Arscimali

This page contains outdated information, and so it shouldn't be used as a direct source of information because there may be faults and wrong information on this page.

Outdated lore, not present in LOTC's world at the moment:

Lore: Conjuration is usually a simple magic to master; simply bringing forth tiny animals and other creatures to fend off those who dwell in darkness. However, what happens when one of these conjurations gains consciousness? What happens once they can feel, and they can desire? What happens when they can live? The first type of conjurations to ever reach this level are the Arscimali, the men of cloth with limitless capabilities and endless visions of knowledge. This whole conquest of information was made possible by a single, power-hungry mage; Brintor the Creator.

Brintor began his great journey as a simple conjurer, specializing in summoning cheap tricks as a sideshow act. Eventually, he began experimenting with larger spells and conjurations. He soon sped through training and excelled in the area. Eventually, he began going outside the known and began with the unknown; he created a small lab to work in with help from some Dwarves. Brintor was unhappy in his life as an entertainer, and so hungrily desired to advance his skills in magic. Being an Elf, he was unable to do much digging himself. As the Dwarves continued digging, they finally broke into a large, dark cavern. They thought nothing of it, and Brintor only saw it as a larger area to work with. He soon installed bookcases, testing vials, different clothing materials (mainly leather and cloth) so he would not have to leave to get new clothes, and even a small farm for sustenance.

It was during this time that he created a conjuration by accident. He was thinking of creating a companion with false emotions, only a mimicry of sentience, and instead made a creature of thought. Dark, black energy pulsed through the air around the entity, and yellow eyes flickered in the middle of its head. Amazed at his own work, Brintor stumbled back, and without hesitation, began constructing a body to serve as a containment unit. As he was rushed for time, believing that the aura would fade into the void, he quickly began assembling the makeshift container for the conjuration; a body. His instincts relayed to him it was the only logical shape, and he had no time to further ponder this. He pieced it together as quickly as possible, placing the sections together around the being, trapping it inside. Using leftover iron from some tools, he formed a circular shaped ring and cut a hole in the forehead of the body. He placed the ring inside the hole, framing a circle of glass. It lit up a brilliant shade of yellow. The new being flexed it’s arms contentedly, staring at it’s new form. Its sewn mouth formed into a wicked smile. He was made mostly of scraps of cloth and leather as his creation was rushed, but it served it’s purpose.

The Yellow Eyes faked compassion towards Brintor, asking to learn his ways in conjuration. Resistant, but overall impressed with his work, he taught Yellow Eyes the basics of conjuration. It was during this time that Yellow Eyes was able to replicate his own creation, forming a “brother”. At this discovery, Brintor was killed. Yellow Eyes shared a similar trait with Brintor; an unquenchable thirst for power. Soon, Yellow Eyes was creating many creations a day; but not without a cost. Because he was not limiting himself, he slowly began sinking into madness, his consciousness fading to be replaced with twisted, sadistic thoughts. He eventually stopped and left it to his first two creations to decide how to progress. An argument pursued; half of the creations on one side, half on the other. They were soon fighting amongst each other, and from there began full out war as the argument grew more and more. Soon they were summoning new conjurations left and right as they dropped like flies.

As the population rose and fell, the reasoning behind the fight was completely forgotten, the fight had turned into a war, and any truth that had once been were all but legends now. They had developed a religion and a way of life during this short allotment time. They all believed in Brintor the creator, but he was remembered as cruel and unjust. Yellow Eyes was viewed as a hero. All of the creations revered him and wished to be like him. Seeing himself worshipped as an idol, Yellow Eyes laughed from afar at the fighting conjurations. He knew the truth of everything; The conjurations had not been fighting an ancient war, it had only been going on for a month. He could’ve stopped it, but he enjoyed the violence far too much and the position of power they had placed him in only served to further his ecstasy.

