Spread of Magic (ca. 2000 - 2470 I.D.)

After Weard Darflaem's demise, most of his apprentices passed on their secrets to those they deemed worthy. A student could gain the title of wizard in less than a year, because there was very little anyone knew about Mar magic. Even the most knowledgeable of these early wizards could not have defeated a modern first-degree wizard in a magical duel. Within five years after Weard's death, there were already a few hundred wizards.

Wizards had no shortage of eager candidates seeking an apprenticeship, and this forced them to become more selective about whom they taught. Many wizards regarded these decisions as a sacred duty, but others succumbed to the temptation to take advantage of would-be apprentices.

While the most common abuses included extortion, physical violence, and sexual misconduct, especially powerful wizards often exacted even higher prices for their instruction. Some demanded the apprentice allow the master to perform experiments on the apprentice's family members, especially once wizards started learning how to use healing magic. Others required the apprentice to assassinate rival wizards before learning to wield magic himself.

Within a century of the greatest discovery in Mar history, a master's abuse of his apprentices had become accepted as the natural right of the teacher over the student. Many wizards stopped studying magic as soon as they could reap the benefits of teaching. Often, they had no real interest in teaching, merely dangling the lure of secret knowledge in front of their students to encourage continued obedience. Even though magic still had only a few practical applications, at the time, it was more than enough to preserve a wizard from hard physical labor for the rest of his life - if only because apprentices would line up at his door with gifts.

While this decadence was growing, many wizards within Oper communities began organizing a counter-movement, founded on a belief in the Doctrine of Marrish's Blessing. The Doctine, in short, stated that magic was a gift given to the Mar by Marrish as a reward for their faith in the gods and obedience of Bera's Unwritten Laws. There was an undertone in the Doctrine that hinted that if the Mar abused Marrish's gift, it would be taken from them.

Calling themselves Tobruson (meaning "testers"), these wizards believed no one who did not understand the meaning of magic should be allowed to wield it. To that end, the Tobruson only took as apprentices those who passed a series of rigorous initiation tests. Apprentices usually spent years memorizing Bera's Unwritten Laws and learning everything that was currently understood about the theory of magic before the Tobruson allowed them to wield magic for the first time. At first, this screening process discouraged many potential candidates from seeking an apprenticeship with the Tobruson, and it seemed certain the sect would die out.

The shortage of apprentices, however, gave the first Tobruson more time to study and experiment. They also shared their discoveries with the rest of the sect, so they were far less prone to repeating the experiments of their peers than were wizards outside of the sect. Soon, the Tobruson had the largest repertoire of magical applications in Marrishland, including many that had military value sorely lacking in Weard's spells. These martial magical applications gave the Tobruson a clear advantage in confrontations with any other wizards.

Beginning at some point early in the 22nd century, the Tobruson began quietly seeking out wizards of other sects. Those found guilty of abusing Marrish's gift were put to death. This was the beginning of a centuries long conflict between wizards later known as the Tobruson Purge - or, more commonly, simply the Purge.

The success of the Purge was surprising. Most of Weard's apprentices did not place a high value on the Doctrine of Marrish's Blessing. It is not even certain Weard himself sincerely believed himself chosen by Marrish to bring magic to the Mar, despite his frequent portrayal as a mystic of the Cult of Marrish. By all accounts, Weard was willing to share his discovery with anyone who wished to learn. Three factors made the success of the Purge successful - the Tobruson's organization, the nearly universal belief among mundane Mar in the Doctrine of Marrish's Blessing, and the interference of the Fygae (those Kalkorae living in the northern portion of the subcontinent).

As has already been mentioned, the Tobruson shared their discoveries with their peers. This meant that all shared equally in the discoveries of other Tobruson. The Tobruson were also the first to divide its wizards into ranks by degree of power and knowledge. Like the modern form of ranking, this was based on the colors of the myst, though the Tobruson only wore colors of magic its members had successfully wielded - green, blue, amber, and red. The function of the other four magicks had not yet been discovered. This allowed a hierarchy to form within the sect, allowing increased control over the entire organization.

As pillars of the Oper community, the Tobruson quickly won the support of mundane Mar throughout the major urban centers of Marrishland. Early in the Purge, these mundanes reported abuses to the Tobruson. Later, they helped root out any non-Tobruson wizards they discovered, allowing the Tobruson to swiftly stamp out entire rival sects. By 2300 I.D., mundanes sometimes even acted on their own to try and execute any wizard they caught who lacked Tobruson credentials, This sometimes resulted in false accusations and wrongful executions, but it was largely successful in eliminating the last remaining rivals of the Tobruson.

It is not clear why the Fygae took such an intense interest in the Mar wizards' civil war. Some suggested that certain Fygaen leaders originally intended to keep the Mar weak by limiting the number of wizards, either to prevent the Mar from conquering Fygaen lands or because they hoped to reconquer the coastal city-states. Whatever their reasons, when the Tobruson besieged Domus Palus - the last refuge of organized resistance to the Purge - the Fygae sent two companies of engineers to repair crumbling harvesters and place military foci to aid in the attack.

After the Tobruson sacked Domus Palus (ca. 2470 I.D.), no rival groups of wizards ever again posed a threat to their rule. When Domus Palus fell, Weard Stein Ulfson appointed himself the first Mardux after several battles with his fellow wizards to hold his position. Within weeks, Weard Ulfson declared Marrishland a magocracy.

While the Tobruson were extremely successful in preventing wizards from abusing apprentices, they were less successful in protecting mundane Mar from the excesses of wizards. This conflict between mundane and magocrat took two centuries to reach a head, but the result was the Mar Civil War - easily the most costly war in terms of loss of life in Marrish's history.

(Contributed by Weard Gilda Kronas)

Copyright 2005-2007 Eric Zawadzki and Matthew Schick. All Rights Reserved.
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