A/N: Just a little something to get people back into the thick of things before I update again (which I'd like to do this weekend). This is all information Vashti knows.
Kedusha
There came a time when the old magic was swept away. Black magic, Kishuf, in all its sinful instances, was the remaining detritus left behind by the flood of Babarak. Then came the Ravs, who cleaned away the gunk and filth that had gathered on the plane of creation, and created Kedusha. This is the practice of drawing on the Zurah, of creating power through the mysteries of God. It is only through this guidance of God and the channeling of the sacred texts that you avoid damnation. It is only through the six original schools that this power can be channeled. It is said sometimes that Amalgast used only the power of the divine, but that is incorrect. He discovered the secrets of the schools and laid the groundwork for the Ravs who came after him to bring order to the chaos and write down his strictures.
The Six Schools
Each school is a pillar of creation, standing freely. There is no connection between each, for they were conceived independently, and the contours and boundaries of them is well defined. There is no such thing as a "hybrid" school, or perhaps a school that has been undiscovered or forgotten. It is within these six pillars that all that was, is, and will be known about Kedusha has been stored. God is one, a unified being of vastness beyond imagining, but for man to comprehend him they must divide his creation into the sections and secrets that the schools have created. This division is both just and necessary, for although the foolish boy declares "all is connected", the wise man says "all is divided under the unity of God". They are all interpretations of an aspect of creation, embodied by their founder, who built them in their likeness and their philosophy. They are schools of being, of lifestyle, of thought, and of war.
There are no other schools. There have never been any other schools.
Karogen: School of the Soul Fist
Wrath. Fury. Trouble. A band of the emissaries of evil. These are the things God sent against Babarak for their sins. But the divine rage is complex: it is infinitely calm even as it drowns, and brings new life in its wake. So too is Karogen. The aftershocks of creation and the wrath of God still shake the Zurah, and the practitioner of Karogen attunes themselves to these shocks. They become his, or hers, and with that understanding they are able to direct them towards violence. The punch becomes an explosive fist of gunpowder. The sword strike is as sharp as red-hot primordial obsidian. The crash of primeval thunder under the earth, the wicked finger of ancient lightning, become the arms of justice in the hand of a user of Karogen. For creation was a process of destruction, and destruction was a process of purification. The holy fire is among the most powerful techniques of users of Karogen, igniting any surface they touch with an incandescent screeching light of green, but leaves in its wake calm, purity, and fresh ground for the growing of plants.
Karogen, who founded the school, was said to have destroyed an entire army with only a knife, a wine cork, and faith in his craft. Texts in this school are mainly concerned with wrath, honor, and victory over enemies.
Adherents of Karogen are commonly able to...
...infuse their physical blows with the aftershocks of creation, causing great destruction
...channel and redirect the tremendous power of God's wrath into physical or spiritual waves around themselves
...at the highest levels, smash the peaks of mountains, unleash earthquakes, divert rivers, or stop hurricanes.
Hastata: School of the Swift Foot
The fish in the sea. The beasts on the land. The birds in the sky. Man, the pinnacle of creation. These are the creatures which God created with an intended design. Within the Zurah, these images, these ideals, still exist. If understanding God's design is the path to self-perfection, then Hastata is the school that seeks to understand. By taking these images, still imprinted in the Zurah, Hastata allows its users to achieve physical self-perfection. This is a path of much suffering and pain, as to do so is to transcend the normal limits of the body and endure a cycle of self-creation and destruction. It is virtuous, however, for the user of Hastata, with time, becomes a being that has far surpassed the boundaries of what humans think is possible to do. But the secret of Hastata that propels every pupil forward is that God created Man in his image, and so the only true ceiling imposed on the capability of man is the floor of God.
Hastata was said to have been able to run in place faster than any moving man. Texts in this school are concerned with personal improvement, enduring and accepting suffering, and pushing the limits of the body.
Adherents of Hastata are commonly able to...
...Transcend the limitations of flesh through the spirit, gaining reflexes, strength, and stamina far in excess of the uninitiated.
...Harden and toughen the flesh and bones to all physical stresses.
...redress imbalances within their bodies or that of others others, restoring the ideal form against the pressure of age or injury
...at advanced levels, become unbreakable, filing away the edge of diamonds with the hardness of their fingernails, or mountains with their fingertips.
Yatoni: School of the Two-Faced Whisper
When God breathed life into all the beings under heaven he touched them softly below their eyes. These imprints of the almighty bound together everything that has existed, exists, or will exist, into the covenant of creation, and the traces of his touch still carve mighty gashes in the infinity of the zurah. It is the school of Yatoni which has stopped and followed the fingerprints of creation, taking the bonds that God crafted and manipulating the objects of his design, drawing on the divine strings that hold together the world like musicians on a delicate instrument. Nothing new is created: Instead Yatoni strums the binds, listens to their tones, and weaves them together in new and strange ways. The hardness of a boulder is given to the drinking cup, the man's flesh twinned by touch with a wax doll burnt miles away, and so too burns the flesh. Blessings and curses are simply the monikers given to these movements which transcend classification: is is up to the practitioner to determine what is a blessing and what is a curse...and their perception is not always that of their recipient. However, once the bindings are identified, it is up to the pupil to tie them together through a connection, whether it is touch, a flake of skin, a lock of hair, or a vial of blood.
