Fractures (Facets of Reality Book 2)

by Jeremy Bullard

  "No, it wasn't," Sal said mournfully, testily. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

  The figure acknowledged Sal's question, though without turning around. His shoulders shook slightly as if sobbing... no, laughing. "I was hoping you'd be here," the man said ruefully. "Sometimes you're not." He turned to face Sal...

  ...and Sal's knees buckled almost immediately. That face! That nightmarish face! A face that had haunted his dreams for months since coming here -- the granite that had brought him here in the first place! The man in the white lab coat, with eyes that flashed, orbs of polished rock, brownish grey with black flecks throughout. It was him!

  Sal scrabbled backward, striking his back against the tent pole. "No!" The granite looked exactly the same as he had, all those weeks ago in another world.

  Except the look of anger, hatred. That wasn't there. Instead, it was replaced with deepest sympathy. It was the same face, certainly, but much softer. Why...?

  "Sal..."

  That voice. There was something about it...

  Sal's stomach lurched again as the granite's face converged with another, one that Sal was infinitely more familiar with. It was the face of a ghost, one of the lost that Sal had laid at the feet of the Highest, one of Sal's reasons for wanting to see the tyrant destroyed.

  But not a ghost. Harder, much harder, grizzled with age, but very much alive.

  It sounded like someone else's voice when Sal opened his mouth. "Keth...?"

  The elder-once-younger mage's lips turned in a bittersweet grin, and the visage of Sal's nightmares melted away. "Hey, Sal. It's been a while."

  End Book 2

  Appendix: Musings

  Archivist’s Note: The following is an excerpt from the Musings of Anreid Romal, Patriarch of the Sapphire Order from 3791 to 3813 Post Rending. Readers may note that Romal uses the Post Creation dating method, signifying his devotion to the Crafter alone, rather than the inclusion of His emissary, the Highest. Shortly after the publication of Musings, Romal was put to death for Heresy. But rather than destroy this document, the Highest saw fit to have it catalogued in the Archives. Though heretical in some of its teachings, the text as a whole is an excellent compilation of the known workings of mana, and is used frequently as a discourse to those distrustful of the arcane, or those who are simply curious.

  Though a very real part of our world, gemstone magic is often baffling to mundanes -- people who are not sensitive to the pure forces of creation. Bearing them especially in mind, I will attempt to shed light on those things which are arcane in nature.

  Magic, in essence, is the ability to effect change in one’s surroundings by way of mentally controlling -- or “wielding” -- the flow of the pure force of creation, known to mages as mana. The effect of such spells can be positive or negative, strong or weak, temporary or permanent, all depending on the caster’s intent and abilities.

  But what is magic, really? How did it come into being? What different types of magic are there? These are questions I will attempt to answer.

  Origins

  For millennia, the origins of magic have been lost in the murk of scientific conjecture and popular mythology. It is a subject that reaches to the very foundation of nature itself, and yet is so controversial that the mere study of the subject has led to the imprisonment, or even execution, of scholars would dare explore it. I myself expect to receive much the same treatment following the completion of this discourse, so I shall endeavor to make it as thorough as possible, in the hopes that some future scholar may continue my work.

  To research the origins of magic is to research the origins of our world, so let us start there. The history of the world is revealed, at least in part, in our traditions and legends. As all Archivists know, most legends have their genesis in actual events. Just how accurate the legend is, however, is left to speculation and reason. Or physical evidence, as I shall point out in due course.

  According to the priests, the Crafter created the universe in a collision of elements -- Life, Energy, Fire, Water, Matter, and Darkness. This collision resulted in the forming of our world. By the Crafter’s design, the elements were limited to the physics of the world that they had created. Darkness was the first to be set in place, carving space out of the nothingness that preceded it. It birthed the dimensions of length, width, and height, making it possible for creation to take shape. Matter filled these dimensions, forming the dirt and rock that is the foundation of the world upon which we live, and her sister, the moon. Water moved in to occupy the trenches and low places, becoming the seas and rivers, and surrounded the planet in a blanket of air. Fire provided light and warmth by way of the sun, who commissioned the moon and the stars to reign in his slumber. Life, without a true medium of its own, begged the cooperation of Matter, and together they formed the plants, animals, and later, mankind. Energy, seeing all was in place, bound creation with physical laws, and itself became the medium of mana. To commemorate the creation of the universe, Matter gifted each element with its own totem gemstone, imbued with the characteristics of its represented element. The Crafter looked upon the whole of creation and saw it was to His liking.

  The world flourished, as did her people. In time, they learned how to tap into the mana that surrounded them. They wielded the pure force of creation, and through it they mastered the elements. This also was to the Crafter’s liking. But rather than use mana for the betterment of all mankind, our ancestors wielded for their own selfish reasons. The Crafter, disgusted with the vanity of the mages, sent punishment upon our world in the form of the Rending of Heaven and Earth, alternately known simply as the Rending, or the Day of the Crafter’s Tears, or Ysra Tuk’sheol, or any of a number of other names depending on where the tale is told and by whom.

