Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“They come from the south,” Roake interjected.
“Yes, yes, the south.”
“From nonmagical tribes,” Audria added. Roake glared at her, and she held her hands up. “Sorry. The tribes who historically did not wish to use their magic.”
“Yes, traditionally from Elsiande, Aude, and Genoa,” Movanna said.
“Some of them are still legal. Many people use honeycombs pretty regularly,” Kerrigan offered.
“And what do honeycombs do?”
“They house excess magic,” Audria said. “We use them in particularly difficult healings.”
“Precisely. Anything else?”
The three of them looked around the room and shrugged.
“They’re dangerous,” Kerrigan said.
Roake sighed but couldn’t disagree. “We fought some in the battle.”
“What kind?” Movanna asked.
“Black orbs that created smoke and shadows and made you sick,” Roake said.
“Ones that cast illusions,” Audria said, looking green.
“An amber orb that incapacitated everyone with an uttered word in Ancient Fae,” Kerrigan said.
“Historically, we classify magical artifacts as offensive, defensive, and special. Offensive artifacts are like the ones you witnessed in battle. There are ones that work defensively too. Some that make shields without using your reserves or dispel all arrows in the sky. As well as special pieces that were created for specific purposes.”
Kerrigan leaned forward at those words. Special artifacts had to be like the Collector.
“What could the purpose be for those?” Audria asked.
“It depended on what the user wanted. I’ve read about some that could be used to make people tell the truth or swear an unbreakable oath. There was one in my youth that forced the feelings of true love for a period of time. They can be used for all manner of things. It’s all in the shaping of the magical work. Now that you know of the various kinds of artifacts, let’s discuss the history of it.”
Movanna pulled the manuscript up and pointed at a map of Alandria. It was a large island continent, cleaved down the middle with mountains and ending in the middle with Draco Mountain.
“You said that all magical artifacts came from the south.” She pointed at the rocky outcropping of modern-day Elsiande at the very end of the continent. “And that it was used to expel their magic, correct?”
They nodded. As far as they knew, as that was all they had been told.
“What if I told you that the first known artifact came from here?” She pointed at a mountain on the western portion of the Vert Mountains. A very recognizable mountain.
“The Holy Mountain?” Kerrigan asked. That was where the dragons were from. It was the source of Tendrille, the rarest metal in the world and immune to magic.
“Yes. It was created out of Tendrille and supposedly used in a bonding ceremony.”
Everyone was silent. That was beyond historically inaccurate. Irena was the first person to have that bonding. And it was done within Ravinia Mountain, the seat of the House of Shadows. Not at Holy Mountain.
Movanna smiled. “Truthfully, we don’t know, but based on the historical record of the time, the first artifact we have knowledge of was this metal crown.” She turned the page to reveal a jagged crown. Both beautiful and terrifying. “We have it in the vault beneath the mountain, and terrible things have happened to those who tried to use it. What does this tell us about our understanding?”
“It’s all wrong,” Audria said slowly.
“They don’t come from the south. They came from everywhere.”
“But they do come from the south,” Roake argued. Considering he was from Elsiande, he would know best. “I know magical artifact workers.”
“Legal artifacts now primarily do come from the south. But historically, everyone was making them. And it wasn’t a repository for their magic; it was a way to use more than just our elemental magic. No matter what artifact you had, all of it was shaped by the proper intention of the user who created it.”
Kerrigan startled at that word—intention.
That was the word that Cleora had used. Focusing intention was the only way that crux could be manipulated properly. This couldn’t be a coincidence.
“Why are they now illegal,” Audria asked, “if everyone was making them?”
“Ah, the Great War,” Movanna said animatedly. “The House of Shadows used weapons that decimated troops. Many lives were lost, and the Society retaliated in kind. But at the end of the war, when we won, the Society decided to no longer allow weapons that could cause such destruction. There was a campaign to round up all artifacts that were now considered illegal, destroy those that could be destroyed, and put the rest away into the vault. We have enough ways to kill each other as far as I’m concerned. It was the right decision despite seeing some of them back in the world again.”
“Could people be making more?” Kerrigan asked. “Is that why we’re seeing them again?”
“It is unlikely. The books were burned,” Movanna said with a wince. “Any evidence of how to create them from the greats was lost. Only legal information is still freely distributed.”