What is The Art of Orenda?
The Art of Orenda: The Magic of CORDOLIUM
Magic in CORDOLIUM does not come from spells, gods, or borrowed power.
It comes from breaking yourself apart and choosing to become whole again.
This process is known as the Art of Orenda.
Orenda is not merely a source of power. It is the result of a profound internal transformation, one that reshapes how a person exists in the world and how they learn from it. To practice Orenda is to confront the nature of the soul, the heart, and the fragile balance that keeps a person human.
The Soul and the Heart
Every living person in CORDOLIUM is born with two intertwined forces: a soul and a heart. In most people, these two energies exist as one. Intermingled, inseparable, and unseen.
The Soul — The Well of Memories
The soul comes from the Well of Memories, a vast and timeless reservoir where all souls rest between lives. Souls are immortal. Each lifetime is a chance for the soul to learn, to experience, and to carry those lessons forward. When a person dies, their soul returns to the Well of Memories, bringing with it the echoes of who they were.
The Heart — The Well of Life
The heart comes from the Well of Life, a primordial wellspring of raw emotion and sensation. It is what allows people to feel: love, fear, grief, joy, rage. It is how the world is experienced, not remembered. Unlike the soul, the heart is not immortal. When a person dies, their heart fades, and its energy returns to the Well of Life to become something new.
What the Art of Orenda Truly Is
The Art of Orenda is the intentional separation of the soul and the heart.
Through careful practice, or catastrophic circumstance, a practitioner separates these two energies within themselves. This act isolates the heart and the soul. A void is left where unity once existed. Nature does not tolerate emptiness. The world, the wells, and the forces that govern life rush to fill those voids. In doing so, the heart and the soul offer blessings, manifestations of Orenda, that allow the person to function as a whole once more.
Orenda, then, is not stolen power.
It is the universe answering a wound.
Learning the Art of Orenda
Most who learn Orenda do so through meditation, a controlled and deliberate practice taught and monitored by experienced practitioners. This is considered the safe path. One where the separation is gradual, stable, and less likely to cause lasting harm. However, Orenda can also awaken under extreme conditions:
Intense grief
Trauma
Desperation
Overwhelming emotion
These awakenings are dangerous and actively discouraged. If the heart or soul is damaged during separation, the consequences are catastrophic. A destroyed heart cannot return to the Well of Life, and the body is left warped and hollow, transforming into a daemon, a monstrous being driven by imbalance and hunger.
The Forged Weapon and the Gift
When someone successfully unlocks the Art of Orenda, two things manifest:
The Forged Weapon
The forged weapon is not made of Orenda.
It is formed from willpower. This weapon represents the practitioner’s drive to survive, to endure, to keep going even when broken. It is a physical expression of resolve. A reminder that Orenda alone does not sustain a person. Choice does.
Every forged weapon is unique.
The Gift
The Gift is the true magical ability granted by Orenda. It allows the wielder to interact with the world in a new way. One that facilitates learning, adaptation, and growth across lifetimes. Gifts are not chosen. They emerge from the nature of the heart and soul, shaped by who the person is and what they need to learn.
Types of Gifts
Scholars group Gifts into broad categories for study and instruction, though these distinctions are often blurred in practice.
Elementals - Control over natural forces such as fire, water, ice, electricity, air, and earth.
Jumpers - The ability to teleport short distances.
Ghosts - The ability to phase through solid objects.
Stitchers - Healers who force blood to rush to wounds, accelerating recovery.
Illusionists - Creators of visual illusions and mirages.
Empaths - Those who sense, manipulate, or control emotions.
Beast Speakers - Those who communicate with and control animals, sometimes seeing through their eyes.
Shadow Binders - Those who manipulate shadow to restrain or command bodies.
The Cost of Orenda
Orenda is not free.
Every use reinforces the separation between heart and soul. Balance requires discipline, restraint, and self-awareness. Those who overreach risk becoming distorted. Not dead, but unmade.
Why Orenda Matters in CORDOLIUM
The Art of Orenda is not just a magic system. It is the philosophical core of CORDOLIUM.
It reflects the cycle of life, memory, emotion, and growth. It asks what parts of ourselves endure across lifetimes, and what parts are meant to fade. Magic does not elevate people above humanity. It demands they face it.
