Interview with a Sage

Kayla Madrigal of the Independent Trading Worlds Weekly here. The full Adventurers of the Carotian Union comes out this week, a series that chronicles the entire Quest for the Lost Prince of Thalas and the part each of those Questors played in making it succeed. Tuhl, the greatest sage in the Union, who served as both chronicler and advisor, took a few moments out of his busy schedule to tell us about it. Let's hear what he has to say! (If you can’t access our stream, here is the transcript.)

The quest the Adventurers undertook occurred in the aftermath of the war Thalas waged on its sister-worlds, Caros and Ereb. Since that war, the three worlds have been struggling to form a system-wide confederation—the Carotian Union. Master Tuhl, tell me about how Caros and Ereb won this war and not only didn’t subjugate their defeated attackers but strove to draw them into a union where all three worlds would have equal power. High King and Queen were newly minted, but sovereigns of the other worlds followed their lead. And their lead said “Unite!”

The attempt to unify wasn't the end of the story. Where did this quest come from? King and Crown Prince of Thalas started that war. Justice played out: they ended with that war, ended the brutal line of the Toths. Since then, no leader arose all will follow. (He gave here a little snort of what I took to be disgust.) No leader, but many petty barons and princes determined to grab (he made a grasping motion so fast and savage I jumped) power. Who will they follow? None of their acquaintance. (He chuckled in—I have to say it—a sage manner.) But Mistra, the first of the Questors to be called—she discovered The One.

For the benefit of the folks at home who’ve been living—I don’t know—in a black hole for the past 18 months, tell us about “The One.”  Eliander, a true king out of legend and the last crown prince of the original royal line of Thalas. He was the solution to the Union’s ills. But first our Adventurers had to find him! (He cackled and cut a little caper.) 

(I actually felt a chill run down my spine here.) The king that was and will be is a powerful figure in galactic mythology.  Some backstory, please? Humans like Eliander came from system’s fourth world, which destroyed itself an age ago. (He pointed upward and followed the gesture by looking up, as if he could see into space or through time.) 

This would be Thalybdenos? From around 2500 years ago? Ace Reporter has done her homework! Yes. Exists now only as an asteroid belt orbiting the suns. The humans  settled here, on Caros and Ereb, on Thalas, and became acquainted with us indigenous folk. (He sighed.) And Caros and Ereb remained peaceful. Friendship there was between them and us. Royal lines remained stable, the worlds prospered, the deities the humans worship and even we First Ones must acknowledge, showed favor. Humans kept the powers your “folks at home” might call “magic.”

Thalas was a different story? (He shook his head in sorrow for what could not be repaired.) Royal Thalacian line was broken with violence in Eliander's time, only six generations out from the Exodus. Afterwards, royal line fractured into pieces like a great, cosmic jigsaw puzzle with the corners and half the inside pieces forever lost. Belief dwindled, “magic” dwindled, but Thalacians kept—bettered—warrior aspect of their culture. They became fierce aggressors. We did not know how fierce till the war! (This last with a rueful chuckle.) 

There are a lot of worlds out there where people wield “magic” or combine it with the arts of war. Tell me about the magic the Carotians and Erebites wield and the Thalacians lost.  Bound tightly the “magic” is (here he clasped his hands forcefully) to the humans' mysticism. Ethic stresses use of these powers in balance with the other gifts bestowed by their gods: the intellect, reverence for life, the gifts of the spirit, even the body and its care. And always for the common weal. So,  many sports and physical arts like dance, spiritual arts like meditation, evolved technology—may find them all over the Union. Craftspeople take pride in creating their wares from scratch: these abilities, too, are gift from Pantheon. 

I’m not hearing how “magic” works around here. (He gestured as if he had given me kernels of wheat when all I wanted was the chaff. I thought I heard a little chuffing in his throat as well.) Very, very simple, Miss Ace Reporter. Carotian or Erebite who can envision something clearly enough, can bring it into being.

That sounds too easy. I there a catch? Only catch is envisioning clearly, sometimes down to atoms and molecules and how they interact. 

So if I were a Carotian and I could envision myself ruling one of the Independent Trading Worlds, I could do it? Where do I sign up??? Well . . . yes. But also no.

 Oh. That “ethic” you mentioned has a capital E? Yes. The Ethic. Do naught to your neighbor you not want him to do to you. Tells the humans never to direct magic against a member of a race that cannot retaliate in kind; where a race could retaliate in kind, Carotians should never be the aggressors.

I hear an “and” in there somewhere. Exceptions exist, but they are aimed at allowing a Carotian to defend his or her life under extreme pressure and the threat of imminent death. And visualizing to the molecular level... this requires both the imagination to envision and the ability to understand the physics or chemistry or medical biology that will get that result. And any of our people who travel the galaxy know that there are places where the Art simply won’t function, or will function unpredictably because access to the goodly construct that powers the Art Inborn and the Disciplines can be interrupted or significantly slowed down. 

A goodly construct? You have certainly seen the Meadow and, within it, the Tree. And within the Tree… (His eyes sparkled here) Constructs called Orbs, great masses of metal-like substance, form an essential part of the matrix of all of the worlds of the Union. Here, Orb of Caros; on Ereb, Orb of Ereb; once upon a time; Orb of Thalybdenos. The Orbs themselves are to some extent sentient. Their food is the energies of those who draw on their power. Righteousness (or drawing on them with benevolent intent) is as food and drink to them; malevolence acts like poison. The Tree stands above a chamber where we can access the Orb of Caros.

I get the feeling you're about to tell me that Bad Things happen to people who violate The Ethic, or maybe misuse this power these Orbs have. Two Bad Things. Any human in the Union, noble or commoner, who violates the Ethic seriously can suffer Abrogation—forcible interruption of his or her access to the Art. The other bad thing concerns the ecology of the worlds themselves. Concerns the Orbs.

You said kindly intent fed them but malevolent intent could poison them? You mean…? (At this point I started doing involuntary sums in my head.) Yes. Unrighteousness waxed so great on Thalybdenos in its last days its Orb eventually fragmented, poisoned and unable to recover, destroying the planet. As Adventurers of the Carotian Union opens, Thalas stands but a step away from this fate. And if Thalas fragmented, Caros and Ereb would sundive.