An Introduction to Runebinding and the Advancement of Runes

By A. Xerxes Graves, Revised and Annotated by Mx. Derrus Ten (14th Ed., Sylvarus Press)

Runebinding, herein referenced as the Art, stands as the fundamental process of merging thought, spirit, and the physical realm through the symbolic form. This Art is, to many scholars and practitioners, akin to the quiet ripple in the pond, where the understanding of concepts extends outward to produce tangible effects in physical reality. One does not merely "study" runes; rather, one "binds" them to themselves with the merging of intent and manifestation. Indeed, the Rune is a language of understanding that permeates the entire Heige-Estuantum, or “Unified Field of Reality” (as termed in Ten’s A Treatise on That Which Can Be Perceived), which few scholars contest.

In essence, the Rune functions as a door, a universal glyph that, once truly understood, unveils the vast potential of the cosmos. This understanding can be likened to “seeing the rune in oneself,” but it requires patience, immersion, and a commitment to the transcendental. It is said that one who begins the Art knows one Rune; one who masters it knows none. Mastery of the Art requires surrender to the Rune itself, as only when knowledge transcends knowing can one access its power fully.

What the fuck does that even mean? Unified field of reality?

On Progression in Runes and Runic Sigils (herein: Spells)

Progression through Runes, distinct from but complementary to Runic Sigils, is a meticulously documented process, one derived not from physical acts but from the cultivation of perception and "vital understanding" (see Mx. Franklin Aldertree’s On the Semiotics of Silence, Vol. 3 through 9). Through a cultivation of Chorda Manifesta (or “the Channeling of Understanding”), Runes evolve within their binders, expanding from "simpletonic glyphs"—those bound by one’s innate understanding, often first encountered—to “complex glyphs” and later “spherical Runes,” whose internal geometries remain unobserved yet universally theorized.

The efficacy of one’s runic work is not a matter of strength or skill but of alignment and understanding. Those who fail to advance invariably suffer a "dissipation of understanding," (notably detailed in Delpicius’s Error and Incident, Chap. 733), which can manifest as fragmented sigils or, in rare cases, Soul Burn. Such phenomena serve as evidence that the Rune is not merely knowledge but a matter of the soul; thus, practitioners without harmonic convergence (or Li Heniur)—a term derived from Avistian Conflux of Knowing—find themselves "without form." Aldertree claims that only once alignment within the Heige-Estuantum is achieved can one proceed beyond the elementary forms of Runes to the more refined sigils known colloquially as spells.

Translation: Go fuck yourself, runes are complicated, and this book makes it worse.

Seals and the Progression of One’s Knowledge

Runic Seals, or “Soul Seals”, function not as manifestations but as reflections of the practitioner’s inner geometry, a term disputed yet popularized in the marginalia of Pre-Runic Arcadian Lithography. Aldertree theorizes in The Prismatic Essence of Cognition; however, that the Seal acts as an interface, a conduit through which the practitioner’s soul produces physical effect—indeed, the basis of all spells. The Seal is a foundational principle, for to understand it is to understand the nature of the runes that make up its whole and thus progress from "spirit to solid, from silence to essence" (notably referenced in Graves, p. 401, n. 3).

In sum, advancing within the Art demands exhaustive study, a cultivation of inner vision, and the alignment of one’s will with the Seal itself. Those who endeavor to pursue this path of binding find that they themselves are bound in turn—by reality itself, until they may improve the Seal and achieve further understanding.

I feel like the last sentences were all this whole page needed. “Study more, practice, and focus on what you’re trying to accomplish?

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"Holy shit, this book is impossible to read. Heige-Estuantum? The Prismatic Essence of Cognition?"

We'd entered the reading room, and Diana had handed me a massive tome on Runebinding with a shit-eating grin.

I blinked a few times and looked up from the book to Diana, who was sitting across from me. She wore a particularly elegant looking green dress, her hair was in a large braid adorned with flowers.

