Anktorlas (Ank-torl-as)
Summary
For the baarham, vision is a critical component of life. Nothing can be done without it, for vision informs purpose, and purpose becomes design. Ancient baarham tribes, before the age of their Dominion, had seers. These religious figureheads guided their peoples, consulting spirits, magical incantations, and more. When the baarham fell into slavery beneath the Imperium, it would be the seers who kept their ways alive. Bowed beneath the dragons, the seers secreted their arts and ways for generations. Yet their guidance increasingly faltered, for no answers provided a true means of escaping from their slavery. Each newer generation grew increasingly desperate. During their attempted rebellions, the baarham worked alongside humanity as a fellow oppressed people. Human mages, especially, captivated the attention of the seers. Their command of magical power proved inspirational, and the role of the seer and mage gradually fused together. The baarham's ideas of spiritual reverence were subsumed by their desire for magical power. To them, their goddesses and spirits failed to deliver them from suffering and hardship. Only by their own blood and sweat could they see themselves freed. The anktorlas, crudely 'mage-seer' or "someone who magic is bent to purpose by", were born. After the fall of the Imperium, the resulting Great Darkness scattered the baarham peoples. Little by little the anktorlas, as the most powerful of baarham, sought to bring each other together again. The likes of Sovusha became important ceremonies for them to call home their lost kin. Throughout the two centuries of darkness, the anktorlas toiled. It isn't clear when, but the concepts of blood magic began appearing in larger communities. Their methods bore suspicious similarities to the tokyau and vampyr, though no certain evidence of interaction has survived. For the baarham, their bodies became the vessel of magical power they sought. When the skies cleared, the people they'd been before had all but vanished. Only the baarham–"those who seek power"–remained. At the head of them stood the anktorlas, the magical and royal elite that commanded the greatest power. Driven by dark fears of what would happen to them, they embarked on conquest and terror to assure their supremacy. Such, however, is the history of the baarham and their once Dominion at large. After the collapse of their Dominion, and their return from exile, the baarham changed greatly. A schism severed their people, those caught between the ideals of Sorcerer King Ghown and his daughter, Vanzkah zahd Ghown. Queen Vanzkah largely won out the majority of the baarham, especially upon the revelation of the baatari. The anktorlas themselves, thusly, became different to suit the Queen's new dictum. Fettered from their ravenous desires for magic, the likes of their evil arts were abolished and sealed away. The anktorlas instead endeavored to reinvent their magics, their way of life, and their very thinking. Moreso, to free themselves from the specter of fear that ever ruled the baarham heart. In turning away from what they were, however, what they could become ever troubled them. The very name of baarham came from a dark age for them; so too did the name of anktorlas. Just as power is defined by the reasons its pursued, using magic is defined by the visions that guide it. So it was, like other baarham ideas of the time period, the on-paper name remained while its meaning changed. The core idea of the anktorlas returned more to the old ways of the baarham. They became spiritual guides once more, embracing newfound insights with their magical talents. The baarham no longer regarded goddesses or spirits as wisened, otherworldly beings. They saw them closer as possible friends or allies who, possessing unique insights, might help them see better once again. In other words, spirituality became a doorway to vision the baarham needed to overcome their past evils. As the baarham have healed and new generations were born, another divide began emerging. Those embarking on the ways of a mage dropped the ideals of a seer, preferring their own ventures to that of the many. Traditional anktorlas shifted further into a leadership role as a result, while parts of their magical authority ebbed away. In a sense, the modern anktorlas, while being a supreme mage in their own right, is more a leader than anything else. In no small amount of irony, they're returning to their ancestral role of seer, and so magic becomes the domain of mages. Of course, some insist such a divide is asinine and continue doing both regardless.Career
Qualifications
Anktorlas, as a title, is defined by two large ideas: incredible magical power, and visionary purpose.
To the baarham, who'd embraced magic with ravenous abandon, magical power has ever been the greatest measure of someone's worth. The anktorlas, as the magical and intellectual elite of the baarham, had to command the most fearsome power possible. Otherwise, they'd be torn down from their position by someone more than able to overwhelm them. No end of effort, and indeed, no morals or ethics to restrain them, enabled this terrifying and bloody arrangement. Dominion-era anktorlas, as a result, commanded magic so great that dragons were terrified of ever engaging them.
While the changing baarham eventually eased away from that, the anktorlas still command fearsome respect. Many family lines, institutions, and traditions around them continue to emphasize their magical talents. However, instead of absolute domination, visionary purpose became increasingly important. The baarham needed more magics that could help them live and thrive as a people.
The learned knowledge of an anktorlas, thusly, bent toward tackling that problem. Guidance became critical helping the new age of Queen Vanzkah and her baarham. To do so, the anktorlas needed vision that would guide them upon such an equitable path. How they came about this vision was left to their discretion: some visited other peoples, some consulted spirits or divine beings, and more contemplated philosophy of all kinds.
For a baarham to enter the ranks of the anktorlas, it became a matter of proving their might. Not only did they have to do so with their magical prowess, but also their visionary purpose. Queen Vanzkah wanted people who would build a better future for the baarham, and so would not accept the power mad or craven. Even if someone had power to spare, if their vision lacked or worse, she would reject them. Hence, earning her approval as an anktorlas was an overt acceptance of what one's vision entailed.
Career Progression
The ranks of the anktorlas are something of a nebulous concept. Often being the leaders of their communities or other large organizations, they can be likened to ladies or queens in some regard. Others, pursuing their crafts more particularly, are defined as mistresses of their arts or ways. The broadness of their name is perhaps more to blame for how much it can encompass than anything. Still, pecking order is important to the old baarham, especially in making sure everthing remains stable.
Since social importance is a shifting thing, anktorlas focus more on one's magical aptitude than anything else. The more powerful and capable they are, the higher on the rankings they're assigned. Their measurements are universal ones looking at mana, performed magical feats, and things of that nature. In many ways, these are the same metrics used by the mages of other peoples. However, raw power itself became less desired as the baarham ways changed. Instead, they focused on practical magical application, and so competitions arose.
Anktorlas would compete in varying categories of different demands, conditions, and envisioned purposes. Destructive arts is an easy one to point toward, but the likes of healing magics, engineering, philosophical complexity, and others arose. Magic is, after all, not constrained in the sense of 'provide power and output product/result'. Sometimes the experience it could provide to one's mind and soul was, itself, invigorating and vital.
Mornal zahd Saldaantra notoriously won a top 5 position for several decades thanks to her performances. By embracing the beauties of life and transforming them into experiences for others, she could motivate even withered, old souls too scarred to move otherwise. It proved such a pivotal breakthrough that Queen Vanzkah herself demanded Mornal make an entire philosophical school dedicated to the purpose. Mornal's works spurred on an entire new branch of magic as a result, one that has significantly helped to heal the baarham's spiritual wellbeing.
While the ranking competitions continue to this day, their purposes are increasingly less "this person is objectively powerful" and more "this person has contributed to us, the baarham, the best". In a sense, it shows the baarham obsession with power is changing away to more concerns about a healthier, better lifestyle.
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