Tower Spell

The Tower Spell, also called the Ritual of the Change, and the Last Spell, was the enigmatic rite performed by Queen Akhei-Bel and her chief magus, Yatavo Snakestaff. The ritual takes its name from the location where it was held, the Brass Tower in Sacris, which was called Vathram by the Azlan. The exact nature of the spell remains unclear. Some scholars claim that the harm inflicted by the ritual was so immense that memory of it was erased from the Mindstream. Thus particulars are recalled only in fading and confused dreams. Even texts that mention the Tower Spell are fragmented, certain words missing and impossible to recover. The College of Keepers has long pondered the mysteries of the Tower Spell, if only to prevent it being replicated. Arch-Lector Typhon was said to have recreated the spell, only for it to turn against him as it did Akhei-Bel. Typhon was consumed by the Beast, bringing an end to the First Age. After this, even the Keepers have been reluctant to investigate the euphemistically named 'Ritual of the Change.' For change is what the Azlan sought. They wished to fundamentally alter the tapestry of fate and rewrite the eternal tablets that even the gods are bound to. When Irud began his slave revolt, the Azlan called forth all their powers to stop him, but it was not enough. Akhei-Bel concluded that the only way to defeat Irud was to remove him and all humanity from existence, to recreate time so that mankind never was. This was a rash and reckless act, but the Azlan queen was convinced by her archmages that it was possible. Either the Tower Spell was flawed, or it was in fact beyond the means of even the mighty Yatavo. Instead of erasing mankind from existence, the maedi were expelled from Orbis, as if to prevent them further tampering with fate. The magical backlash was so immense that a Timedeath was triggered, reality becoming unbound for a moment as Siris rapidly repaired the weave of destiny. No doubt the goddess has long worked to erase all memory of the Tower Spell, but perhaps it embedded knowledge of itself in every maedi, who were mystically linked to the ritualists in the Brass Tower. The spell has some dark life of its own, an urge to be completed, to fulfill its purpose. Some wonder if Yatavo tricked Akhei-Bel, and the Last Spell was not intended to erase humanity, but to grant the Snakestaff godhood, banishing all his rivals to the Abyss. If that is the case, then memory of the spell will exist so long as Yatavo does. Fragments of the spell no doubt linger in many minds. It is claimed that the Rasna of the Cenacle intend to 'dream' the fragments of the Last Spell into being and so complete the ritual. This is but one of many reasons why the mirror elves are mistrusted. As both Akhei-Bel and Typhon proved, such powers should not be wielded by mortals. Yet the promise of recreating reality, to shape it like the greatest gods, is simply too seductive. There will always be those who search for the Tower Spell, and the spell itself will search for minds susceptible to its corruption. When it is finally completed, when fate itself is changed, the gods themselves will tremble, for mortals will have found a means to shatter the very cosmos.
Category:Magic