Vreski Warding System #2

Promotional blurb

Are there times when you feel the world has fallen out of your control? Do you find yourself bickering with friends over the most trivial of things? Do the petty frustrations at work sometimes send you into a rage, when on other days you could shrug off those same frustrations with a smile and a joke?

The problem may not be you. Bad vibes and blue funks float through the world all the time. But there may be something you can do to protect yourself. A well-built Vreski ward may well be enough to help you dodge the worst dangers.

The Vreski people knew all these malignant motes. They knew how to predict their most vulnerable days, and how to build themselves wards to protect themselves from the chaos the world around them could cause.

Basics of the Vreski warding system.

The Vreski warding system is an old method of predicting potential misfortunes. Based on the flood and flux of ten 'elements', the common folk of the Vreski Empire could work out - by knowing the state of the elements at the time of their birth and combining them with the current levels of elements - the most likely daily threats to their health and happiness.

People believed that threats came in the form of tiny, external entities called 'lecpaoslac' (devils), 'lecpemeqjac' (demons) and 'lecpocaatjac' (imps). Too small to be seen by the human eye, these bane-full motes swarm through the airs, waters and earths of the world, seeking out people to infect. Imps are responsible for physical ailments, while demons cause mental and emotional imbalances. Devils are more social ailments, the instigators of arguments, infatuations and social unrest.

To help them avoid the most prominent threats, the common folk would wear 'wards' about their body. They built their daily wards from a collection of odds and ends - feathers, bones, stones, scraps of cloth, coloured ribbons and the like. While ready-made wards could be bought from temple priests, healers or astrologers, the best wards were self-constructed and pinned to the most appropriate area of the body during the day, or hung above the bed when people slept.

How the Vreski warding system works.

The world, according to the Vreski mystics, is divided into five domains, with each domain further divided into a pair of elements, one light and the other heavy. Each of these elements was associated with a particular colour, shape and material - useful guidance for people when building their daily wards.

Each element was also associated with a particular part of the body and a body system, with a particular sense, and with particular emotions. As the level of an element rose, people believed that their control of the systems and emotions associated with that element also increased.

However when the level of an element was low, people were less in control of their health and well-being. At such times a person could become infected by an imp, demon or devil - outside forces delivering illnesses, arguments and emotional outbursts. Taking care of your personal wards was not just a case of personal safety, it was also a social obligation necessary for the good of the family, friendships and the wider community.