Chapter 4: The Aestari Spark

During the Second Great Blooming, The Great Tree of Eyos once again released its magical petals into the winds. Some of the enchanted petals made their way to the Vermillion Forest, where they touched an intelligent race of humanoid creatures with crimson orange hair. They called themselves the Aestari, or Children of the Ineffable Flame. Within a few generations, the powers conferred upon those touched by the petals spread throughout the entire species.

The Aestari had a natural proclivity for wielding and channeling arcane energies, but it manifested differently in the males and the females. Aestari females were better able to focus and channel magic in a continuous sustained stream called The Binding. They could concentrate and move objects far longer than the males. Conversely, the males could amplify the intensity of magic, but only in shorter bursts, called The Surging. This gave them a natural ability to phase and summon objects rather than slowly move them. But The Surging consumed magical power rapidly, requiring them to either extract more energy from crystals or recover naturally by refraining from using magic until they had regained their strength.

For some Aestari males, however, The Surging fed an innate, insatiable desire for more — to reach higher highs, to achieve greater feats, to rise above the world. But the highest levels of arcane mastery were only attainable through the power of the crystals, which enabled them to achieve both great intensity and endurance. Most became dependent on the energy of the crystals, unable to accept their natural limitations and return to their mundane lives. The insatiable hunger for more magical power eventually consumed their everyday thoughts.