Astral Contracts¶
"An astral contract is a sharing agreement that grants its holder access (keys) to the shard. It is almost always an agreement for access (by the contractee) in exchange for power (for the shard holder)." — from the Cosmology (S013)
Contested
This page is named in the open question Astral Shards and Contracts: S013 against S421. The two 2022 cosmologies order the contracts differently and disagree on whether a being may hold more than one; both readings are recorded.
An Astral Contract binds a being to an Astral Shard and, through it, to the shard's holder. There are five: the Bound, whose souls go to the shard after death; the Ordained, who use the shard as a lens for divine magic; the Covenant, who reach into the shard directly; the Ascended, whose power is joined to the shard-holder's for good; and the Fallen, Ascended who have been cast out. In the language of bindings, a contract is a relationship of dominion between a creature and a shard, and the same rules that govern all magic govern it.
The five contracts¶
| Contract | What it grants | Who holds it |
|---|---|---|
| Bound | the shard a share of the being's power; the being an afterlife in the shard | worshippers |
| Ordained | use of the shard as a lens for divine magic | clerics, priests, paladins |
| Covenant | direct access to the shard's astral energy | prophets, avatars |
| Ascended | a permanent, multiplicative joining with the shard-holder's power | consorts, angels, demi-gods, loyal servants |
| Fallen | a third of an Ascended's former share, still exchanged with the shard | cast-out Ascended |
Bound. "A bound is a binding of one's soul to a particular shard (or a pantheon). This normally occurs through worship, and in some cases a formal rite such as anointment, baptism or other binding ritual. This grants the shard (or pantheon) a portion of that being's ethereal power. When a being's form is destroyed, the bound's astral projection travels to this shard as part of their afterlife. In some cases it is possible to bind a creature against their will, and many evil deities achieve this through some form of sacrificial ritual, which forces the unwilling soul to become a prisoner in their shard, bolstering it's power" (S013). What happens to the unbound dead is told under Souls and Spirits.
Ordained. Ordination "allows the ordained to use the shard as a lens. This is the primary means through which Cleric, Priests and Paladins use Divine Magic. Without being ordained, the divine magic wielder has no place to channel/focus their energy. The ordination may be revoked at any time by the shard holder, or by authority delegated by the shard holder. Any use of power through this lens grants a small amount of power to the shard" (S013). "Therefore, having a large, active priesthood can be an advantage" (S421). In the spellcasting drafts the Ordained can also draw power by prayer alone (S207); divine magic as practised, and the rules for it, are Magic's.1
Covenant. A covenant "allows the covenant direct access to the shard. The binding may also be revoked at any time by the shard holder. Prophets and Avatars are often Covenants" (S013); the older wording is "a portion of a shard's astral energy as well as use the shard as a lens for divine magic" (S421). Avatars, a being inhabiting several forms at once, are described under Souls and Spirits.
Ascended. The Ascended contract "joins the Ascendant's energy with the energy of the shard holder in a multiplicative fashion. This increases power both for the shard holder and for the Ascended. This attachment is permanent and cannot be revoked. It can be diminished, turning the Ascended into a Fallen. Consorts, Angels, Demi-Gods and powerful and loyal servants are often Ascended. Normally, Ascended are either other Einar (have their own inherent Astral power) or other beings of immense power such as Primal Dragons. It is believed this works by increasing the amount of free Ethereal energy attracted to the beings" (S013). S013 sets Ascended and Fallen apart as Immortal Contracts: "These contracts cannot be broken by any known means." The Ascendants as a rank and as the champions of the gods, and the title "Ascendant", are Religion's.
Fallen. "A Fallen is a once Ascended being who has been cast out by the shard holder. The Fallen has a shadow of their former power (about ⅓) but in all other ways continues to act like an Ascended, both granting and receiving power from the shard" (S013). A shard-holder whose shard is stolen at the Shard's Nexus "remains an Ascendant (usually Fallen)" (S421).
The Terrun Cosmology adds one rule the newer document does not state: "A being may only have one Astral contract at a time, and may renounce(break) their contract with a specific shard/shard holder at will" (S421). The 2022 treatise on magic agrees in substance for divine casters, "An individual can only have a single patron Deity except under extraordinary circumstances" (S208), and the archive's spellcasting rules put the mortal's position bluntly: "Unless they are Ascended or Fallen, a mortal does not have any access to Astral energy" (S395, cited on Astral Shards).
Contracts as bindings¶
The treatise The Nature of Magic explains the contracts in terms of the Binding Rule: magic "can only directly affect Ether over which a magic user has Dominion" (S208; see Nature of Magic). A binding is either Symmetric, running both ways, or Directional; and either Transitive, so that "a Transitive Binding inherits all of it's target's bindings as well", or Intransitive. Symmetrical bindings "are also often called 'Bondings' or 'Covenants'" (S208). The treatise's own examples classify the contracts:
| Binding | Form | Properties (S208) |
|---|---|---|
| Worship / Baptism | Astral Shard → Creature | Directional and Transitive |
| Sanctification / Ordination | Astral Shard ↔ Object or Creature | Symmetric and Intransitive |
| Anointed Covenant | "marriage and some order initiations" | Symmetric and Transitive |
| Astral Binding | God → Astral Shard | Directional and Transitive |
| Astral Covenant | Ascendant ↔ Astral Shard | Symmetric and Transitive |
Because worship is transitive, a worshipper inherits the bindings of the shard, and the shard those of its god: "the faithful of the Rakkari are tied through hierarchical dominion to Kalar" (S318, cited under Souls and Spirits). Because ordination is symmetric, the shard is bound to the priest as the priest is to the shard. "Divine magic users are often given Sanctified Objects (Holy Symbols or other objects) which provide the bond with the Astral Shard. Later, a Divine magic user may be Anointed into the Deity's Priesthood (forming a Symmetric Bond with the Shard) and no longer requiring a Sanctified Object to use Divine Magic" (S208). The treatise also names a Demesne Binding, "God -> Created Matter and Energy", "which explains why some Gods are associated to certain types of terrain, peoples and things" (S208).
Unbreakable contracts¶
The immortal contracts have shaped history. The Eldritch "have Covenants with the Throne of Law and Astral Shards. These cannot not be broken by any known means. Therefore, when defeated by the younger gods, they were imprisoned" (S141, cited on Astral Shards). An Ascended can only be diminished, never released, so a shard-holder's enemies among the Fallen keep a share of the shard; when the archdemon Asmodeus took dominion of the Mithis shard, the ascendants of the Kalari suspected "a corrupted Fallen" (S031, cited on Astral Shards). After the gods began to die, "fallen ascendants of dead gods" became one of the three kinds of demi-god (S014, on Astral Shards).
Earlier accounts¶
The Terrun Cosmology lists the contracts as Ordained, Covenant, Ascended, Fallen, Bound (S421); the 2022 Cosmology lists Bound, Ordained, Covenant, then the Immortal Contracts Ascended and Fallen (S013). In S421 the Bound grants the shard "extra astral power" rather than "a portion of that being's ethereal power", and the Ascended attachment "cannot be completely revoked by the shard holder. It can be revoked in portion", where S013 has it "permanent and cannot be revoked. It can be diminished". S013 adds the formal rites of anointment and baptism and the phrase "or a pantheon" to the Bound; S421 adds the one-contract rule.
Gap
No source says how a contract is entered into from the mortal side beyond worship, ordination and anointing, nor whether a Covenant or Ascended contract requires the being's consent. S013 notes that Angels are often Ascended but no source describes them further.
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Rules for divine casting: Divine Caster ↩