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An Introduction to the Enchiridion Valentia and Summoning
See also: Enchiridion
Valentia, Common Language Edition
Composed from guild notes by Lady Hilthia Waterlyon
History
The Enchiridion Valentia forms the cornerstone of Faendryl
research into demons and their native valences. When it was
first conceived, study by sorcerers in this area often led
to needless injury and death due to the repetition of mistakes
made by others. Abdullahi Hazalred, a summoning sorcerer who
also held a post at the Basilica, recognized the need for
more organized collection of information to guide and inform
the work of his fellows.
His own notes and records formed the initial core of the
Enchiridion, and he spent a great deal of effort convincing
sorcerers at the Basilica to contribute their findings as
well. Because not all summoners were particularly interested
in sharing their knowledge with each other, and there was
initially no prestige associated with entering data into the
Enchiridion, the early decades of its existence saw little
accrual of information beyond what Abdullahi Hazalred and
his compatriots were able to record themselves.
About one hundred years after Abdullahi Hazalred began his
efforts, complaints from the upper echelons of the Palestra
caught the attention of the Patriarch. They were increasingly
disturbed by the unnecessary dangers their members were subjected
to by the duplicative effort of summoning sorcerers. At the
time these complaints were being considered, an unfortunate
summoning accident resulted in the death of 48 innocent Faendryl,
and twelve summoners disappeared while traveling to other
valences. Investigations into these incidents concluded that
both could have been avoided if the sorcerers had access to
previously discovered information on their subject of study
(and had, of course, heeded it). Patriarch XX, Eidiol Jivanatha
Faendryl, declared that the Enchiridion Valentia was to be
the core repository of information regarding valences and
demons. Further, no sorcerer would be permitted to summon
or travel to other valences without making use of the repository,
both for initial research before experiments and afterwards
to report any new details.
In order to entrench this declaration as normal behavior,
the Patriarch enacted a temporary measure requiring all sorcerers
to schedule their summoning and inter-valence travel at the
Basilica prior to performing the rituals. Failure to do so
was punishable by death, and the Palestra, who had led the
original cry to formalize the record-keeping, were pivotal
in bringing this punishment to bear.
After several hundred years, the registration system was
removed, as it had become too cumbersome to allow free research,
and the Enchiridion Valentia had become central to summoning
by the Faendryl. Having a record accepted into it had become
the highest measure of prestige, and few sorcerers would dream
of withholding information from this repository. Although
it is no longer necessary to register summoning attempts prior
to undertaking them, failure to enter a record regarding new
creatures or valences is still a capital crime. Many sorcerers
document and submit every summoning event in order to assure
they will not later be found to have accidentally withheld
new information.
Although the destruction of the Basilica at Ta'Faendryl and
the war against Despana interrupted maintenance of the Enchiridion
Valentia, it was not lost. Painstaking efforts allowed it
to be saved and transported to Rhoska'Tor, where its maintenance
resumed once more.
Form
Many carry the mistaken notion that the Enchiridion Valentia
is some great tome into which sorcerers scratch their findings,
barely supervised by any overseer. Nothing could be further
from the truth.
The Enchiridion Valentia is both a large collection of documents
and a condensed volume.
The document repository is maintained by three sorcerer scholars,
who accept new entries and notes from their fellows. These
scholars carry the title "Scholar of the Valences"
and are appointed to lifetime seats by the Patriarch, who
receives advisement and recommendations on candidates from
the current Scholars and the Archchancellors of magic and
sorcery. Abdullahi Hazalred Faendryl was the first Scholar
of the Valences and was the only one to serve in the position
alone. Many sorcerers listed in the Book of Records as achievers
of first travel or summoning went on, not coincidentally,
to become Scholars of the Valences.
The documents and research submitted by sorcerers may be
written in any form the sorcerer desires, but the Scholars
are ultimately responsible for applying the taxonomy of the
Enchiridion Valentia and filing the documentation accordingly.
