Vizjerei Clan

The Vizjerei Mage Clan, otherwise known as the Brotherhood of the Vizjerei or the Spirit Clan, is one of the eldest and most dominant of the Mage Clans. Their ranks are composed of Sorcerers and Mages.

Lore
Vizjerei are known for their brightly colored "turinash" (spirit robes), which grant them protection from spells and demonic creatures. They focus on the use of Elemental Magic. Whereas they were once based around the summoning of demons, they now take great interest in seeing that demons are slain. A Vizjerei neonate knows only the simplest of spells to start, but can expect to rapidly grow in power as he/she discovers new incantations. The Vizjerei discovered ways to use a simple wooden Staff as a container for focused magical energy. The process of creating a spell staff is very time consuming, but even an apprentice Vizjerei can recharge a staff by channeling magical energy into it.

The symbol of the clan is a dragon bent over a crescent moon. They are currently based in the Yshari Sanctum, but maintain(ed) a number of outlying schools for the study of Magic.

Members of the clan are sometimes called "spirit mages," though this is a term used only by the Mage Clans and demons.

Early History
By the Anno Kehjistani, the Mage Clans were formed around the year -2200, where the study of arcane sciences was formalized. The Vizjerei appear to originate from this time period. The Vizjerei were convinced that spirits dwelled on and beyond Sanctuary. While the clans Sorcerers could not directly commune with these entities, they believed contact was possible. Thus, the driving goal of the Vizjerei became to perfect the arts of conjuring and summoning spirits.

For years, the clan conducted the experiments and carried out empirical research into the practices of the Priests of Rathma and Druids, both of whom successfully contacted spirits in their own way. Yet for all the combined dedication and intellect of the Vizjerei, they could only hear a whisper of the beings they sought.

Around this time, the Vizjerei engaged in a short-lived feud with the Ammuit Clan.

The Summoning of Demons
In the year -1992, an unremarkable Sorcerer named Jere Harash succeeded where his fellows had failed. Reaching out, his heart roiling with anger and rage at the recent loss of his family, he made contact with one of these "spirits." Yet it was no such creature, but rather a demon of pure hate and malice. Whether the Vizjerei knew from the outset what this creature was is unclear, but soon, if not immediately, they realized that this was not some ancestral spirit. The Vizjerei worked feverishly to mask the truth of what had happened, even going so far as to write false histories of Harash and some of his early interactions with "the dead." These were written by Dumal Lunnash, though at least one account of Lunnash's existed where he was truthful in writing what had actually occurred.

The Vizjerei didn't know that Harash's actions had revealed the existence of Sanctuary to the Burning Hells, but that aside, there was much controversy among them concerning this new art. Some argued that these entities could not be controlled, and posed a threat to the world. The one thing they all agreed on was that Harash's discovery had to be kept secret. Thus, they covered up the truth of Harash's discovery, and adopted the lie that they were merely communing with the spirits of the dead. Thus, they could claim innocence of any wrongdoing should their actions lead to disaster.

The Vizjerei quickly perfected this dark art, establishing demonology and the enslavement of Hell's minions as the basis of their power. Kabraxis was a demon that the Vizjerei summoned into Sanctuary multiple times. So successful were they in their summoning of these "spirits" that the Vizjerei earned the moniker of "the Spirit Clan." They grew confident that if they could control one demon, they could control others, and their Sorcerers set about summoning more and more demons into Sanctuary for short periods. While the clan had no intention of using the demons as weapons, their Mages concluded that there was much to be learned from these creatures about the universe and new forms of Magic.

The Vizjerei's actions led to Hell's discovery of Sanctuary, and ultimately, the Sin War. After the war's end, many people turned to the Mage Clans for guidance.

The Age of Magic
"It is incredible to look back upon this era and consider the popularity of the Vizjerei. After all, what were the roots of the Vizjerei's success? Conjuring and summoning. One might say that much of the peace and grandeur of this golden age was built on the enslavement of demons generations before."

- Deckard Cain

In the decades after the Sin Wars, the Mage Clans reasserted the control they once held over the east. Taking heed of the events, the Ennead and Ammuit declared that no mage clan would ever summon another demon into Sanctuary, that Heaven and Hell had to stay out of mortal affairs however. In the midst of this period, the Vizjerei rose to greatest success. Operating under close scrutiny, the Vizjerei ranks soon included thousands of active Sorcerers. In what would become known as the Age of Magic, the Vizjerei enjoyed great popularity. At some point in this period, the Vizjerei established military outposts, and possibly temples, in Aranoch. However, these sites were abandoned as Kehjistan abandoned its foothold. The city of Lut Gholein was built on one such Vizjerei fortress.

At some point prior to the Mage Clan Wars, the Vizjerei were able to (again) banish Kabraxis. Afterwards, they tore down his temples within Viz-jun and other locations.

The Mage Clan Wars
In the year -264, the truth of the Vizjerei's summoning became known to the Ennead, as one of their sources within the Vizjerei reported seeing a ritual of summoning in the depths of the Yshari Sanctum. Assassins were assigned to target key Vizjerei members, where the Vizjerei targeted key Ennead and Ammuit figures in retaliation. The situation further deteriorated where a heated meeting in the Al'Raquish erupted into a battle that resulted in multiple deaths. With the violence coming out into the open, the Ennead and Ammuit stormed the main Vizjerei academy at Viz-jun. By the time the dust cleared, the academy had been leveled, and not a single Vizjerei Mage was left alive. Thus began the Mage Clan Wars.