"It reads like someone trying really hard to sound smart," I said diplomatically. Stanley, who was perched on the table, hopped onto the book and let out a loud series of peeps. Diana laughed brightly.

"He says it's like someone dressed up a pile of shit in a binding and called it wisdom. Also, watch the language, Stanley."

Cass and I both roared with laughter. The bird said that? And Diana could understand him?

"Good call, Stanley. And this is how people learn in Sylvarus? You should read tea leaves for more insight—what the hell is a Li Heniur? And it sure sounds like the ‘Unified Field of Reality’ is a bunch of bullshit."

"Li Heniur is an ancient term for someone without an affinity," Diana explained. "It can happen after a failed Soul Seal binding. I'm pretty sure no one has used it in decades."

"And you bought this with the mana core?" I asked, unable to hide my disappointment. Could this really be worth a hundred gold coins? I'd been dealing almost exclusively in blue and red coins and had only seen a silver coin so far at Katie's. "This is... it's garbage. I need like six other books just to understand it. And even then..."

Diana's grin widened. "I know! Isn't it fabulous? The look on your face, not the book."

I stared at her blankly, trying to figure out what she was getting at when it clicked.

"Ah," I said simply. She was messing with me.

"Sometimes you're the smartest person I've ever met, other times you're an idiot. I did spend your money though." Diana said, sliding a small box across the table.

I slammed the tome shut and pushed it aside, picking up the box. It looked like a ring box, about the size of my palm. I opened it to reveal a tiny orange metal ball. An earring? It was made of Orichalcum but had a slight purple shimmer, like two colors competing for the light. At the center was a tiny purple diamond, glowing faintly. I could almost make out tiny etchings on the metal—runes, but more elegant, like electrical circuits. I felt a pang of worry, thinking back to how I'd ended up here.

I looked to Cass, whose eyes were bulging out of her head, her jaw practically on the table. "Where the fuck did you find one, Nana?" She asked.

Diana smiled mischievously. "Language, darling," she winked. "I know a guy, but don't ask where I found him. You wouldn't like the answer."

"Can someone tell me what this is? An earring?" I asked.

"It's a Mana Sanctum," Cass said, her voice full of reverence. "Erik has one, though he's not great at using it. Have you noticed his armor sort of... comes and goes?"

"It stores items?" I asked, like a bag of holding.

"It uses a small pocket space within the gem to store things, yes," Diana said. "It will be far more useful when you have a Seal, but for now, you can channel mana into it to move small items in and out."

"That's better than gold coins, right?" I asked, and Cass nodded vehemently.

"You could have lived the rest of your life in luxury with the money," Diana said. "As your future mentor, I can't allow that."

"Officially? What about Chas?"

"Fuck Chas, he's not here. I'm calling it." She replied just as Erik arrived with a small, latched box and something that looked like a pool cue case, complete with a strap. "Ah, Erik! So good to see you."

"Nana," he said, placing the items on a chair before sitting down. At least he had put his shirt back on. Diana stood up and casually tossed the heavy book onto a chair before sitting next to me.

"This is not special treatment. If anyone asks, you paid for it fair and square. I just made sure you had the right connections."

"What's with the 'no special treatment' thing?" I asked suddenly. "If there are monsters like that giant crab around, wouldn't you want as many people with Seals and runes as possible?"

"You have to find your own path," Erik said. "If someone gives you all the answers, you're beholden to what they know, not what you discover yourself. Your understanding of Light is clearly different from Nana's."

"Oh, finally had some time to train him?" Diana asked with a smile.

"I don't have much to train," he replied, suddenly shutting himself off, his demeanor becoming more stoic. "He fights like the mouse-folk."

"Erik almost killed him with a Class D healing pill," Cass said, as if tattling to a parent. Diana exploded.

