A Magic of Dawn

SNIPPETS FROM THE “NESSANTICO CONCORDIA”

(4th Edition, Year 642)

Family Names in the Holdings:

Within Nessantico, lineage follows the matrilineal line. A husband might, in rare cases, retain his own family name (especially if it were considered higher in status than his wife’s), but the wife can never take his name. In the vast majority of cases, however, the husband will legally take on his wife’s family name, thus becoming a member of that family in the eyes of Nessantico law-the husband will continue to bear that name and be considered to be part of that family even upon the death of his spouse, unless and until he remarries and thus acquires his new wife’s name. (Divorces and annulments are rare in Nessantico, requiring the signature of the Archigos, and each divorce is a special situation where the rules are sometimes fluid.) Children are, without exception, given the mother’s family name: “One always is certain of the mother,” as the saying goes in Nessantico.

The prefix to a family name can change, depending on the relative status of the immediate family within Nessantico society. The prefixes, in order of rising status, are: • none • ce’ (keh) • ci’ (kee) • cu’ (koo) • ca’ (kah).

One of the functionary roles of the Kralji was to sign the official family rolls every three years wherein the prefixes are recorded, though the Kraljiki or Kraljica rarely determined any changes personally; that was the role of the bureaucracy within Nessantico known as the Gardes a’Liste.

Thus, it is possible that the husband or wife of the ci’Smith family might gain status in some manner and be awarded a new prefix by the Gardes a’Liste. Husband, wife, their children and any surviving maternal parents thus become cu’Smith, but brothers, sisters, and any cousins would remain ci’Smith.

Royalty Succession Within The Holdings:

Various countries within the Holdings, not surprisingly given the variance of customs, have various rules of succession within their societies. This is especially true when those countries are independently ruled. For instance, in East Magyaria, the closest male relative of the previous ruler who is also not a direct child of that ruler is named as the successor. However, with the ascension of Nessantico and the Holdings, those countries within Nessantico’s influence tend to follow the lead of the Kralji.

For the royal families of Nessantico, title succession is normally to the Kralji’s children by birth order regardless of gender. However, it is possible for the Kralji to legally designate a favorite child as the heir and bypass earlierborn children, if the Kralji deems them unfit to rule or if for some reason they fall out of favor. This is an uncommon occurrence, though hardly rare throughout history. For the Kralji, it means that his or her children will tend to curry favor so as to remain in good graces or perhaps to unseat one of their brothers or sisters from being named the a’Kralj.

The Ilmodo and Spellcasting:

Some people have the ability to sense the power that exists all around us: the invisible potent energy of the Second World that surrounds us. In the Nessantico-controlled regions of the world, usage of magic has always been linked to religious faith, all the way back into prehistory. The myth of Cenzi extends deep into the historical mist, and it is the followers of Cenzi who have always possessed the power to manipulate the Ilmodo through chants and hand-motions.

The chanting that binds the power of the Ilmodo is the “Ilmodo language” that all acolyte teni are taught. The Ilmodo language actually has its linguistic roots in the speech of the Westlands, though neither those of the Concenzia Faith nor the Numetodo realized that for centuries. Those of the Westlands also take power from the Second World via the instrument of religion, though through a different god and mythology, and they have their own name for the Ilmodo: X’in Ka

The Numetodo have taken the most recent path to this power: not through faith at all, but essentially by making a “science” of magic. The cult of the Numetodo first arose in the late 400s, originally from the Isle of Paeti, and spread mostly west and south from there, sometimes reacting violently with the culture of Nessantico and the Concenzia Faith.

However the power is gained, there is a necessary “payment” for spell use: using spells costs the wielder physically; the greater the effect, the higher the cost in exhaustion and weariness for the caster.

Different paths have resulted in different abilities-for Concenzian teni, there is no “storage” of spells-their spells take time to cast and once prepared, they must be cast or they are lost. However, the teni of the Faith have the advantage of being able to cast spells that linger for some time after the casting (see “The Lights of Nessantico” or “The Sun Throne of the Kralji”). Teni who cast spells quickly and effectively are unusual, and have in historical times been suspected of heresy.

The Numetodo, in contrast, have found a way to cast their spells several turns of the glass earlier (though such spells can’t be stored indefinitely). Like all users of this power, they “pay” for it with exhaustion but hold the power with their minds to be released with a single gesture and word. Their spells are generally longer and more arduous to create (even more so than that of the teni), but do not require “faith”-as is required by both the path of Concenzia and the Westlanders. All they require is that the spellcaster follows a “formula.” However, any variation from the formula, even small, will generally ruin the spell.

