From A Study of the Means of Magic, published by the Grand College
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There is power in possibility. Some say that magic is possibility itself, made manifest by the gods and given to the mortal races so that they may fully grasp their potential. Regardless, it is an undeniable truth that choice is a powerful magical tool. The magical difference in blood given willingly or taken for a ritual is proof enough of that much, as is the method by which certain cursed objects may only be passed along to a willing recipient.
Of all the methods wherein possibility, and choice, is utilized in magic, Fatebinding is perhaps the most impressive, serving as the discipline behind Oaths, Covenants, Curses, Seals, and even Prophesies.
Fatebinding, at its heart, is about determining an event which will, or simply could, happen in the future and connecting it to a working of magic. Once that event is decided, it becomes entwined with the ritual’s nature, and until that event comes to pass, the magic will not fade. Once the event does occur, the magic unravels completely, returning to the ether. As a result of this limiting of possibility, the ritual having a definite and known end-method, the power of the ritual is greatly amplified, enabling things which may otherwise be impossible. This does not inherently prevent the magic being broken in another way, but does make it far more difficult to remove in a more typical manner.
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Oaths are the most common example of this kind of working.
It is self-evident that Oaths have power. Even a mundane Oath, or merely a simple promise is more than sufficient for some creatures, such as Fey and Devils, to spin elaborate webs of magic, ensnaring a soul in a trap of their own design. But when made as a portion of an appropriate magical ritual Oaths possess far, far more power.
Through the willing sacrifice of choice in the individual’s life, the magic is able to bind itself into their very life and soul. Thus, all Oaths require that the Oathbound themselves be capable of breaking their own Oath, as without the ability to break the Oath, there is no possibility surrendered for the Oath to connect to.
Naturally, the more restrictive the Oath, the more ways in which the individual may break free of the enchantment, the more power is granted. This is due to a two factors, firstly that the more possibility surrendered to the magic enables the ritual to be that much more powerful, but also that it is able to be connected all the tighter to the Oathbound’s very being. Of course, other beings may also break their Oath through little fault of their own; an Oath to serve a noble is broken if that noble casts them out or exiles them, or a Vow to never pick up a sword again may be broken should they be tricked into doing just that.
Curiously, some Oaths are not broken upon the death of the Oathbound. While this may not initially seem odd, consider that all Oaths are united in that they are all capable of being broken through the conscious action of their Oathbound, and upon death the Oathbound is no longer capable of any conscious action. Some say that this is because those individuals are fated to be raised from death, but a perhaps more likely explanation, given Oaths are incapable of inherently divining the future (and the blessing would travel with the soul as it passes along to the Divine, not remain with the body), a more likely explanation is that the lingering Oaths include at least a single method wherein one other than the Oathbound themselves could break the Oath, and thus so long as that possibility remains, so too does the Oath.
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The inverse of the Oath is the Curse. Like an Oath, the magic only persists until a specific action is undertaken, but that action need not be undertaken by the individual. There is some debate as to whether the distinction between a Fatebound Curse and an Oath is merely whether or not the subject of the spell prefers the existing state of being, but Aranad’s Principle suggests a more fundamental distinction, as does the fact that some Curses may only be broken by a specific counter-curse which the subject of the curse may be rendered incapable of casting (such as a Curse of eternal sleep).
Regardless, an Oath is something internal and a Curse is external. In truth, Cursing is utilized more as a method to enhance the power and longevity of another spell, and not as the entirety of the spell. Of course, what makes a Curse Fatebound is that it must have a breaking clause. No Curse can exist without some way to end it. Be it a specific counter-curse, the kiss of true love, or the destruction of an artifact, all curses possess some choice, some action which may be undertaken to wholly undo its effects. It may be difficult and harrowing, but it cannot be impossible. What exactly the escape action is depends largely upon the skill and strength of the caster, it usually (but not always) also allows the individual to die to escape it.
The exact form which the curse manifests in is practically immaterial. Other than serving as a vast power source for the magic, and thus inherently encouraging more flashy curses such as transfiguration, a Curse can be used to amplify any other form of magic. This makes it rather popular in power-intensive rituals, such as domination or necromancy.
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Covenants are somewhere between an Oath and a Curse. They are, to be reductionist, an Oath made between two or more individuals, with a Curse tied to whoever might break it. More accurately, they involve an indelible combination of fate, wherein two individuals both bind their actions together, and should one of the sworn break their word, the other is granted compensation in the form of the magical prowess the other possessed in addition to their own. A life-pact, for instance, combines the life forces of two individuals, and should one break their word, they die while the other is imbued with the life force of the deceased, so long as they maintain their portion of the Covenant. They are dangerous and tricky, yet remain an integral part of Fatebinding, and will not be further expounded upon due to their danger.
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Seals are where some of the truly more unusual and powerful aspects of Fatebinding begin to become apparent. A Fatebound Seal, like a Curse, must be possible to break, must have some exit clause, and cannot be absolute. A magical lock which is part of a Seal must have some method of opening, or it will fail. If the key is destroyed, the lock will unravel. If the key is lost, it will either result in the lock unraveling or the key eventually being found again, fate itself ensuring the Seal may always be broken. It is, in short, impossible to create an utterly inescapable cage using a Seal. However, it is possible to create a cage that is very, very difficult to escape from (or, as the magic is the same, a vault that is exceptionally difficult yet not impossible to breach). With the proper application of Fatebinding, a cage is inescapable in any manner but the chosen method. A mundane cage may be utterly useless at holding within it a swarm of rats, or a ghost, a fey or a devil, but a Sealed cage, with a key for its lock, can prevent creatures from slipping out in the gaps between the bars, prevent them from breaking the walls, passing through the walls as though they didn’t exist, or any number of alternative methods.
