Talk:Warlock

Bartley (talk) 00:18, 10 August 2020 (UTC)

gm discord text

Who or what are Warlocks? The answer that is most short, direct, and honest is "we don't know." For a century now, mystical scholars have researched the question and have come up with little in the way of satisfactory answers.

That said, a century of scholarship has not left the Mainland totally ignorant of these strange folks, and while not much is known about the nature of the Warlocks power, some little bit is known about their origins and a greater amount about their rapid proliferation. [8:46 PM] The consensus view of Warlocks is that they are a relatively new phenomenon, appearing only in the last century. Their advent correlates strongly with the events of the Scism War and, while that link is circumstantial rather than causal, all scholars generally agree that the Scism War was the historical period when Warlocks first appeared, and most assume that something about the Scism War caused their rise.

https://wiki.proteststand.com/index.php?title=War_of_Schism

https://wiki.proteststand.com/index.php?title=Talk:War_of_Schism

absalom — Yesterday at 8:54 PM Now, the reasons why the Scism War should manufacture this outcome is subject to a much wider debate. The typical suspects include:

• The destruction of the Stone-Warden by "Marwynn the Mad" in 140X

http://wiki.memphisgamers.com/index.php?title=Stone-Warden

• Breaker Gnomes fucking around with the Shadowfell.

https://wiki.proteststand.com/index.php?title=Breaker_Gnomes

• Magical fuckery by any number of renegade Alexandrian clergy during the Scism War

• The Starstrike Swarm of 1400.

[ : One or more parties should definitively answer this question..... eventually] [9:00 PM] The first real historical source of the history of Warlocks is The Quill and Soul (1419) by an anonymous author, probably a student of some Western University. There is no reason to believe that this individual was the first Warlock - in fact, he discloses that he learned of the pact from another. He was, however, the first person to write about it and remains in many ways the most accessible and straightforward works about Warlocks. Accessible in terms of readability, anyway-

It is banned by all major Alexandrian faiths. Most copies were destroyed either by Church inquisitors or the Wytchfinder Family and the only known existing copies are in heavily guarded reserve sections, difficult or impossible to access.(edited) [9:02 PM] The high number of written accounts and guides published during the early 1400s also hints that their origin is found in the Scism War. Although this is certainly not true of the bleak and somber Quill and Soul, Many of these (likewise banned) works speak in terms utopian as often as apocalyptic. By the 1430s, warlocks were well recorded not only by their own hand, but also by inquisitors. [9:04 PM] Warlocks are a regular feature of church sermons during this era, as well, meaning they were common enough (or, at least, well known enough) that they were a major force in post-Scism life, or else a powerful force to unify around. [9:07 PM] By this time, as well, Warlock cults begun to appear and the depletion and depredations of three decades of war meant that many communities without proper clerical access began to turn towards powerful, charismatic Warlocks.

In fact, the Protest-Stand movement was ushered in by the Wytchfinder Family which was in formed in part as a reaction against perceived lack of action by the newly independent Western Alexandrian Hadriarchs.

(No one would say the same about the Eastern Church. It was always zealously antagonistic to Warlocks) [9:10 PM] By the mid-century, inquisitions both official and clandestine destroyed open and organized Warlockism, driving the practitioners underground and making them loathe to reach out, organize, or trust others.

This has been a boon to those who would seek to end the presence of Warlocks in the world, but it's less great for those who would learn more. The most recent Warlock text of any note was published in 1466, almost a half-century ago. [9:12 PM] This also means Warlocks are difficult to find for purposes of study. As there is no longer any way to discern the origin of an individual's magic, individual warlocks have little trouble passing themselves off as minor hedges and other innocuous magic users. [9:17 PM] So: Why does everyone hate Warlocks?

By their own admission, Warlocks are making pacts with non-Alexandria powers beyond the veil. It is inconceivable that these powers are benign. ( : The pay-day lenders of magical patronage) Most right thinking people feel this is any number of the following: blasphemous, reckless, and/or dangerous.

While it is true that some Warlocks claim their power derives from contact with members of the Demi-Pantheon, few believe such claims both in the underground world of the Warlocks as well as the researchers who study them. (: The fundamentalist evangelicals of the Warlock set?)(edited) [9:17 PM]