Serapis' first attempt to coax the gate open met with abject failure, all the more frustrating because he could not be sure why. Whatever locking mechanism was within this door was totally opaque to this approach- though something shifted within the door, it completely failed to actually shift...

As Serapis had suspected, the workshop was very much lens-focused. Close inspection revealed grinders, accoutrements for polishing, devices meant to hold and manipulate and cut at such a minute degree that the Jin'Norai's eye could not see unaided. Between this workshop and the scrolls, the...

A major boon for the scholars of the Academy was the nature of language itself. Modern-day Ælvish was very little changed from what the exiles who founded the Mirage Kingdoms had spoken, and there had been only a scant few centuries for drift to occur before this tower had been erected...

The warding on the door was stubborn- Serapis didn't recognize the exact mechanism of it, but it strove mightily to keep out him and his psionic field. Nor was any easy answer to be found in syphon, for whatever powered this magic remained vital and distant. The attempt, however, let him suss...

It was, of course, something of a pipe dream to expect to find any window which hadn't been caved in by the weight of the sands over the centuries, and that is precisely what Serapis located- an entryway which had once been secured by sturdy glass and banded iron, but was now merely buried and...

Sand whirled as it began to compress and spurt outwards at the edge of the field of Imber, blowing upward into the air around Serapis' zone of control. Although the psychokinesis pressed only outwards, the shifting pressures of the grains somehow resulted in a spin, looking almost like the...

"Boss! Boss!" Serapis' thoughts were broken by a new voice. This was Rami, one of Faluo's men, a human of unusually slight build for the porter team. That was because Rami wasn't really on the team to fetch and carry like most of Faluo's people, he was a member of the Tanim Clan...

The sky stretched endlessly overhead, a blue vastness so absolute that it swallowed all else. It was not entirely blue, of course- there was the sun, for one thing. Clouds, too. Even in Arcanis, there were wispy clouds which would never bring rain. They roamed the vault of the firmament like...

Hey there! This is all perfectly appropriate to Arcanis, and therefore approved. I would suggest giving some thought to what kind of Rakshasa(s) may have become interested in the di Sobiek clan, and what their relationship has been.

M A G I C ❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢ The deserts of Arcanis are ruled by mages. The most powerful and knowledgeable live in garden villas in Bast, or retire to paradise-islands in the Hollow Sea; lesser professional wizards serve as the councilors and de facto overseers of the individual Kingdoms...

C U L T U R E ❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢ Trade Although magic and the Duat permit Arcanis to grow more things than the average foreigner might expect, it still relies on foreign import for many luxuries like wood, herbs, spices and metals. In return, Arcanis is prolific in the trade of magical...

B A S T I O N ❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢ The premiere institute of higher learning in Arcanis is also the true political power in the entire country, with kings and queens and sultans from Hrimthur's Spine to the ocean little more than pawns in the Academy's greater plans. Bastion is an enormous...

G E O G R A P H Y ❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢ Arcanis is defined by two things- wind and water, or the lack thereof. Long before the first Jin'Norai arrived, the seaborne winds from the east were chained, and the west wind was given complete dominion. Lacking water from the ocean, the rains largely...

HISTORY ❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢ Scholars believe that the great desert of Arcanis was formed many ages before the memories of even immortals can comprehend, the result of some terrible confluence of climate and elemental imbalances run amok. Natural historians at Bastion go so far as to claim...

A R C A N I S Land of Winds and Dream ❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢ Founders: The Jin'Norai exiles of Ælheim, and the Rakshasa Demonym: Arcanites Population: Approximately 30 million Territory: The desert lands north of Ælheim, and south of the Hollow Sea Government: Formally, a confederation of...