"Fucking what?!" She stood up and turned to me, examining me closely. "When?" She pulled my eye wide with her fingers, fussing over me.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"This morning. Stop, Diana, I'm fine," I said, swatting her hand away. "Felix mentioned something about an affinity."

"He healed everyone in the room with the residual mana, I think," Cass added.

"You're incredibly lucky," Diana said, leaning on the table. "Don't just go around eating random pills. They have markings for a reason, you idiots. Don’t try it again, unless you want to die."

Stanley was furiously chirping, but it seemed more directed at me than at Diana. Maybe she could translate?

"If you die from being a dumb-ass, I'm not wasting my time mourning you."

"Holy shit, Stanley, that's rude," I said, and we all froze. Even the bird's eyes widened in surprise.

"Interesting," Diana said, nodding thoughtfully. "I suppose it's not surprising given everything I've seen so far. Plus, a healing affinity makes it almost certain."

"Stanley can actually talk. What...?" It wasn't like I could hear his voice, but more like I just knew what he was saying, as if the meaning was fed directly into my mind. With everything that had happened over the last few days, this was high on the list of weird. I thought back to the otter creature that seemed to talk to us in the Lobby. Was it actually speaking?"Can all mana beasts talk like that?" I asked. "A, uh, Lutrin talked to us normally, I think."

"Lagniappe has the necessary anatomy to speak in a way you and I can hear. His mastery of Universalis, the common language, isn’t the best, though," Diana said.

It sounded like 'lan-yap.' He even had a name that sounded Creole. It was unreal how recognizable so many things across the universe could be. Was I that far from home? And Universalis—was that English? I assumed so.

"Okay, I’ll unpack understanding Stanley in a minute. How does the earring work?" I asked, and Erik answered.

"Before you have a Seal, you'll need to wear it at all times and meditate to find the right balance. It will take some time to attune to it, but I can help you," he said, folding his earlobe forward to reveal a similar stud affixed to the back. "It's common practice to wear it backwards—it makes it less of a target in combat."

Standing up, he motioned for the box, and I handed it to him. He removed the small ball from the box and stared at it in concentration. The gem in the center started to pulse softly with a purple light. He reached behind my ear and pressed the cold metal against my earlobe, sending a small shock of pain through me.

"Ow!" I said, reaching back to feel the earring now attached to the back of my ear. In the process, I noticed my mana pathways going wild, and my mana reserves draining as if being sucked into the earring. It took a huge effort to stop it and calm the pathways. My vision was spotty, and I found myself panting with sweat forming on my brow.

"A little warning would have been nice," I said, taking a deep breath and trying to slow my heart rate. "This thing is like a mana vacuum."

"A vacuum?" Diana asked.

"Like a vortex... sorry. It's taking a lot of effort not to let it bleed me dry."

Erik and Diana were grinning, but Cass looked concerned.

"Are you sure this isn’t too much? He still has a lot of training. Why not wait to give it to him until we pass the exam?"

"I think he can handle it," Diana replied. "He’s going to need to learn a lot faster than you, Cassandra."

"Okay, and Stanley?" I asked, and the bird preened.

"It seems you’re capable of understanding him. As a phoenix, Stanley is far more spiritual than he is physical, so you can pick him up if you’re listening. And when I say, 'a lot,' I mean it's a gods-damned wonder we can all still breathe with his colossal ego sucking up all the air in the room."

Stanley seemed to deflate a bit and chirped at Diana. It wasn’t directed at me, but I was pretty sure it was "Old Hag!"

"Come now, Stanley, insults don’t become you," Diana retorted, and I laughed.

"Now, I’m sure you booked this room for a reason, and I should get back to the Academy. Marco repainted my office. Do you have any idea how hard it is to paint over black?"

We all stood up, and Diana gave us all a friendly nod. On her way out, she turned and switched to Mandarin.

"And Ben, at least kill a few more monsters before becoming a fucking baker."

"I get it!" I said with a groan. "Jeez, you sound like Felix."

