Maneau is a ubiquitous presence proposed to be the fuel that drives everything from magicks, sentience, and the spirit, to the existence of the soul, the divine, and the realms beyond. Many secular academic societies propose theories, and pursue research with designs on defining it as a measurable and finite substance, while many religious communities proselytize that such efforts will break Divine Providence and draw the ire and retribution of the gods. These learned societies, and the wider lay populations of the many and varied races and nations of the world, draw on ancient and mysterious myths and legends that form the foundations of their understanding, and often serve to cloud their objectives, supplanting fact with belief. Adding to these mysteries, are the many and varied ways Maneau seems to naturally manifest in the physical world; from leys, to dweomers, and to the innate spell-like abilities of several magical Denizens.
From the practiced application of magicks, to natural occurrence of magic, there is no one instance that proves, or disproves the existence of Maneau, and every race, nation, and institution defines it in accordance with their own legends, experiences, and uses.
Arcadians and Industrial Magicks
Arcadians have institutionalized the research, development, and application of Maneau far beyond that of any other society with state and private institutions producing an extensive body of peer-reviewed work. Massive infrastructure and public works projects, fueled by complex and powerful Dyson machines, support large urban populations across the empire and the state is heavily invested in the development, maintenance, and expansion of Maneauic technology.
The Royal Academe of Magicks
Main Article: The Royal Academe of Magicks
The Royal Academe of Magicks is the oldest, continually operational institution of magickal research in the world. It was founded nearly 2000 years ago during the Dacian occupation to unify and advance magickal practices with the mission to overcome the natural magic resistance of the
Elven Race. The Academe has a long tradition of producing exceptional mages and wizards and serves as the Empire's regulatory arm of the Department of Magicks.
The College of Industrial Magicks
Main Article: The College of Industrial Magicks
The College of Industrial Magicks is an independent college within the University of Arcadia, in Arcadia City, and is the Empire's premiere institution for the training and certification of the Empire's Civil Mages Corps. The college maintains branches in every region that advise and assist in the maintenance and expansion of urban magick systems and is the brain-trust of the Aver Dyson and Dyson Industry estates.
The Enigmatic Church
Main Article: Church of Enigma
The Church of Enigma is a department of the Imperial Government and governs non-secular healing and divinic interventions across the empire. The Church also works closely with the Royal Academe of Magicks to clarify and define the separation of secular and divinic spellcasting and controls the Divinic Courts which prosecute secular magicks that infringe on Church Providence.
Fortune's Gate
Main Article: Fortune's Gate
Fortune's Gate is a notorious, private wizards' college founded by the Arch-wizard, and Emperor of Arcadia, OEphandius. While the school is not part of the empire's institutional regime many graduates have advanced to prominence in academia and have become leaders in the larger magickal community. Graduates of the school also fund private organizations, like the Council of Wizards and the Alumni of Fortune, which fund and advocate for private magickal research. These private efforts have advanced magick beyond the realm of the public interest and have put some wizards in conflict with government regulations.
Humans and Opportunistic Magicks
Most
Human utility of Maneau is dictated by the economic or political climates of the many disparate populations around the world, with only the most prominent societies having any institutions dedicated to advanced research. Clergies provide the majority of spellcasting services, in the form of healings and blessings, and often only give this service to those with good tithing records. There are three reputable mageries in the most advanced Human societies that are actively involved in modern academia and often contribute to the renowned journals and conferences.
The Bristonia Tower of White Magic
Main Article: The Colored Towers of Bristonia
The Bristonia Tower of White Magic is located adjacent to the South Wall of the Royal Citadel in the capital of the Kingdom of Bristonia. It was donated to the city's government, following the conquest of the Lexan War, to support and advance the magickal capabilities of the Arcadian Kingdom's new territory. After violence broke out with the clergy, city leaders wrote a new charter for the magery giving its control to the White Sisters of the Warrior under the provision that both clerical, and secular magicks be taught without prejudice.
Voxanna's Tower
Main Articles: Voxanna the Fell, The Fell Mages' Society
Voxanna's Tower stands on the windswept highlands of the Auxvassian Steppes in the Far North of Ava. It is a sprawling compound of about 4mi
2 and is home to the largest production of magical weapons outside of the Arcadian Empire. Now operated by the Fell Mages' Society, mages and wizards alike from all around, have made the arduous journey to study at the forges and anvils and sharpen their craft.
The Kora Spell-sailers Guild
Main Article: The Kora Spell-sailers
The Kora Spell-sailers Guild is the largest magery in the Kora Trade League and is operated under charter by the Alliance of Free Magicks. The guild accepts members semi-annually by lottery and presses 10 years of service on the high seas in exchange for complete financial and educational support. They are unrivaled outside of the Arcadian Empire in academic contributions and in number of active mages under contracted service.
Dwarves and Froge Magic
There is no known academic tradition of spellcasting in
Dwarven societies though it is widely believed that their forge halls have some ability to create desired magicks since the items crafted from them are uniquely suited for enchantment. No recorded observation of an active Dwarven forge exists and, despite well-funded efforts, the process of their craftsmanship has never been reverse-engineered.
