[Dragaera] Gah! My books are packed!

[Jon Lincicum]

J C wrote:
> I'm writing a short story and it has some overlapping with Steve's universe, 
> but only in the loosest sense.
>
> As a result, could I ask some generous individual to donate the time it will 
> take to type up a brief description (indeed, it can only be brief, as we 
> know so little about them) of the qualities of the Sisters of Darkness, ie, 
> Verra, Moranthe, and Keurana?
>
> Particularly, which aspect of magic the three sisters seem most in tune 
> with--despite the fact that Steve makes it clear as mud that those three 
> aspects can't really be taken without the others...
>
> Anyway, I can't look it up myself as I'm moving soon, and my books are 
> packed :(
>
>
>   
I believe the only substantive information we have on this particular 
topic can be found in this short excerpt from the end of /The Lord of 
Castle Black/

Viscount of Adrilankha, (from book 2 of Lord of Castle Black) Chapter 
68, page 378-379 (paperback):

(Keurana, on why Kana previously attempted (and failed) to make a pact 
with Moranthe, rather than with some other god)

[cite]

"...I am curious, what attribute, that is to say, which of the many 
skills and talents that you posses, might he have wished for, that he 
desired you of all of us?"
"Now that you ask, dearest of siblings, I begin to wonder myself. Most 
of my worshipers are in the East. Indeed," she said, addressing herself 
to Verra, "I was nearly hurt that you made a pact with that little 
Dragon of yours, as he was raised in the East, and studied the Eastern 
magical arts, which I am known to favor."
"Because, adored sister," said Verra, "I knew that he would go from the 
Eastern arts to those of the Empire--" Here she nodded at Keurana. 
"--and that he will, someday, pass beyond those to the oldest of the 
magical arts, which are my province."

[end cite]

This exchange would appear to establish that Moranthe is the expert on 
Eastern witchcraft, that Keurana is the expert on "modern" (i.e. 
Orb-assisted) Imperial sorcery, and Verra is the expert on Elder Sorcery 
(aka Pre-Empire sorcery).

It also alludes to the fact that the gods have many facets and 
abilities, however, so while these abilities are the only ones we know 
about that distinguish the Daughters of Darkness, there are, almost 
certainly, many others that we don't know about.

Hope this helps!

Majikjon

On a side note: I notice that Elder Sorcery here is described as being 
the "oldest of magical arts", which would imply that it is even older 
than witchcraft... Which I find strange, given that according to Sethra 
Lavode, in /Issola/, Easterners came to Dragaera first, long before the 
Greater Sea of Amorphia was ever formed (making Elder Sorcery possible). 
I would therefore expect witchcraft to be the oldest of the magical 
arts--though I suppose it might be that the Easterners only developed it 
later on.