The Lodge of Land

Derin
Having his own motives, Selain, altered the nature of the curse of Mortos so that the wilderlands would, to a certain extent, have a force unaffected by the curse. The nature priests of the Cult of Selain, were cloaked mortals deeply involved with the miracles of life and death in the wild. When Selain appeared to them as a hooded, cloaked man, they praised the living god. "I have come to reveal the secret of life and death to you" the god said in a soft voice. The priests were intrigued. Finally they would learn what they have sought for so many years! "When creatures truly never die, they can be controlled in the life between the after life and the rebirth. This is my domain - the summoned ones" All the gathered priests raised their hands in the air praising the god of Summoning. "I will enlighten you" the god said and vanished. On the ground where the god had appeared a plant sprung to life. But this was no ordinary plant. The petals held an intricate pattern which, at closer examination, held fragments of text. "A miracle, a miracle!" the priests chanted. On the petals were the scriptures that revealed the secrets of summoning. Carefully the pieces of Selain's teachings were puzzled together to what was called the "Virahnan", the first chapter. As the plant grew more secrets were revealed to the eager followers of Selain. Soon the followers of Selain learned the secrets of summoning, and in their new state they called themselves the enlightened ones. The curse of Mortos was indeed a terrible one, but this summoning provided a way to warp the curse and to defy Mortos. Selain had helped Mortos, but he was no pawn to be ordered around by the shadowy god of death. If Mortos was the god of death, and if Aluwen was the goddess of life, then truly, Selain was more powerful as he held the bridge between life and death. The priests of Selain rejoiced. The enlightened ones formed the Lodge of Land, a secret society of summoners. It is rumored that this Lodge is hidden deeply within the center of Armin-Jar. In the lodge the summoners performed unspeakable rituals to further their knowledge of Selain's teachings. How the summoned beings came into existence was completely unknown to the outer world. The other churches were swift in condemning the foul practice of tampering with life, and the magic schools soon followed. The members of the lodge were soon accused of being even worse than the god of death, since they would not let the dead rest, nor allow them to be reborn. The enlightened ones became more secretive and secluded, but they continued to practice their, now outlawed, art of summoning. In the following years, nothing was seen or heard from the Lodge of Land. The church of Aluwen sponsored many quests to find, and destroy the Lodge of Land, but the efforts were utterly unsuccessful. The church of Aluwen took this as a sign and declared that the dark ones, which they called them, were vanquished. Little did they know the truth and they never learned the purposed of the Lodge nor the location of Armin-Jar. The location of the Lodge or the meaning of Armin-Jar remained a secret. Some scholars even claim that Armin-Jar is a state of mind, and not a physical location, even though they still do not know what it means. What is known today is this: The enlightened ones wrote down their teachings in books and scrolls and in time a few of those copies eluded their grasp and found their way into the lands. The lore of the summoners proved to be magical, yet scientific and possible to learn by others. And so the lore of Selain was spread to the races of the Eternal lands.