This lore breakdown is a helpful resource for understanding the Kindred’s Curse Saga! This lore guide includes spoilers, so please read AFTER you’ve finished Spark, Glow, and Heat of the Everflame.
Includes info from Spark, Glow, and Heat of the Everflame, so this guide is spoiler in nature.
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What is Forging Day?
Forging Day is an Emarion holiday celebrating the creation of the Forging, a magical pact made by the Kindred many millennia ago that divided Emarion into nine realms. The exact date of Forging Day is unknown but it happens once a year in early summer, on the anniversary of when the pact was made.
Forging Day is meant to remind everyone, mortal and Descended, that this is a new age, where the Descended are to rule over the nine realms and usher in an era of peace and prosperity, with both races living together in harmony. But as Diem reminds us, “As so often happens with a parent’s hope-filled dreams for their children, things did not go exactly to plan.”
The History of Forging Day as Taught to the People of Emarion
Many millennia ago, nine immortal siblings known as the Kindred came to this mortal world seeking refuge following the violent destruction of their world. The Kindred each brought their own unique form of magic, as well as their gryverns. They brought a piece of their home world called the heartstone which they shed their blood on to forge the spell.
After arriving, each of the Kindred fell in love with a mortal of Emarion and rather than watch their beloveds wither to old age and die, the Kindred agreed to abandon their eternal youth and bind their lives to their mortal lovers*.
* As we learn from Montios’s diary, the Kindred intended for their mortal partners to become immortal, but it did not work.
To create their pact, the Kindred created the Forging Spell. With this spell, Emarion was broken up into nine realms, each named for one of the Kindred and infused with its patron god’s or goddess’s respective magic.
The Kindred had intended for the offspring of their unions, the Descended, to rule over these realms and live in harmony with the mortals, but this didn’t last long.
The Forging Magic
The Forging Magic is a result of the Forging Spell, and it enforces the realm borders. This restricts a Descended’s magic while they are outside the borders of their terremère, unless given permission from the Crown of the realm they are now in. For example, the Umbros queen lets Descended/half-mortals have access to their magic if they pay their taxes.
Every year, on Forging Day, the crowns from each of the nine realms meet on the island of Coeurîle to refresh the Forging Spell and reinforce the Forging Magic.
NOTE: It is not known exactly how this Forging Day ceremony works, but we’re guessing it’s similar to the Crowning Ceremony we see at the end of Glow of the Everflame.
Each Crown is required to offer their blood to renew the Forging Spell. To do this, the Crowns take turns cutting their hand with a jewel encrusted ceremonial blade.
Afterward, their blood must drop onto the heartstone in the center of the Temple, and only after all nine Realm Crowns bleed on the stone will the spell be replenished and ready to go for another year.
The only other occasion that requires the nine realms to renew the Forging Spell by bleeding on the heartstone is when a new Crown is coronated.
When there is a new Crown, the Forging Spell requires renewal because now there is a Crown who hasn’t given their blood yet to contribute to the Forging Magic. Thus the coronation is to keep the balance and fulfillment of the Forging Spell. If this blood ritual is NOT performed every year, or if the new Crown is not coronated, the Forging Spell will begin to falter and break down.
The Reality of Forging Day
While this holiday should be a celebration of mortals and Descended coming together, that hasn’t been the case for a very long time, leading the two groups to celebrate the day in different ways – at least in Lumnos, since that’s all we’ve seen in the story.
The mortals in Mortal City are left to their devices (no Descended guards patrolling that day as they celebrate separately) and the mortals get a cart of Descended wine dropped off for them to indulge in. This wine is laced with magic to keep the drinkers’ spirits high for hours.
This magic has a more potent impact on mortals. Some humans spend this magic-laced intoxication in pleasure houses, while others indulge in less than admirable ways. The men who indulge in these ways tend to stay intoxicated for many days leading to an increase in trips to the healers, for both the drunk and their unfortunate victims.
On the other hand, it is said that the Descended spend the daytime twirling streamers and nibbling fruit in the wildflower fields. They spend the evenings dancing in gowns and jewels at the Forging Ball with buffets as far as the eye can see and musicians playing from dusk to dawn.
This holiday is more so a celebration of their origin and what the Kindred did to turn Emarion into what it’s known today. Instead of what the Kindred originally intended… for it to be a celebration of the new Emarion where the two races live happily ever after.
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