The Westlanders, following what they call X’in Ka, must perform the chants and hand gestures much like the teni, but they can also “enchant” an object with a spell (something neither teni nor Numetodo can do), so that the object (e.g.: a walking stick) manipulated in a particular way (e.g. striking someone) can release a spell (e.g. a shocking jolt that renders the struck person unconscious).

In all cases and whatever the path of the spellcaster, the spells of the Second World tend to be linked to elementals in our world: fire, earth, air, and water. Most spellcasters have an ability sharply stronger in one element and much weaker in the others. Rarely does a spellcaster have the ability to handle two or more elements with any skill; even more rare are those who can move easily between any of the elements.

The Ranks of Teni in the Concenzia Faith:

The teni are ranked in the following order, from lowest to highest:

Acolyte -those who are receiving instruction to become one of the teni-generally, the instructions requires tuition be paid to Concenzia by the students’ families. The Concenzia Faith brings in both male and female students to become teni, though realistically the classes tend to be largely male, and there are fewer women than men represented in the higher ranks of the teni. (There have been only six female Archigi in the long history of the Faith.) During the acolyte period (typically three years), the students serve within the Faith, doing menial tasks for the teni, and also begin to learn the chants and mental discipline necessary for Ilmodo, the manipulation of the universe-energy. Typically, only about 10% of the acolytes receive the Marque of the Teni. There are schools for acolytes in all the major cities of Nessantico, each presided over by the a’Teni of the region.

E’Teni -the lowest teni rank for those brought into the service of the Faith. The acolytes who receive their Marque are, with exceedingly few exceptions, awarded this rank, which denotes that they have some small skill with Ilmodo. At this point, they are generally tasked with menial labor that requires the magic of Cenzi, such as lighting the city lamps, and are expected to increase their skill and demonstrate their continuing mastery of the Ilmodo.

O’Teni -an e’teni will be awarded this rank, generally after one to five years of service, at which point they are either put in service of one of the temples, administering to the needs of the community, or they are placed in charge of one of the teni-powered industries within the city. This is where most teni will end their careers. Only a select few will pass this rank to become u’teni.

U’Teni -u’teni serve directly under the a’teni of the region. An u’teni is generally responsible for maintaining one of the temples of the city, and overseeing the activities of the o’teni attached to that temple.

A’Teni -the highest rank within the Faith with the exception of that of Archigos. The a’teni each are in charge of a region centered around one of the large cities of the Holdings. There, they generally wield enormous power and influence with the political leaders and over the citizenry. At times, this can be a contentious relationship; most often, however, it is neutral or mutually beneficial. In the year of Kraljica Marguerite’s Jubilee, there were twenty-three a’teni in the Faith, an increase of three from the time she ascended the throne. Generally, the larger and more influential the city where they are based, the more influence the a’teni has within the Faith.

Archigos -the head of the Faith. This is not necessarily an elective office. Often, the Archigos designates his or her own successor from among the a’teni or even potentially a favorite u’teni. However, in practice, there have been “coups” within Concenzia where either the Archigos died before naming a successor, or where the right of the successor to ascend to the position has been disputed, sometimes violently. When that happens, those a’teni who aspire to the seat of the Archigos are locked in a special room within the Archigos’s Temple for the Concord A’Teni. What happens there is a matter of great speculation and debate. One will, however, emerge as Archigos.

The Creation of Cenzi:

At the start of all things, there was only Vucta, the Great Night, the eyeless female essence who had always existed, wandering alone through the nothingness of the universe. Though Vucta could not see the stars, she could feel their heat, and when she was cold she would come to them and stay for a time. It was near one star that she found something she had never experienced before: a world-a place of rocks and water, and she stayed there for a time, wondering and dreaming as she walked in this strange place, touching everything to feel its shape and listening to the wind and the surf, feeling the rain and the snow and the touch of the clouds. She hoped that here, in this strange place near the star, there might be another like her, but there were no animals here yet, nor trees, nor anything living.

As Vucta walked the world, wisps of her dream-thoughts gathered around her like a mist, coalescing and hardening and finally growing heavy from their sheer volume. The dream-thoughts began to shape themselves, a white shroud around Vucta that grew longer and more substantial as she walked, heavier and heavier with each step until the weightiest part of it drooped to the ground and snagged on a rock. Eyeless, Vucta could not see that. She continued her walking and her thinking, and her dream-thoughts poured from her, but now they lay solid where they had fallen, stretching and thinning as she strode away from where they were caught. Vucta, in truth was already growing tired of this place and her search, and she desired the heat of another sun, so she leaped away from the world and the shroud of her dream-thoughts snapped as she flew.

