The Conjurian: Origins

I. Dedi

This being one of several interpretations of the Conjurian’s creation. I say “interpretation” as it is still hotly debated as to whether Dedi in fact created this world or merely discovered its existence.

Dedi lived in Ded-Snefru and was said to be one hundred and ten years of age. When King Khufu’s^[1] wife died, his son told a tale of a man who could grant life to the dead. Khufu sent the prince to fetch this magician.

Dedi accepted the request to appear in the royal court. He brought with him his family^[2] and his entire library on a separate ship.

After demonstrating his resurrection abilities on an ox and a goose, the Pharaoh commanded Dedi to perform this magic on his deceased wife.

Blindsided, Dedi refused. It was against the natural laws of magic to return a man or woman from the realm of the dead.

Angered, Khufu imprisoned Dedi and his family. Every week the Pharaoh summoned Dedi and ordered him to bring his wife back to the living world. The old magician remained defiantly steadfast. so every week Khufu executed a member of Dedi’s family.

Even to the staunchest Dedite^[3], what transpired next remains a mystery. What is known from surviving texts is that Dedi escaped with his surviving family into the Conjurian.

The monks of the order of Dedi^[4] teach that after witnessing each execution, Dedi entered a deep trance and constructed a Utopian sanctuary for magicians in his mind. Depleting his powers almost entirely, he transferred this world into a single pebble on his cell floor.

After several months and the loss of over half his family, Dedi used the rock as a portal into this new world which has come to be known as the Conjurian. This day is celebrated throughout the Conjurian by Dedites ( and non-believers as well) on the fifth day of October .

What follows is a brief summary of this unmatched vanishing act taken from the Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden^[5]:

As had become the custom, the Pharaoh paraded Dedi’s family into the court and then ordered the Magician to resuscitate his wife. And also per the new custom, Dedi denied the request and a family member was selected for beheading. It was at that moment, after twenty three weeks of captivity and twenty three executions that Dedi spat the small rock from his mouth. The pebble spun wildly and a raging vortex opened. When the paralyzing lights vanished, so had Dedi and his family.

A note on the pebble

The pebble that Dedi spat from his mouth has come to be known as “The Eye of Dedi” for it was through this rock that Dedi entered his own vision of paradise.

It is this stone that the Shadow Conjurer seeks in order to gain supreme power over the Conjurian and eventually the Flat World^[6]. Many researches believe the stone passed into the Conjurian with Dedi and that it still contains most if not all of his power.

The Cups and Balls

Another of the ancient legends from the Conjurian centers around the oldest trick in magic: the cups and balls. This effect, wherein a small ball vanishes from, reappears under and penetrates three cups was a staple in Dedi’s repertoire.

It is said that before Dedi fled Egypt he hid his powers of Resurrection in one of his three cups. To further safeguard this power, he infused the other two cups with his power to kill. In this manner, the Dedite Monks believe Dedi purified his soul before entering the Conjurian.

The cups combined with the “Eye of Dedi” would give a magician power over life, death and all of creation. These relics have been hunted for centuries, both by those who wish to keep them safe and those who would use them for their own maniacal gains.

Further Reading

More information on these quests and the history of the Conjurian can be found in Zig Malfundy’s excellent tomb, “A Long and Torturous History of the Conjurian”. And be sure to check out Zig’s new cookbook^[7], “A Magician in the Kitchen: Recipes from the Conjurian”.

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