The Basics of Rune Magic [First Edition]

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[highlight]The Basics of Rune Magic[/highlight] First Edition
[highlight]By:[/highlight]  Mactl'ysha

[highlight]Prelude:[/highlight]  About the Author

Mactl'ysha is a sorceress of the Transcendent Conclave.  She has spent her life as a scholar and researcher of things both known and unknown.  Her sorceress powers were awakened  upon her arrival on Ymph in 1376 Dale Reckoning.  These powers encompass the Third Eye and the Voices which work together to reveal hidden truth and knowledge.  

She has used her powers in conjunction with her research to compile this tome.  Let it be known that all that is written within is the truth to the best of her ability to uncover it.  

[highlight]Chapter 1:[/highlight]  What Are Runes

As one travels throughout these ancient ruins they may come across two types of runes.  The first type of rune is meant to be used as a form of communication.  The second type of rune is meant to be used in magical rituals.

In both types a single rune could be considered similar to a letter in our alphabet.  However, unlike our letters each rune has a specific or multiple meanings.  

For example, "Ahh", "Bee," and "Cee" are meaningless sounds denoting the first three letters of the alphabet of the common tongue.  Compare this too "Amaton", "Begoz", and "Valtroz" which literally mean "Creation", "Fire", and "Darkness" respectively.  

Just as there are many languages that can be written and spoken, there are many forms of runic script.  This tome focuses only on Netherese runic script.

[highlight]Chapter 2:[/highlight]  The History of the Netherese Runic Script

It is uncertain when the first Runes appeared, but it is certain that they have been around at least since the Dawn Ages (circa -30000 DR).  This is tens of thousands of years before the first Netherese Enclave took to the skies.  It is also uncertain who first began the use of runic script, but some of the earliest documentation attributes it to dragons, and from there it seems to have passed into the hands of primitive humanoids.  

It is likely that the first runes were intended to be magical in nature, but over time this ability was lost.  The first runes used by the ancestors of the Netherese are primarily non-magical in nature, with only a few known exceptions.  Illiteracy was common and the runes were only known to the early shaman,  and despite their non-magical nature they were still incorporated into the shaman's magical rituals.  This would be a tradition that would carry forward in ways that the proto-Netherese could never imagine.

These early runes are known as valzistangar in the Low Netherese tongue, and can be found in many places of importance dating all the way back to circa -3800 DR.  It is clear that during this time a revolution took place in Netherese culture.  This revolution was so strong that it even greatly influenced the writing.  Literacy seemed to expand far beyond the elite toward those that were more common.  

By the time the Imperial Age had begun there were two separate languages spoken and used by the Netherese.  The most common was simply referred to as Netherese, but is more accurately known as Low Netherese.  This was the language used in common speech and those who lived upon the ground.  The other language was known as Loross, or more commonly among scholars as High Netherese.  This was the language used by the arcane class of Netheril who primarily lived upon the floating Enclaves.  At this stage in Netherese history the valzistangar seemed to be largely abandoned though some small lingering heritage can still be seen in Low Netherese.  However, both of the languages seem to draw more upon the Draconic rune script with low to moderate influence from Elvish rune script.

Low Netherese is almost entirely a literate rune script used for communication purposes only.  By contrast Loross was used almost universally as a magical rune script.  The Loross rune script has no lingering connection to the valzistangar, which means that it was either purposefully constructed by the Netherese or adopted from Draconic or Elvish magical rune script.  Whatever the case, Loross is a language with highly managed rules and can only be fully mastered by one with a significant amount of intelligence.  This may have been intended by the Netherese Arcanists.

For all intents and purposes Loross should be considered a dead language spoken only by a select handful of individuals.  However, Low Netherese has managed to live on.  The language of Halruaa is a direct descendant from Low Netherese, and still uses a rune script almost identical to that which was used by the Low Netherese.

[highlight]Chapter 3:[/highlight]  The Loross Rune Script

As mentioned in the first chapter all rune scripts have meanings associated with each rune.  These meanings can be both abstract or literal.  They range from the literal "Fire" to the abstract "The One Who Opens".

In Loross each rune has a specific classification called a grouping.  There is no magical reason that they are grouped in such a manner, though it does make it easier for the beginner.  The following groupings exist:  Elemental, Power, Condition, Lesser, and Common.

The first three groupings consist of the cornerstone of all Loross language.  Developing a firm understanding of these runes in turn gives a stronger understanding of Lesser runes.  Lesser runes form the bulk of the Loross magical rune script, and are virtually uncountable in number.

The first four groupings consist of magical runes, while the final grouping consist of all non-magical runes.  They are simply known as the Common runes and there seems to be a strong correlation with Low Netherese among these runes.  There are even duplicate Common runes for the runes in each of the previous groupings.

