Post by Hamuu on Apr 4, 2009 17:06:07 GMT -5
Alright, this is the first part of the info I said I would make available for Crystals Part 2. It’s mainly a history of the Mages up till now and includes recent events. The next thing I am going to do is describe and explain the Council of 12, then I will describe the color classifications.
Mage History:
Mages have been around as long as humans have, though they never lived in their own communities like the Elementals or Aldra-Sa did. Instead mages choose to live out among their human brothers and never really had any form of leadership. This style of life would continue until the 1400’s.
It was during the late 1400’s that witch burnings began to increase at an alarming rate. Fearing for their lives mages became nomads, never staying in a town longer than they had to, for fear of persecution and death. It was in 1518 that Shin-Ra, a forty-two year old mage from Egypt, traveled with the few other mages he encountered to the recently discovered “New World” in hopes of finding a safe haven.
During their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean they were blown off course by a storm and landed somewhere along the coast of Brazil. After braving the Amazon Jungle for weeks they happened upon the ancient ruins of a city. Weary and ready to rest they claimed the city for themselves. Over time word spread to other mages throughout the world that Shin-Ra would accept all other mages who traveled into his ruined city. By the end of 1562, 99% of the world’s mages had made their way to the city. Though never officially named most called it Shin-Ra’s City and, following his death in 1638 at the age of one-hundred and sixty-two, the city simply became known as Shin-Ra.
It was during the late 1600’s, as the witch burnings began to decrease, that the mages began to hold the annual Mage Festival in hopes repairing relations with their non-magic counterparts. Unfortunately this only revealed their location to known witch hunters and religious nuts who considered the mages to be devil worshippers. During the first festival the Mages made contact, and entered into treaties, with the Drakens and Aldra-Sa of Drakengard, the Elementals, and the South Pole Summoners. The next two mage festivals would go by as smoothly as the first (though maybe not as grand) and for the first time since they had arrived in Shin-Ra, the mages felt as though they had carved out their place in the world. It would be during the fourth Mage Festival that disaster finally struck.
Not realizing just how many mages lived within Shin-Ra, the mob of witch hunters and other ‘anti-magic’ people attempted to purge the city. They were quickly destroyed and the festival that year was canceled. Worrying that this might be the first of many attacks the Council of 12 called for an emergency war meeting. Rather than risk an open war the mages decided to go into hiding. Two magical barriers were erected around Shin-Ra, the first was on the very edge of the city while the second, and larger of the two, was a days journey from the first barrier. These two barriers would serve several purposes.
The first purpose the barriers served was to hide Shin-Ra completely from sight; you had to be within a few feet of the city itself before it would ever come into view. Also, anyone caught between the two barriers would be stripped nearly all magical, biological, and technological enhancements or devices (They were not taken away, they just simply didn’t work.) Finally the barrier served as a cage for magically enchanted creatures, unable to pass through either barrier. These creatures were created to kill any who entered the barriers – the most effective and deadly creations being the Skull Golems.
When 1700 rolled around the Mages had been residing within their barriers for three years and already the people were becoming stressed. The major problem that everyone faced was the Black Mage Clans. Before they retreated under the barriers protection many of Shin-Ra’s population lived in the outlying area around the city and when the barriers went up the city had to be magically modified to hold everyone. Space wasn’t the issue though; it was the chaotic nature of black magic.
During a Black Mages puberty they often have to learn to control and attempt to merge with what is called an “other Soul” created from their own black magic. The two souls constantly fought for control of the body, at the time the black mage clans believed that whichever soul prevailed, be it good or evil, had won the right to live. Some specialists existed who attempted to teach black mage children how to merge the warring souls into a new perfect soul, though this hardly if ever worked.
This caused several problems for the people of Shin-Ra. Because of the evil nature of the other Soul many people lived in fear of the Black Mages. When the first murders occurred in 1702 the Council of 12, fearing rebellion, banished the entire Black Mage Bull Clan from Shin-Ra (the murderer having been of Bull Clan). The other six Black Mage Clans were furious and demanded that the decision be over turned. When the Council refused the remaining clans went into self-imposed exile. Only a handful of Black Mages stayed in Shin-Ra – those who were married to mages of other color (rare for a black mage to do, it did sometimes happen.)
The seven black mage clans (Wolf, Turtle, Spider, Jackal, Bull, Lion, and Serpent) meant briefly and held their own council. For two days their leaders deliberated before coming to conclusions on what must be done. It was decided that the other Soul, even if it did win the right to control the body, was too dangerous and any who lost control would be put to death. Sages would be chosen in each clan that would help teach younger black mages to control the other Soul and teach them how to merge, though merging (also referred to as achieving perfect balance) was still extremely rare.
