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Chart marks I

Geometric interpretation of Charter Marks.

Charter Marks are the written and conjured form of Charter magic. There are a potentially infinite number of marks, as they describe all of existence, and they all have different meanings, even subtly.

Charter marks represent a concept, not a letter or sound. Charter marks do have a "use-name": an example is the frequently-seen triple blade attack of Anet, Calew, and Ferhan. Some Charter Marks are called Master marks, used to link lesser marks together in order to create spells of a greater power or complexity.

Baptismal Charter Marks[]

In the Old Kingdom, children are routinely baptized with a Charter mark, allowing them to to see, sense, and use Charter magic, although most never develop their skills beyond a rudimentary level. This practice does not spread further south to Ancelstierre, except for a minor amount of Charter magic use close to the Wall, especially in Bain and its surroundings.

The baptizer writes a mark on their own forehead with soot or similar, they ask that the Charter recognize the child -- where the child's parents usually give the child's name -- and if the Charter accepts the request, the Charter mark transfers from the baptizer's forehead to the child's.

While unusual, older children and even adults can be baptized into the Charter. Ferin, a visitor from the Athask Mountains so far North that the Charter barely exists, is an example: Sabriel baptizes the sixteen-year-old at her own request.

Sabriel herself is an unusual case: she was baptized after she had already died at birth. The Charter nevertheless accepted her, and her Abhorsen father Terciel went into Death to bring back her spirit, which had been protected by the Charter baptism. The same would happen to Nicholas Sayre when he was posthumously baptized by the Disreputable Dog.

Elinor1

Elinor Hallett with a baptismal Charter Mark, which she was told was a disfigurement.

A common security practice among Charter Mages is to check each other's Charter marks for authenticity. The action required is merely placing two fingers on the Charter mark of the person being checked. The mage checking the mark is then able to sense the never-ending flow of the Charter, or the mark will decay and reveal either a mark corrupted by Free Magic or something else entirely.

Hedge had a fake Charter Mark at the beginning of Lirael, but it was removed within short order to reveal an ugly Free Magic-corrupted mark underneath. Clariel also had a pure mark become nothing but raised scar tissue when she used too much Free Magic.

In Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen, we see that non-baptized individuals can't feel or smell the unpleasant metallic stench of Free Magic, though something about Free Magic items make them uneasy.

In Terciel & Elinor, Elinor is raised significantly south of the Wall where her baptismal Charter mark, given to her by her Clayr grandmother in secret, is considered a shameful disfigurement. Elinor believes this to be true until she's nineteen years old and meets Terciel, who has a mark of his own, and starts work at Wyverley College, where baptismal Charter marks are common.

Trivia/Theories[]

  • Before learning the truths behind the Old Kingdom's mysteries, Nicholas refers to a baptismal Charter mark as a "caste mark," presumably reflecting the typical Ancelstierrean view.
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