When at first I came to Chyrefal to be apprenticed to my Master Kebrian the Dark, he did tell me that my Arte was manylayered. Odivshe, he claimed, was comprised of five great mysteries, Five Veils of Darkness which must be passed though on the way to mastery of the Tenebrous Way of Odivshe.The First Veil was that of water. Here, he said, was but the surface of our craft, the easiest representation of the forces which I must learn to manipulate. I was required to learn the nature and properties of this elemental substance in all its forms, before even a single spell was taught to me. Water you see is more than drink. It flows to the lowest point, it spreads to cover the widest area, and it slows down movement of that which would pass through it. These and many other principles led me to the Second Veil, the veil of inertia. This is one of the guiding powers of the universe, a law of nature that governs how objects and systems move and remain at rest. Like water, inertia could be coaxed to flow to lower levels, to be spread or halted with the proper pattern or key harmonic. Working with water and inertia, my Master showed me the power that such combinations could bring, and I was justly amazed.
Next, after nearly a year and half of study, my hard teacher did permit my knowledge of the Third Veil, or the veil of ebony darkness. Darkness was the absence of light. Light could be drained, siphoned, diminished, and sometimes even negated entirely. Many great works could be created out this darkness, which blankets the earth each night and gives cadence to our daylight hours. For a third year I lived and worked only in darkness, to make my mastery over the element complete.
"We are called Gloom-cloaks and Dark-mongers behind our backs, Queris, but never forget the powers of darkness. They will be your eyes and your ears, your shield and your sancuary. Learn them well my apprentice." I never did forget his words, and the cloak of night has served me well for many years long after his advice.
Finally, we came to the Fourth Veil, a secret more absolute than any darkness, the mystery of entropy and the veil of the Void. It is here, my Master claimed, that all that is Odivshe springs, and all that it ever will become, returns to in the end. Entropy, the flow of all things into stillness and ruin. Energy he claimed was only a state, and that things were not as solid as they seemed. Bits of matter, far, far too small to be seen, only believed in, and energy, swarming in its own multitudes made up every existant thing, was what Kebrian claimed. By draining away that energy, by bringing the constant gnat-like movement of those uncountable particles to a near-stand still, the powers of Odivshe could reach out and freeze the very hand of time or space. Water in this state became ice, air water, and flesh still. Let the entropy sink its claws into life, and the vitality and strength of the strongest warrior would flow away into that dark Void like water down a drain. This was the dark heart that lay stillborn in breast of Odivshe my master insisted. To walk the path of our convocation was to walk amongst the outer edges of the Void.
Last of all things though, even after the great secret of entropic mastery, came the Final Veil, the veil of the ethereals. Beyond the physical plane, our convocation like all magic, did dip into the ethereal realm. If entropy is the heart of our Arte, then this is its dark soul. There are powers he claimed, some elemental and others aware with a terrible half-life that represented our nature and convocation on this higher plain. By tapping into the forces that mirrored the more solid, and tangible esssences here on the physical plane, many spells could be powered or work with less energy. For while the ethereal plane may well exist above the physical, its energies where more transitory, more dispersed, less solid and structured and hence easier to manipulate and change. All in all, these Five Forces must be built upon and explored, if I "the poor excuse for a misbegotten apprentice" could ever hope to walk the dark path to mastery. I still have much to learn, but these mysteries remain my glorious tools and the greatest gift ever handed down to me from my accursed master...
From the Books of Tenebrous Knoweldge, penned in 727 TR by Queris of Tashal, Shenava of Odivshe
Hmm, I did think that at last I was the master. However, once more sage, you show me that true knowledge is like a well with no bottom. I know very little of his "principles" of ah-ku-steks, these ways sound more suited to Lyahvi perhaps, if they have anything to do with waves of air or sound. Not to escape criticism though, for I feel the lowly apprentice once more, for first among my tasks to know the nature of my watery element. I have been curious for some time as to the possibility of dampening sound, on dry ground I must say, not water. You sage, you seem very learned in these matters, how best might this be achieved using my gloomy art. I thought in my ignorance to "thicken" the air as water making sounds more quiet, however if I have understood any of your missive, this is not the nature of the world. Well, I will dwell on your valuable words, and if you find an anwser, I'll pay you fairly in bright coin.