"Felix sounds like me, darling." And with that, she departed.

"Okay, information,” I said turning back to the room.

"Well, we’re in the right spot. Do you have some red coins? Looking things up is expensive outside of Sylvarus," Cass said, moving across from me. Erik had taken a seat next to that long leather case and at least seemed a bit less crabby.

"Oh yeah, a bunch! Katie started forcing me to take some..." Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a pouch filled with red coins and counted them. "Eleven, but I have more back at the house."

Cass seemed a bit surprised but didn’t comment. "Just pop one onto the table here and ask it for what you want to know. If it’s available, it will find it."

"Oh cool, fancy techno-magic, huh?" I asked, and Cass nodded.

"It's a lot more expensive out here, but the Tower and Sylvarus aren’t connected. These rooms have a much larger selection, though," she said.

I took a red coin out and placed it on the marble table, a familiar buzzing shooting through my arm as red runes encircled the coin, and it seemed to melt into the table.

"Query?" a female voice sighed in my head, like how I ‘heard’ Stanley. I jumped at the voice.

"Oh. Uh... a map of La-Roc?" I asked, and Cass snickered.

"That’s an easy one, here." The coin dissolved into the table with an almost soundless sizzle, and the marble surface shimmered as if suddenly coated in liquid. I pulled my hand back, watching as faint ripples coursed across the stone, their motion hypnotic and unnatural. Then, with a deep, resonant hum, the table began to shift.

The marble seemed to breathe, its once-smooth surface rising and falling like waves in a pond. Slowly, the rippling motion solidified into intricate contours, and before my eyes, a three-dimensional map began to emerge. It was breathtaking. The entire island took form as if rising out of the table, its details impossibly fine. Tiny trees sprang into existence, each one distinct, their needle-thin branches stretching toward an unseen sun. Winding rivers etched their way across the landscape, their beds carved so deeply into the stone they seemed to shimmer with life.

At the island’s heart loomed a colossal mountain, its jagged peaks so precise I could almost feel the sharpness of its cliffs. Villages clustered at its base like delicate ornaments, their buildings no more than specks, yet somehow conveying the weight of a bustling community. From the sprawling forests blanketing much of the land to the subtle rise and fall of hills that framed the coastline, the entire island seemed alive despite its gray, stony hue.

Along the far coast, a sprawling network of thousands of tiny buildings clung to the shoreline like barnacles on a rock, their sharp towers and clustered rooftops forming a chaotic yet deliberate pattern. Narrow, winding streets wove between them, threading the settlements together into a living tapestry. Snaking docks stretched like fingers into the sea, some sturdy and orderly, others crooked and splintered.

At the heart of this coastal sprawl, perched atop a commanding hill, stood a grand citadel. Its imposing dome rose defiantly against the sky, a stark contrast to the organic sprawl below. The citadel's sheer size and intricate design made it unmistakable, its silhouette casting long shadows over the bustling city and out into the open waters beyond. From the hilltop, it seemed to watch over the coast, its presence both protective and unyielding, a guardian of the chaotic city below.

The sheer size of the island was staggering, far larger than I had anticipated. It stretched endlessly across the table’s expanse, a place of wild forests, sweeping valleys, and rocky shores. Each tree, each building, each ripple of the landscape was impossibly perfect.

"Whoa… is La-Roc the city or the whole island?" I asked, my mouth hanging open as I poked at the sharp trees with a finger.

"Both," said Erik. "La-Roc is a sovereign nation, but we mostly use the name for the city. The island is normally just 'the island.'"

"And your family’s farm is over here?" I said, pointing to the houses at the base of the mountain.

"Here," Cass pointed closer to the city at what looked like tiered rice paddies and some long buildings around a circular clearing.

"You’re absolutely crazy to be running that distance every day, Cass, holy shit," I said, and she beamed. "There’s way more forest around the city than I would have thought."