As battles raged across Kehjistan, the Vizjerei Ruling Council fled Viz-jun, went into hiding, and began consolidating its forces. Over the next seven years, the combined Ennead and Ammuit forces won several victories against isolated Vizjerei pockets before directing the entirety of their combined might against the Vizjerei's main force. During the height of the war, the Vizjerei began feeling the stress of long struggle. One Vizjerei faction resolved to create an army of demon-possessed victims, and the peaceful Umbaru people of Teganze seemed to be the ideal subjects. Over the course of a few decades, as Umbaru were taken by Vizjerei and turned into Khazra, the once peaceful Umbraru-Vizjerei relations had turned into an outright war. Over the next two centuries, the khazra would continue to plague the Vizjerei; the first generations of khazra gleefully slaughtered any Vizjerei they encountered.

After seven years of war, the Vizjerei were hopelessly outnumbered and on the verge of defeat. Thus, they played their trump card&mdash;the summoning of demons. In an instant, the tide turned as creatures of the Burning Hells cut their way through the Ennead and Ammuit ranks, allowing the Vizjerei to drive their foes all the way back to Viz-jun.

Although the Vizjerei were willing to utilize demons to achieve their goals, differences of opinion existed as to how this would be carried out. The siblings Horazon and Bartuc, both Vizjerei Mages, exemplified this. Horazon believed that while demons were a great source of power, they had to be bent to one's will. The process of breaking a demon's will was a great delight to Horazon. In contrast, Bartuc grew to sympathize with the demons. With no small amount of influence from them, he believed that demonkind would be best understood through an outright alliance with them, so their secrets could be shared freely.

Nonetheless, Bartuc continued the war, earning the title of "Warlord of Blood." Demonic corruption spread through the Vizjerei and the hellspawn he summoned lacked any kind of control, and destroyed everything in their path. Bartuc was not dismayed though&mdash;he viewed demons as humankind's masters, and that loyalty to them would be genorously rewarded. Horazon, however, realized that Bartuc's path would only lead to ruin. Even if the Vizjerei won the war, there would be nothing of civilization left, that the clan's only legacy would be death or enslavement to the Burning Hells.

In the final stages of the war, as victory seemed assured, the Vizjerei Council resolved to remove Bartuc from command due to his acts of depravity. With the philosophical schism of Horazon and Bartuc coming to a head, the Vizjerei fell into civil war, as Bartuc turned his forces against his own people. After many hard fought battles, Bartuc's contingent gained the upperhand, and he set his armies against Viz-jun. The Vizjerei outnumbered Bartuc 10:1, but when they summoned demons to fight against Bartuc, the creatures turned on their masters. One third of the Vizjerei lost their lives in the siege, and if not for the "lesser clans" that followed them, they would have been wiped out. But ultimately, the end of the war would be decided by Horazon and Bartuc themselves.

The battle between the siblings took place just outside the towering gates. Horazon, appearing at the eleventh hour, rose to answer Bartuc's challenge. The cataclysmic battle that resulted brought the walls of the city down around them. In the midst of this, the hero Telranden led a charge that saved many lives. Yet the city was leveled, and the death toll numbered in the hundreds of thousands. And yet the brothers battled, realizing too late that they had both been played for fools by demons. Yet as the smoke cleared, Bartuc lay dead, with Horazon standing over his brother's corpse.

Aftermath
The grieving Horazon was aware that as long as the agents of the Burning Hells had access to Sanctuary, the corruption of hearts and civilizations would never cease. Following the battle, he crafted for himself the Arcane Sanctuary, a place where the agents of Hell could never find him. For their part, the Vizjerei resolved to forevermore spurn Demonic Magic and instead focus their studies on Elemental Magic. To further ensure that a tragedy of this magnitude would never be repeated, the Viz-Jaq'taar were formed, an order of mage slayers known as "Assassins."

Yet, it was a little too late. Once, mages had been revered in eastern culture, but faced with the events that had occurred, the people of Kehjistan turned against them. Many mages were exiled, or even executed, and while the Vizjerei survived as a group, they were but a shadow of their former selves. With the exception of the Yshari Sanctum, the mages' holdings and bastions were pulled down and burnt by the angry citizenry, along with all the knowledge they had collected. Laws were passed against the use of magic and ultimately, the Age of Magic was replaced by what would become known as the Age of Faith. Over the period of over a thousand years, many corrupt Vizjerei would again turn to Hell as a source of power.

The Darkening of Tristram
During the Darkening of Tristram, the Vizjerei sent a number of Sorcerers to the town. The Vizjerei elders hoped that their acolytes would learn the secrets of the dark evil that they sensed growing in Khanduras, and destroy it. The possibility of discovering long-lost tomes of magical knowledge within the confines of the labyrinth beneath the Tristram Cathedral also captured the interest of many wandering Sorcerers. It was one such Sorcerer, Jazreth, who worked with Aidan and Moreina to successfully defeat the evil in question&mdash;Diablo, the Lord of Terror.

Recent History
At some point after the destruction of the Worldstone, the Trade Consortium Council of Caldeum worked to unite the Mage Clans and constructed the Yshari Sanctum, hoping to turn Caldeum into a beacon of learning. Along with the Ennead, Ammuit, Taan, and Zann Esu clans, the Vizjerei clan established themselves here, working together with their fellow clans.

Current

 * Valthek (high councilor)

Former/Deceased

 * Armin Ra
 * Attis Zuun
 * Bartuc
 * Dumal Lunnash
 * Drognan
 * Eirena
 * Fauztin
 * Horazon (council member)
 * Jered Cain
 * Korbia (acolyte)
 * Li-Ming
 * Merendi (council leader)
 * Jazreth
 * Jere Harash
 * Jeslyn Kataro
 * Kazzulk
 * Lysa
 * Oskul
 * Ranslor (chief crafter)
 * Sarnakyle (mage lord)