Bureau of Classified Arcana
The Arcane Hand was a famous yet secretive institution that operated across Legere as promoters of the study of magic, with headquarters centered in the Domain of Phovezila. The Bureau of Classified Arcana was a division of the Arcane Hand that dealt specifically with the policing of dangerous magic, like somatomancy. Its primary purpose was to study new magic to classify it as dangerous or not, and also to apprehend or (in extreme cases) assassinate dangerous practitioners of dangerous magic. Eventually, it would become its own entity independent of the Hand.
The Bureau was characterized by its aggressive policies, agents, and operations compared to the more subtle, behind-the-scenes influence of the Arcane Hand. While the Arcane Hand took a more liberal stance of magic and magical knowledge, the Bureau was restrictive and legalistic, insisting that it knew which magics were safest and which were too dangerous to even be known about. ^205474
Classified Arcana
Definition
The "classified arcana" dealt with by the BCA are any type of arcane practice that was, in the Bureau's eyes, broadly unhelpful or even detrimental to society. The most well known types of types of classified arcana included Venomancy and Somatomancy.
Keeping Arcana Classified
The BCA operated by attempting to keep knowledge of classified arcana a secret to the public. Their philosophy was that by restricting the knowledge of dangerous magics, the spread of them could be controlled and therefore create a safer Legere.
The method of maintaining a safe Legere was a primary driving force behind the BCA's eventual Separation from the Hand. While the BCA was originally formed to uphold the Arcane Hand's vision to ==uphold the image of arcanists,== it grew to become more drastic in its methods by designating entire types of magic as too dangerous to be wielded by anyone. The Arcane Hand, however, wished to preserve all Legerians' freedoms to use magic, instead dealing with problematic individuals rather than entire branches of magic.
Separation from the Hand #
From 290 - 296 DHT the director of the Bureau, Mosso Solren, voiced his concerns that the Arcane Hand was being too light handed about its actions against "dangerous arcane paths" and that not enough funding was being granted to the BCA to fund its activities. The Unbirthing was the straw that broke the camel's back, as the Solren's Wall project chewed through the BCA's budget. Solren feared that an arcane apocalypse would befall Legere if the BCA continued to be shackled by the confines of The Hand's modus operandi, and formally requested autonomous operation. The agents of the BCA as well as a good deal of members from The Hand sympathized with Solren's stance, pressuring institutional heads into complying. The Hand begrudgingly agreed, allowing the Bureau to become its own, independent entity.
Letter from Mosso Solren to the Arcane Hand
Salutations. By now the word of what has happened to Talczelava has probably reached you. Streets all across Legere are abuzz with the manikinism outbreak that has happened a month ago.
To make things clear, the budget that you have allotted the Bureau has fallen short of the operational costs required to complete our containment project--as I predicted. I must ask, how seriously do you take the safety of the people of Legere? An entire city is coated in sculptoris and you have continued to refuse my requests for more men, more supplies, and more money? What will happen when if another catastrophe like this happens somewhere else?
Stricter policies on magic and handling organizations like The Priests are necessary for true freedom. You've been so intent on arcane liberation that you have granted evil the liberty to attach itself to the beating heart of Veskovia and poison it.
Consider your next steps wisely.
Yours, Director Solren
The BCA would receive a sizable injection of funding from the Legion of Thunder to help finish Solren's Wall, and also to fund its operations for the next several years.
Major Activities #
The Talczelava Project #
In order to contain The Unbirthing in 296 DHT, the BCA had a wall constructed around Talczelava. Once the construction of Solren's Wall was complete, ongoing support to Kroville from the BCA would continue.
A small, elite subsect of the BCA would be assigned to collecting samples from the Forsaken City in order to study Sculptoris and try to create an antidote to manikinism. The team's progress was slow and inefficient due to the constant loss of new members to the team.
Investigation of "Word Magic" #
In 310 DHT, BCA agents tracked a dun girl across Legere after reports that she used her very speech to influence a guard into attempting to assassinate a Phovezilan princess of the Knoobi family.