  Like a bowstring pulled too tightly, the mana field snapped, laying waste to the world as it was known up to that point. The snap shook the earth to its core, dramatically altering the face of Te'ra overnight. In the space of no more than a few hours, continents sank, new landmasses rose, countless millions perished. The aftershocks of the quake plagued the scant survivors for weeks.

  But those who did survive found a truth almost as terrifying as death itself -- they could no longer tap into the pure force of creation. For the first time in centuries, mankind was at the mercy of the elements.

  Not all of the survivors were bereft of power, however. Some mages crawled from the rubble, only to open mutant eyes on a very different world. Those who had remained sensitive to mana found that they were only able touch one of the elements, and that their eyes had taken on the likeness of its totem gemstone, or soulgem, as it was now called.

  Despair and jealousy festered among the former mages, who were now cut off from what they considered to be the very essence of life. They looked upon these new gemstone mages with a mixture of awe and disgust. Jealousy eventually gave way to outrage, and the newly mundane survivors lashed out, attacking those who could still do what they themselves could not. But the new magic was different from the old, as alien as the world had become. Mages were forced to relearn the ways of mana. Thus, for a time, they were helpless. If not for the leadership of one man, an enigmatic mage known only as the Highest, the world might never have recovered from the chaos that followed the Rending.

  Or so the mythologies tell us. The few history books that survived the Rending, however, tell a very different tale.

  These dusty tomes, disputed by some as heretical fictions, depict our world as being much older than the six thousand years we believe it to be. Rather, they suggest that the ancient world was one ruled by technology, not magic. Instead of wielding the elements, Man built tools to harness them. Even today, ancient artifacts litter the display cases of the Archives in Bastion, artifacts that may once have utilized energy or fire or what have you.

  According to the texts, our ancestors were relentless in their pursuit of knowledge, leaping from discovery to discovery, caring not for the wisdom that must accompany all great advancements.


  The hunger for knowledge led to competition between kingdoms, each one frantic to match its neighbor strength for strength. This invariably led to war. One such war was ignited by the birth of mana.

  Rather than a byproduct of creation, the texts describe mana as being a creation of man, a field which was attuned to and harnessed by the soulgems. Though outrageously expensive, the technology was revolutionary, and soon it swept the world. Terminal diseases were vanquished. Labor grew less taxing, more efficient. The production of various goods increased, and at a fraction of the cost. Seemingly, man had reached a pinnacle of knowledge.

  As was inevitable, the technology fell into the hands of the military. Wars for power broke out, followed by wars of vengeance. For almost two thousand years, the world was ravaged by violence, with every kingdom vying for ultimate control of the technology, and with it, the whole of Te'ra.

  Fearing that the destruction of mankind was imminent, a handful of leaders met secretly to discuss the possibility of halting the downward spiral of worldwide violence. They agreed that the world they knew was completely dependent on mana, and concluded that the world would not know true and lasting peace so long as mana was a private commodity. So in a moment of foolishness, they turned the technology on Te'ra itself.

  The plan had seemed sound to them. They would alter their magnetic field -- an energy barrier that surrounds and protects Te'ra -- in such a way that it would actually become a self-sustaining mana field. These leaders assured the populace that the field would continue to perform its natural tasks as it always had, and that the change would present no danger to the world or its people.

  They implemented their plan, thus causing the Rending of Heaven and Earth.

  When a cart is rolling downhill, it tends to maintain its downward momentum. The driver may apply the breaking mechanisms, thus stopping the cart. As the cart slows, the driver feels his body’s tendency to continue forward. This is known as inertia. This same principle may be applied to the Rending to better understand its effects. Te'ra had, until this point, been ruled by a certain set of natural laws. When the change in the magnetic field took place, it upset the current laws of nature, remaking them to fit the purposes of the magic acting upon it. In doing so, it brought about a series of cataclysms, nature in revolt. What emerged from the devastation is the world we know today, the magic with which we shape it, and the eyes through which we view it.

  Which of these tales are true, if either are? Was our world really formed in a collision of elements, or forged in a forgotten war? Is magic a natural reality, or an invented one? Are those ancient texts in the dark recesses of the Archives nothing more than bards’ tales, or are they the history of a world that once was? We may never know. One might as well question the existence of the Crafter, or the words of the Prophets.

  In my research, however, I have found one personal truth. It is the misuse of technology, not technology itself, that is harmful to ourselves and the world around us. And if such technology is in our past, one wonders why we neglect a return to that knowledge. Running from knowledge does not save us from the danger it may present. Rather, it leaves us unprepared to face the danger if ever it arises again. One of the ancient texts poses a similar thought in the words of a philosopher of their day – “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

  The Soulgems

  Magical ability is determined by the soulgem that a given mage is attuned to. This attunement is seemingly random. A ruby mother and ruby father may produce an emerald child, or a sapphire, or even a mundane. By the same token, a mundane couple may produce a potential mage. As yet, there is no way of knowing who will become a mage, or what soulgem they will be conformed to. (That issue, Ascension, will be addressed later in this treatise.)

