Celesticon, The: Prologue

The Celesticon: Prologue

Foreword:

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 A devoted member of the Assembly of Xibar, she was responsible for the creation of the now outdated spells Moonlight Invocation and Enchant True.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"Moon mage" is not in the list (None, Bard, Barbarian, Cleric, Empath, Moon Mage, Necromancer, Paladin, Ranger, Thief, ...) of allowed values for the "Guild association is" property.