Should some notes provided by a sorcerer be the first of their
kind, and verified by witnesses, an additional notation will
be made in the Enchiridion's Book Of Records, which records
the "firsts" of demonology (such as the first travel
to a new valence or the first summoning of a new demon).
Because research using the archive can be cumbersome, the
Scholars are charged with a second responsibility: releasing
bound summaries of the repository. Many chapters of the bound
version rarely change, as the research on the subject valence
has been exhausted. New editions of the volume are released
infrequently.
In addition to these bound volumes, scribes continuously
copy the documents maintained in the main repository, and
these facsimiles are collected and stored for safekeeping
in several secret locations far from the Basilica. This activity,
often seen as unduly paranoid in the early years, allowed
the Enchiridion Valentia to be rapidly reformed at Rhoska'Tor
and, later, New Ta'Faendryl.
Organization
of the Bound Volume
The bound version of the Enchiridion Valentia
is arranged into chapters. The initial chapters are concerned
with interplanar
travel and the ritual of summoning. Each following chapter,
called an "enchira tyr," corresponds to a subcollection
in the repository, which organizes information around the
valences. The pertinent "firsts" from the Book
of Records are also incorporated. The last chapter is composed
of particularly noteworthy loose records that cannot be filed
with any particular valence, either because they are too
fragmentary
in nature or not enough is known about the subject matter
to classify them.
Release
of the Common Language Version
The announcement that the Faendryl planned to release a
common-language
version of the Enchiridion Valentia tome was
met with skepticism and surprise by the guild. The Faendryl
have maintained a strong hold on their own research into demonology,
and the release of any material to Elanthia at large is a
significant change in their stance toward other races and
cultures. Previously, even Faendryl who had departed from
New Ta'Faendryl for other parts of Elanthia were barred from
research in the repository, and their tomes destroyed.
However, the actual tome satisified skeptics that the Faendryl
had not completely abandoned their protection of their work.
The common-language version is an excerpt of the full Faendryl
tome, with considerable editing in some parts. Only those
minor demons that have been discovered and summoned by the
sorcerer profession at large have been included, and some
of the details of valences have been modified to exclude references
to major demons. Guild scholars expect that the Faendryl will
keep the common-language version up to date, as they do with
the Faendryl version, by adding new details and new minor
demons as they become known to the guild population.
Lorae'Tyr
The Valentia's summary of Lorae'Tyr gives short shrift to
its status for interplanar travel, and it is worthy of mention
here in more detail.
Once the temporal effects of this valence were understood
by the Basilica, travel was immediately outlawed by Patriarch
Unsenis Ignaas for the safety of demonologists, but, interestingly,
summoning beings into Elanthia remained lawful. All lore indicating
how to safely travel to Lorae'Tyr was confiscated by Palestra
guards. Some suspect that this chain of events was politically
motivated, but little evidence exists to support this claim.
After the decree forbidding travel was handed down, a group
of the Patriarch's most trusted sorcerers at the Basilica,
including Shieltine Huranya Faendryl, were tasked with establishing
a powerful interplanar magical ward. This ward, known both
officially and colloquially as Shieltine's Ward, allows for
monitoring of travel to and from the Lorae'Tyr, while making
it more difficult to pierce, as well, at least in the vicinity
of New Ta'Faendryl.
There are hushed rumors that this same group of sorcerers
was granted freedom by the Patriarch to deal with any sorcerers,
Faendryl or otherwise, that violate the decree. This council
still exists to this day, if rumor can be believed, and the
reigning Patriarch selects replacements to maintain the council's
full complement. None of the council members are ever Scholars
of the Valences, as the Scholars are viewed as neutral parties
whose sole task is to collect and maintain information, rather
than enforce regulations.
Stories run rampant of sorcerers doing too much research
into Lorae'Tyr and suddenly disappearing, never to be seen
again. Both the royal family and administrators of the Basilica
deny that this has anything to do with a secret council or
Lorae'Tyr.
The hidden nature of enforcement regarding travel to Lorae'Tyr
has permeated Faendryl culture with slang and bedtime stories.