The Seven Black Mage Clans parted and went their separate ways, each one settling somewhere different in the world and living in secret. Meanwhile, in Shin-Ra, a group of Red Mages referring to themselves as The Sons of Shin-Ra demanded that the Black Mages be hunted down by the Mage Army and purged. The Council felt that such an action would be too barbaric and adopted a live and let live decision. The Sons of Shin-Ra would eventually become a small underground organization that believed everyone outside of Shin-Ra needed to be purged.
Over the next two-hundred and fifty years the mages lived peacefully in their hidden city. 1954 saw a new mage appointed the Second (position on the mage council – Leader of the Mage Army). His name was Luminaire, a Red Mage, and though hidden from the public’s eye he was a member of The Sons of Shin-Ra. His first act as Second was to reform the Mage Army (it having been disbanded a hundred years previously), but that was denied as the rest of the council believed there was no need. He, and his fellow conspirators, were prepared for this.
In 1956 the Serpent and Jackal Clans launched an attack on Shin-Ra. Luminaire had sought out and contacted the two clans in hopes of fooling them into believing that he wished for the Black Mages to be “brought back into the fold” and that should they help him they would meet no resistance. He promised that a new council would be formed and that he, as it’s First, would formally ask forgiveness from the Clans. The two clans fell for his ploy.
Ready for the attack, the Sons of Shin-Ra repelled the attack though they suffered major losses. Confident, Luminaire once again approached the council and requested the army reformed. His request was granted and he was issued orders to hunt out and kill those responsible for the attack. To him, the orders were a death sentence for all Black Mages. Over the course of thirty years he used the Army to find and slaughter the seven clans, ending with the destruction of Wolf Clan in early 1986. The next fifteen years were spent searching for the nomads (solo or small groups of two or three) that had left the clans to find lives in the modern world. The majority of the army stayed stationed in Shin-Ra while special operatives went out in search of these nomads.
By early 2000 he believed he had succeeded in purging the Black Mages. Now he began to wonder how he could cast their previous allies and even the humans as villains that needed to be destroyed. The mages of the city were unaware of his plans and on the whole went about their lives peacefully. When 2006 rolled around, Luminaire still had not devised a plan that would allow him to declare war on the outside world. Later that year he got his chance.
A small group of travelers apparently survived a journey through the space between the barriers and arrived in the city. When Luminaire heard of this, and discovered that one of them was a Black Mage, he immediately sent the Sons of Shin-Ra to the inner barrier and commanded them to disenchant it. His plan was to unleash the monsters outside on the city and then blame it on the travelers. Their group was diverse enough that it would afford him the opportunity to call all outsiders enemies.
It took them two days but the Sons of Shin-Ra destroyed the barrier and were quickly overwhelmed and killed by the monsters. With the beasts unleashed on the city, Luminaire prepared himself to jump in at the last minute and save the day. News reached him that the travelers had jumped in to the fray and were successfully helping the mages repel the beasts. Enraged, Luminaire found and attacked Rick. The two fought and Luminaire was revealed to be the corrupt monster he was. His life ended at the hands of the last Black Mage, Rick.
A formal apology was issued to Rick for all that his people had suffered but Rick didn’t want it. He offered to stay in the city and help hunt and kill the remaining beasts living in the jungle before they found their way to the city. The Council of 12 created a new temporary brigade to protect the city until the beasts were killed and the barrier restored. Yon de Gof, the new second, offered the position of Captain of this new brigade to Rick.
Rick used his new found fame and power to convince the mages to give the world a second chance. Eventually it was agreed and the outer barrier was also destroyed. Since then the Mages have sought out the Drakens and Aldra-Sa, Elementals, and the South Pole Summoners. The people of Drakengard and the Summoners were happy to reenter treaties with the Mages. The Elementals though seemed to have dwindled as a major power and have deserted their cities in favor of smaller family groups.
Soon after, an attack occurred on this city by a man who devoured magic essence. Another group of travelers, friends of Rick, helped defend the city and once again it was Rick who won the final fight, though he himself wasn’t sure what happened at the end of the battle due to a strong poisons flowing through his veins at the time. Many mages died during this attack, including Yon de Gof.
The mages began to wonder if they should hide themselves once again. Instead it was Mia, a young White Mage in the position of Third, that suggested that the attack might have occurred regardless of the barriers and that the man who had attacked them was drawn to them by his hunger for magic. She speculated that it was the combine power of all the mages living together that had summoned him to the City to feast.
Currently the city is preparing for its first Mage Festival in hundreds of years. They have spared no expense in making sure the modern world knows about the event. Politically the council will not convene again till after the festival has ended though before hand they elected a new Second, Rick, and are currently considering the option of down sizing Shin-Ra or abandoning it all together in favor of building newer, smaller cities out in the world.
