The Magistri vs. the Arcanius Knights

After reading DRAGONSKULL: BLADE OF THE ELVES, Edward writes in to ask:

Now that they have fought a war together Andomhaim and Owyllian, are those who can wield elemental magic still illegal in Andomhaim? Obviously not Arcanius knights but people born in Andomhaim like Morigna (I think her name was) would they still be arrested?

Note that the answer to this question will have SPOILERS! through the end of SEVENFOLD SWORD, but it won’t have any spoilers for DRAGONTIARNA or DRAGONSKULL. (Though, of course, I should mention that DRAGONTIARNA: KNIGHTS is free on Apple through the end of March, and that the audiobook of DRAGONTIARNA: KNIGHTS & THIEVES is available to listen to free for Audible members.)

Anyway, after the end of the War of the Seven Swords and the opening of the Guardian’s Gate in SEVENFOLD SWORD: SOVEREIGN, Andomhaim and Owyllain have a friendly relationship since there’s a lot of basis for trade. Andomhaim has iron and horses, while Owyllain has silk, spices, peppers, and a variety of other trade goods that aren’t available in Andomhaim.

To keep things friendly, Arandar Pendragon and Kothlaric Pendragon signed a treaty to recognize both the Order of the Magistri and the Order of the Arcanii in each other’s realms. Traditionally, anyone in Andomhaim who manifested magic had to join the Magistri (assuming the locals didn’t kill them first), and anyone in Owyllain who manifested magic had to join the Arcanii. For that matter, anyone in Andomhaim who used elemental magic had to abandon it and learn the magic of the Well, whereas the Arcanii always used elemental magic since they didn’t have access to a Well. Now, if someone in either Andomhaim or Owyllain develops magical ability, they have the choice between joining the Magistri or the Arcanii, depending on preference and family ties.

Magic is generally held in much higher suspicion among the commoners of Andomhaim than those of Owyllain. This is partly because when Magistri go bad, they tend to go very bad and cause civil wars – like the Eternalists and the Enlightened of Incariel. Ironically, a higher number of Arcanii have gone bad than Magistri (like the Dark Arcanii in SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD), but because individual Arcanii tend to be less powerful and less thoroughly trained than the Magistri, their impact is reduced. Also, the people of Owyllain tend to be a bit more fatalistic than those of Andomhaim, so they expect that of course some Arcanii will turn bad, just as they expect that of course some knights will turn robber, some officials will be corrupt, and some harvests will be lost.

So to sum up, if someone in Andomhaim wants to use elemental magic, they can, but they have to join the Arcanii if they don’t want to be declared an outlaw.

-JM