Back of the Envelope

This previously unpublished work is an excerpt from an early draft of Randall Aurelius's History of the Domini. Revelations which occurred a few short years later invalidated much of what Aurelius had written, and cast a new light on the rest. This work is more than a historical curiosity, however. It reveals the inner workings of the Ordo Dominorum's self-image at the time, what they understood of their origins and their purpose, even if much of it was vague legend rather than complete fact. Thus, it helps us to understand their motivations and the reasons they behaved the way they did during the recent crisis. It would be wise of us to take that into account before we pass judgement on them.

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The History of the Domini
by Randall Aurelius

Part I: The Malwer

Any history of the Domini must begin with the Malwer. Unfortunately, so little is known about the Malwer that every history of the Domini is, of necessity, incomplete. Nevertheless, I will endeavor to record what is known of our origins, and hope that someday the blanks may be filled.

Who, or what, the Malwer were is the great mystery of our origins. Today, the uninitiated refer to them as demons, but in the days of our enslavement we considered them gods. At a time before humans had any magic, every Malwer was gifted with it. It came to them as naturally as breathing, and they viewed their magic as the proof of their right to rule mankind.

Our tradition calls the first human to discover magic Saul. This is almost certainly not his name, and his identity is as much a mystery as how he discovered magic. Human magic only comes through training: to this date there is no verified case of any human developing this ability spontaneously or through his own meditation. It is as ludicrous as gnats forming spontaneously from dust or frogs from mud (a belief still held by many of the superstitious Novari). Many have speculated that Saul must have been taught, either by a renegade Malwer or, more plausibly, by one of the Amaranthine, although this was centuries before they revealed themselves to the rest of the human race.

Whatever the source of his power, Saul knew that magic might be the key to humanity’s freedom. However, he also knew that he did not have the ability to challenge the Malwer on his own, so he could not risk discovery by the Malwer. Saul was most likely a field slave, with little enough contact with the Malwer to avoid their suspicion. Even so, he proceeded with the greatest of caution. He found others with untrained magical ability and taught them, all the while keeping his identity hidden from his students as much as anyone else, wrapping himself in an encompassing robe every time he met with them. He knew that if any one of them were discovered, the only chance he and the rest of his students would have for survival was anonymity. His students did the same, perhaps hiding their identities even from one another. Eventually, his students grew knowledgeable enough to train students of their own, maintaining the practice of keeping their identities hidden from their own students.

The teaching spread throughout the Malwer lands, and somehow they avoided discovery for several generations, most likely because they confined themselves to teaching fellow field slaves, who had little Malwer supervision, and because they did nothing but teach and learn. While the masters continued to keep the students from discovering their own identities, some cells allowed the students to know each others’ identities. This became the only means for cells to contact one another once age claimed the former master of the current cell leaders. Even so, after a few generations, the secrecy had taken its toll and most cells had no contact with anyone removed by a generation or two. It is not clear whether the teachings were confined to men deliberately at first: it may simply have been that there were more men than women among the field slaves. It is certain that those learning magic were exclusively male by the time they took the next step, perhaps for the same reason that all soldiers are men.

It was unlikely a concerted decision, as it has already been noted that most cells had contact with only a few others. But at some point the cells began acting against the Malwer. Rather than a head-to-head war, a cell would track down and kill an individual Malwer, generally one against they held some particular grudge. Other cells, hearing of the rumors, began to do the same, and soon the Malwer found themselves being hunted and killed by an elusive enemy they could not identify. When they were spotted, by either Malwer or human, hidden in their all-concealing voluminous robes and no doubt further obscured by magical illusion, they appeared as shapeless black shadows. Thus they earned the name Shades.

For a while, the Malwer feared the Shades, and whispered that they were ghosts or demons, but no conspiracy can continue forever, and eventually the Shades were found out. At the realization that the Shades were humans with magic, fear and fury alike swept through the Malwer, and a hunt began to find the Shades and exterminate them. As an extra dead slave here or there did not concern them, they did not burden themselves with proof that a human was indeed a Shade before executing him. This hunt forced the Shades to flee. Many innocent humans fled with them, fearing the Malwer who had turned on them, although many blamed the Shades for bringing this oppression on top of them. For the first time, Shades gathered together in large numbers to fight the Malwer openly, joined by desperate humans. Thus the rebellion had begun.

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This is the first 843 words of a continuing story. There will be more.