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Fate begins to act oddly, the harder a Seal is to break. Keys constantly tended to by eternal watchmen mysteriously get replaced, fragments of maps begin to manifest, and individuals begin to dream of what lies beyond the Seal, reaching within to speak with those contained therein (it is, of course, impossible for those within to reach outside of their prison, as that would constitute a manner of escape). It can result in making the securest of all Seals becoming an exceptionally complicated puzzle to solve, with many, many Fatebinders dedicating their lives to determine the optimal solutions.
The distinction between a Seal and a Curse is broadly that a Seal is tied to an object or location, whereas a Curse is upon an individual. Thus, Seals are preferable to utilize against those who might be able to break curses upon them, are exceptionally resistant to hostile magics, or simply any time that multiple individuals, whether simultaneously or in sequence, must be imprisoned.
Similarly, with Vaults (which are not distinct on a magical level, but is a difference solely based on implementation) it can be useful when trying to withhold entry from all but a select few, some of whom may not be present when first casting the spell. A common example of this is the legendary Terathain, which could only be drawn by the True King of Vale, despite the caster not knowing the identity of the True King of Vale, only knowing certain aspects of who they must be.
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The final, strongest, fascinating and certainly most dangerous form of Fatebinding is Prophesy. Seers and Diviners can and do predict the future, a true Prophesy shapes the future. While those capable of making them are rare, and doing so is widely considered one of the most difficult fields of magic, when made, a Prophesy defines a certain point in the future that the spell will attempt to ensure will happen. It is often considered to be something of a waste, as nearly all things which a Prophesy could do, a mage skilled enough to make that Prophesy could already accomplish, but once cast, it will happen.
Now, that is something of an exaggeration. Prophesies can be broken (humans are particularly infamous for doing so regularly, most notably the Eliwaz Prophesy broken after King Ellis the Undaunted famously refused to kill Queen Areith the Loyal in his youth), but they are very tricky things and the very act of attempting to subvert the Prophesy will often result in it coming true. As an example, a king Prophesied to only be able to be slain by a specific sword ordered the sword to be destroyed, only to have a fragment of the shattered sword strike him in the throat, slipping past his armor and wards alike to fatally wound him. Prophesied individuals will survive improbable odds to fulfill their destiny, artifacts which by all metrics ought to have been lost forever find their way into the hands of those most suited to serving Fate, spells go awry, storms appear or vanish, and stranger things alike conspire to guide Fate along its due course.
There are, to simplify a fair amount, two measurements pertaining to a Prophesy, best thought of as a rope. The Pull of a Prophesy is how thick and strong the rope of Fate is. A strong rope will not snap as easily, whereas a single thread can be broken by simply pulling on it. The second measurement is Freedom, and can be thought of as to the length of the rope. The longer the rope, the more leeway those bound by Prophesy have outside of their Fate. A short rope means that the Prophesy is very likely to come true at any given moment, whereas a long rope may remain unlikely and allow for substantial deviation from a single course of action.
All applications of Fatebinding are disciplines which one can easily devote their entire life to understanding whilst still coming nowhere close to grasping all of its complexities, a fact especially true of Prophesy. However, for the sake of basic comprehension, the Pull of a Prophesy is largely related to how likely an event is to happen at the moment the Prophesy was given, and the Freedom of a Prophesy is how likely it could come true eventually.
A very specific Prophesy, which is likely to happen very soon has a very strong Pull and very little Freedom. For example, a death-curse of ‘You will fall upon your sword this day’ results in a Prophesy that is exceptionally likely to come true, assuming the caster is strong enough. However, ‘A sword forged within the depths of Hell will be your doom’ possesses much more Freedom while having less Pull.
Now, it may seem that a Fatespeaker ought to maximize their Pull, and minimize Freedom. While this is true in most cases, having an exceptionally strong Pull with basically no Freedom requires the Fatespeaker already be personally able to undertake the task Prophesied, in such a way that would usually be easier to utilize (this is why Prophesy is often seen as a waste). The more Freedom a Prophesy is given, the more the Fatespeaker allows the universe itself to intervene, enabling them to use more Pull than they might otherwise.
No Prophesy is wholly unbreakable, of course. Should a Prophesy be rendered wholly impossible to fulfill, wherein there exists no course of action that the Pull cannot call upon, it breaks. The effects of the broken Prophesy are variable, but are rarely good for any involved. In the event that one Prophesy directly contradicts another, whichever is stronger will win, breaking the other.
One of the most powerful parts of Fatespeaking is that the Prophesy will not weaken. It is impossible to tire it out, impossible to counter it or usurp control over it. It can only be twisted and fulfilled. Nearly breaking it does nothing for the next time it is strained. If a Prophesy is unbroken, it is just as strong as it was when first cast, be it a minute later or a century.
This is usually accepted to be due to the Prophesy’s effect being a single moment in the future, and thus could obviously not weaken before it happens. There are of course many peculiarities with this theory, yet no superior concept has yet been offered.
Furthermore, a clever Fatebinder may protect something or someone by making them the subject of a Prophesy determining that they will undertake a certain action upon a certain day, then go on their way confident in the knowledge that their ward is certainly safe. Yet Fate can be cruel and fickle. A Prophesy stating that an individual will meet their grandchildren may result in that person dying early, their grandchildren also dying early and passing along to the afterlife and meeting there. Even that is without covering the normal maximums of the Prophesy, which may well break If a given situation is beyond its power to salvage.
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Those curious regarding the methods and spells utilized by Fatebinders are encouraged to do so, but anything less than a thorough exploration of the costs, risks, and techniques required is to invite disaster, so I will not be exploring them in this text.