Vucta’s dream-thoughts lay there, all of them coalescing, and when the sun shone on the first day after Vucta’s departure, there was a form like hers curled on the ground. On the second day, the sun’s light made the dream-thoughts stir, and the form moved arms and legs, though it did not know itself. The dream-thoughts that were the yearning of Vucta gathered in its head, and from Vucta’s desire to know the place where she walked, they made eyes in the face.

On the third day, when the sun touched it once more, it opened those eyes and it saw the world. “I am Cenzi,” the creature said, “and this place is mine.” And he rose then and began to walk about…

That is the opening of the Toustour, the All-Tale. In time, as the creation tale continues, Cenzi would become lonely and he would create companions-the Moitidi-fashioning them from the breath of his body, which still contained Vucta’s strong power. Those companions, in turn, would imitate their creator and fashion all the living creatures of the earth: plant and animal, including the humans. The Moitidi’s own breaths were weak, and thus those they created were correspondingly more flawed. But it was Cenzi’s breath and the weaker breaths of the Moitidi that permeated the atmosphere of the world and would become the Ilmodo, which humans through prayer, devotion to Cenzi, and intense study could learn to shape.

But the relationship between Cenzi and his offspring would always be contentious, marred by strife and jealousy. Cenzi had given his creations laws that they were to follow, but in time, they began to change and ignore those laws, flaunting themselves over Cenzi. Cenzi would become angry with his creations for their attitudes, but they were unrepentant, and so they began to war openly against Cenzi. It was a long and brutal conflict, and few of the living creatures would survive it, for in that past there had been many types of creatures who could speak and think. Cenzi’s throwing down of the Moitidi as they wrestled and fought would cause mountains to rise up and valleys to form, shaping the world which had until then been flat, with but one great ocean. The final blow that destroyed most of the Moitidi would fracture the very earth, tear apart the land and create the deep rift into which the Strettosei would flow.

After that immense blow that shook the entire world, those few Moitidi who remained fled and hid and cowered. Cenzi, though, was haunted by what had happened, and he wished to find Vucta and speak with her, whose dream-thoughts had made him. Only a single speaking and thinking species were left of all of Cenzi’s grandchildren, and he made this promise to them, our own ancestors: that if they remained faithful to him, he would always listen to them and send his power back to them, and that one day, he would return here and be with them forever.

With that promise, he left the world to wander the night between the stars.

In the view of the Concenzia Faith, Cenzi is the only god worthy of worship (Vucta being considered by the Concenzian scholars to be more an all-pervading spirit rather than an entity), and it is His laws, given to the Moitidi, that the Faith has codified and now follows. The gods worshipped by other religions within and without the Holdings are those cowardly Moitidi who came out of hiding when Cenzi left and have deceived their followers into thinking they are true gods. The surviving Moitidi remain in mortal fear of Cenzi’s return and flee whenever Cenzi’s thoughts turn back to this world, as they do, reputedly, when the faithful pray strongly enough.

The truth of this is shown in that the laws of humankind, wherever they may live and whomever they may claim to worship, have a similarity at the core-because they all derive from the original tenets of Cenzi.

The Divolonte:

The Divolonte is a loose collection of rules and regulations by which the Concenzia Faith is governed, the majority of which derive from the Toustour. However, the Divolonte is secular in origin, created and added to by the various Archigi and a’teni through the centuries, while the Toustour is considered to be derived from Cenzi’s own words. The Divolonte is also a dynamic document, undergoing slow, continual evolution through the auspices of the Archigos and the a’teni. Many of its precepts and commands are somewhat archaic, and are ignored or even flaunted by the current Faith. It is, however, the Divolonte that the conservative element within the Faith quotes when they look at the threat of other faiths and belief systems, such as that of the Numetodo.