Small children are told that Faendryl prodding their noses
where they shouldn't are tossed across Shieltine's Ward into
Lorae'Tyr, with no way of getting back. The name "Lorae'Tyr"
has become synonymous with "forbidden" or "taboo"
among the youth and the military of Ta'Faendryl.
Summoning
The Faendryl have written extensively not only upon demons
and their valences, but on the art of summoning. They have
not allowed this information to be released with the Common
language version of the Enchiridion Valentia, but much has
been gleaned from historical observation, guild knowledge,
and Faendryl who are less careful about where they speak.
The practice of summoning is normally divided into two types:
major and minor. Major summoning is currently practiced almost
exclusively by the Faendryl and is carefully guarded as a
tactical superiority over others. This practice occurs on
a very limited basis and requires multiple sorcerers of high
skill. As such, little is known of it outside of their culture,
but it does involve the most powerful demons that can be drawn
from the valences as well as more intricate magic and rituals.
For other races, major summoning embodies all that is malevolent
about the Dark Arts. Those who live near the Demonwall or
possess familial or cultural memories of its awesome power
are most likely to decry summoning as a whole as a despicable
and dangerous pursuit.
Minor summoning is marginally more acceptable, in part because
the creatures summoned are most often used for individual
services rather than warfare, but also because the Guild has
taken great pains to demonstrate to laypersons the careful
anchoring that occurs when a sorcerer summons a lesser demon
from other valences. Success in this endeavor has been uneven,
and some locales are more lenient in policies regarding lesser
demons than others.
This lesser art, as practiced by most sorcerers today, involves
three steps: piercing, seeking, and linking. These stages
occur so quickly when enacted by an accomplished sorcerer
that they appear simultaneous, but each contains its own nuances.
First and foremost, the spell requires a runestone. This
stone may be inscribed with one or two runes. The first rune,
which is always present, represents the valence that will
be sought during the piercing. The second rune, which is not
necessary, represents the specific demon that will be called
during the seeking phase of the spell.
In theory, the runestone should not be required at all. However,
because the linking portion of the ritual requires such concentration
on the part of the sorcerer, focusing the magic of the first
two stages into the runestone greatly increases the chances
of success, such that the vast majority of the sorcerers may
not do without one.
For piercing and seeking, the sorcerer uses their own magic
combined with the magical focus of the runestone to pierce
the veil to the specified valence and seek a demon on that
plane. Without focus on a specific demon, sorcerers usually
proceed to the next stage as soon as they have discovered
a demon of any type. Otherwise, they may pass over several
demons they could control in favor of the particular one sought.
Even the most scholarly of sorcerers have difficulty describing
exactly what occurs during the piercing and seeking stages.
No visual image is provided while seeking the demon, nor is
there any sensation of travel during the process. One sorcerer
observed, "The first time I saw a gnomish clock, it reminded
me of piercing and seeking. The way the hands sweep around,
both organized and precise, yet still fluid -- this is what
it is like, only experienced out-of-body by one's soul."
Once a suitable demon has been discovered, the sorcerer pulls
the demon through the pierced portion of the veil. At this
time, a link is formed between the demon and its native valence,
which will allow it to return home when the sorcerer has dismissed
it or the sorcerer dies.
This link provides the threat the sorcerer requires in order
to exert control. If the sorcerer chooses to sever the link
between the demon and its native valence, the demon will be
stranded in Elanthia, with no means by which to return home.
The consequences of severing a demon's link are severe, as
the demon will then have little incentive to yield to the
sorcerer's demands, knowing that it cannot return to its home
valence, and that its existence has now become that of a hunted
beast. While it is most often fatal for the sorcerer who severs
the link, the Faendryl have typically tracked down those demons
whose links have been severed and slain them.
Despite the consequences of stranding a demon, a summoning
sorcerer must always maintain the demon's belief that this
act is possible, in order to assure that the demon will follow
directions and not attempt to murder the sorcerer to allow
them free return. It is known that the Faendryl have used
link severing in mass summonings as a method for demonstrating
that they will take this action if necessary, thus quelling
rebelliousness among those demons whose links were not severed.
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