Profiles in History: Ciandra
Ciandra, called the Arcanum Alchemist, was a mage of great learning and wisdom who had left the Gharu'n deserts on Ispar for the A'mun Desert on Dereth. In appearance she was a lovely young woman, with skin the color of coffee blended with fresh cream, dark red hair, and wide eyes filled at once with innocence and wisdom: the eyes of one who is always eager to learn.
She was a student of the infamous Nuhmudira, whose tale must be told elsewhere. When Nuhmudira disappeared (on the first of several occasions), Ciandra replaced her as leader of the Arcanum Consortium, which made her the youngest member of Elysa's Council. At first shy and easily flustered, she grew in confidence until she could face down even the irascible Celdiseth.
She worked in the Xarabydun Consortium, the research facility established by the Arcanum above a buried Empyrean library which provided thousands of valuable documents for research. Under her administration the Arcanum made many crucial discoveries, including including ways for mages to cast their spells; ways for mages to cast their spells without carrying around heavy burdens of alchemical components; weapons and armor of increased efficiency; and gems embodying spells for the protection of those without magical skills.
But her life's work was the study of the Temples of Forgetfulness and of Enlightenment, two ancient Empyrean structures that enabled their visitors to train and untrain skills, which before this discovery had been impossible. We may assume that her study of the Temples was the foundation of the ability each of us now possesses, to untrain a skill over time, and the more powerful ability of the Eaters of Souls to untrain a client's skill at once, for a fee. These Temples made use of forces even the Empyreans themselves never understood. About them, Asheron said to Ciandra, "I wouldn't be surprised if your discoveries here have begun a process that will open your bodies and minds to greater knowledge and ability." Then he added, "Of course, there is never anything that does not come at a price. I wonder what that price will be."
The Hero Shrine that she built in the foothills of Mount Esper was intended to provide mortals with the means of attaining powers and abilities similar to those of the Empyreans. Yet something prevented this achievement: it seemed our minds were fixed in a belief that some things were possible and some things impossible; and where our minds could not go, our bodies could not follow. Ciandra had harnessed the powers of the Temple of Forgetfulness, but not those of the Temple of Enlightenment. She died during the Fifth Sending, after concealing the Shrine and its attendant Arcanum Library under a cloud of enchantment. It was only in our day, during the Archon War, that the Shrine was revealed, and with magic stolen from the Archons we learned to activate its powers and become Heroes.
Ciandra, as I have said, made the study of the Temples her life's work, and her life was long. She lived through the entirety of the Golden Age, long past the natural life span of any Human. A career more than a century long, filled with the pleasures of study and discovery, might seem an unmixed blessing; yet we must remember that the longevity of the Dericost undead, the endless semi-life of Bael'Zharon's Shadows, and the Adjanite spell that gave Asheron long life at the cost of the life of his mother, were all derived at length from the magics of the Falatacot and the powers of Darkness. It may be that we will learn some day, as Asheron suggested, that Heroism also has its price.
