Circa Evendarr in the year of 610
Saishen Necoine Evermore
Of the Bear and Wolf
Mage of Time
Loyal citizen to the crown of Evendarr
All of my research is soundly based in the studies published in the Evendarrian library. Some of my theories are also defined by personal experience through adventuring. To fully understand this work, please read Janos Rigly’s “The Tyrran Cosmology” and the works done by Amaliel Golindreth, specifically his masterwork , “A Treaties on the Planes.” I will also be referencing Malaclypse and the treaties that he penned titled “The Free Road” which is about free choice and enslavement. This work will take a deep look at the nature of Celestial Transforms; how they effect a Spirit, are cast, and power up before and after permanent death.
The Nature of a Spirit
The Tyrran Spirit is the energy that makes up the existence of all creatures on Tyrra. Each Spirit will eventually pass into one of the Great Graveyards. The Great Graveyards are twelve spiritual Planes that Spirits pass to when they can no longer resurrect and permanently die. I am here to identify the base components of the Spirit and the alterations that we of Tyrra have done through High and Formal Magic to escape the eventual fate of this final trip to the Graveyards.
By all accounts Tyrran’s share a similar ancestry with the Faerie in that our plane of existence is made up of all twelve of the elements. All spirits are built from thirteen elements which have been identified by Roger Gaubreau in Arch Wizard Golindreth’s work “A Treaties on the Planes.” These elements are broken down into sequences of pairs, there exists twelve plus two more; Earth, Fire, Air, and Water, which are the four prime elemental planes. Then there is Life – Death, Order – Chaos, Reason – Dream, Light – Dark and finally there is Time with Void trying to consume all. The Prime Elemental Planes are the largest and most solid in their place in reality where as the other planes are more unstable and exist within their opposites shadow and around the four prime elemental planes. In the works of Arch Wizard Rigly, she talked about the Planes and how the base four Planes and the eight additional Planes all are basic in nature and have singular driven goals. Each of these Planes is controlled by an Icon which is the personification of a Plane. These beings have full control of all aspects of their element on their Plane and on Tyrra. There are also places referred to as Pocket Planes, places that come in to existence when Planes crash into each other and create small pockets of reality built from multiple Planes that intersect. These have shown adventurers and mages that the more elements you combine into an elemental the more rational a being you begin to see emerge from the celestial bodies. Mages would recognize this just from dealing with beings from Pocket Planes that exhibit higher levels of reasoning outside of their elemental driven goals.
A Tyrran Spirit is constructed of all twelve of the celestial elements plus a portion of Time. When all of these elements work together, they create a cohesive whole that is greater then the sum of its parts. This is where we see a rise of free will. Depending on how much energy the Spirit is able to harness from the base elements determines how strong one might grow.
These identifying characteristics are integral to understanding the living cycle of a single spirit. Because of the balance and harmony of all twelve elements plus Time, a person can be born, grow, become old and eventually pass away while what they were is whisked to The Great Graveyards. Both Arch Wizards Rigly and Golindreth make mention of the possibility of avoiding the Great Graveyards and binding ones self to a new plane of existence. This is possible through the building blocks of life, the elements and the Formal Magic we have developed called a Transform.
Transforms and Their Working Process
In Arch Wizard Janos Rigly’s “Tyrran Cosmology,” you will find information about how the elemental planes and the elements are eternal and their power source is limitless. One can harness this energy by allying ones self with an element and being granted access to the power of that element by its Icon or the Plane itself. While still alive it is impossible for this energy to supplement the life force one uses during their time on Tyrra due to the ever present opposing element within their Spirit and the binding of their energy to Tyrra at birth. But in death, that one singular strand of elemental energy in the Spirit can blossom through the formal magic of a Transform, and the life energy of Tyrra can be replaced with the sustaining force of the element that the individual is bound to. This in turn fully awakens the Transform that was cast on their Spirit and shrugs off the other balancing forces of the elements and brings to the full front that one element. In doing this, the individual keeps that one aspect of their spirit from traveling to the Great Graveyards and instead turns their reality to serve a new realm.
For a Mage to begin this process, they need an Earth or Celestial Transform scroll. Using a Transform scroll will grant access to that element through a transformation, but as I have seen in Greyhorn often times these scrolls are individualized and specialized for the person to be the target. So to use a random scroll is ill advised. There are general scrolls that the Planes and other creatures of the Earthen magics give out, but specialized Transforms appear to wrap the individual’s Spirit like a glove and feel far more comfortable then say, grabbing a Transform off the rack. Think of it akin to wearing a suit of armor, a person would not wear heavy plate without first getting it fitted for them. Specialized transforms are born from deals made, duties fulfilled, and jobs done for the plane the individual would like to be a part of.
Now lets look at the process of attaining a Transform. Once the components have been gathered and the Formal Magic has begun, the target should feel a warming sensation in their torso or core. From this a tingling should spread from head to toe as the magic attempts to identify the chosen element or elements for the Transform within the Spirit. During this ritual an intense amount of energy from the Plane being focused on will gather in the Circle of Power and be contained by the Circle’s protective nature so that elementals of the opposing field will not arrive to destroy the source of the disturbance. Now the individual should start to feel pain as a part of who they are is unbalanced. The ritual channels elemental energy into one of the twelve elements that makes up the Spirit, unbalancing it and their mind. There are complications with this form of magic from the very core idea of balance. This form of magic infuses one piece of thirteen with energy inside an individuals spirit. This will have effects on an individual that will vary from casting to casting depending on what is being cast, but one could expect to feel pain as their spirit is assulted in a way that is far different then a Spirit Forge, which just rearranges a part of who an individual is, not give more power to a specific part of who the individual is. They can expect to feel bloated as their Tyrran form takes in this energy and processes it. They can also expect an assult on their concious as the opposing elements that make up the individuals spirit yell out at the inbalance. Of course this just stands true during the casting, once the Formal Magic is done, the individual becomes suseptible and sensative to their new element but the balance of their Tyrran form is restored.