A RECENT HISTORY OF NESSANTICO:

YEAR 521 (the events of A Magic of Twilight): This is Kraljica Marguerite’s Jubilee Year-under her half a century of rule, Nessantico has flourished. However, in the spring, Kraljica Marguerite is assassinated. Kraljiki Justi (her son) takes the Sun Throne. Archigos Dhosti dies; Archigos Orlandi becomes head of the Concenzia Faith. Hirzg Jan leads the army of Firenzcia into the Holdings, intending to take Nessantico. Archigos Ana becomes head of the Concenzia Faith after Archigos Orlandi defects to Hirzg Jan at Passe a’Fiume. Nessantico is attacked by Firenzcian forces. Allesandra, daughter of Hirzg Jan of Firenzcia, is taken as hostage by Archigos Ana and Kraljiki Justi. Firenzcian forces retreat.

522: Orlandi formally declares himself Archigos in Brezno-the Concenzia Faith is sundered. A son, Fynn, is born to Hirzg Jan and Greta ca’Vorl. Hirzg Jan refuses to pay ransom for Allesandra, and declares Firenzcia independent of the Holdings. Semini cu’Kohnle marries Francesca ca’Cellibrecca, daughter of Orlandi.

523: Envoy Karl ci’Vliomani of the Isle of Paeti is elevated to Ambassador and given the rank of cu’. The Numetodo influence begins to grow within the Holdings. Sesemora secedes from the Holdings and allies with Firenzcia-the first country within what will be known as the Coalition of Firenzcia. Hirzgin Greta ca’Vorl dies under “suspicious” circumstances; the Numetodo sect is blamed.

524: Miscoli and East Magyaria join Sesemora in seceding and joining the Coalition of Firenzcia. War is declared between the two rival Holdings. It will drag on for years without a decisive victory by either side. The Eastern and Western branches of the Concenzia Faith declare each other heretical and invalid.

525: Kraljiki Justi marries Marie ca’Dakwi of Il Trebbio, daughter of the current Ta’Mila (local ruler) of Il Trebbio. Justi takes the ca’Dakwi name (as is proper and expected in their society). Archigos Orlandi of Brezno dies of natural causes. A’Teni Semini ca’Cellibrecca becomes Archigos there.

526: A first child is born to Justi and Marie, a son. He will die within three months. Hirzg Jan formally declares his son Fynn to be the A’Hirzg-the heir to his throne. This leaves Allesandra in limbo, no longer the official heir to her vatarh’s throne.

527: A second child is born to Justi and Marie, a daughter. Like her sibling, she will die within three months

529: A third child is born to Justi and Marie, another daughter who is named Marguerite. She is stronger than her siblings and lives. She becomes the A’Kralj (heir).

531: The Treaty of Passe a’Fiume is signed, ending open hostilities between Nessantico and Firenzcia. As part of the negotiations, Allesandra (now 21 years old and having lived nearly as long in Nessantico as in Firenzcia) is finally ransomed and returns to Firenzcia.

532: Allesandra marries Pauli ca’Xielt of West Magyaria, son of the Gyula (local ruler) of West Magyaria. West Magyaria secedes from the Holdings and joins the Firenzcian Coalition.

533: A male child is born to Allesandra and Pauli: Jan. This will be their only child. Their marriage is rumored to be “troubled.” In Nessantico, Marie dies bearing the fourth child of Justi, another son. Though sickly, Audric will survive.

535: Nessantican forces push farther westward in the Hellins (and also on the Isle of Paeti, which they will come to control).

537: Southern Fever rises again in the cities. Marguerite ca’Dakwi, vacationing in Namarro, is infected and dies. Audric becomes the a’Kralj in her place.

540: The Commandant of the Holdings forces in the Hellins, Petrus ca’Helfier, is killed by a Westlander after ca’Helfier either “rapes” a Westlander’s daughter or the two of them fall in love (the truth here will probably never be known). The new Commandant, Donatien ca’Sibelli, takes the murderer forcibly and executes him without trial; the Westlanders protest. Retaliations escalate, and there is suddenly open war-and Commandant ca’Sibelli finds that there are new forces with the Westlanders: soldiers with faces marked by tattoos and spellcasters with skills that match those of the teni. In the Coalition, A’Hirzg Fynn, now 18, leads the Firenzcian army successfully against Tennshah, taking land in the east for the Holdings of Firenzcia.

542: There are attacks by Westlanders inside the Hellins frontier-the magic used by the Westlanders proves formidable. Westlanders win a large-scale battle with Holdings forces in the Hellins. The towns around Lake Malik and Lake Udar are lost, as is control of the western frontier. The Hellins Holdings are reduced to thin strips of land around the cities of Tobarro and Munereo.

543: Hirzg Jan suffers a heart attack. His health begins a slow, steady decline.

