Introduction to the Enchiridion Valentia and Summoning

Introduction to the Enchiridion Valentia and Summoning is an Official GemStone IV Document, and it is protected from editing.

See also: Enchiridion Valentia, Common Language Edition

For information on obtaining and using the Enchiridion Valentia, click here!

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.