Mage History:
Mages have been around as long as humans have, though they never lived in their own communities like the Elementals or Aldra-Sa did. Instead mages choose to live out among their human brothers and never really had any form of leadership. This style of life would continue until the 1400’s.
It was during the late 1400’s that witch burnings began to increase at an alarming rate. Fearing for their lives mages became nomads, never staying in a town longer than they had to, for fear of persecution and death. It was in 1518 that Shin-Ra, a forty-two year old mage from Egypt, traveled with the few other mages he encountered to the recently discovered “New World” in hopes of finding a safe haven.
During their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean they were blown off course by a storm and landed somewhere along the coast of Brazil. After braving the Amazon Jungle for weeks they happened upon the ancient ruins of a city. Weary and ready to rest they claimed the city for themselves. Over time word spread to other mages throughout the world that Shin-Ra would accept all other mages who traveled into his ruined city. By the end of 1562, 99% of the world’s mages had made their way to the city. Though never officially named most called it Shin-Ra’s City and, following his death in 1638 at the age of one-hundred and sixty-two, the city simply became known as Shin-Ra.
It was during the late 1600’s, as the witch burnings began to decrease, that the mages began to hold the annual Mage Festival in hopes repairing relations with their non-magic counterparts. Unfortunately this only revealed their location to known witch hunters and religious nuts who considered the mages to be devil worshippers. During the first festival the Mages made contact, and entered into treaties, with the Drakens and Aldra-Sa of Drakengard, the Elementals, and the South Pole Summoners. The next two mage festivals would go by as smoothly as the first (though maybe not as grand) and for the first time since they had arrived in Shin-Ra, the mages felt as though they had carved out their place in the world. It would be during the fourth Mage Festival that disaster finally struck.
Not realizing just how many mages lived within Shin-Ra, the mob of witch hunters and other ‘anti-magic’ people attempted to purge the city. They were quickly destroyed and the festival that year was canceled. Worrying that this might be the first of many attacks the Council of 12 called for an emergency war meeting. Rather than risk an open war the mages decided to go into hiding. Two magical barriers were erected around Shin-Ra, the first was on the very edge of the city while the second, and larger of the two, was a days journey from the first barrier. These two barriers would serve several purposes.
The first purpose the barriers served was to hide Shin-Ra completely from sight; you had to be within a few feet of the city itself before it would ever come into view. Also, anyone caught between the two barriers would be stripped nearly all magical, biological, and technological enhancements or devices (They were not taken away, they just simply didn’t work.) Finally the barrier served as a cage for magically enchanted creatures, unable to pass through either barrier. These creatures were created to kill any who entered the barriers – the most effective and deadly creations being the Skull Golems.
When 1700 rolled around the Mages had been residing within their barriers for three years and already the people were becoming stressed. The major problem that everyone faced was the Black Mage Clans. Before they retreated under the barriers protection many of Shin-Ra’s population lived in the outlying area around the city and when the barriers went up the city had to be magically modified to hold everyone. Space wasn’t the issue though; it was the chaotic nature of black magic.
During a Black Mages puberty they often have to learn to control and attempt to merge with what is called an “other Soul” created from their own black magic. The two souls constantly fought for control of the body, at the time the black mage clans believed that whichever soul prevailed, be it good or evil, had won the right to live. Some specialists existed who attempted to teach black mage children how to merge the warring souls into a new perfect soul, though this hardly if ever worked.
This caused several problems for the people of Shin-Ra. Because of the evil nature of the other Soul many people lived in fear of the Black Mages. When the first murders occurred in 1702 the Council of 12, fearing rebellion, banished the entire Black Mage Bull Clan from Shin-Ra (the murderer having been of Bull Clan). The other six Black Mage Clans were furious and demanded that the decision be over turned. When the Council refused the remaining clans went into self-imposed exile. Only a handful of Black Mages stayed in Shin-Ra – those who were married to mages of other color (rare for a black mage to do, it did sometimes happen.)
The seven black mage clans (Wolf, Turtle, Spider, Jackal, Bull, Lion, and Serpent) meant briefly and held their own council. For two days their leaders deliberated before coming to conclusions on what must be done. It was decided that the other Soul, even if it did win the right to control the body, was too dangerous and any who lost control would be put to death. Sages would be chosen in each clan that would help teach younger black mages to control the other Soul and teach them how to merge, though merging (also referred to as achieving perfect balance) was still extremely rare.
