Journal of Dev'ti
So then, what drives my search? I may be the last mage alive that practices a type of Magic called Rune Magic. Let me back up again.
When a mage releases a spell, they often channel the memory and soul through an item. Often, a staff is employed. It makes a good martial weapon, walking stick, and discipline tool as well. Research has shown that using a channeled item reduces the effect Magic has on the physical person. Because of this, we know that The Awakened lived very short lives, since they did not know of the channeled ability. As far as I was aware, this was how it always was. As many scholars and mages experimented, no other method was found to reduce the burden placed on a mage to cast the spell. My father trained this way, and I began training this way as well. That is, until he found the Runes.
My father is dead. Sometime before I was born and his death, he discovered them. Deep in the dungeon below the home he inherited from his High Mage mentor, behind physical and magical barriers, were strange scripts etched into a type of stone he had never seen before. Black and smooth, it appeared to be a conduit for the odd symbols. For many years he studied them in secret, not revealing his findings even to his colleagues at the local university of Magi.
After I began my studies, my father gauged my talents, swore me to secrecy, then began to show me his discovery. I was immediately enthralled; I could cast powerful cantrips and basic spells with ease. The Runes on the stone acted like a conduit, amplifying my emotions and enabling strong incantations. But I noticed something curious. I didn't feel the draining effects of the emotion, or the fading of the soul.
This, as I came to realize, was the moment my family and I were marked as enemies of Magic.