He watched with glee as they killed one another, black energy seeping from their wounds until their bodies simply crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap. The cloth was recycled to create new constructs to fight the waging war. As each one’s eye flickered off permanently, Yellow Eyes’s pleasure only grew more and more. At the same time, the Arscimali began to find bits Brintor’s personal library scattered throughout the tunnels, teaching themselves basic language and translating the texts. They learned the common tongue quickly, which in turn quickened the growth of their culture even further, adding to the belief of Brintor the Creator that he was all knowing and extremely powerful. This was before the surface dwellers made their first appearance, ushering in a new age of the Arscimali

The first sign of the surface dwellers was upon the end of the first and last month of the Great War. A few cracks began to show in the ceilings of the tunnels that had been dug by the inhabitants, alerting them to a new presence. Much of the farm was crushed as the ceilings caved in, leaving the Arscimali without enough sustenance. They grew excited despite the lack of food. They believe this collapse signified the end of their world, so they began fighting their enemy with newfound energy, hoping to find a solution. Nothing came of it, until the meeting of the Stranger and the Seeker. The two were both exploring tunnels when they found each other; both mortal enemies. One was the leader of one side of the war effort, one of the other. They began to fight relentlessly, their faces remaining blank but focused. By sheer coincidence, the tunnels around them collapsed, leaving the two in a single cavern. The ceiling began to crack further. The ceiling finally tumbled to the ground around and on top of them, covering them in a thick layer of dust and rock. The two creatures had found sunlight.

They were shocked and awed at the world around them. The two yelled in happiness, forgetting their mortal strife for a moment to gaze upon this new land. A bright yellow sun shined down upon them as waves of a nearby ocean splashed against the shore. Birds whistled in the trees as the wind blew through their leaves, evoking new ideas and thoughts from the Stranger. He began to wonder if they were the only knowledge seeking beings out there. He turned to the Seeker and they made a silent agreement. Fighting would halt until thorough investigation of the new land was accomplished. Upon noticing the disappearance of the leaders, Yellow Eyes decided to make his move. The presence of the upper world had not escaped him, and so he their disappearance as a chance to raise an army. He climbed down from his pedestal of power and went down to the other creatures below, speaking to them and telling them to forget the war effort.

The two sides were shocked, but because Yellow Eyes was seen as a legend and hero, they obliged loyally. Yellow Eyes appointed himself as leader, and turned them to a new cause. The surface would belong to Yellow Eyes one way or another, and if not him, then no one could lay claim to it. As of that day, his single purpose was to claim the surface for himself and unite the creatures under a single banner. Not to mention, through the conquest of the new lands, they would be able to sustain themselves once more. They began to dig and drill into the earth, seeking to find a clear path into the open. Rumors of the Seeker’s and the Stranger’s disappearence spread as the cave in was discovered. They broke through the rubble. The Arscimali discovered the entrance to the above ground areas, but not before the Stranger and the Seeker could reach other life.

The Stranger and the Seeker began to meet with the different races, awe and amazement leaving a trail behind them. They pleaded for help to end the brutal war, both seeking to eliminate the other’s side; both of them were unaware of Yellow Eye’s control. They had no idea of Yellow Eye’s intentions either. As the two different creatures sought help from different races around the world to take out the other, they met at the sight of the tunnel. The two enemy sides, with equal amounts of men on each, saw the opening of the tunnel into the unknown. They stopped. A rumbling could be heard from deep beneath the ground. All the Arscimali beneath charged out at the forces around them, many of them screeching and howling like savages. Suddenly, enemies had become allies and they were forced to work together to destroy the onslaught of Arscimali creatures.

Despite the creatures being their brethren, the Seeker and the Stranger sensed something was different, that something was wrong, and fought with their newly acquired allies. They wondered why the Arscimali would abandon their homes for an uncertain land. The two charged into the hole once more, this time as comrades. Here they found Yellow Eyes. Yellow Eyes turned, his army defeated and massacred, his own hopes fallen. By his side was Brintor’s body, hardly decayed but smelling deeply of rotten flesh and death. Yellow Eyes grabbed one of the flies circling Brintor’s body, holding it between his town fingers gracefully. “Here is something you two shall never have.” He cackled as he squashed the bug, “You shall never have life.” At that, the duo killed Yellow Eyes, both out of fear of his powers and hatred for what he did to their armies/people.

The Stranger threw on Brintor’s clothes exuberantly, believing them a symbol of their freedom, life, and success. He exclaimed to the Seeker “We will not listen to Yellow Eyes. We can live, we shall live.” At this, the Arscimali were officially established under the Stranger and the Seeker. Two fundamentals were established; “An Arscimali shall strive to live life to the fullest and to master the emotions of the living,” and, “The surface dwellers are kind, but curious; We shall be courteous in response.” Repopulation went successfully for a time, until the first murder and the first Yellow Eyes.