Dwarven Forge Magic
Main Article: Dwarven Forge Magic
Very little is known (but much is speculated) about the ancient practices of Dwarven craftsman since they do not keep written records of their process, but the rare accounts from visitors to the great cities of the undermountains recount hearing the long, oscillating, harmonic songs rising up from the deep. It has long been understood that sounds can activate Maneau and there are some works that have advanced this understanding. In his seminal treatise,
Sentient Alloy Daneless, T.R. (828) the Arch-permutare, Thurman Daneless, proposes that targeted reverberations of certain frequencies can create improved, or even ideal conditions inside dense materials, such as darksteel, allowing for more complex enchantments. His research was duplicated and expanded upon by the Arch-wizard Hope Allen in her work,
Living Steel: Multilevel Enchantment and Dweomer Creation in a Stable, Darksteel Environment Allen, H. P. (1115). Later scholars and sages have referenced these, and other similar works to suggest that special acoustic environments within the great forge halls must be the key to the Dwarves' ability to manipulate materials in such advanced ways and that their unreproducible nature is protected by millennia of unrecorded advancement.
Elves and the Great Spirits
Elves are universally secretive about their relationship with Maneau and the natural world and have no public-facing research on the subject. Their exceptional lifespans, natural magical abilities, and mystical connection to their home range hint at some intrinsic connection and supports their claim of having some divine ancestry but the subject is inherently esoteric and sages have had little success in recreating Elven biology.
The Deep Forest
Main Article: Elven Habitat and Ecology
All Races of Elves have a forest as their home range and every Elf is bound to the health and stability of that forest. They also must often occasion the forest or suffer scaring sicknesses with varying severity depending on the length of their absence. This condition is unique to the Elven Race and is believed to be the result of a unique relationship with Maneau. Research suggests that Elven forests are supported by vast and ancient wild dweomers that are enhanced by an abundance of ley lines, and that these conditions could have permanently altered the Elven Biological Exchange, forcing a dependence on a certain saturation of Maneau. It is alternatively proposed in clerical circles that Elves are cursed by the gods for their pagan worship of Greater Spirits and that they are bound to the Mortal Plane, destined to wholly return to Maneau like other lesser Denizens.
Eternal Life
Main Article: The Elven Lifespan
Elven lifespan varies depending on the Race but all are at least more than triple the average of the other Races. Very little research has been done since the Elven physique becomes unstable after a prolonged absence from their home range but sages have speculated that Elven Souls must be engaged in the Biological Exchange independently, and in congruency with the Spirit. It is believed that this process would be more efficient and allow for specialization between the two entities to maximize their benefit and replenishment. The subject is obviously taboo as the Second Council of Lexcenia forbids any research or experiment on any Ahdequin Race by another.
Magical Beings
Main Article: Elven Innate Magic
Elves are the only Race native to The World of Arcadia that universally has innate magical abilities. This is a better-understood phenomenon since Arcadians can also be born with this condition, albeit, in extremely rare cases. Several prominent wizards, including The Emperor and Arch-wizard OEphandius, his Daughter, Empress, and Arch-wizard Aphetara Duras, and his peer and her mentor, the Arch-wizard Hope Allen, have all produced well-received, peer-reviewed works on natural and innate spellcasters and the very minor alterations to the Biological Exchange that allows for the condition. Simply put, the individual is able to manipulate small amounts of Maneau the Spirit intakes and cast it out as a static, magical effect. This condition is seemingly one that is intrinsic to the Elven condition and is likely propagated naturally.
The Kin and Destruction
The Kin are considered an Alien
Race and there is a consensus among academics that they were created, divinely or otherwise, for the sole purpose of destruction. While still considered a Race, they are thought of more as golems with all understanding of them originating from that idea. Their relationship to Maneau is believed to be completely negative and the high concentration of dead zones known to exist in their native range of the Hav supports this thesis well.
The Great Destructors
Main Article: Gorgan Biology
The Kin, like Elves, are difficult to study. When they are alive, they are nearly impossible to restrain, physically, chemically, or magickally; and when they are dead, their bodies decay at a rapid, and foul pace. It is believed that The Kin are some form of golem, wickedly crafted to perpetuate at the expense of the local environment, moving ever outward like a plague, until nothing is left to destroy. Some observations have been recorded over the years, by the brave and fortunate, that support this theory. The Kin have been observed defiling their immediate surroundings by stripping Maneau from flora and fauna alike and using this for their own rejuvenation, similar to the capabilities of modern magickal engines. Their diets consist solely of raw meat and flesh, and their eating mannerisms have been described as unnatural, ingesting whole carcasses; bones, fur, and clothing in all. They are capable of speech but communicate with each other non-verbally. While psionic ability is not unheard of, it usually develops in races with advanced intellects. These examples may be evidence of a higher relationship to Maneau, akin to Elves, but are more likely evidence that they're the product of a wicked, intelligent design.