That duplication may seem odd until one understands Loross more accurately.  Each rune in the first four groupings has a "True Name."  It is this name that empowers them, and it seems to go beyond simple Weave manipulations.  True names are words that are woven into the very fabric of the cosmos.  To know a True Name is to have complete control over what that name governs.  Each rune has a true name and upon speaking it that rune becomes "bound" or "active".  Therefore, having additional runes makes complete sense to avoid accidents in everyday communication.  

Below are twenty-one runes taken from the first three groupings.  There are more runes in each grouping, but this tome is merely an introduction to Loross and Rune Magic as a whole.  

Elemental Runes
The Elemental Rune grouping are runes that describe the raw primordial essence from which all things emerged.  They are the most basic and most powerful of the runes.


Meaning:  Air
True Name:  Perzia



Meaning:  Creation
True Name:   Amaton



Meaning:  Earth
True Name:  Grekhan



Meaning:  Entropy
True Name:  Nanton



Meaning:  Fire
True Name:  Begoz



Meaning:  Water
True Name:   Lorwa


Power Runes
The Power Rune grouping describes the primordial forces at work in the cosmos.  These runes are unique in that each of them has an antagonistic twin.  These twins can only be used together with certain Condition Runes.


Meaning:  Darkness
True Name:  Valtroz



Meaning:  Death
True Name:  Morria



Meaning:  Evil
True Name:   Sultros



Meaning:  Good
True Name:   Galtros



Meaning:  Life
True Name:   Balria



Meaning:  Light
True Name:   Matroz



Meaning:  Mobility
True Name:   Felkor



Meaning:  Order
True Name:   Lanor



Meaning:  Stasis
True Name:   Saakor



Meaning:  Strife
True Name:   Chanor


Condition Runes
 The Condition Rune grouping describes certain traits, places, creatures, and other such tangible things.  They also describe literal conditions and modifiers such as create, destroy, modify, direct, greater, lesser, warmer, cooler, etc.  Condition runes are normally combined with another rune and are rarely used alone.


Meaning:  Beast
True Name:  Kelest



Meaning:  Humanoid
True Name:   Manhun



Meaning:  Plant
True Name:   Rooklor



Meaning:  Speech
True Name:   Takal



Meaning:  Spirit
True Name:   Ghoman

[highlight]Chapter 4:[/highlight]  The Basics of Netherese Rune Magic

As mentioned in the third chapter each rune (aside from Common Runes) has a True Name.  Speaking this name is what empowers a rune.  Speaking the True Name again will disempower the rune.  When the true name is spoken the rune is known as a bound rune.  If a rune is drawn but the True Name is not spoken or is spoken once it is bound it is known as an unbound rune.    For the sake of simplicity the reader may think of bound and unbound runes as active and inactive runes respectively.  

The Netherese Archmages often combined both types of runes in an attempt to confuse individuals attempting to disable their rune magics.  To add additional complexity the Netherese Archmages often ensured that there was no outward sign that a rune had successfully been bound or unbound.  

To make rune magic all the more difficult most rune magic is done through the use of lesser runes.  It is rare to use elemental, power, or condition runes directly.  In Loross those runes are combined to create unique individual runes.  For example, the elemental rune of air and the power rune of life when combined create the lesser rune of breathing.  The rune of breathing may then be combined with the condition rune of stop, and that in turn would create the lesser rune of suffocation.  

This is the basics of how lesser runes are created and how they appear in runic inscriptions.  To make matters more difficult the True Names for the lesser runes are not the same as the ones that they combined to create.  

When a new rune is created the creator carries out a divining ceremony.  During this ceremony the rune is written and ceremonial magics are performed.  At the end of this ceremony the True Name is revealed to the creator.  In truth no one "creates" a rune as the True Name of the rune has been in existence since the first moments of creation, and thus it is possible to use the same ceremony to uncover the True Names of runes unknown to the reader.

The final and most important part of rune magic is the actual writing of the rune.  When a rune is engraved or drawn upon an object that object is empowered by the runes upon it.  In addition, it is critical to know what is used in drawing a rune.  Much like in certain spells regents are used in the creation of runes.  These regents vary based upon what the magic is intended to do.

[highlight]Conclusion:[/highlight]  Beyond the Basics

This tome merely covers the basics of Netherese Rune Magic.  There is so much more to learn and know, such as the important place of circles in Rune Magic.  This tome contains the foundations upon which all knowledge of Netherese Rune Magic is built, and therefore should suffice for the beginner.  Once the lessons written herein are understood, the beginner should be able to venture forth and learn the rest through study and experimentation.