Codex of Still Minds

The Codex was created to provide a rigorous spiritual and philosophical framework for followers of Aurenos who sought not merely to study magic, but to embody it through disciplined thought unmarred by mortal speech.

• Clause 7: “No utterance shall pass thy lips, be it prayer or curse, nor shall breath carry laughter or grief. For these are winds that scatter the seed of pure thought.”
• Clause 12: “Only mind to mind shall your truths be given, and only in the stillness of communion shall Aurenos be honored.”
• Clause 19: “Should silence be broken by folly or pain, the penitent shall undertake the Trance of Isolation for a cycle of the moon.”

• The vow does not apply to purely mental projections, allowing monks to cast spells with verbal components by shaping them in thought alone, using a unique silent casting technique.
• Accidents (like involuntary gasps during injury) lead to atonement rituals, not expulsion, recognizing mortal frailty.
• If a monk willfully breaks silence multiple times, they are stripped of their ceremonial cords and exiled from the Order’s sanctuaries.

• Official copies are kept within cloister libraries of the Order of the First Thought, inscribed on enchanted vellum that resonates with thought alone.
• Summaries exist in the libraries of major cities, available to scholars of arcane law and religious philosophy.

• Holds ecclesiastical authority recognized by high courts in territories loyal to Aurenos.
• Outside such regions, it is more an internal charter, respected primarily by arcane circles and diplomatic agreements involving the Order.

• In the aftermath of widespread magical devastation during the Emberwood Conflict, there arose fear of reckless incantations and a thirst for deeper discipline.
• Elder monks convened, concluding that true mastery of magic must begin within the unspoken mind, mirroring how Aurenos first spun the world from thought alone.

• The Codex was drafted over five years of silent council sessions, with every word painstakingly considered through collective telepathic consensus.
• Once ratified, it transformed disparate meditation sects into the unified Order of the First Thought, cementing their influence across scholarly and mystical circles.

Public Reaction

• Common folk were baffled, even unnerved by monks who would never speak nor laugh, staring with piercing calm.
• Among wizards, it was seen as an extreme.
• In time, the Order became a subject of fascination, inspiring plays and cautionary tales about the dangers of binding human joy for the sake of divine emulation.

• The Codex’s legacy is immense: it created a prestigious tradition of silent casters, famed for their unbroken concentration and subtlety.
• The telepathic arts it codified spread beyond the Order, influencing court mages, clandestine spy networks, and even some diplomatic protocols.
• Today, the Order’s still, robed figures stand as quiet guardians at arcane conclaves — living reminders that magic, at its origin, was a thought before it was ever a word.