Mithi'nulias¶
"Mithi'nulias (Magic-extinguishers), known in common tongue as mage-hunters." — the Compendium (S372)
Mithi'nulias is the art of extinguishing magic. Its practitioners turn Mithis into its negative state, which annihilates ordinary Mithis on contact, and so can unmake an enchantment or break a spell as it forms. The art was made by dwarven rune-masters and elven arcanists, broke the mages' revolt of the Age of Magic, and was then abolished by the wizards themselves when they learned what it left behind. Its practitioners are called Vacatori or Vacators in the older writings and Spellbreakers in the newer. The negative state of the particle itself is described under Mithis; this page is about the art, its order and its fate.
The art¶
The 2022 treatise counts it among the arcane spellcrafts: "An extremely rare and widely outlawed form of Arcane Spellcraft. Annulment spells manipulate Mithis into a negative state (Mithi'Nulias) which results in complete destruction on contact with normally charged Mithis particles. This leads to the permanent depletion of Mithis energy. A Spellbreaker can use these negative properties of Mithis to create Anti-magic fields, barriers and other magic disruption and destroying effects" (S208). The 2017 draft gives the same words to the Vacator, "Mage-Hunter, Spellbreaker", and says the art has "its own spell-list and Domain", Annulment (S304).
The Compendium is more precise about what a mage-hunter can and cannot touch. "Mithius bound to living things was generally too strongly bound to be drawn out except by the most powerful Mithi'nulias. ie, innate powers, or the raw magical ability of the living creature could not be affected. However, items imbued with magic or a spell being formed could be targeted. Spell casting could be targeted since the mithius (magical energy) needs to leave the living system well before the spell is formed in most cases. This can be dangerous as it requires very quick reflexes to target a spell in the moment between conception and realization" (S372). Enchanted items "generally needed to be touched to be destroyed, often for a prolonged period of time depending on the potency of the magic" (S372).
Ordinary casters make poor mage-hunters, because the art burns the hunter's own Mithis: "Mithius energy from the individual is expended permanently when successfully neutralizing a magical effect. This will over time lower the permanent potential of regularly cast spells" (S372).
Magical crucibles¶
"Mithi'nulias requires a specially created object: a 'magical crucible' where Mithius from a target can be drawn and combined with Mithi'nulias. These items were often, but not always weapons. Metal staves, hammers and swords were the most common. Dwarven smiths were most frequently their creators, though some rare cases of human and elven smiths have been noted. Most had a unique appearance, almost universally black and when looked at closely appear to absorb all light. Later, when the practice was under attack, the smiths of the order would encase the objects in normal looking items to avoid immediate identification as a mage hunter" (S372).
The Order of Mithi'nulias and the Vacatori¶
The art was "orginally founded with close cooperation between Dwarvish rune-masters and Elvish arcanists. It's first members were elves and dwarves. An order to govern the practice was formed, The order of Mithi'nulias. It's practice spread to humans and it was very helpful in putting down insurrections by mages and also at combating powerful spellcasting demons" (S372). In the Compendium's history of Numenia the same body appears as the Vacatori, founded in secret by the elves and dwarves against the Nexa-Vinian Order: "The Vacatori were extremely successful at countering the mages, and once the power of the Nexa-Vinians was broken, the backlash against magic-users in human lands was like a tidal wave" (S372). "Mage hunters were widely used during the mage revolt almost 1000 years ago that resulted in a drastic culling of magic-users and magic-using ability among humans" (S372). The newer drafts say only that the art was "originally employed during the Spell Wars" (S208, S304). The war itself is told under Nexa-Vinian War.
Mal'thias and the abolition¶
Victory exposed the cost. "After centuries of study, it was discovered the side effects of the practice of Mithi'nulias were severe: The Mithius and Mithi'nulias would combine to become something else, known by some as Chaos magic, as it was unpredictable and extremely difficult to control (unlike Mithius). This transition from Mithius to Mal'thias (Chaos Magic) was one way and not reversible. Therefore, long term, it was supposed that Magic would decline and slowly be eventually be completely replaced by Chaos Magic" (S372).
"The council of wizards decided the practice must be abolished, however useful some of the outcomes. They also outlawed the creation or use of Chaos Magic. The elves immediately implemented the wizards decision in their lands and the order of Mithi'nulias came under immediate political attack. Their numbers dwindled, but some human and dwarven practicioners remained defiant. Those remaining renegades were eventually hunted down and destroyed or imprisoned by the wizards, elves and their mercenaries" (S372). The abolishing body is the Council of Wizards. Spellbreakers "have since been outlawed by every magical order" (S208).
The best-known casualty is the elven kingdom of Than'Doriel. Journals of the wizard Athu'esdomian tell of its expedition to destroy a Mithi'nulias academy in Myrkan, whose books and relics the elves sealed in a vault beneath the temple of Kalar in their capital (S372). The kingdom's own ruin came from the art: its king used Mithi'nulias "to neutralize a powerful worldstone crystal corrupted to dark purpose. Though the crystal was neutralized, the chaos magic released into the world became a festering sore that could not be cured. It eventually led to the end of his dynasty and the ruin of his kingdom" (S372, a note for the game master). The surviving elves of Than'Doriel "will under no condition allow" its secrets to be uncovered, "fearing a worsening or repeat of the disaster that befell them nearly 300 years ago" (S372).
Who still trains them¶
The newest arcane treatise says "only the Dwarves and Dark Elves are known to train them" (S208); the 2017 draft had said "only the Dark Elves are still known to train them" (S304). The Dark Elves are extinct in the Fifth Age.
Spellbreakers in Proturas¶
The art survives in the Fifth Age as a civic office in Proturas. When a citizen reported a magical disturbance at a warlock's mansion, the town watch "called on the SPELLBREAKERS", and the warlock was told that unless he dispelled his magic "he will be in breach of the Proturan Covenant and be subject to censure by the Wardens" (S044). Former Spellbreakers sell their skill elsewhere: an "Ex-Spellbreaker" rides with the Red Blade, the mercenaries who guard Malathar's keep at Urdhar (S049).
Gap
No source says how Proturan Spellbreakers are trained or whether they use crucibles, how the art survived the abolition, or whether Mal'thias still exists in the world. The Compendium's mage-hunters and the Proturan Spellbreakers are never explicitly connected.
Earlier accounts¶
The 2014 Spellcasting draft has no mage-hunters; its nearest relative is the meta-college of Counterspell, "the study of magical intercession at the initiation of casting" (S395). The Compendium's two editions (S384 of 2014 and S372 of 2015) carry the same text on Mithi'nulias word for word.
Legacy rules for annulment spellcraft are kept under Mechanics: Arcane Colleges.1
-
Rules for the Spellbreaker talent: Spellbreaker ↩