Sunday, 1 April 2012
A is for Azyr
Scholars are drawn to the words: Astrometeorological Thaumaturgy, the magic of the stars. Masters of the Blue Wind of Magic, Azyr, are the Astromancers, or as the commoner might say, white knuckled and sweating in fear of a darker future glimpsed in a black irises of a passing master of the blue wind, Celestial Wizards.
Astromancers or Celestial Wizards are adept star readers, weather manipulators, and tellers of the future (to insult them is to toss them in lot with Strigany charlatans called "fortune tellers"). They are most often seen in Altdorf in clean and, often of the finest cloth, tailored midnight blue robes; such are the rewards to apprentice, journeyman and master astromancer alike in the employ of the rich seeking knowledge of the future. Both a boon and curse, astromancers are duty bound to honesty and complete transparency. To learn the hour and circumstance of your sponsor's death must be told, if asked.
Astromancers look for signs in all things around, above and below. The Celestial College's most public of tomes, if only for the magics most common use, describe Elemental, Mystical and Cardinal schools.
A practitioner of the Elemental school is known to conjure storms of electrical energies from the very Aethyr, fierce winds, even curse and doom persons. Mystics are masters of precognition, even minor abilities have been witnessed in speaking with birds or causing the sun to break on a rainy day. Cardinal astromancers mix the mystical practices with the elemental, striking a fearful balance often sought on the battlefields of the Old World.
The Celestial College in Altdorf is known for its stringent admission exam, though rarely are those with the Aethyric abilities outright dismissed, remedial education may be in order. However, strong relations with the Order of Light will often find wanting applicants with a letter of introduction to the Order. Astromancers also enjoy excellent relations with the Cult of Verena, many Celestial Wizards being faithful adherents to the cult.
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It is a fictional world, specifically Warhammer Fantasy Role Play. Think Dungeons and Dragons, "D&D," for an analog.
Warhammer has a number of properties that borrow heavily from the fiction, including Warhammer Online (an MMORPG like World of Warcraft), Warhammer Fantasy Battle (a tabletop miniatures games), and PC battle games. It's possible you may have encountered the "Celestial College" in one of these formats.
Thanks for the compliments. This is my second year.
I was planning to start off the challenge with unusual words but went a different way. Loved how you started the challenge. Look forward to reading more!
WFRP fiction, especially the magic fiction, has lots of great, unusual, or nonsense words influenced by Latin, German and French. The Germanic ones are often filled with puns.
I still run every session with the idea in mind that "If I don't have at least 1 pun that each of the players gets a chuckle out of, I have done my session wrong" :P
Once again, great start to the challenge, and I am already enjoying this relay with you! Keep up the good work, and I wont let the slack fall on my end either :)
Very interesting word and beginning to the Challenge. Forgive my ignorance, but I must ask...is this a fictional world or is there truly a Celestial College? Again, I'm professing my ignorance, but your description sounds like one of the video games my boys play. Am I correct? Looking forward to your posts! Happy Sunday! ☺