544: Justi, realizing he is dying, names Sergei ca’Rudka as his choice for Regent until Audric reaches his majority at 16. Kraljiki Justi dies, and Audric becomes Kraljiki at age 11.

YEAR 548: (the events of A Magic of Nightfall): Hirzg Jan of the Coalition dies; Hirzg Fynn crowned. Archigos Ana of Nessantico assassinated, Archigos Kenne crowned. Assassination attempt on Hirzg Fynn fails. Sergei ca’Rudka deposed as Regent by Kraljiki Audric and imprisoned. The White Stone assassinates Hirzg Fynn; Fynn’s nephew Jan (son of Allesandra) becomes Hirzg Jan II. Sergei ca’Rudka escapes from the Bastida aided by Numetodo and flees to the Coalition. In the Hellins, the capital of Munereo falls to the Tehuantin Westlanders. The Tehuantin send an invasion force to the Holdings; Karnor razed. Kraljiki Audric assassinated by ensorceled offizier; Kraljica Sigourney crowned. Coalition troops march into the Holdings from the East. City of Nessantico taken by Tehuantin, burned and plundered; Kraljica Sigourney commits suicide. Coalition forces sweep away the Tehuantin army. The White Stone kills a Tehuantin spellcaster, saving Hirzg Jan’s life. Allesandra is named Kraljica.

YEAR 549: Rochelle, daughter of the White Stone and Hirzg Jan II of the Coalition, is born. Archigos Semini is stripped of his title upon Hirzg Jan’s return to Brezno, though he accepts the lesser position of A’Teni of Nessantico. A’Teni Karrol ca’Asano of Malacki is elevated to Archigos, and the Concenzia Faith is reunited, though the new seat of the Archigos is in Brezno, not Nessantico. Karl ca’Vliomani marries Varina (becoming Karl ca’Pallo). Sergei ca’Rudka is named Special Ambassador to Firenzcia for the Holdings.

YEAR 550: The Numetodo become an official political entity within the Holdings. Varina is named as their head (A’Morce), and becomes a member of Council of Ca’.

YEAR 551: Jan ca’Vorl marries Brie ca’Ostheim of Sesemora-as is customary in this society, he takes her name and becomes Jan ca’Ostheim.

YEAR 552: Kraljica Allesandra, despite the protests of the Faith and A’Teni Semini, declares that the Numeteodo may not be prosecuted or harmed for their beliefs within the Holdings. Semini commits suicide in protest. Soleil ca’Paim is named the new A’Teni for Nessantico. Jan and Brie’s first child is born, a girl named Elissa.

YEAR 553: Pauli ca’Vorl, Allesandra’s estranged husband (and Hirzg Jan’s vatarh), becomes Gyula of West Magyaria when his vatarh dies.

YEAR 554: Due to diplomatic efforts by Kraljica Allesandra and Ambassador Karl ca’Pallo, the Isle of Paeti rejoins the Holdings. A son Jan (nicknamed “Kriege”) is born to Hirzg Jan and Brie.

YEAR 556: West Magyaria secedes from the Coalition (but does not rejoin the Holdings. Caelor (son) born to Jan and Brie.

YEAR 557: The army of Firenzcia invades West Magyaria. It quickly becomes obvious that the army of West Magyaria is no match for the Firenzcians. Gyula Pauli is assassinated by his own Council of Ca’ when he refuses the terms of surrender. West Magyaria returns to control by the Coalition.

YEAR 558: Nico ce’Morel, an extremely charismatic e’teni with radically conservative views, begins to gain a following in the Holdings and the Coalition.

YEAR 560: Eria (daughter) born to Jan and Brie.

YEAR 560: Nico Morel defrocked by the Concenzia Faith. However, his popularity continues to grow. He espouses a fundamentalist, harsh reshaping of the Faith.

YEAR 561: Nico Morel comes to Nessantico. War again breaks out in West Magyaria, as a pretender to the Gyula’s throne, Stor ca’Vikej, supported by the Holdings and Nessantico, attempts a coup. Firenzcian troops are quickly involved. The Holdings forces, undermanned, are forced to retreat. Stor ca’Vikej is killed.

YEAR 562: Nico’s popularity is growing, which doesn’t sit well with Kraljica Allesandra and her rather secular government. There are violent conflicts between the followers of Nico (called “Morelli”) and the Garde Kralji.

YEAR 563: A Magic of Dawn begins…

ALSO FROM S.L. FARRELL:

The Nessantico Cycle