The Seven Black Mage Clans parted and went their separate ways, each one settling somewhere different in the world and living in secret. Meanwhile, in Shin-Ra, a group of Red Mages referring to themselves as The Sons of Shin-Ra demanded that the Black Mages be hunted down by the Mage Army and purged. The Council felt that such an action would be too barbaric and adopted a live and let live decision. The Sons of Shin-Ra would eventually become a small underground organization that believed everyone outside of Shin-Ra needed to be purged.
Over the next two-hundred and fifty years the mages lived peacefully in their hidden city. 1954 saw a new mage appointed the Second (position on the mage council – Leader of the Mage Army). His name was Luminaire, a Red Mage, and though hidden from the public’s eye he was a member of The Sons of Shin-Ra. His first act as Second was to reform the Mage Army (it having been disbanded a hundred years previously), but that was denied as the rest of the council believed there was no need. He, and his fellow conspirators, were prepared for this.
In 1956 the Serpent and Jackal Clans launched an attack on Shin-Ra. Luminaire had sought out and contacted the two clans in hopes of fooling them into believing that he wished for the Black Mages to be “brought back into the fold” and that should they help him they would meet no resistance. He promised that a new council would be formed and that he, as it’s First, would formally ask forgiveness from the Clans. The two clans fell for his ploy.
Ready for the attack, the Sons of Shin-Ra repelled the attack though they suffered major losses. Confident, Luminaire once again approached the council and requested the army reformed. His request was granted and he was issued orders to hunt out and kill those responsible for the attack. To him, the orders were a death sentence for all Black Mages. Over the course of thirty years he used the Army to find and slaughter the seven clans, ending with the destruction of Wolf Clan in early 1986. The next fifteen years were spent searching for the nomads (solo or small groups of two or three) that had left the clans to find lives in the modern world. The majority of the army stayed stationed in Shin-Ra while special operatives went out in search of these nomads.
By early 2000 he believed he had succeeded in purging the Black Mages. Now he began to wonder how he could cast their previous allies and even the humans as villains that needed to be destroyed. The mages of the city were unaware of his plans and on the whole went about their lives peacefully. When 2006 rolled around, Luminaire still had not devised a plan that would allow him to declare war on the outside world. Later that year he got his chance.
A small group of travelers apparently survived a journey through the space between the barriers and arrived in the city. When Luminaire heard of this, and discovered that one of them was a Black Mage, he immediately sent the Sons of Shin-Ra to the inner barrier and commanded them to disenchant it. His plan was to unleash the monsters outside on the city and then blame it on the travelers. Their group was diverse enough that it would afford him the opportunity to call all outsiders enemies.
It took them two days but the Sons of Shin-Ra destroyed the barrier and were quickly overwhelmed and killed by the monsters. With the beasts unleashed on the city, Luminaire prepared himself to jump in at the last minute and save the day. News reached him that the travelers had jumped in to the fray and were successfully helping the mages repel the beasts. Enraged, Luminaire found and attacked Rick. The two fought and Luminaire was revealed to be the corrupt monster he was. His life ended at the hands of the last Black Mage, Rick.
A formal apology was issued to Rick for all that his people had suffered but Rick didn’t want it. He offered to stay in the city and help hunt and kill the remaining beasts living in the jungle before they found their way to the city. The Council of 12 created a new temporary brigade to protect the city until the beasts were killed and the barrier restored. Yon de Gof, the new second, offered the position of Captain of this new brigade to Rick.
Rick used his new found fame and power to convince the mages to give the world a second chance. Eventually it was agreed and the outer barrier was also destroyed. Since then the Mages have sought out the Drakens and Aldra-Sa, Elementals, and the South Pole Summoners. The people of Drakengard and the Summoners were happy to reenter treaties with the Mages. The Elementals though seemed to have dwindled as a major power and have deserted their cities in favor of smaller family groups.
Soon after, an attack occurred on this city by a man who devoured magic essence. Another group of travelers, friends of Rick, helped defend the city and once again it was Rick who won the final fight, though he himself wasn’t sure what happened at the end of the battle due to a strong poisons flowing through his veins at the time. Many mages died during this attack, including Yon de Gof.
The mages began to wonder if they should hide themselves once again. Instead it was Mia, a young White Mage in the position of Third, that suggested that the attack might have occurred regardless of the barriers and that the man who had attacked them was drawn to them by his hunger for magic. She speculated that it was the combine power of all the mages living together that had summoned him to the City to feast.
Currently the city is preparing for its first Mage Festival in hundreds of years. They have spared no expense in making sure the modern world knows about the event. Politically the council will not convene again till after the festival has ended though before hand they elected a new Second, Rick, and are currently considering the option of down sizing Shin-Ra or abandoning it all together in favor of building newer, smaller cities out in the world.