“It's because most people have only recently started moving here again. The Hunters got the tower running again after a Class B Sea Serpent destroyed half the coast, then moved here full time. Things have been picking up since we were kids.”

"I saw the mural in the citadel for that, I think." Erik and Cass nodded and looked a bit reserved about it. "Was it that bad? It was that long ago?" I asked.

"Yes, that was it, the Abyssal Emperor. Our grandfather was killed trying to slay it—it wasn’t a good time for our family."

“I’m sorry,” I said in consolation, but Erik shook his head.

“It's how things are. We just try to kill them before they kill us. It's why we become Hunters.”

“You asked about war, Ben. It's rare because killing one another just makes us weaker against the monsters. It happens of course, but only in the safer countries.” Cass explained.

I nodded taking it all in, looking at this insanely detailed sculpture in front of me.

“Are there monsters on the island?” I asked suddenly. “Jobs I can do here?”

“Fuck yeah,” Cass said, and Erik seemed to perk up.

“Several types, mostly Class F, but some Class E which shouldn’t be an issue for you, breaker.” Erik said. “Which reminds me. Here.”

He handed me the long case that he brought with him, and I examined it.

It was crafted from dark, supple leather, stitched with silver threads. It had a sleek, cylindrical design, tapering slightly toward the top, with a faint embossing of runes that I missed until looking at it closely. A reinforced seam ran down its length, held closed by intricately carved brass clasps.

At the top of the case, I twisted a latch to release the lid, revealing a padded, velvet-lined interior designed to cradle two long wooden poles. The inner lining was a deep, midnight blue.

Two looped straps of braided leather, reinforced with brass fittings, allowed the case to be slung across the back or carried by hand. The shoulder strap was adjustable through an ingenious system of sliding hooks and notched rings, reminiscent of mechanical gears.

On the side of the case was a small inset compartment, sealed with a clever twist-lock mechanism in the shape of a blooming lotus.

I removed the two wooden poles. They were rugged but smooth wood, polished with care and smelled of rosin. They were unadorned but the wood felt too light as if it was hollow.

I flipped a pole over and noticed a clever looking set of grooves and pins on the end that seemed to match a similar set on the other pole. I carefully aligned the two and brought them together with a smooth twisting motion the resulted in a satisfying click, forming a nearly invisible seam. It was about two meters long—a quarterstaff? I looked to Erik.

“Erik this is…”

“Cloud pine,” Erik said, his tone matter of fact. “Not the strongest, but light and reliable. I thought with how well you handled that bamboo shoot in the dueling realm you could use it. But this—” he gestured at the box he placed in my hands “—this is for monsters.”

I opened the box to reveal a small spearhead of polished steel. Its edges glowed faintly with the recognizable orange of Orichalcum. The base of the spearhead tapered into a hollow tang, grooved and notched to fit perfectly into a matching slot. It was compact yet menacing, every line of it designed for swift, precise assembly—and deadly efficiency.

“It connects to any end, even the ones that connect the staff together and can be stored in the side pocket,” he said. “I hope it brings you many kills.”

“Gaia’s Tits, Erik that’s nicer than my swords.” Cass said with a bit of awe in her voice. “You can almost kill me too if it means you’ll buy me something like that.”

“Is it that good?” I asked.

Erik actually rolled his eyes at Cass, a gesture that only a sibling could make.

“And the moment is gone,” he said begrudgingly. “It’s the least I can do to make up for my mistake. Now you wanted to know about local monsters?”

He reached out with a coin and placed it on the table. The intricate map of the island crumbled into dust that seemed to reform into dozens of creatures all over the table. A fanged fox, a spiked boar, a large bird with green talons, various rodents and beasts, deer with multiple long tails, a huge frog. They were far more than just animals, their features almost exaggerated.

“What the fuck, there’s so many…” I gaped at the figurines that kept forming on top of the table.

“Oh, these are just Class F,” Erik replied. “Get comfortable.”