Captive Concepts
In the early days, near the beginning of time, there were monsters. Terrible, writhing, ragged things, loose on the world and impossible to face for humanity. Mortals were subject to their whims, and had no way to protect themselves - even to run.
See, back then, ‘direction’ hadn’t been invented. There was no East or West, no Up or Down. “Miles” meant nothing. Time, gravity, mass, all these things were malleable and subject to the whims of monsters that governed them.
That was the way of humanity for a thousand ye… well, who knows how long, time was a little fuzzy.
Until came Ana, the Liar. This primordial hero led her people on a great hunt. She spoke, and shaped the words into spears and ropes. They used the spears to weaken the first of the concepts, Nin, and the ropes to bind it down. Nin, the monster of entropy, was bound to Ana’s will and became Time, ensuring that effect always follows cause.
The world was thrown from chaos to order. Day followed night followed day, suddenly, for the first time.
Ana’s people, the Ananin tribe, hunted again and again, binding monsters to the service of humanity. Matter and mass were bound to each other. Distance, gravity, light, all were caged and tamed one by one. When Ana was an old, old woman she lamented that there were yet monsters to fight, like fickle Chance or cruel Death.
Our world, with its predictable seasons, its curved horizons, its reliable physics, is the result of Ana’s labors.
Mages, warlocks, sorcerers, are those that learn the magic rites that keep the great beasts tied down. With a few words the laws of the world can be lifted or loosened for a moment. With complete fluency, a beast could perhaps be freed entirely. Thus, these dark priests are hunted by the descendents of Ananin, ensuring that humanity is never again plunged into the seas of chaos.
Mages select a specific great beast to focus on, gaining boons from it. The greater their mastery, the more spells they can use. Further, mages may exude an aura of warped reality that changes the laws around them.
Hunters of Ananin can also exert control through Ana’s words, which is considered (by them) less dangerous or harmful to reality than other magic. For example, Ananin warriors can run longer than others, or leap like flying, or wrap their arms in fire, and etc.