Yatoni was said to have cursed his rival, who lived many miles away, and then eaten a sword that came out of his rival's stomach. Texts in this school are concerned with vengeance, charity, and duties to others.
Yatoni adherents are commonly able to...
...weave spiritual threads between individual objects or people. Of course, they need to touch parts of the objects to establish the connection, but "parts" or "touch" are up to much interpretation depending on the skill of the scholar.
...apply mass curses and blessings by inducing mass contact with a singular thread, whether to bless an entire army with the strength of courage or curse it to terrific stomach pain and flatulence.
...at advanced levels, make stones fly, transfer plague from humans to pigs and cure entire towns, drown armies under the earth, or call rains of blood from clouds of the dead that grow fields of fully-grown barley.
Zurahna: School of the Spirit Abyss
The unceasing maw that scaffolds creation drinks in the imagination like a bee does sweet nectar. For the Zurah is more than just a place of great terror, power, and mystery. It is also a palace of the mind for the most capable. Understanding its yearning for definition and structure, no matter how ephemeral, Zurahna is the school which allows transforming its blank and incomprehensible expanse into a small bubble of reason. They possess the capability not only to transform the structures of the wider Zurah, but to adapt their own Zurah realms, the little constructs of every life reflected in the Zurah. It also teaches how to safely walk the spirit wastes between the realms, fight within the realms of others, and enter the ruined palaces of the dead or lost. It is only with full comprehension of the self, however, that one can truly achieve such heights, and without it, they are liable to fall victim to the Zurah's yearning, and become among the lost themselves...
Zurahna was said to have lived to one hundred fifty years, upon which she retired to a personal replica of her childhood home in the Zurahna, and can still be visited by the very best scholars of this school. Texts in this school are concerned with oneness, esoteric mysticism, and looking inwards for perfection.
Zurahna adherents are commonly able to...
...build their own realms within the Zurah, subject only to the limits of their own mind.
...traverse and manipulate the wider Zurah.
...at advanced levels, communicate over great distances, create realms akin to small worlds, bring back the shadows of the dead to populate their realms, and open gates that cast their foes out of the living world and into the spirit abyss.
Tologda: School of the Wise Tongue
The first man made a mistake, and because of that mistake, the first man died. In the grief of his death, and the grief of all deaths hence, there exists a mournful dirge that hums softly and strangely in the Zurah: the song of the Angels of Death. To learn Tologda is to listen to that dirge, to understand the dead, and to comprehend those who have never been alive. In that, the students of Tologda must learn an unending compassion, empathy, cordiality, and friendship, for they must bridge the gap with beings for whom life is accompanied by the tune of an unholy angel, trapped in the Zurah or come again to undeath as spirits, come to haunt and eat the living. Tologda is the manners which sooth the screams, the warm embrace which silences the screech. To befriend and have companions among the dead required a love unending for those who have already passed, so that you may provide them love and a place in the world even after their time has ended. That is true even when such love entails great risk and sacrifice, as it is when a sage opens the door of his mind and hosts within it in an unending dinner a powerful spirit. Of course, the secrets of Tologda entail looking beyond just spirits, and bridging the unbridgeable gap that separates man from heaven...
Tologda is said to have befriended so many spirits that on his dying day the seraphim carried him to heaven in a golden chariot on the request of the dead who wished to see him again. Texts in this school are concerned with looking outwards, diplomacy, and friendship.
Tologda adherents are commonly able to..
...detect and reveal spirits in the mundane world, sense danger from far away, ascertain a spirit's power, and discoveri hidden spirits disguised as mortals.
...negotiate with spirits, speaking to them safely and without fear of being eaten or killed at a moment's notice because they were not careful.
...convince spirits to purify themselves without whittling them down through combat.
...welcome spirits into the home of their mind, either hosting them without issue in their body or making them allies feeding off their immense energy and kindness, freed from ordinary hunger.
...reach out beyond what has ever been thought possible towards those responsible for the passing of mortals: the angels of death.
Rongen: School of the Pure Will
Strong is the house of God, and stronger still are the sinews of creation, bound to the Zurah, the skeleton of creation. Rongen refuses adverse change, the infinite mutability of creation, and the inevitability of decay, for in heaven all lasts forever. Channeling the remnants of this holy will through the frozen black ocean within the Zurah, Rongen blocks any technique that attempts to force change or destruction on the world through altering the Zurah or manipulating the living world. It can even make objects within the living world imperishable and invulnerable simply by locking in the idea of their immutable form in the Zurah. If Karogen is the unstoppable force, Rongen is the immovable object. It is only through the exercise of will, however, that one creates a vessel worthy of becoming the bulwark of God, and so a student must build their determination through active study and effort.
Rongen is said to have stopped a horde of spirits from attacking the capital simply by sitting in front of the gate and holding his position for twenty years, after which the spirits grew tired and withdrew. Texts in this school are concerned with mental fortitude, meditation, attention to detail and overcoming fear.
Rongen adherents are commonly able to...
...negate or hinder any other technique of kedusha or base sorcery in their presence.
...draw upon their will to give themselves great stubbornness, resistance to pain, and fear.
...make themselves or other objects temporarily immovable.
...inspire and strength the wills of others.
...at advanced levels, become an implacable glaciar of raw will, capable of outlasting any storm and stopping comets from heaven with a single stare.