The Rest of the Story: The rest of The History of the Domini can be found here.

This is the second part of Randall Aurelius's unpublished draft of The History of the Domini. Randall's work may seem brief to those familiar with the lengthy works of the Philosophers, but this is a result of his deliberate care rather than a lack thereof. Rumors and legends concerning the early days of the Domini were plentiful when Randall first wrote this history. Randall forswore writing the more unreliable stories, and did his best to only relate what was solidly known or at least reasonably surmised. It is only due to his great care that his work came as close to an accurate recounting as it did.

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The History of the Domini
by Randall Aurelius

Part II: The Exodus

The Shades and the other slaves who had joined them were far from unified. The Shades themselves were divided. Their structure as a loose network of independent cells had protected them from the Malwer’s ferocious hunt, but left them with no hierarchy or leadership. There was fierce infighting, especially between those who had participated in the Malwer-hunting, and those who believed it to be as bad as anything the Malwer had done. Many wanted to fight against the Malwer and free all the humans from their grasp, while others thought that those who had now escaped should flee beyond the reach of their former masters. The mundane humans overwhelmingly wanted to flee.

In the end, the Shades split. About half remained behind to fight, joined by a few humans who hated their Malwer masters worse than the Shades. The remaining quarter led the vast majority of the humans to try to find a land far from the Malwer’s rule. They headed north, to warmer climes.

If the Shades expected the people to be grateful, there were sorely mistaken. Most of the former slaves blamed the Shades for the situation they were in, and they all feared their power. They shunned the Shades, and even the Shades’ own families wanted nothing to do with brothers, sons, and husbands who had been inducted. They were wise to do so, since, while the people were too afraid of the Shades to threaten them directly, they harassed and in some cases even harmed their families. The Shades soon discovered that they had as much need to protect their identities from their fellow humans as from the Malwer. The fear and resentment of the Shades even extended to those with the ability to learn, once it was discovered that there were many untrained humans among the exiles.

The Shades made several decisions during this time that has continued to shape the Order to this day. Only young men were taken to be trained, lest they take fathers and husbands from their families. They were taken in secret, so that there would be no reprisals against their families, and they were required to make a clean break with their old lives, as any contact put their acquaintances at risk. Not all the young men were willing, but they understood that once it was discovered they had the ability, they were outcasts. Finally, women were not taken. There were fewer women than men among the escaped slaves, and the Shades realized that the long-term survival of the independent humans would require children. They also worried that if they recruited women with the ability, they might deplete the number of boys with it in future generations. It should also be remembered that in these ancient days that the egalitarian impulses which are rare outside of the Philosophers even now was practically unheard of. The Shades saw themselves as warriors, and they did not believe that women were suited for their task.

Eventually, the independent humans moved beyond the reach of the Malwer Sovereignty, and settled in a land to the west of it, likely where the Novar Empire is now. Information trickled to them from the Shades and the humans who had remained behind to fight. While these warriors had been wholly unsuccessful in a direct assault, they still managed to cause difficulty for the Malwer, and to assist many among the remaining slaves who wished to escape. Meanwhile, the exodus of slaves had triggered internal turmoil among the Malwer, and the infighting would keep them occupied for years to come.

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This is the latest 597 words of a 1,440 word short story in progress.

The Rest of the Story: The rest of The History of the Domini can be found here.

This is the third part of Randall Aurelius's unpublished draft of The History of the Domini. Randall did his best to be honest in his portrayal of all involved. Thus he avoided showing the humans or the Shades in too favorable a light. Indeed, that our entire history revolves around those who decided to run rather than fight in the earliest days is something that many Domini do their best to gloss over.

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The History of the Domini
by Randall Aurelius

Part III: The Amaranthine

To humans, a hundred years is three to four generations. Events that happened that far back are no more than legends to people without written histories. To the Malwer, it was just enough time to prepare the means to avenge themselves on their escaped slaves. By that time, the humans who had fled the Malwer had lost all contact with those who remained behind to fight. The communication had slowed to a trickle over the years, stories of a distant war that most of the newly free humans did not believe was worth fighting. When it finally stopped, there was some worry, but a few years passed and the worries ceased.

