Malkioni Wizards & Sorcerers

by Peter Metcalfe

Gloranthan Folk Tales

Gloranthan Songbook

Moonie Madness

Carmanian Sources

Malkioni Scriptures

Wizards study the workings of the Cosmos and label the collective spiritual forces that they observe as God. Their arts were invented by Zzabur, the first to translate the immutable truths of God into material application.

Malkioni behold the splendor of God with their reason and most submit themselves before Its Will. Their clergy develop their reason so they can both interpret God's Will and intercede with It for the sake of others.

The Wizards do otherwise. They impose their Will on the cosmos to work marvels. This leaves them open to the (knightly-inspired!) criticism that by imposing their will upon the Cosmos, the wizards implicitly reckon themselves superior to God. The standard rebuttal is their Will comes from God and thus they cannot be superior to God.

As a result of the benign supervision of wizards, the Malkioni have prospered to become the Lords of the Earth, a few historical setbacks notwithstanding.

One wizardly discovery is often regretted. In order to defeat the Basmoli, the Wizard Xoranor suggested that Hrestol combine all the castes into himself, so that his heightened proximity to God could save the Seshnegi. Although the desperate remedy succeeded, Hrestol was ever after tormented by the forces he had exposed himself to and some wizards say that he went mad.

Hrestol's followers saw only his successes and emulated him. They were the first Knights whose kind has plagued Malkionism ever since. Their heightened sensitivity to God's presense overwhelms their limited minds transforming them into wild-eyed fanatics with an unholy prospensity for violence and irrationality. One need only look at the excesses of Talor the Mad or the Unspeakable Arkat to appreciate the blight of knighthood.

There are two types of wizards, each claiming to be the older and correct tradition. The Sorcerers claim that they alone follow the teachings and principles of Zzabur and that the others have bastardized these teachings with idiotic propositions. The church wizards claim that Zzabur, for reasons of pride, obscured truths about God and betrayed Malkion. The sorcerers are tainted with his error whereas the wizards preserve the correct methods of investigating the Cosmos.

Sorcerers believe they can can shape the Cosmos without consent from God. Their non-belief in Solace is said to cause them to fear death greatly and seek refuge in immortality spells. They deny that God has a personality for such is a corruption born from degenerate bodies and not an attribute of a perfect God.

By improving their knowledge of and over the cosmos, sorcerers draw closer to God, which appears to outsiders as a more rational mind increasingly free of bodily desires. Death is inexplicable to them. They know that their immortal will cannot be destroyed yet without bodies, they cannot influence the Cosmos nor draw closer to god. Thus prolonging their life until this paradox is resolved is a rational decision. Most sorcerers have imperfect immortality spells (the Brithini are an exception) and do not live forever.

Wizards accept the truths of Solace and are part of the Malkioni Church. Because they submit before God's Will, the sorcerers claim the wizard's powers are needlessly limited. Apart from the power of certain aeon old sorcerers, the evidence for this is scant. They traditionally wear the white robes with increasing finery for more powerful wizards.

Malkioni manors and cities often need the services of wizards. However the majority of wizards of their faith are employed by the Church leaving too few for communal wizardry. It is common then to see sorcerers or wizards from other persuasions serving with the locals turning a blind eye to their unorthodoxies, unless they become too outrageous.

Unlike Knighthood, Wizardry is a pure discipline incapable of heterodoxy, proof positive of its innate superiority. Wizards can even be found in lands that have been pagan for generations.

In Brithini Lands, the Sorcerers mediate between Man and God. There are no clergy as such foolish notions of Solace and other wrong modes of thinking interfere with the immortality of all.

In Tanisor, Wizards are considered exalted clergy, and dominate the church. They are haughty proud types and their authority is limited only by the intercessions of Saints. This has caused much bitterness and some are firmly convinced that these manifestations are diabolical in origin. The Wizards of the Quinpolic League are satirized as being addicted to such fine living that "even their hair shirts are made from satin and lace". Both wear garb similar to catholic and orthodox vestements. Tanisoran sorcerers come from scattered orders throughout the country.

In Carmania, the wizards, known as Vizers, are controlled by the Magi. It has been proven here that wizardry is an invention of the Devil because it can be used for evil. I think the Magi are clergy but that their renunciation of sorcery makes them more powerful. These guys wear Persian style robes.

Around Carmania are a type of sorcerers, known as the Logicians. They were introduced by the Blue King during the Gods War and serve the Pelandan cities in a way similar to City Wizards. I generally think of them as Socratic or Pythagorean types lounging about in Pelandan agora/forums.

I think the Logicians used to be found all along the Janube at the dawn but now only Galastar still has them in any large number. The Arrolians absorbed the Logicians within their lands and forged new traditions in the light of the Red Moon. The most famous are the Minderkind Sages of Riverjoin who delight in juxaposing propositions (ie Kajabor was killed by Storm Bull, Wakboth was devoured by Arachne Solara to become Time) to arrive at profound insights. These guys wear Red Robes.

Jonatela has very few native wizards, even in its own church, and sorcerers here usually come from Sog City, Arrolia, Galastar and perhaps Carmania. They usually act as henchmen of the local boyars rather than as city magicians.

When Loskalm fell under the Ban, the Knights seized control of the wizardly orders, whether church or atheistic. Nobody can become a wizard unless he has also been a knight, a deed previously thought impossible. The Knights claim that Hrestol showed them how to master the secrets of the Wizards yet a few critics suspect that some hidden blindness, like that of the God Learners, will ultimately prove their ruin. They wear white robes similar to the Rokari, although the Wizard-Knights perhaps should wear a long white surcoat over their armour (although the picture of a wizard knight in the Genertela Book shows no such thing).

Sorcerers in Loskalm and Junora are usually trained at the University of Sog City. Their clothing are utterly archaic as befits the ossified institution where they were trained.

The Castle Coast does not have wizards or sorcerers. The knights killed them all after they brought ruin to the land.

The Stygians of Safelster do not produce wizards except in the most Malkionized regions. Even then their Wizards (who dominate the church as per Rokari practice) use magic that does not seem quite right. Kustria is a stronghold of Rokarism where the Wizards resemble wise and gentle clerics.

Most City Wizards in Safelster belong to the Galvosti Church. Once they ruled a kingdom in the northwest, growing fat from tapping barbarians. Now they are scattered and dispersed as a result of Surantyr the Nonheretic and the only place that still trains them is the Wizard's Abbey at Holut. Stygians have no fear of the Galvosti as the latter considers them to be untappable malkioni.

Borists have Wizards of their own but their magics are mostly chaotic and they conceal their status lest they be slain.

In the East Isles, the Wizards have displaced the Lords as the rulers of the Valkarian Isles. There are native sorcerers throughout the East Isles that claim descent from Martalak, a son of Vith. Evil Sorcerers can be found on Melib but I don't know of any surviving Wizard tradition in either Teshnos or Kralorela.

In Umathela, most Malkioni belong to some henotheistic creed and as a result, Wizards are rare among them. The Sedalpists produce Wizards in abundance and thus they dominate the positions of city wizards in Umathela.

In Fonrit, sorcerers are two-a-penny. Their social position is so low that even the blueskins feel superior to them. Fonritan sorcerers can be found earning their keep as far afield as Maslo and Jolar where the locals detest them too.