The Five Provinces Rekōdo Country
Rekodo City is at the heart of the Country of Rekōdo and is the epicenter of its magik. On all sides it is surrounded by the 5 Provinces. Rekōdo City itself does not cater or favor one specific province, but like any big city with a vast network of cultures, it has sections that are "Little Provinces" and sport the colors, fashion, foods and practices of a particular province. The magikal schools in Rekōdo City admits students from any province if they show high academic standing and stands to tutor them in their specialty and the other forms of magik so that the student might sek a higher station in life.
Below are the Five Provinces and their Council Members:
The Province of Taroc
High Councilman: Alain LeCavalier
Colors: Red & Gold
The Taroc are a very serious people for their art and do not take the magik they do as lightly as the other provinces do. They are often seen as a joke, for very few possess the divinity for reading cards, cups, stars and other sorts of tarot items, but their councilman Alain holds great sway in the council meetings for his wisdom and vast knowledge of what is going on in the country of Rekōdo. Their primary practice is in predictions and many from this province are the "authors" of the predictive texts housed in the Central Library. They are a people constantly trying to advance magik through harnessing unpredictability, predictability and changes. If someone goes in search of magikal advice, a tarot or tea-leaf reading or a horoscope, they will most likely seek out a Taroc. The Taroc have little belief in fate or destiny, as everything is constantly in motion and the future is always changing. The fashions here are ever changing as markets are constantly predicting the newest rage to come. Many dress in the traditional flowing robes, shawls and bangled jewelry of their gypsy-like heritage. They are located on the Western most border of Rekōdo City.
The Province of Shamaa
High Councilman: Mindoka
Colors: Brown & Blue
Natural Magik is one of the oldest magiks known to man. It dictates that everything (people, animals, plants, rivers, mountains, etc.), everything natural, not man-made, has a spirit that can be called upon to guide, help or give information etc. This is known as Animism. There is some debate about whether man-made things have spirits, but so far, it has gone unproven. The Shamaan are the only ones who can naturally call upon these spirits and they protect the spells that can be learned by outsiders very carefully. The Shamaan can see into the 'spirit world' (sometimes thought to be the Dream World) where these spirits dwell. Animisn is one of the most popular studied as it is one of the most commonly believed magiks. Though the Shamaanic magik has been tried and practiced all over Rekōdo, it is the Shamaan who are able to enter this world, waking or sleeping freely for vast amounts of time without the use of a Totem. The Shamman also have a master of herbology and potions, making them among the best healers. Each person born a Shamaan as an animal spirit to guide them. In essence, it is like a Familiar or patronus, personifying the person's soul in animal form. There are rumors of Dark Arts that seek to capture the spirit guide in order to control its human counterpart. The Shamaan are among the greatest animorphs, taking on the appearance of their spirit guide or projecting them.
The people of Shamaa often dress naturally, using natural things such as animals, bones, furs, skins etc. over man-made fabrics. Because of the history of the Dark Arts, the Shamaa Province will often opposed to the Maginus Province at council meetings, regardless of the discussion presented. Coincidentally, they are located on the Southern most border of Rekōdo City.
The Province of Astral
High Councilman: Herotus
Colors: Purple & Yellow
To the Southeast the magik of the mind and spirit are practiced. The people of Astral spend vast amounts of time trying to create a world where anything is accepted as possible. The Astralians seek to reach a state of mind where everything is possible. They are known to use astral projections (the ability to project the soul outside the body and move unimpeded by the physical world) and their odd use of geometrics and physics (and breaking them) in their magik. This is similar to their neighbors in the province of Shamaa, but their focus is more self-centered that naturally centered. Their magiks are not terribly 'real-world' but the Astralians have offered Rekōdo some of the finest and most bizarre inventions in the country's history.