There has been an anomaly that has arisen since the founding of the Transform magic. The initial intention of this magic was to grant beings of Tyrra the ability to live on after death while serving another Plane. There was no designation for this magic to allow a person to Transform into any entity before their permanent death. But it is obvious that this has occurred through out Evendarr, Tyrra, and in many of the other realities that I have adventured to. There are several possible reasons for this. One is an innate flaw in the writing of the magic that no one has yet to identify so there is no way to predict when a Transform might go active. Another is through an influx of elemental energy; a being with a Transform is susceptible to the energy of their chosen element. If enough energy is present in an area then the effect on the Spirit will have enough power to come forth and try to protect the individual. A further theory is for the Plane or Icon itself to open a conduit to the individual, infusing them with the energy they need to cause the Transform to go active so the person can act for their cause or the cause of the Plane. In doing this the Icon can also command the mind of the individual if they focus on them while their Transform is active. A final theory is Time or Void energy, the manipulation of these forces might cause instability of the elements in an area and the Transform might go active as a reaction to reality being weakened. I am sure there are more reasons then what I have listed here but these have been the most common that I have studied and can speak on comfortably.
Finally, once in the elemental form after suffering a permanent death, aspects of the individual will remain. The person’s memories and thoughts will stay the same and some emotional aspects will take time to fade. From research I believe that the core of who a person was is embedded into each strand of elemental energy that made up their Spirit, the foundations of the personality sparked from the different elements. So when the Transform goes active, those memories and emotions are consumed into the new form and transferred to the new creature, bringing with it the strength and skill the individual had while they were alive and adding to it the strength of their new form. There are only a few reasons why these individuals maintain a sense of who they were after their Transform takes effect. First shards of the individual’s spirit are embedded into the core of the new creature. These shards can not be dislodged without the elemental furthering their ascent to power on their new Plane. As the elemental climbs the ranks of power, each new rank will shed a few more shards of Spirit until only the elemental and memories remain. Another is the memories of the individual are still so vivid that the new creature reacts as the living person did out of memory reflex. This will fade with time as the elemental form becomes more accustomed to serving its Icon and Plane. Finally Arch Wizard Rigly made reference to an elemental form known as a Knight. These elementals are created from the Plane and given free will to act on their own and in an independent manner. Further study has not revealed the true intent or purpose of this elemental. If this form acts out of consort with the Plane though, the Icon will try to reasimilate the energy of that troublesome entity, consuming the Spirit the Knight was granted to be used and manipulated as it pleases the Plane and reborn into a new form with more of a restricted will.
However this quandary is approached, the transformed individual will eventually loose themselves to their chosen element. Finally it is possible, theoretically, for the individual to be consumed by their plane and be reformed without parts of their memory. It is also plausible for the individual’s memory and skills to be put into a different elemental of the Plane since every aspect of the former individuals existence is now susceptible to manipulation by the Plane they are bound to and its Icon’s will.
Elemental Granted Transform
There are a limited number of reasons the elements would seek out individuals to take on their cause. As was stated earlier, the elemental planes are vast, limitless in most cases and in no need of the aid of living creatures of Tyrra. For many reasons the Planes do not want Tyrran Spirits because of the problems they can cause through free will. Anything that an adventurer would do to go against the betterment of the Plane they are working for is considered bad and will attract the reprimand of the Icon that individual serves.
But there are exceptions to this rule. Primary among these is balance, an over balance of one energy will see its counter to try to re-stabilize the scales, sometimes this can only be done by recruiting from powers in the area on Tyrra, establishing a link to an adventurer or noble would give a Plane an advantage and continued Ally in the area as well as a familiar entity after their permanent death to send back. These are advantages that can not be ignored when your entire existence is to bring more power to your element and to expand your world, sometimes through physical force, other times through plotting and scheming.
Transform magic at its core is an alteration to the natural process of the world. The Tyrran Spirit is a celestial work of wonder. It is a vision of perfect balance and harmony. Altering the base elemental components is a serious matter. During life this magic singles out a thread of our existence and unbalances our very core. In death this magic is beneficial if any wish to stay away from the Great Graveyards, granting unlimited power from their new Plane. It will tie and bind a person to an element and path of their choosing, to pursue that path for eternity or until that Plane grows tired of the individual. One must be cautious in these matters because when they turn to a set path, after death there is no returning, changing of mind, or going back. The recipient of a Transform is stuck with their life’s choice for all time after permanent death. Sometimes a Plane chooses their own champion or representative and a Transform is bequeathed due to loyalty and servitude. Sometimes a mage or adventurer piece different forms of magic together and construct their own scroll. This work was not about defining why we acquire Transforms, but how we constructed the magic. It was about finding some truth in a quandary no one had thought to investigate further. If there is information out there on this Plane or in other worlds that pertain to this topic, find me and we shall talk over a good hobling made pie.
I have taken the time to break down what happens with celestial and elemental transforms, but there are far more transforms out there then I have listed here. For example therianthropy, where does this change fall in the cosmological grand scheme of transforms? (The changing of a person into any animal form.) I will follow up this work with a study of non-celestial transforms as I pursue my studies of time, void, and the nature of transform magic and the resistance to death and avoiding the Great Graveyards.