Codex of Meriath

Three Rare Flame-types

When on the long, winding road of mastering their elements, most fire mages manifest their powers in the form of intensely burning, orange flames. I am confident in saying that more than 95% of fire mages living in our world are those who wield, to great proficiency, mind you, dear reader, these orange-colored flames. Many of these mages never even learn about the fact that our world is filled with wonders, creatures, and phenomena, producing differently colored and differently acting flames of their own. Something that can be learned and mastered. Those who managed to do so are elites of the elite, wielding the power of a flame that is unique amongst their comrades. For this reason, to inform you and many young, budding mages and witches, I collected three types of fire that made their wielders famous throughout our history!

The Ever-Burning Black Flame

• Sources:
  • Dragons, Wyverns and Salamanders.
• Appearance: 
  • Pitch black at its core while glowing with thin white hue on the edges of the flames.
• Effects:
  • Burns through everything, including other types of flames. It consumes whatever it touches, burning as long as it has something to fuel it, incinerating all that it touches.¹Its heat remains constant all the time, and so far, nothing could have resisted it.
• Notable wielders:
  • Erias Amarin²It is unknown if he was capable of conjuring it all alone or only if he combined his powers with Arcus.
  • Arcus³He was many times appointed as the most powerful host of the Black Flames.
  • Hessia Amarin⁴Leader of the respected House at the start of the 2nd Era. She was capable of wielding it without any outside help.

In nature, creatures capable of conjuring black flames are many times dangerous and not to be trifled with. It is suggested by the IAM⁵International Association of Magi that people below Tier 6 should not try and fight, capture, or kill any creature known to wield this flame while being alone. It is best to try and ensure the wielder of this flame is either ambushed, prevented from conjuring it, or quickly incapacitated. It is noted that many times when the caster of the black flames goes unconscious, the flames rapidly dissipate. All mages capable of conjuring such flame without using a fire seed are to be registered with the IAM.

White Flames of Purity

• Sources:
  • Winged Harpies and Gigant Butterflies
• Appearance: 
  • The fire is mostly invisible. It only becomes observable to human eyes in the darkest hours of the night, between midnight and 3.am. At that timeframe, it burns in an off-white colour. Otherwise, it remains invisible.
• Effects:
  • It burns away most type of poisons, curses and spells that have any type of over-time effects. Unlike the regularly observed, green flames of salamanders, these flames are perfect against poisons. While the green flames purify by burning away any infected tissue, the Purity Flames only burn away the infection and leave the surrounding tissue intact.
  • It is observed that this fire is extremely potent against Undead, stunning them and in the Dark Ages, intelligent variants were observed to prioritise people who were capable of wielding it. 
• Notable wielders:
  • Solren Amarin⁶It is still not confirmed without any shadow of a doubt that Solren Amarin wields this flame. Many recounts tell about his flame being visible to the naked eye at all times, yet its properties match the characteristics of the Flames of Purity. Also, it is known that Solren Amarin wields the element of light.

In nature, few creatures wield the fire and rarely use them. The two confirmed species to have it innately are also mostly avoiding human or beast folk-occupied territories, keeping to themselves. The winged harpies tend to inhabit the highlands in mountainous parts of Meriath, living in small flocks. It was many times observed that when humans tried to study them, they collectively moved, avoiding any type of contact. The gigant butterflies are a rare sub-species. Their first appearance was in the middle of our 1st Era. Their origin is unknown; many speculate that they result from a human or beast folk experiment, but we have no knowledge of that yet. Their wingspan ranges from six to nine meters, coming in varying, vibrant colors. It was observed many times these butterflies appear where the land is sick or suffering, congregating there until it is healed and the source of infection or possible curse is burnt away by the flame they emit from their wings.

The Godflame

• Sources:
  • Phoenixes, Golden Sparrows
• Appearance: 
  • Golden, blindingly shining, no matter if its day or night.
• Effects:
  • It leaves no visible damage on anything that it touches, but it consumes all types of mana and transfers it to its user. If the wielder does not desire to consume the mana, then the Godflame ignites it, and the resulting explosion or flames consume the target from within.
• Notable wielders:
  • Amun Ro⁷Forefather of the House of Ro.
  • Ngon Ro⁸Son of Amun, second leader of the House of Ro and also the one who claimed that only their family is allowed to use the Godflame. Since his time, no others were seen to display it outside of the Respected House.

The origin of the Godlfame is attributed to the phoenixes. Sadly, the species went extinct before the Dark Ages for unknown reasons. Some dragons recall that their numbers were always low, and their righteous nature put them into trouble more than once with other inhabitants of Meriath. The rumored legend of a phoenix's unkillable nature and the fact that they can rise from their ashes are the bases of talks that they may rise once again one day. Any dragons asked about it so far only commented that when the dead rise, they do so as Undead... and I must say, dear reader, that the thought of an unkillable Undead is dreadful. The second species, rumored offsprings of the phoenixes, are the golden sparrows. They are considered an endangered species, and all known members of it are living in the territory and under the care of the House of Ro. From them, they gain the ability to wield the Godflame, and this type of flame is only observed to be held and wielded by the members of the Respected House.

This Codex excerpt was written by Authorya Cortyn, your humble historian.