Lawcasters

Once, when there was still an Arbiter to control the Divines of Shem, Divine Law was in effect constantly, dictating the behavior, powers, and lives of Divines and powerful Aeonians. After the Arbiters were dead, the old Divine Law destroyed and cast out, utterly rejected and devoid of power. Lawcasters in the old days could invoke Divine Law because it was a constnat energy, but if they did so, they would usually face the wrath of the gods. Now, on Third Shem, the only Divine Law left is found on fragments in ancient ruins, written in the Divine language.

Fragments

Lawcasters must find these fragments in order to be able to use the Law and command the Divines, and then only if the command is relevant to the Laws written on the fragment. Most fragments are carved into stone, but some are etched into metal or glass, written on ancient paper, woven into ancient textiles, or otherwise written. Fragments, when invoked, often disintegrate or fall apart, becoming useless.

Language

One may not invoke Divine Law if one cannot read it. The language Divine Law was written in is the ancient tongue of the Arbiter, a Divine language whose every word is powerful. Learning to read this language is dangerous and difficult not only in terms of the complexity of the language, but also in how inaccessible information about it is.

Invocation

In order to invoke the power of Divine Law, a lawcaster must have a fragment, read it aloud, and make a command of a Divine (who must either be present or be represented). The Law will give them power enough to make the command (otherwise, no mortal could match the will power of a Divine), but in the aftermath of their invocation, they will be dealing with a very angry deity.

Reinscription

Writing the Divine language of the Arbiter is nearly impossible, so copying fragments is extremely difficult. Only extremely powerful lawcasters can do it, and then only with special implements. They must have something to write on that is able to withstand the power of the language, a writing implement that will not burn away, understanding of the language and its intricacy and nuance, and the willpower to write the language (difficulty 34).

Materials

Materials must not have infernal, blasphemous, celestial, or aetherial energies in them, all of which will react badly with the Law. They need to be well made (skill of 22 base in their making). The best materials include the metal nkechukwu, athrafstorium, graviluceat, fashioned titanium, complex metal, drachesch, or zuinande; wood from ceviz, vilagfa, irminsul, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, yew of Hynof, ajdaho mitig, harthreik, ished, grey hickory, or ahnoh trees; or the stones dabanevaala, draconite, siyaqat, evcilleshmemish, sl, maer-stan, or sacratempite. Feathers should come from unaligned esoteric beings of notable power (STR 25 or WIL 25 or more).

Writing Implements

Writing implements must either be very well made pens, quills fashioned from powerful feathers, or special kinds of pencils:

• Tricel: a three-tipped pen made with neutral metal and wood, filled with three kinds of ink.
• Gwahum: a quill pen made from a ziz feather.
• Sworif: a pencil with lead made from the crumbled clay of a golem.
• Caprallum Knife: a knife made from carpallum metal, empowered by the will of the user.

Ink

Inks used must be of neutral energy, in the color sienna. Other materials (such as the lead made from golem clay) can work as well, but ink is the most common.

Paper or Stone

Papers must be pulped from neutral energy plants (see woods above for a preliminary list), stone tablets or blocks must be of neutral stones of moderate hardness, and other things (such as skins) must not be of aligned energies.

Locations

Fragments are known to be in certain areas of Shem in more abundance than other places:

• The graveyard of the Gods of The Pit along the upper edges of The Pit.
• The ruins of the first temple of Deseria, buried deep beneath th city.
• The basement of the great temple in Madziar.
• Hidden corners of Chronur.
• Ancient ruins of lost cities in Tara'hin.
• Under the crypts of Kael'Ras.
• The inner walls of Aldergast.
• The ruins of the concentration camp Phenauil in Ailanea.
• The river beds of ancient Kallee in Obusingye.
• The lowest levels of the Great Arena in Kren'atan.
• Buried in battlefields throughout Tzuk.
• The bottom of the great harbor in the capital of Vesturia.
• The library of Psyara.
• The library of the caliph in Khursh.
• The ruins of the library of aldar.
• The core of the Green Moon.
• The deepest trenches of the Wyren Ocean.
• Within Stagnum Ignis.
• The high mountains in northern Unbul.
• The haunted forests of Tenzanai.
• The Ret Kee Chattaan desert in Vimala.
• Various old towns in Rendru.
• Within the Endless Ice.

Effects

Effects vary by Law, Divine, and intent. Essentially, anything is possible, but it is so circumstantially confined it depends entirely on what the lawcaster has and knows. Thus, it is important for the Law fragments to be carefully defined by player and GM, and the character's knowledge of the Divine must be intricately explicated.

Balance

In order to prevent Divine retribution, lawcasters practice a meditational art that brings them balance of energies within themselves. Essentially, they maintain their own mortal will such that they are resistant to Divine will. This requires decades of training, meditation, and practice, and few survive long enough to master it.

Variations

There are a few variations of lawcasters that exist:

• Ike kiyomeru: Dabusenese koi pond-keepers who line their ponds with the Law in order to peserve a balance that keeps them protected from Divine retribution.
• Lnvt (luh-nah-vuht): a lawcaster who creates a contemplation garden inscribed with the Law. They do this in order to focus its power and their own minds, in order to protect themselves from Divine retribution.

Shatam Sharuh

Shatam Sharuh is an organized crime family who keep the secrets of lawcasting and use it to run a network of extortion, smuggling, drug distribution, murder, and embezzlement that spans continents. They began as a defense organization against oppression of their nation and grew into a major conspiracy. Most members cannot use the Law, but those who do are some of the most dangerous people in the world.

Persecution

Lawcasting violates its own energy - it is against the Law to be a lawcaster. As such, most lawcasters die at the hands of the Divines they command. Those that do not are ruthlessly hunted by followers of every Divine there is, including those who serve blasphemy and those who are mortalists. Lawcasting is a threat to reality and it is treated as an act of violence against all that is to wield it. Mother Shem also hates it, as it is a relic of he who enslaved her.

Skills

A lawaster must be as much an adventurer and archaelologist as they are a scholar and mage. Some common skills include

• Archaeology
• Ancient languages
• Gardening
• Fishing
• Artifact preservation
• Treasure hunting
• Survival
• Hunting
• Trap finding
• Religious lore
• Divine lore
• Mortalism

Stats

The typical lawcaster will have the following variations from the base stats of their nation/species:

PRO +2
ATH +1
STR +2
AWA +3
WIL +5
STH +1
PRS -3