Article Written: 8 October 1456
It is believed that the Monarin Stylus was first produced in the early years of modern Combria, more specifically during the 1090s. Its blueprint is unknown. However, what is known is that it serves a multitude of purposes. Among many things, it can give and obtain information, cast complicated spells, and even go as far as engineering the psyche of the masses. Hence, there is a reason that Monarin Styli are speculated to be deeply involved in oathcrafting; in fact, there is controversy over whether or not the Kontacet family, the believed original producers of these objects, may have gifted a Monarin Stylus to the House of Esary.
Writing
No ink is required to write with a Monarin Stylus, for it makes its mark on parchment via the spellfire-enhanced coloration of the page and its perfectly consistent color contour. The letters and symbols of the Stylus are capable of shaping themselves perfectly without the crafting of handwriting movements. The Stylus is a smart object, recognizing the letter or symbol you are trying to write and commanding the paper to shape it perfectly. At the command of the user, a Monarin Stylus may have its parchment reshape the letters and symbols written in order to translate the written text from one language to another; and the exact mechanics of this between the user and the Stylus are presently unknown.
Spellhandling
A Monarin Stylus, however, can do much more than writing. It can store scripts of any spellscriptor's alphabet, Circlarian or non-Circlarian, and can do so up to a seemingly infinite volume. It can also be activated to discharge such scripts as spells, and may also combine scripts to cast complex spells. Despite bearing the basic traits of storage and discharge, a Monarin Stylus is not considered by the Circlarian Standard to be an actual talisman. With a talisman, the acts of storage and discharge happen at the sole discretion of the user. Unlike a talisman, a Monarin Stylus acts as a sort of "blackbox," utilizing unknown forces to combine spellfire scripts without the knowledge of anyone, even the user, and create the potential to cast truly unique spells. In fact, numerous scholars speculate that every Monarin Stylus seems to have an intelligence of its own.
Pysche of the Masses
If such speculations are true, then a Monarin Stylus is the only known object in mankind making possible the combination of real spellfire scripts into antescripts; although such a method is truly a mysterious, "blackbox" one. The reason this concerns numerous governments and academic institutions is because antescripts are the basic building blocks of the ancient and dangerous practice of oathcrafting, designed to manipulate the collective psyche of the masses.
And it is even speculated as a possibility that a Monarin Stylus is capable of going further, by combining antescripts to engineer crafted influences upon the masses designed in such a way to then conceive counter-influences, in order to make "outsiders" blissfully unaware that such influences are being had.
Legality
The Circlarian School of Spellfire-Crafting (CSSC) considers the Monarin Stylus to be a "dangerously unstable device," and has conditioned its accreditation of certified programs in Universities and institutions to be valid only upon their parent nations or entities maintaining legislation outlawing the Stylus. Such nations and entities recognize the importance of having schools within their jurisdictions maintain such proper accreditation, and have therefore enacted such laws without question. There is one land-bound nation, however, that stands as the exception: Agridbea.
Despite being outlawed in most places, Monarin Styli continue to elude contraband registries, partly because of how impossible they are to turn up during investigations. Furthermore, politicians in numerous nations and entities having secretly possessed Monarin Styli may have been behind secret efforts to create loopholes in enforcement systems. That, however, is mere speculation.
Bounty
Outlaw groups volley for the possession of Monarin Styli because of their high value. A Monarin Stylus is worth a fortune partly because of its origin. Monarus, a Myrian Legionnaire living during the 600s, is the one credited for its design, but the Stylus would not actually be produced for another five centuries. Another reason that a Monarin Stylus is of high value is because, according to numerous written sources, there appear to be only eleven of these devices that have actually been produced. And finally, it is a high crime to be in possession of one of these in almost every Circlarian jurisdiction; although, one has never actually been seized by any law enforcement organization. And people from all walks of life throughout time have gathered in secret factions to frequently carry out assassinations against one another in order to seek out a Monarin Stylus. These objects are never openly traded, not even within the bounds of a black market, because of how coveted they are. And furthermore, the transaction of a Monarin Stylus from one entity to another rarely occurred without the loss of human life.
The location of ten of these Monarin Styli are unknown; however, it is speculated that many businesses, especially in the Kingdom of Gyrosak, may be under sway by a possible secret oligarch possessing one or more of the ten Styli. Numerous Circlarian businesses have, after all, been showing signs in recent decades of being influenced in favor of monopolistic tendencies.
As mentioned before, the eleventh Stylus is speculated to have been involved in a deal that existed between the Kontacet family in Combria and the House of Esary in Notulfa. The Monarin Stylus was initially invented by an unidentified member of the Kontacet family as simply a "useless plaything," while all eleven of them were produced around the same time as part of a set. However, between 1172 and 1173, although this item of speculation is seen as little more than a conspiracy theory, the Kontacet family was supposedly approached by the House of Esary, who appraised the high value of the Monarin Styli. Accordingly, a member of the Sororal Council of the Primeron Class (SCPC), part of the House of Esary, extended an offer to the Kontacet family during this time to purchase one Monarin Stylus for a fortune. It was this deal to which the Kontacet family agreed and the transaction made.
Since then, the SCPC has been involved in some unusual events. In 1187, popular sentiment and a nearly-successful violent uprising in the name of the House of Esary threatened the region of Ereautea. Between 1300 and 1440, strong pro-Esarian sentiment swept across Middle Remikra without explanation. And between 1374 and 1375, similar sentiment had its clout on Recastelaren, who failed to prepare for and sustain an invasion carried out by the SCPC, and would ultimately suffer defeat.
Presently, the status and whereabouts of the SCPC are unknown. However, it is speculated that if Monarin Styli exist and that the theory surrounding the Kontacet family is true, the SCPC may still be in possession of one.