The Thirteen Banners

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Aura wielding is the disciplined channeling of internal energy—aura—into elemental expression. The Citadel Academy recognizes thirteen distinct paths, organized into four tiers of complexity. Every citizen tested for aura affinity is sorted into one of the recognized paths. Those who manifest outside recognized parameters are... reassigned.

This guide was compiled from Academy lecture notes, restricted archive fragments, and one document that should not exist.

THE FOUR FUNDAMENTALS

Tier I — Required Curriculum

Flame's Embrace

Tier I

Symbol

Phoenix rising

Colors

Crimson Gold

Expression

Outward expansion, passion, destruction and warmth

Requirements

Strong will, emotional intensity, willingness to release control

Training

4-year standard track

Citadel Assessment "The most common affinity. Reliable. Predictable. The backbone of Citadel military operations."

Tide's Grace

Tier I

Symbol

Endless current

Colors

Deep Blue Silver

Expression

Fluidity, adaptability, continuous motion

Requirements

Emotional intelligence, patience, willingness to yield

Training

4-year standard track

Citadel Assessment "Versatile. Water wielders serve in logistics, healing support, and naval operations."

Zephyr's Breath

Tier I

Symbol

Spiral cutting through silence

Colors

Pale Gray White

Expression

Elevation, circular flow, speed

Requirements

Mental agility, spatial awareness

Training

4-year standard track

Citadel Assessment "Scouts, messengers, reconnaissance. Underestimated at the Academy's peril."

Terra's Might

Tier I

Symbol

Mountain rising

Colors

Umber Bronze

Expression

Grounding, foundation, immovable resolve

Requirements

Patience, stubbornness, physical connection to the land

Training

4-year standard track

Citadel Assessment "Siege warfare. Fortification. The slowest to train and the hardest to stop."

EVOLVED PATHS

Tier II — Specialized Tracks, Year 3+

Storm's Fury

Tier II

Evolution

Wind + Fire convergence

Expression

Call down strikes, channel arcs through the body

Requirements

Dual-affinity or extreme single-path mastery

Citadel Assessment "Rare enough to be valuable. Common enough to be deployable."

Frost's Veil

Tier II

Evolution

Water mastery and compression

Expression

Freeze moisture, create ice constructs, cryokinesis

Requirements

Extreme emotional control; water wielders who suppress rather than flow

Citadel Assessment "The most disciplined wielders in the Academy often walk this path."

Verdant's Blessing

Tier II

Evolution

Earth communion and acceleration

Expression

Healing, accelerated growth, communion with living systems

Requirements

Empathy, biological intuition

Citadel Assessment "Citadel medical corps. Always in demand. Never enough."

Sunder's Edge

Tier II

Evolution

Earth refinement and shaping

Expression

Shape and become one with metal

Requirements

Precision, forge-sense, material awareness

Citadel Assessment "Legendary smiths walked this path. The Citadel's finest weapons bear their mark."

RARE & LOST PATHS

Tier III — Restricted Knowledge

Ethereal's Touch

Near-Extinct

Status

NEAR-EXTINCT

Expression

Perceive through solid matter, become intangible, walk the boundary between planes

Known Wielders

None confirmed in current generation [NOTE: This entry may require updating]

Citadel Assessment "Theoretical. The last confirmed Ethereal wielder died before the current Academy was built. Training protocols do not exist."

Radiance's Hand

Extremely Rare

Status

EXTREMELY RARE

Expression

Shape light itself—illusions, blinding flares, invisibility

Citadel Assessment "Infiltration and espionage applications. The Citadel monitors all confirmed cases personally."

Thought's Dominion

Lost

Status

LOST

Expression

Link minds, share knowledge, create powerful relics

Citadel Assessment "No living wielders. The techniques died with the last practitioner. Some Academy scholars dispute whether this path ever truly existed."

FORBIDDEN & LEGENDARY

Tier IV — [CLASSIFIED]

Abyss's Descent

FORBIDDEN

CLASSIFIED

Status

BANNED — Banner hangs in chains at Academy entrance

Expression

Devour aura, create zones of dread, give form to ████████

Training

████████████████

Citadel Assessment "The practice, study, or discussion of void aura is grounds for immediate expulsion and containment. This is not a path. It is a threat." CLASSIFIED

Omnira

Legendary

Status

NEVER ACHIEVED — Recorded history

Expression

Mastery of all paths through connection. The unity of all twelve banners.

Citadel Assessment "A myth. The Omnira knot—all twelve banners woven into one endless pattern—appears in pre-Citadel art but has no historical basis. Filing this entry under Cultural Heritage rather than Active Paths."

ADDENDUM: [PAGES REMOVED]

The following pages have been removed from this guide by order of the Academy Council, dated [illegible]. The removed section concerned a practice referred to in older texts as ████████ ██████████ — a method of aura interaction that does not manifest as elemental expression but rather as ████████████████████.

See also: The Arcanum (restricted, Lower Archive, Section 12)
See also: Harmony Cadre field reports (DESTROYED per Council Order 7.14)
See also: ████████████████████████

Note from the archivist: I am leaving this addendum against direct orders. If you are reading this, you found it for a reason. The path they buried isn't dangerous because it's destructive. It's dangerous because it requires something the Citadel cannot manufacture: trust████.

A Field Guide to Aura Wielding

THE FOUR FUNDAMENTALS

Flame's Embrace

Tide's Grace

Zephyr's Breath

Terra's Might

EVOLVED PATHS

Storm's Fury

Frost's Veil

Verdant's Blessing

Sunder's Edge

RARE & LOST PATHS

Ethereal's Touch

Radiance's Hand

Thought's Dominion

FORBIDDEN & LEGENDARY

Abyss's Descent

Omnira

ADDENDUM: [PAGES REMOVED]