Their Councilman, Herotus, has a twin sister name Adaya. She has specialized in taking the belief that anything is possible through magik to a Tantric level. Adaya specializes in not just of the mind, but magik of the body, seeking to not only understand oneself but others too. Borrowing from the Shamaan, Adaya has developed tantric spells, potions, perfume and musiks (not to be confused with the ordinary 'music'). The people of Astralian are a semi-self centered people, feeding their ego with the images they project and maintain. Their bodies are flaunted in their tropical climate and exotic, sometimes seen as scandalous, garb. Adaya occasionally comes to Council meetings with her brother, though she is not always wanted or invited. Her perfumes and allure can be distracting to other members of the Council, which it is undoubtedly done on purpose.
The Province of Da'Jinn
High Councilwoman: Jinai
Colors: Orange & Green
In the far East of Rekōdo City lies the dry Province of Da'Jinn. Its desert-like climate makes for a very nomadic people who travel to great cities and out again as quickly as they entered. Some use portals, traveling long, magikal routes mapped out eons ago by their ancestors, to doorways in the desert. Some prefer a more physical movement among the desert with tents and beasts of burden. The Da'Jinn are often seen as barbaric in nature, but their harsh, strict lifestyles are opposite to their magikal forte: wishes and fate. They call upon Jinns, or genies, that create a desired magikal effect. Their name literally means 'masters of Jinn.' A Jinn is an elemental force of nature birthed from the elements. The two main types are the Jinn (spirits of air) and the Efreet (spirits of fire). Earthen and Water-based Jinn exist, but those elements are scarce among the hot, airy desert landscape. Both are incredibly powerful and difficult to deal with if you are not a Da'Jinn. To better master them, the Da'Jinn have Totems hidden on their person to help control their Jinn of Efreet. These Totems can be anything from a necklace to a nose-ring to a gold cap on a tooth, but are traditionally something precious. Some Jinn are confined to lamps and sold into the markets of Rekōdo. The bands on their wrists and legs mark them as bound servants to pay off a magikal debt by bringing wishes and fortune to those who possess their prison (lamp).
The Da'Jinn dress in long, exotic garb for the desert heat, wind and sand. They often wear a shawl over their hair and faces and vast amounts of sculpted jewelry to hide the Totem that controls their Jinn.
The Province of Maginus
High Council Members: Darmon and Nalia
Color: Black & Dark Blue
The Northern-most Province is set in a colder, more hilly and mountainous climate and it's reflected in their wardrobe. The Magini wear long cloaks, sweaters and the occasional witch of wizard hat wrapped in a shawl. Theirs is the power based from witchcraft and warlockery. Occasionally called "Dark Arts" their province often deals with blood rites and rituals of the oldest kind, from the age when people were primal and sacrificed or worshipped in exchange for power. The present people are not quite so primitive.
There is a deal of controversy over some of the things they study. There were rumors of Necromancy, where someone would use magik to steal the familial powers through the deceased. It was done to get back at someone who slighted another's family and is illegal. There is also the debate of their study of "force-based" magiks... magiks that force people to tell the truth or to do or commit acts against their will that they would otherwise not. The Maginus say they are studying them to find preventative counter-magiks to keep such illegal works from being effective.
The City of the Enchantry
Colors: Dark Green & Black
Located within the Western portion of Maginus, on an island called Capios, this city-school is open only to women. In an amazonian-like society, these women seek to gain benign control of magik using artifacts and Totems. Totems are anything magikal in origin from the early eras of Rekōdo that heighten a specific magikal ability. Stone rings on a necklace are often found on people who wish to Dreamwalk, though such Totems are not handed out lightly. They are stored and studied by the Enchantry. Some artifacts have unknown abilities and women who tried their power have died using them. they are the keepers of all great artifacts found in the Country of Rekōdo.
The women are called "Enchantresses," which lends a somewhat darker interpretation of their society, especially being found within the borders of the Magini. The name usually refers to the magik of coercion and control, but such things are illegal. In a text at the Central Library, there was once a mention of a society of Enchanters. That book has since gone missing from the library's archives and no magikal traces of its whereabouts can be found. Nalia serves as co-councilman to Darmon and is secretly involved with Alain of the Taroc Province.
The Enchantress Guild is certainly the only Guild to have sex-based restrictions on membership.
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