Queris of Odivshe in a letter to an unknown scribe, collected by Tezelain the Chronicler in Kiban, 730 TR
Turning now to that darker arte, I was fortunate to find among the secretive Shek-Pvar of Tashal's chantry-in-exile at Cholas an Odivshe magus of some considerable skill. An experienced Shenava, my discussion over the nature of his shadowy convocation did much to further my understanding of the Pvaric wheel and essence from which such magics spring. When questioned about the nature of his convocation, the magus replied that Odivshe is often confused with being merely related to elemental magics of water, and sometimes by extention, ice. I have writen down the following, much as was relayed to me in the extent of our interview, for which I paid dearly in bright coin:
"So then, if such a simplification is just that, then what is the true nature of your Arte?"Here I did recoil from the mage as his countenance turned murderous and the breath hissed through his thin lips like the angry spittle of a cornered serpent."Well you ask, for unlike those unstable Peleahns, we of Odivshe move at a deeper level. What fools take for 'water spells' really are about much more fundamental realities. Water is just often one of symbols that serve to represent the more key forces we employ."
"Forces? Then do you mean elemental, as drawn from that source and not altogether water or ice in that physical sense?"
"Nay! You see, you're still thinking strictly along physical and elemental lines. Take the other element of our craft: darkness. What is darkness but an absense of light? What is cold but an absense of heat? These are not so much forces as rather the absense of such forces. Do you see? It is a crucial key to understanding Odivshe."
"I'm not certain. How can a lack of, well, a lack of forces, be key to the nature of your convocation. If you do manipulate water, or cold, or darkness, then what do manipulate, nothing?"
"Ah, but you see, you've just stumbled closer to the 'truth' in your lack of understanding than ever you did in you false belief in knowing. Indeed, it is the essence of 'nothing' that true Odivshe seek to use in their work. Unlike many of the other convocations, our craft is not about forcing energy or essence into the physical world, say as might a sorcerer who summons a ball of flame, but rather by pulling the plug and letting the natural balance flow down and out. We drain, we draw, we enervate and by doing so we destroy light, end heat, and freeze the very feet of motion."
"Hmm, this sounds as if you manipulate the terrible Void, the entropic force of the universe which crumbles and eats away at light and growth, but is this not difficult to control once you begin to drain 'energy' from a thing?"
"Yes, that is why we often use water and to a broader extent, inertia, to manipulate along these convocational lines. Opening up to the true heart of the Void, well, it can be risky this I know well from personal experience. Nevertheless, entropy lies at the dark center of our craft, and one must learn to use it if a mage should ever hope to master our convocation."
"Not to give offense, but does this not mirror certain powers attributed to the demons and servants of the proscribed gods? Your wellspring sounds disturbingly similar to certain Morgathian elements, and could your 'Odivshe Void' be connected to that black palantir, The Bukrai and its Shadow, over which the Lord of the Unlamented Dead broods?"
"Aye, watch your tongue scribe! Do not even mention the black Lord of the Dead in these walls, I've had too many dread encounters with his servants already. But all the same, I fear you have struck a truth. What I tell you know must not be casually spread about, I'll not have the damn peasants ralling outside the chantry walls screaming for my death again!"
"Ah, yes, no worrires my magus. Remember the good coin I am gifting to your for your help in my studies of magic..."So ends the interview at Cholas, Tezelain (having made haste to travel south that day)."Hmph. Well, then, listen and recieve your just due. There has been several times when I did fight the Shadow, or at least its dread minions. One of my greatest entropic spells, one summons tentacles of dark animus to attack my opressors, was taken over somehow and turned against me. The dread necomancer Paran somehow used the Shadow to invade my magic and twist control of my own spell out of my hands."
"How gastly, were you touched by its foul umbra yourself?"
"Nay, praise be to the Maker. I released my own hold over the magic before the tendrils could be fully possessed, but I'm not ashamed to say that it shook me to the foundations of my craft... I also more recently caused my eyes to becoming living portals to the Void, at least to some degree. It was a spell gone horribly wrong, and the gods I believe also had a hand in the matter, so how much of it was magic I can't say. But a wise healer who helped me rid myself of the afliction, did see the dead of Morgath driven to my dark gaze like pilgrims to a beacon fire."
"So then, the charges of witchcraft brought against the Dariunes may have come from their association with you if such - "
"Enough! You tred on dark waters my friend, I warn you again, don't think that your place in the Order will save you from my wrath should you abuse these words I have gifted you. I think it would be heathly for you to make leave now and depart from Cholas. Quickly..."