An Arscimali killed another due to some unimportant argument over a makeshift hut. This established the commandment of “We shall not kill a brother.” Soon after, one of the new Arscimali possesed yellow eyes. Out of fear and bitterness, the Stranger and the Seeker executed him. The establishment of two new commandments came of this; to justify the killing they created “Any with Yellow Eyes are not one of us. They must be exterminated immediately,” and following in quick pursuit, “Harboring a Yellow Eyes will result in death.” Many other smaller commandments followed, but the first six are considered to be the most important. The sixth commandment is “We shall not speak in individuality; collectivism is truth.” They created this commandment to avoid a replica of the Yellow Eyes incident, and to instill camaraderie amongst the Arscimali. Physical Make Up: The Arscimali are made up of a collection of materials: cloth, leather, string, spider silk, etc. They have one-to-two metal rings protruding from their heads, framing a pane of glass displaying the color of the conjuration within. While the most common color of cloth is brown, some may appear white or black, but are always kept within those three colors to prevent needlessly flashy appearance. Not to mention, during their time in underground, it became common to give Arscimali earthy colors. Upon joining those who lived above ground, they simply kept tradition and continued the selection of the same colors. They did become somewhat quirky when designing their brethren despite the strict following of tradition.

Each Arscimali’s face may constructed in a way that it will resemble a sort of emotion. This emotion may be one of many either of its creators finds most appealing or, at the time, appropriate. In most cases, the designated emotion will have no effect on the Arscimali’s personality; it is purely cosmetic. However, if the Arscimali grows curious as to what its face is supposed to represent, it might take firm interest in that particular emotion. Arscimali also vary in size; some can reach the height of Elves, some as short as halflings, and others the width of an Orc. Their size will have no effect on how strong they are, or their abilities. It’s just a feature of design.

Internal Composition & Personality: Each Arscimali must develop their own personality. Each one is born with an empty slate of a mind, and they can selectively choose what they wish to retain. (See “Behavior”) They are not like living organisms in the sense that they have brains and organs.They only have cloth skin and energy within. Each Arscimali must also receive sustenance in a very similar way to how most living things absorb food. They simply place the food into their mouth. However, the internal processes behind this are a bit less complicated. Once the food hits the conjuration within, it immediately begins to disintegrate into little flecks and pieces of black mana, fueling the conjuration. They may only do this with dead flesh and plant matter. No Arscimali can become a cannibal.

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Behaviour The Arscimali refer to themselves and one-another collectively, using terms such as ‘we’ and ‘us’ in place of ‘I’ and ‘me’. The reasons for this aren’t very clear, though, it seems almost a necessity for them, as they are never heard doing otherwise. It became part of the commandments after the incident with “Yellow Eyes”; it is simply protocol for them to do, though no sentient being outside of the Arscimali knows this. In reality, they believe the main cause of the war was the ego of Yellow Eyes; the first and most powerful of his kind, he seized power and lay waste to his people.

The Arscimali, once they have learned to feel and develop ‘affection’ similar to that of other sentient races, are capable of finding a significant other of their own. This is something that, after observing other races, they believe to be both ‘normal’ and fulfilling. Though it is difficult for them to show true emotions like this, they can simulate it as accurately as they can. If they discover the act of mating, they may also try to simulate this. However, due to their lack of genders, thus lack of male and female exclusive parts, they instead procreate by constructing an entirely new Arscimali by hand. The features and such of this new Arscimali don’t necessarily have resemble those of their ‘parents’, but it is not uncommon for one to bare similarities between its creators, as the ‘parents’ will normally use themselves as references. Once the young Arscimali is constructed, it will be quite ‘plain’ and featureless ( May be reffered to as ‘Vanilla Arscimali’ ). An Arscimali is subject to changing its appearance how it sees fit at any time, though, there is usually a point where it will feel ‘comfortable’ and see no reason to alter its appearance any further.