The free humans were focused on the business of surviving and building farms and communities in the previously uninhabited land rather than on the distant, mostly forgotten threat of the Malwer. The Shades among them were likewise occupied with building their cloistered communities and finding recruits among the other humans. Over time, methods of recruiting were developed to take young men with the ability while minimizing the trauma to him or his community, but in the process the Shades became more and more isolated from the rest of humanity. Some preferred reclusiveness, while others used their power to try to force people to serve them. Occasionally, Shade communities of differing philosophies would clash, but these were mere skirmishes compared to the later wars.

The Malwer would have overwhelmed humanity when they finally came upon them in force, if not for the Amaranthine. The Amaranthine are nearly as great a mystery as the Malwer. They lacked the Malwer’s ability with magic (although there were a few among them, called wizards, who had powerful magical abilities), but they were similarly long-lived, and they knew a great deal about the Malwer, whom they held a bitter grudge against for unknown reasons. They looked nearly human, although with odd coloring and strange characteristics. Many today say they were related to the Kawyr, although they regarded humans with more sympathy than the cold Kawyr ever could. When the Amaranthine first came, warning that the Malwer were coming with a large force of creatures which no one had ever heard of, no one knew what to make of them, including the Shades. Just a few messengers came at first, but soon it became clear that there was a mass migration of the Amaranthine, women and children along with men, fleeing from something. Although many took their warnings seriously, a few saw them as interlopers. The Shades themselves were divided, and many of the communities forbade the Amaranthine from entering areas under their control. There were a few skirmishes, but no widespread conflict, and eventually the Amaranthine settled just outside the human areas. They continued to warn of brutish, violent creatures behind them, but the humans saw no reason to take their warnings seriously, until the Orcs came.

There were, in fact, creatures of two types in the initial invasion: Orcs and Goblins. Orcs are roughly as tall as humans, but more muscular. While most of them are not very intelligent, the commanders of their armies are as smart as we are. There were no warlocks or witches among them at this time. Goblins are smaller, uglier, and stupider. The humans had little chance against the invaders. In the hundred years they had been free, there had been no wars more serious than a skirmish, and no human community had formed anything resembling an army. The Shades fared little better. They too had only skirmished, and they had developed little magic capable of facing armies. While the goblins were less an army than an unruly mob, forced to fight by their Orc masters, the Orcs showed a surprising grasp of tactics and strategy, even though their forces were lacking in discipline. And if what the Amaranthine said was true, the Malwer were the ones truly behind the attack. They had recruited the Orcs to carry out their vengeance on the humans.

Fortunately for the humans, the Amaranthine had been fighting Orcs for years, and they lent their aid against them. It was not enough, though, as the Amaranthine were few in number, and their wizards were even fewer. Humanity was forced to retreat from their attackers, driven towards the sea in a narrowing strip of land as the Orcs laid claim to the countryside. In desperation, the Shades and the wizards pooled their abilities, and performed an act of magic unlike any seen before or since. They called the First Legion.

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This is the latest 755 words of a 2,195 word short story in progress.

The Rest of the Story: The rest of The History of the Domini can be found here.

This is the fourth part of Randall Aurelius's unpublished draft of The History of the Domini.

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The History of the Domini
by Randall Aurelius

Part IV: The First Legion

The details of the magic involved in the calling of the First Legion are long forgotten. We do know that it was the first of only two times that the disparate magics of the Shades and the Amaranthine were combined. The Circuit involved hundreds of magic-users, and many of them died in the effort. But when it was done, an army had been summoned to our aid.

From where they were summoned is still a mystery. The First Legion neither spoke our language, nor understood what we wanted from them. They were angry at being ripped from their own land, but terrified of the magic we wielded. With great difficulty, we found a way to communicate. From what we were able to learn, they came from a land similar to ours in many ways, but there they had no contact with Orcs or Goblins or Malwer. Instead humans warred upon each other for control of the land and the sea. It is difficult to understand now how strange that was to us then, humans fighting wars against each other. We were far from a peaceful people even then, but we had no understanding of conflict on such a scale. The First Legion did, and we needed that understanding. After a great deal of bargaining, with threats on both sides, we were able to reach an agreement.

The numbers which the First Legion added to humanity’s beleaguered forces were small, but the expertise was considerable. They were among the best trained and most disciplined soldiers in their land, and they shared their training and experience with us, first strengthening our defenses against the Orcs and Goblins, and then leading the assault to drive back the invaders. Unprepared as they were to face competent warriors, the Orcish advance faltered and then collapsed, and their conquests were quickly retaken. Emboldened by our successes, we pursued the Orcs and Goblins as they retreated, and may have succeeded in eliminating both races entirely, had not the Malwer themselves taken the field.

