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updated with part 4
As the years passed beyond its founding, Melatras prospered from peace and a thirst for truth. A vast variety of individuals dwelled in harmony there, not only those who had traditional magical talent. Many studied metallurgy, potions, architecture, or a multitude of other areas that did not necessitate being able to touch magic –their power was their mind and will. So long as a person sought truth and peace, they were welcome to live and learn there. However, I will not deceive myself or others to believe that there were not difficulties over the centuries since. Like those of the mage clans before, time after time there has been those who have fallen astray to corruption and greed, with the parable of Tauch the Miser demonstrating the dangers of serving one’s own selfish desires. His story is intricate, and exemplifies a very important philosophy of my people, that of the two suns, which I will attempt to prepare for my next writing.<br>
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====<u>Part IV: Prophecy and Condemnation</u>====
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A philosophical concept of great importance originated from a prophecy of an ancient Orue Agean seer: the two suns. Gold has long been hailed as a symbol of perfection –it never corrodes or rusts and only the most powerful solvents can dissolve it. The sun shares that perfection with its life-giving golden light. Yet alchemists believe in two suns, the physical one and the philosophical one. The physical sun that daily crosses our skies is the symbol of physical needs and desires, just as physical gold is the focus of greed. Those who study the Magnum Opus, the Great Work, understand that its perfection is temporary, illusionary. The true Golden Sun is within man, the potential of each one to establish his own divinity and transcend the bounds of physical reality. Although countless mages have sought to create the legendary Lapis Philosophorum, the Philosopher’s Stone, to transmute metals into gold and obtain immortality, they do not understand that true philosophical gold and perfection come from within nor that immortality is not escaping death but seeing beyond such worldly perceptions of life and death. To create physical gold is a work of the Black Sun, physical desire, which upon being conquered is only the first step towards enlightenment –not the last. It has taken centuries to understand this great truth and search for the Golden Sun above the Black Sun. It is perfection, oneness, order.<br>
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One such Orue Ageum who failed to seek the higher Golden Sun was Tauch, now known as Tauch the Miser. His pursuits were innocent and harmless enough…until he sought assistance from darker powers. He saw physical gold as the epitome of perfection and wished to gain its perfection for himself –to live on in a supposedly perfect state and gather its secrets for his use. To this end, he studied the ties of reality as well as how to control, change, or even loosen these bonds. He eventually succeeded in summoning an imp from the Burning Hells and bound it to his will. He kept his work secret, as this practice was forbidden unless under the direct supervision of the Guiding Body. Too often had enslaved demons turned to enslave their master and corrupt those around them; nevertheless, he brought the demon imp to his command, and studied its secrets in hopes of achieving his goal. He managed to bind the imp to the mortal realm with ancient and secretive spells, tying its spirit to a golden coin. So long as the binding spells of the coin kept its strength, the imp could remain in this world. However, he did not realize that the imp, seemingly so subservient and helpful, was actually corrupting his mind and exciting his greed to make him more easy to manipulate.<br>
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Although Tauch assumed it was his own idea, it was in fact the imp that planted the idea of using imps to gather gold for him so that he could continue his work. Slowly becoming consumed by greed, Tauch at last allowed the imp loose from his absolute command to begin his task of amassing gold and, in that moment, sealed his fate. The imp immediately used his newly gained free will to slaughter Tauch and carved his corpse into pieces. The pieces grew into homunculi that then emerged as newborn imps, but the golden imp went further to plant a golden coin in each newborn to share his bond with the rest. His offspring likewise were bonded to gold, and sought to gain as much of it as possible to increase their power and create more of their kind. Even thought a demon’s power greatly diminished after losing connection to great energy –such as their master’s –it can still hold shape on the mortal realm with far less power. Records show this to be true in recent decades, where imps wander dangerously free without control; luckily, they are far weaker without a master to feed their power. The golden imps used gold to store and amplify what power they had left, which made them stronger than their typical demon imp brothers. They were hunted by the Orue Agea upon being discovered, though some did escape destruction, and their species came to be designated the Avarifer Aureolus, the Gilded Greedbearers. Few know this name, which refers to the species in general, but rather refer to them by the name of their most common breed: the Gilded Miser, after greedy Tauch.<br>
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While small in appearance, the Gilded Miser is a sinister and fearsome foe for any adventurer –being far more vicious and power than the typical mischievous imp. Fortunately, this imp tends to remain close to its den; it fiercely guards its accumulated treasures and rarely strays from the general vicinity even to pursue attackers. One can tell the age and power of a Gilded Miser by the amount of gold staining its skin. Misers collect anything gold and store them in their dens, even going as far as consuming some of the gold to keep it safe. Over time, their powerful stomachs of hellfire acid dissolve this gold, which becomes imbedded in their bodies. When threatened, they viciously rake an attacker’s flesh with their razor claws or may even vomit molten gold upon them. The common Miser will usually seek only common gold and live for short times; however, the more powerful breeds of the Gilded Hoarder and exceedingly rare Gilded Mammon are hardier and seek gold with magical enchantments and properties. The more enchanted gold they absorb, they more likely they are able to call upon these magics to attack. Thus attacking a Mammon is pure folly, as the magical imbued gold in their bodies often provide them abilities such as elemental magic, enhanced prowess, teleporting, and even summoning other creatures to its aid.<br>
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I now return to the prophecy above mentioned. The seer spoke the words “Two suns, one black one golden; two souls, one to condemn one to redeem.” Curiously, this prophecy was spoken in Modern Tongue, which I write in now but was considered vulgar at said time, and contains double meanings. “Suns” could be heard as “Sons” while “Souls” could be “Sols” –Ancient Tongue for “Suns.” This double meaning is intended to tie to importance of the sun symbol of perfection to the inner philosophical sun within man’s soul –a child or “son” of truth. By my own belief, the Son of the Black Sun was Tauch, who by his greed unintentionally revealed our highest secrets to the Burning Hells and set their plans in motion. He condemned the Orue Agea and even the world with his actions, yet according to prophecy the Son of the Golden Sun would yet redeem us of our failure. This pivotal event involves much deception and tragedy –I hope to properly convey this story in my next writing.<br>
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