power of an Arkati properly after it has been accessed. Simply “dressing up” as an Arkati does not grant you its power.

There is one more method of utilizing and Arkati’s or Lesser Spirit’s power without worshipping it, though this secondary method is much rarer. It requires making use of the Magical Law of Contagion, which is the Law that things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after the physical contact has been severed. Thus, it is possible to draw upon the power of the Arkati as a Cleric or Paladin if one has a relic that an Arkati has once been in contact with. The relic maintains a bridge between the user of magic and the Arkati whose power once touched it. This is rarer for two reasons: One, such relics are difficult to find and those that are known are heavily guarded by their owners. And two, an Arkati may take notice of the use of the relic and decide it wants its former belonging back.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Temple Caste Overview

10/09/2005

The Temple caste includes clerics, empaths, and bards. Collectively, they are referred to as the Templars.

The clerics of the Dhe’nar are not worshippers of the arkati, but rather intermediaries between the arkati, the lesser spirits (possibly including Ascended Dhe’nar), and the Dhe’nar people. Though in practice, there is little difference in the powers of Dhe’nar clerics and those from other cultures, the mindset is rather different. They see the granting of clerical power as more of a process of barter – an equal exchange of services – than as a reward for faithful servitude. It is to the Clerics that Dhe’nar come when they are in need of guidance along their path to Ascension, as it is the Clerics who are closer to the minds of the arkati than all others.

Much like everywhere else, the empaths are the healers of their people. However, there is a far more martial bent amongst Dhe’nar empaths than among those of other cultures. Rare is the group of Dhe’nar soldiers who do not have at least one empath in their ranks, trained to the same rigorous standards as their fellow warriors. In fact, the most skilled of the Dhe’nar empaths are those who become battlefield healers. The only empaths who do not accompany warriors are those still in training, those still not skilled enough to treat multiple grievous combat wounds, those elders who have retired from active combat duty, or those who are serving time away from Warrior units in order to teach the apprentices and perform the one other empath function vital to the Dhe’nar people – the delivery of children. It is this role more than any other that has secured a revered place amongst the Dhe’nar for the empaths. Many Dhe’nar empaths therefore find themselves switching between Castes at least a couple times during their lives.

The Dhe’nar bard is the lorekeeper of his people. It is the bard’s job to be the living history of the Dhe’nar, memorizing every last bit of history, geneology, and mythology of the First Born. Their training lasts longer than that of any other Dhe’nar profession, as they must commit to memory every detail of a culture that has existed for 80,000 years. Utilizing a vast variety of mnemonic devices to retain all this knowledge, the Dhe’nar Lorekeepers claim to be the first of the mortal races to have discovered the magic resident within the spoken word. However, not all Dhe’nari bards become Lorekeepers. Those who seek combat can find themselves valued in the Warrior Caste, and those who prefer to research the nature of their sound magic can find a role with the Warlock caste as well.

See the Childbirth section for more information on that particular responsibility of the Temple Caste.

Within the Temple Caste, Ascension is sought in a variety of ways. For the clerics, it is a matter of trying to comprehend the arkati through direct experience of their power. For the empaths, Ascension is sought through sacrifice. And for the lorekeepers, Ascension is a secret found buried within the mysteries of history and language.