  As stated previously, there are six factors recognized as creational elements. They are the elements of Life, Energy, Fire, Water, Matter, and Darkness. These elements are represented by the soulgems Emerald, Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Granite, and Obsidian respectively. It is interesting to note that the names of the elements and their corresponding soulgems are capitalized when referred to in its proper form, but minimized when referred to in its familiar, much the same way that “father” and “Father” are. This is an odd custom, and one which has no clear origin. But this is mainly for the sake of propriety anyway, and has little bearing on the subject matter at hand.

  Now then…

  A mage is commonly referred to by his soulgem alignment, either by the generic term “Tile”, or by the special term “Order”, which denotes a formal training at the Academy of the Four Orders in Bastion. With the exception of those of the Granite Tile, a mage might be known alternatively by his “Rank”, if he is sworn to military service under the Highest. Generally this involves training at an Earthen Rank training camp, such as the Camp of the Unmarked in Bastion, and receiving the tattoo of the Segmented Fist in the forehead as certificate of training, though it is common for raw recruits to be promoted on the battlefield without having gone for formal training. These are also referred to as Rank, but are looked down upon by other Ranks as they are Unmarked. Granites, finally, are almost always pressed into military service, even against their will, and are referred to as the “Granite Guard”.

  Each soulgem is unique from the others. The abilities and weakness of each soulgem are distinct, and have a tendency to affect the personality of the mage.

  1. Emerald

  The soulgem of Life, Emerald, bestows upon its wielder the power to effect physical change to an object, to heal, mutate, or destroy. In order to heal or mutate, the emerald’s magic must be used either directly or indirectly on a living subject. As life must already be present to effect change, Emerald is unable to bring true life to the dead, contrary to outlandish superstition.

  As Life needs the medium of Matter in order to manifest itself, the magic of Emerald is closely related to that of Granite. Likewise, Emerald has the ability to destroy animate or inanimate objects, though to a lesser extent than Granite, and at a much slower rate. Emerald magic is, without a doubt, the most versatile of the gemstone arts.

  Offsetting its versatility, however, is its susceptibility to magical attacks. Emerald magic may be unraveled by any of the other magics, most effectively by Granite.

  Physically, the emerald mage tends to be hearty and hale. Their gemstone eyes are a vibrant green, which tints their primary vision. Their secondary vision is based on varying degrees of vitality or decay, though they tend to “sense” more than “see” a subject’s state of health.

  Emerald mages, by virtue of their healing abilities, tend to be empathic, compassionate. They abhor death, and passionately resist the use of force, exhausting all other options before finally resorting to violence. Those of the Emerald Rank, however, see death as an inevitable part of life, and are able to dispense it accordingly.

  2. Amethyst

  Electricity is the overriding medium of the amethyst soulgem, though potential and kinetic energies are also accessible to an amethyst mage. The amethyst mage has the uncanny ability to move things magically, from gusts of wind to levitating stagecoaches, depending on the extent of their skill.

  These mages are known by their enchanting violet colored gemstone eyes, a favorite among poets and minstrels. Their secondary vision is also highly prized. As they are sensitive to all forms of energy, amethyst mages have the ability to see through solid objects, to varying degrees. For example, an amethyst may be employed as a battlefield medic, diagnosing broken bones in the absence of an emerald mage. Or they may be used as scouts, as they are able to see through hills and foliage to a certain extent, thus spotting ambushes lying in wait.

  The magic of Energy is very resilient, unraveled only by Matter, though an amethyst might find his magic turned against him by a knowledgeable sapphire.

  Amethysts tend to be rather dynamic, outgoing, adventurous. Rest or inactivity is almost unheard of among these mages, who are constantly jumping from pro
ject to project in an effort to keep themselves occupied. When forced to remain still and silent, their attention wanders, making them difficult students. But the teacher who is able to capture the attention of an amethyst often finds a prodigy.

  3. Ruby

  Perhaps the strongest, most volatile magic is that of Ruby, the soulgem which embodies the destructive element of Fire. Heat, combustion, and demolition are the ruby mage’s forte, making them favorites in the Ranks. Their blood red gemstone eyes inspire uncommon valor in their comrades and terror in their enemies. The ruby’s second sight is without peer, seeing the very heat of an opponent’s body, even in the dead of night, and they are able to distinguish one heat signature from another.

  Strong against every other type of magic, ruby spells may be smothered only by a sapphire mage, or in some cases, a granite.

  Rubies are characterized by their passion. Often overzealous, a ruby must maintain strictest discipline at all times, for fear of losing control. They are lusty, quick tempered, and fiercely loyal.

  4. Sapphire

  Sapphire embodies the element of Water. As such, a sapphire mage may be found in virtually any community in the world, performing such duties as purifying water, freezing perishable goods, or hydrating the ground for crops. They are highly sought after in mining towns, fishing villages, and mountain outposts for the sapphire ability to produce clean, breathable air in almost any environment -- even underwater. In fact, sapphire mages are so necessary to the nomadic desert tribes of the Mandible that many mages have, in essence, achieved royal status.