Mashay Chartamancy

The Mystic Scrolls of Ancient Mashaya

In the badlands, there have been many secret passages to other worlds, and the land is steeped in magic. Scribes are practitioners of Mashay Chartamancy, a school of magic that uses paper made from saltgrass, ironwood, and other secret herbs as a spellcasting medium. The paper psychically resonant, and resonates with the will of its creators. It can change shape, and even form objects with unexpected properties. In the course of using the scrolls, the properties from the paper's components can be emphasized, allowing it to take on the hardness of ironwood, the sharpness of saltgrass, or other properties as needed by a scribe.

Magic School: Mashay Chartamancy

Domain: Imbuing scrolls of specially formulated paper with life, altered physical properties, and often a limited sort of intellect as well, with applications in combat, medicine, survival, calculations, security, communications, and even finance.

Method: Secret knowledge is used to obtain the necessary ingredients and prepare fresh scrolls and enchanted inks for the preparation of magical paperworks with many uses. The process is arduous but it can create works of lasting beauty and power.

Attunement: Not applicable; one either knows, or knows not.

Required Knowledge/Stats: Knowledge: Zerzuran Ecology is required to look for the necessary scroll ingredients, which grow only in the wild. None have ever managed to cultivate these spell components in a controlled setting, and the consensus among Scribes is that the journey is an essential aspect of the practice. Often, the consumption or smoking of certain herbs found along the path are key to finding what is needed. Spice Rangers know the secret of immersing themselves in the intricate interplay of plants, animals, and other things in the Zerzuran Badlands, and making strange bargains and alliances with the small nature spirits that share the land.

Obtaining The Necessary Reagents

Preparing Scrolls: A successful roll of Mind + "Knowledge: Zerzuran Ecology" at difficulty 4, and a full week spent in Zerzuran Badlands , followed by a day of working in a paper mill (and a week of cure time) produces Width x 2 mystic scrolls. Optional: If the ranger feels they cannot spare the time to wander, they can collect the neccesary ingredients in two days, rather than seven. This imposes a dice penalty of -2d. If the roll fails, they return empty handed and take 2 killing in a random location. Whether successful or not, the next journey to gather spices is at an additional -1d penalty. In so doing, the ranger damages their relationship with the land, as well as temporarily upset the delicate balance of the badlands.

Preparing objects: Most spells require a certain number of scrolls to cast. The paper is carefully prepared from saltgrass fiber, ironwood powder, and secret herbs known only to the Spice Rangers. It also requires water from Alsuriea Nahr, for religious reasons. Each scroll takes hours of active work and several days of drying and pressing. From there, the paper is cut and formed into discrete scrolls for later use in spells.

Preparing Ink: Various inks are used to change and augment the abilities and functions of prepared scrolls. Bottles of enchanted ink are made from flora and fauna found in the badlands. THe preparation of each kind of ink is a spell on its own. Refer to the spell list for which inks can be made and their uses.

Spells

See the Connections tab to the left.

Mashayan Paper Dueling

Among the people of the Zerzuran Badlands, owing to the availability of secondaries created by Mashay Chartamancy, it is most common for matters of honor to be settled with a duel between paper creatures. While not everyone in the Zerzuran Badlands participates in these battles, they are respected and admired by all, and they remain an important part of the culture and traditions of the region. The battles between these paper creatures are often quick and spectacular, with each creature following its predetermined Directives. Often, additional commands are given during the match by subtle signs or coded messages, to create a unique creature that is customized to their own fighting style and abilities.

Though other cultures view them outlandish or cowardly, this style of duel is deeply ingrained in the culture and traditions of Mashaya. To them, the battles between magical paper creatures are a test of skill, intelligence, and creativity, and a way to settle disputes peacefully. However, plans often go awry. While the battles between magical paper creatures are the most common way to settle disputes in the Zerzuran Badlands, there are also occasions when chartamancers themselves step into the ring to fight on their own behalf. This practice is not taken lightly and is only done when the stakes are high, and losing would be unacceptable. The battles between chartamancers can be highly dramatic and intense, with both combatants pushing their magical paper creations to the limits. However, despite the high stakes and intense competition, there are still rules and traditions that govern these battles.

Rules

There are few rules, but any breaking of them ends the match. Any rulebreaker(s) must burn their creature(s) and make atonement by submitting to Alsur at the river. This is occasionally fatal.

Interference: None are allowed to interfere in a duel, including other chartamancers or their secondaries.
Directive: All secondaries (paper) must have the directive "uphold all dueling rules".
Time: The duration of the match must be agreed upon in steps of the sun, defaulting to begin with a step.
Yielding: Primaries maintain the right, but not the obligation, to enter the fray at their option. If a primary has taken the field where no secondaries remain, their opponent must personally fight or yield.
No Dead Matter: All creatures must be made only of substances derived from water, plants, and animals. Absolutely no metals. Iron derived from riverbank slime remains illegal.
No Fire: This is the original rule, founded on numerous tragic precedents from pre-Dominion historical duels.
Conclusion: The duel concludes when one party yields or dies. Actual deaths are rare, except in court-mandated trials by duel where the accused is sometimes paperless, or given few scrolls.

Results

The results of the duel settle the matter between the two parties as a matter of law. It cannot be contested or treated as illegitimate. Further, it is customary for both contestants of a well-conducted duel to find more mutual respect and try to overcome their differences.

April 21st, 2023

Thaumographic Finance

The impact of magically facilitated finance on the economy of The Mashayan Dominion has been significant. With the use of thaumographically-verified transactions using Ink of the Lonely Ant, credit has become more commonplace, and financial inventions have made the few Mashaya settled societies highly profitable. These tools have had a ripple effect on the economy. Although the Majistir keeps gold and silver in reserve, transactions large and small commonly take place within a sort of thaumographic fiat. However, this has also resulted in gold scarcity, as central financial institutions absorb gold in exchange for paper money, which has lost value over time.

An unexpected consequence of thaumographic finance has been drastic increase in exports. The Dominion has debased thaumographic fiat currency to create a surge in spice and paper exports. However, this has created a domestic shortage of certain spices, which has had the unintended effect of granting greater authority to spice rangers. Another unexpected effect of the fiat finance system is that it has increased the value of gold as an untracked currency, making it a useful tax dodge. Criminals and elites alike have turned to gold pennies as a preferred currency, driving up demand and creating a need for gold policing and bookkeeping by the Dominion's military arm, the Wordbearers, and their demonic covert agents.

Overall, the shift towards magically facilitated finance has had far-reaching consequences on the Dominion's economy and society. The Dominion's reliance on gold and silver reserves has created shortages and elevated the importance of certain trades and industries, while also creating new opportunities for tax evasion and criminal activity.

April 25th, 2023 July 26th, 2023

Description	Entity	Location	Attitude
Spell	Create Paper Creatures (Tiny)
Spell	Rite of Dayiman
Spell	Papercraft Reinforcement
Spell Parameter	Directives
Spell	Create Paper Creatures (Medium)
Spell Augmentation	Create Ink of the Lonely Ant
Spell Augmentation	Create Ink of Alfaragh Root
Spell Augmentation	Create Tarakub's Paint Set
Spell	Inkbound Phantome
Spell	Create Ink of Binding