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This is the latest 336 words of a 2,531 word short story in progress.

The Rest of the Story: The rest of The History of the Domini can be found here.

This is the fourth part of Randall Aurelius's unpublished draft of The History of the Domini.

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The History of the Domini
by Randall Aurelius

Part V: The Imprisonment

By this time, the forces arrayed against one another were, if not exactly even, more closely matched than ever before. While the Malwer were more powerful in magic, the Shades and the Amaranthine wizards were, between them, more numerous. And while the Orcs and goblins outnumbered the Amaranthine and Human armies, the leadership of the First Legion made them a more effective fighting force than their numbers suggested. Thus, the balance between the two sides teetered precariously for a number of years, and eventually, the Humans and their Amaranthine allies gained the upper hand. The Orcs were scattered, and the Malwer forced to retreat. They gathered in their capital city, and the Human and Amaranthine forces gathered around it. They knew the powerful magic which the Malwer yielded, and likewise knew that an attempt to take the city would cost countless lives. So instead, they decided to leave the Malwer where they were. For the second and final time in our history, the Shades and the Amaranthine combined their magics, and they wove a barrier to completely enclose the Malwer city. By the time the Malwer realized what we were doing and struck back, they were too late. The prison was complete, and the Malwer were trapped inside their city.

Not all the Malwer were caught in this trap. Some were outside the city at the time, some managed to flee before the trap could close. The Shades and the Amaranthine spent years tracking down those who had escaped. While that was being done, the armies which had been gathered against the Malwer dispersed. Humans began to build their own towns and cities. And when the last of the Malwer had been captured, the Shades themselves began to go their separate ways, while the Amaranthine retreated to live in isolation from the Humans.

But while the Malwer were gone, peace was short lived.

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This has been the latest 313 words of a 2,844 word continuing short story.

The Rest of the Story: The rest of The History of the Domini can be found here.

This is the first chapter of the second half of Randall Aurelius's History of the Domini. While the first half discusses the origins of the Domini, and their part in the great war to free humanity from enslavement, the second half discusses what happened once humanity was free. The Domini's role in shaping the world is often forgotten, but it was much larger than is usually acknowledged.

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The History of the Domini
by Randall Aurelius

Part VI: The Schism

With the Malwer imprisoned and the Amaranthine isolated, the humans began to make a life for themselves, and the Shades tried to find their place among them. There was little agreement among the Shades, and they quickly split into dozens of sects, maybe hundreds, each with its own objectives.

Some of the Shades thought that our main duty was to guard the imprisoned Malwer. They built a fortress named Overwatch near the prison, and called themselves the Watchers. They led an aesthetic life, isolated from the rest of humankind, using magic to make themselves self-sufficient. Others followed their path, seeking isolation and self-sufficiency, even if they refused the burden of the Watchers. These were among the most successful in finding a quiet life, but most of them died out within a generation. They had no means to reproduce, and most did not attempt to recruit. The Watchers were the longest lasting of these groups, since many Shades recruited and trained by the other sects were attracted by their sense of calling, and most of the sects would allow their members to make the pilgrimage to Overwatch and join them.

Others attempted to give up the black robe. It became apparent rather quickly that the mundanes, as we called humans without the magic, would not accept us into their fold. Any man who was known to have been a Shade found hatred and intolerance, and many were driven out of their communities or killed. Only those who hid their history could survive, but it is believed that many did successfully integrate themselves with mundane society, living and dying among them.

There were others who sought a middle ground, who tried to live apart from mundanes, yet not be entirely isolated. They recruited as they had before, taking young men secretly and without warning, so they could be trained in the magic. Occasionally, they traded with the mundanes, although this was difficult given how little they were trusted. Thus, they too had to seek self-sufficiency. But because they still recruited, they were able to survive while the completely isolated sects died out.

The last and worst were those who thought we should rightfully rule over the mundanes, using our magic to seek power over them. These groups would make themselves into a ruling class, recruiting others with magical ability and, by sharing power with them, perpetuate their power. But those seeking power are not easily appeased, and what one man can take another will covet. These groups went to war with each other and with the less aggressive sects, again and again, raising armies and wielding magic as a weapon. The Shade Wars lasted centuries, and by the end of it, only two groups were standing: the Domini and the Necromancers.

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This has been the latest 549 words of a 3,393 word story in progress.