The Legend of Vastarie
Necromancy is known to many as a binding of souls to a corporeal form prepared - or in some cases, manufactured - by the conjurer.
While technically accurate, the implication is that the souls so bound have been imprisoned against their will and with no hope of release.
Further implied is the idea that the souls occupying the prepared form are always black - the souls of men or mer - a fallacy perpetuated by the practice of animating corpses for martial or manual labors.
It is this misunderstanding coupled with a potential for abuse that led to the vilification of Necromancy and the expulsion of Mannimarco and his peers from the Isle of Artaeum.
Enter Vastarie, a student of the Psijic Order and contemporary of such notables as Vanus Galerion and Mannimarco.
Where Mannimarco sought power through the direct application of Necromantic energies, Vastarie's purposes were far more esoteric. She sought a way to delay the release of a black soul upon death that it might be consulted, its knowledge recorded for the ages.
It is to this end that she worked with Mannimarco after leaving Artaeum, searching for a way to trap black souls as one would trap a lesser daedra.
Believing the secret lay with Molag Bal, the two conspired to enter Coldharbour and wrest it from the father of vampires himself. Together, they hatched a plan.
With the brash courage known only to the young, Mannimarco and his followers held open a portal to the Prince's realm. Ever thirsting for adventure, it was Vastarie who entered its depths and returned with a cache of black crystals the likes of which they had never seen.
To Mannimarco, they were perfect. Small, easily transported or concealed, and capable of containing even the most willful of souls. To Vastarie, they were deeply flawed, for they offered no escape for the souls they held in thrall.
They set about the task of reproducing the stones, breaking them down, testing them with a variety of substances until, by happy accident, they created something new - the first Sigil Stone.
Clear as crystal, the new stones were capable of holding black souls in their depths. Unlike the gems wrested from the Lord of Domination, a soul placed within a Sigil Stone could not be used to fuel an enchantment. It could be transferred between stones, but applying the stone as one would a soul gem affected the soul's release instead.
Vastarie had found what she was looking for, but Mannimarco was furious. What use was a soul gem that could not be used? He demanded Vastarie continue searching with him, but she refused.
Realizing her friend would never stop searching, and that any further discoveries made with him would only further his goals, she gathered up her research and left with any who would follow her.
The Legend of Vastarie
Necromancy is known to many as a binding of souls to a corporeal form prepared - or in some cases, manufactured - by the conjurer.
While technically accurate, the implication is that the souls so bound have been imprisoned against their will and with no hope of release.
Further implied is the idea that the souls occupying the prepared form are always black - the souls of men or mer - a fallacy perpetuated by the practice of animating corpses for martial or manual labors.
It is this misunderstanding coupled with a potential for abuse that led to the vilification of Necromancy and the expulsion of Mannimarco and his peers from the Isle of Artaeum.
Enter Vastarie, a student of the Psijic Order and contemporary of such notables as Vanus Galerion and Mannimarco.
Where Mannimarco sought power through the direct application of Necromantic energies, Vastarie's purposes were far more esoteric. She sought a way to delay the release of a black soul upon death that it might be consulted, its knowledge recorded for the ages.
It is to this end that she worked with Mannimarco after leaving Artaeum, searching for a way to trap black souls as one would trap a lesser daedra.
Believing the secret lay with Molag Bal, the two conspired to enter Coldharbour and wrest it from the father of vampires himself. Together, they hatched a plan.
With the brash courage known only to the young, Mannimarco and his followers held open a portal to the Prince's realm. Ever thirsting for adventure, it was Vastarie who entered its depths and returned with a cache of black crystals the likes of which they had never seen.
To Mannimarco, they were perfect. Small, easily transported or concealed, and capable of containing even the most willful of souls. To Vastarie, they were deeply flawed, for they offered no escape for the souls they held in thrall.
They set about the task of reproducing the stones, breaking them down, testing them with a variety of substances until, by happy accident, they created something new - the first Sigil Stone.
Clear as crystal, the new stones were capable of holding black souls in their depths. Unlike the gems wrested from the Lord of Domination, a soul placed within a Sigil Stone could not be used to fuel an enchantment. It could be transferred between stones, but applying the stone as one would a soul gem affected the soul's release instead.
Vastarie had found what she was looking for, but Mannimarco was furious. What use was a soul gem that could not be used? He demanded Vastarie continue searching with him, but she refused.
Realizing her friend would never stop searching, and that any further discoveries made with him would only further his goals, she gathered up her research and left with any who would follow her.
