The Lore of Sight! For as long as there have been the Ell, there have been seers. The power to see, and see truly, can only be taught. Though there are many to whom the gift has come naturally, above them all stands Nalvahgey, greatest seer ever to walk under the Creator’s gaze. But to be great is not necessarily to be good, and Nalvahgey’s name has never sat easily upon her followers’ lips.
There are two arts that only a seer can enact: the power to name and the power to see beyond the veil of time itself.
Naming proceeds from the positions of the heavenly wanderers at the birth of a child. Whichever house they dwell in or whichever are in ascendency or decay decrees which naming boards shall be used. There are four boards for each of the elements: earth, air, fire and water. Upon them are the words to be chosen, for once the naming begins the seer must travel to the river itself, that river in which all life begins and ends. Immersing herself in its waters the seer is shown the way, returning again so that the child can be named, for to be nameless is to be cursed.
Divination proceeds from the weave of heaven itself, the positions of the seven wanderers about their mighty star. As they cross and re-cross the twenty-eight houses, so the affairs of Uriel are revealed. But to see beyond the now a seer must reorder the weave, rising up to that moment when the wanderers have moved on, rising up and then returning again so that knowledge of what will be can be brought back.
Here is the sword, the call to battle. Most fiery of all, Qaomael is the closest to Great Rafarel. Like war, it is rarely seen, but when it comes its baleful glare at dusk or dawn is like a beacon.
Here is the empress, the mistress of ritual and order. Though it wends its way about Great Rafarel with serenity, it is cloaked in impenetrable cloud and remains an utter mystery.
Here is the messenger, by whose word all things move. Here is the active principle, speed of thought crystallised in a labyrinth of stone.
The eternal companion of Uriel, here is the maintenance of the balance, the seas rising and falling, the seasons proceeding as they should. Here is the eternal dance, the night made glorious with its gentle light.
The symbol of sight itself, here is air, the father of storms. Called the Vabazir of the heavens, it is the greatest of all the wanderers, and its light is both a hope and a warning to all that see it.
Guarding the outer darknesses is the healer, source of all renewal and the watcher at the portals. About its sombre sphere are girded the circles of eternity, and deep within it is the heavy heart of death.
Father of all is Great Rafarel itself, progenitor and keeper, the Creator’s mark upon the heavens. Here is the final forge, from whence all things come and to which all things go. Here is unwavering light, never to falter until that final day yet to come.