Ars Arcanum
Contains spoilersOverview
An in-world scholar catalogs the Ten Essences and their associations, linking them to the Double Eye, Heralds, and Radiant orders. They outline fabrial categories and mechanisms, and detail Windrunner Lashings. Uncertainties about Voidbinding and the Old Magic hint at deeper, unexplored systems and expanding scientific applications.
Summary
The scholar presents the Ten Essences, tying each to a gemstone, body focus, Soulcasting properties, and divine attributes. These form the Double Eye and historically align with the Heralds and Radiant orders. The author admits uncertainty about how Voidbinding and the Old Magic fit, suggesting an even more esoteric set of abilities.
Turning to fabrials, the author divides them into five groups. Altering fabrials include augmenters, which enhance forces or sensations—such as heat or wind—and diminishers, which reduce them. Half-shards of Jah Keved are given as an application of augmentation, and the scholar notes greater potential in both categories.
Pairing fabrials include conjoiners and reversers. Conjoiners, made by splitting a ruby, create parallel motion over distance, obeying conservation of force, as exemplified by spanreeds. Reversers, from amethyst, produce opposite reactions; they are new and powerful but exhibit undocumented limitations.
Warning fabrials, called Alerters, use heliodor to sense nearby phenomena. Their range scales with Stormlight quantity, making gemstone size crucial.
Finally, drawing on reports of the Assassin in White, the author describes Windrunning and the Three Lashings. Basic Lashing alters gravitational direction, enabling wall-running or weight changes and stacking multiples. Full Lashing uses adhesion to bond materials nearly unbreakably. Reverse Lashing grants an infused object a localized gravitational pull, most effective on airborne targets.
Who Appears
- Unnamed Ars Arcanum author
In-world scholar compiling magic lore; catalogs Essences, fabrials, and Windrunner Lashings; questions Voidbinding and the Old Magic.
- Szeth, the Assassin in White
Referenced as the observed source for Windrunning reports that inform the discussion of the Three Lashings.
- Knights Radiant (Windrunners)
Order highlighted for Surgebinding, specifically Basic, Full, and Reverse Lashings.
- Artifabrians
Crafters and researchers who create and guard the methods behind fabrials.
- Heralds
Ancient figures historically associated with the Ten Essences and Radiant orders.