Midday, 7,345th Sun of Ivoris

The clanging of a handbell rang out in the center of Ivoris' trade district. Outside the Inn, a crowd began gathering around as the crier began his message:

"Oyez, oyez, oyez!"

The man cleared his throat.

"By order of Lady Ceridis Skrye: All recreational use of the reagent, Ebondust, is, from today the 7,345th Sun of Ivoris onward, considered a criminal act against the honor of the Equus Sanctimony! Offenders shall be deemed criminal and shall be tried in the court of Ivoris! All able-bodied men of Ivoris are to report to the temple of the Equus Sanctimony to aid in the cleanup of Ebondust from the city of Ivoris. For the spirit and soul of Ivoris!"

The town crier stepped off his pedestal and began posting his scroll on the wall of the nearby tavern.

Johnathan Skrye groaned internally as the citizens' chatter slowly returned to its original cacophony. His name meant nothing. He'd only hear word from his sister through the town crier. Not that he'd craved her company. He'd lost the taste for that years ago.

He ducked under a section of a brick wall floating in midair. It was being transported by a woman almost half his size - her arms outstretched and hands open wide, the light bending around the air between her palms and the brick wall.

"Watch it, asshole!" Johnathan called out at her; he hated Arcani-users. He hated the market. Too damned noisy, too bloody crowded. Gritting his teeth, Johnathan focused on the task at hand - pick up bread and meat from the stores and go home.

It didn't take him long to locate his usual butcher. Stuffing the pound of meat into his satchel, Johnathan ducked past another Arcani-user, trudging deeper into the heart of the market. He'd barely noticed a woman ahead of him finish filling the new market fountain with conjured water. As he passed her, she dusted her hands of Ebondust, a few specks finding their way on to his forearm.

Johnathan jumped backward painfully, stifling a scream. He spun around angrily, but the lady had already disappeared. He ground his teeth audibly. He really hated Arcani-users.

It was nearly sunset when Johnathan finally returned home. Bread and meat in his satchel, he stepped through the gate of Ivoris' trade district and out into the city's civil service quarter. Located just east of the Equus temple, this was a dusty, dirty section of Ivoris untouched by Arcani. There were no women here. Most of the city's men had taken to living in the civil service quarter to get away from Arcani users.

Rounding a corner onto his street and nursing the burn on his forearm, Johnathan came across a copy of the crier's message from earlier. He'd spent the last of his coin for this week's food - perhaps he could earn some more cleaning up the Ebondust from the city.

'Heh. Cleaning up my sister's proverbial shit.'

Ebondust was a by-product of Arcani use. Arcani had brought prosperity to the city of Ivoris, but it was also why Johnathan, and most of the city's men were living in this secluded corner of the city. Men were unable to wield Arcani. As a manifestation of a clear mind free of worldly desires, Arcani was next to impossible for men to master. Furthermore, Arcani users secreted a black substance from their pores whenever they wielded the magic. Each session generated a negligible amount of the so-called ebondust, but as more citizens began using Arcani, it had started to become a problem - especially for men. Women felt only a slight tingle when in contact with the substance, but men experienced a sharp burning sensation - more than enough to jolt concentration, interrupting the use of Arcani.

Though he grew up in the same house as his sister, Johnathan matured under very different circumstances. His childhood memories were of him watching enviously as Ceridis performed wonderful Arcanic feats - shooting arcane fireworks, conjuring water out of thin air, and building miniature doll houses out of the earth around her. She'd tried to teach him - and he'd learned some - but the curse of gender stifled his attempts, rewarding him with burnt hands and nothing more.

As he and Ceridis grew older, they grew more distant. Ceridis shared her talent with the city, and the city prospered. She soon founded the Equus Sanctimony - a temple dedicated to regulating the use of Arcani in the city. A temple whose political power eclipsed that of the city's ruling monarch.

Johnathan, however, remained in their parents cottage just outside the city. Ceridis commemorated their parent's passing in the city, but it was Johnathan who laid their bodies to rest. As the city grew, Johnathan watched as Arcani-users laid the brick and stone of the new trade district over his childhood home, and he, like many men of Ivoris, retreated to the Civil Service Quarter of the city.

Johnathan closed the door to his building, wondering what feasts his sister was enjoying. He tore a hunk of bread off and chewed the dry, chalky sustenance.

'12 Silver for this? I've been had again.'

He chuckled. Tomorrow he was going to go clean his sister's city... What a life.

'I love you too, sis.'