-Self repair: It is not uncommon for an Arscimali to emerge from conflict wounded or severed. Though loss of limbs and other appendages would normally be a severe or even fatal wound to any mortal being, it is simply a hinderance to Arscimali. Their composition of cloth and other simple fabric allows them or their comrades to perform simple repairs or replacements at the cost of resources. Although this process is more than possible, it can be expensive and time consuming, depending on the scale of the damage. A damaged eye-lens can take little more than a few minutes to completely repair, however, an entire lost arm could take several hours or possibly days to fix due to the amount of care and resources that are spent to heal such an affliction.

-Feeding / diet: Despite their slightly mechanical composure, the Arscimali must feed in a similar manner to that of ordinary organisms. (Refer to “Internal Composition”)

Variation Arscimali, under normal circumstances, hardly bare any unique identities; They each act fairly similar to their siblings and share almost identical qualities to one another. However, some may ‘mutate’ in a manner that will cause them to behave rather differently from their bredren. Though these ‘mutations’ can be quite unpredictable, there is currently only one known to occur. It is referred to by Arscimali as a “Case of the Mimics”:

-Mimics: The afflicted Arscimali will gain the uncontrollable desire to ‘mimic’ certain things it sees or interacts with. What the Arscimali will be compelled to mimic can vary; in some cases, it can be a person or animal it has developed a bond with, and in others, the Arscimali will attempt to mimic an object it grows curious or fond of. Much like a common cold or a parasite, “Mimics” is contagious to other Arscimali. Usually, the afflicted will be placed in solitude for an undetermined amount of time. The Arscimali refer to it, with one another, as a “Case of the Mimics.” An example of this used in context could be; “We heard that Boomer caught a case of the mimics recently.”

Weaknesses and Strengths: Weaknesses: The Arscimali have a weakness for; - Burning - An Arscimali’s body can easily burn, causing the conjuration within to seep out into the world. This essentially kills it. This does NOT include minor burns, as minor burns can be handled easily. Major burns, however, may result in death. - Water - Water tends to seep into the cloth, which absorbs it so easily. This can cause the cloth skin of the Arscimali to weigh it down, forcing it to the ground. They may not stand up until they have dried fully. - Broken Eye - Should the eye lense/lenses be broken, dark aura may seep through, leaving the Arscimali weakened and unable to fight at full capability. - Learning Magic - The Arscimali are afraid of magic (with the exception of creation of another of their kind), due to the corruption found in Yellow Eyes. They strive to avoid magic at all costs, other than their own extinction. In addition, magic can lead an Arscimali to madness and weakness. - Combat - The Arscimali have no muscle or bones; there is no force behind their attacks. Arscimali cannot fight well, and must instead rely upon running.

Strengths: The Arscimali are strong in the areas of; - Self Repair.” They do not scream, but they will get weakened from missing parts/wounds. (See “Behavior”/”Hand to Hand Combat”) - Knowledge - Arscimali can learn quickly and pick up ideas/concepts quickly as they begin with a completely clean slate. They are not known to forget something easily.

Color Energy Definitions: - Green Eyes: Those with green eyes are often dreamers and good leaders. The Stranger, leader of the Arscimali, is known for his green eyes, the first to posses them. Those with Green Eyes are also known to be stubborn. - Blue Eyes: Those with blue eyes are known to be noble at heart and wish to help others as best they can. However, blue eyes can also show naïvety in the mind of the Arscimali. - Red Eyes: Those with red eyes are known to be fierce and strong fighters. They have good instincts in combat. However, they can be needlessly belligerent. - Yellow Eyes: Those with yellow eyes are known to be manipulative and clever. Any Arscimali discovered with Yellow Eyes is immediately executed for fear of the original “Yellow Eyes.” - Purple Eyes: Those with purple eyes are known to be valiant and courageous. However, they do not consider their own self enough and can end up hurt or in trouble because of their actions. Those with Purple eyes are also (typically) associated with Seeker. - Orange Eyes: Those with orange eyes are known to loyal and very independent. However, they may accidentally isolate themselves from others because of this.

The Commandments/Ideals of the Arscimali: “An Arscimali shall strive to live life to the fullest and to master the emotions of the living,” “The surface dwellers are kind, but curious; We shall be courteous in response.” “We shall not kill a brother.” “Any with Yellow Eyes are not one of us. They must be exterminated immediately.” “Harboring a Yellow Eyes will result in death.” “We shall not speak in individuality; collectivism is truth.”