Thaumaturg

The Thaumaturgs, or Theurgists, were the organisation of mages that made up the ruling class and bureaucrats of the Kingdom of the Thaumaturgs, in north-western Jacuruku. The Thaumaturgs were ruled by the Circle of Nine, or Circle of Masters, which comprised of the nine most preeminant mages in the nation, the Nine Masters^[1] with the head of the Circle of Masters being the Prime master, Surin.^[2] The Thaumaturg nation was far more developed than the surrounding kingdoms, with more complex mechanisms for such activities as milling,^[3] with the lower class effectively being serfs.^[3]

The Thaumaturgs devoted "all their resources and research to unravelling the mysteries of Ascendancy."^[4] They were known particularly for their experimentation, as they used Denul magic^[5] and alchemy to alter the human body to create specific "tools" for a range of tasks.^[3] The most well known example of these were the Yakshaka, which were warriors specifically created to be much larger than regular men, with stone armour and controllable only by the Thaumaturgs themselves. It is possible that the Thaumaturgs believed in some form of evolution, as during a dissection Prime Master Surin referred to the eye as a "miracle of adaptation".^[6]

The Thaumaturgs claimed to admire the Crimson Guard, called the Isturé Forlan Edegash in their language, for advancing far along the Path of Ascension.^[7]

List of Thaumaturg Rankings

The Thaumaturg organisation comprised of a large number of different levels, with skill and merit being the most important factors in advancement, though there was likely some corruption.^[8]

• Prime Master
• Circle of Nine - the Nine Masters
• Inner Circle of Masters^[9] - the Nine Masters and the next in line to join them are ranked as Adepts
• Circle of Rulership^[10] - Magisters, the lowest level of full Thaumaturgs
• Aspirants^[8] - Lower level trainees

In Reaper's Gale

The Crimson Guardsman Iron Bars and his Second Blade confronted a dozen of the Thaumaturgs' Yakshaka on the shores of Jacuruku.^[11]

In Return of the Crimson Guard

The passengers of the Kite (Traveller, Ereko, Kyle, and the Lost brothers) were greeted upon their arrival on the northern shores of Jacuruku by the Thaumaturg Jhest Golanjar. He attempted to trap the Ascendant Traveller within a prison of D'riss while his Yakshaka handled the others. Ereko freed Traveller, who promptly slew Jhest.^[12]

In Blood and Bone

A number of story-lines centred about the Thaumaturgs, with the Adwami tribes raiding the Thaumaturg nation all the way to the capital with the help of the Shaduwam, the Thaumaturgs' rivals. Throughout this raid however there was little resistance, as the Circle of Nine was making preparations for the destruction of Kallor. To do this, they themselves moved to the ruins of an ancient Temple of Light deep in the Himatan where a large amount of power was held which they intended to use to pull down some of the "Green Banner" to destroy Kallor, something they had attempted before.^[13] Concurrently they sent approximately a third of their standing forces in an army with Commander Golan leaving only garrison forces in their own lands.^[9] This entire raid was a distraction so that the Masters could move into the Himatan without being detected.^[14] Pon-lor, a newly trained yet promising Thaumaturg, was sent to recapture a lost Yakshaka from Golan's army.^[1]

Eventually Pon-lor helped to defeat the Circle of Nine during their attempt to destroy Kallor while Commander Golan, having lost most of his army to the dangers of the Himatan, reached the eastern coast of Jacuruku and turned north to return to Thaumaturg lands via the coast.^[15] The Shaduwam took control of Anditi Pura, purging it of all the Thaumaturg mages within.^[16]

Notes and references