The Codex of Primary Sources is a compiled reference work attributed to the Arkaeni scholar Spanico the Sane (1164–1209). It catalogs myths, disputed artifacts, and speculative reconstructions of a forgotten era predating recorded history. The Codex is widely regarded as the most complete attempt by any organization to systematize and recover what the Arkaeni refer to as pre-veil knowledge—a term encompassing magic, divine hierarchies, and sentient nonhuman civilizations. Others refer to this as the time of the "Befores".
Though mainstream institutions reject its contents as speculative or allegorical, the Codex remains culturally significant among mystic and esoteric circles, and is archived in both Arkaeni and Tethuric Church repositories.
Compilation and Purpose
Spanico began compiling the Codex as a junior archivist within the Arkaeni, a fringe metaphysical society devoted to reconstructing what they believe to be suppressed or forgotten truths. The work was completed in 1203 EE, the product of four decades of cross-referencing folklore, untranslated fragments, cult scriptures, and oral legends.
The Codex does not refer to any specific lost event by name, but certain entries imply a catastrophic cultural break in the deep past—known among Arkaeni adherents only as “the Veiling” or “the Great Forgetting.” No academic consensus exists as to the origin or meaning of these terms.
Known Copies and Custody
There are four confirmed copies of the Codex:
- The Umstrad Atheneum, maintained by the Arkaeni Order
- A private copy held by the current Head of the Order
- A classified reference edition within the Archive of Enen, maintained by the Tethuric Church
- A partial academic transcription housed at the library of Mader-Chackett University
While the Tethuric Church does not endorse the metaphysical claims contained in the Codex, it acknowledges its cultural value as a catalog of folk belief and post-mythic reconstruction. Internal Church commentary refers to the Codex as “useful for tracing distorted echoes of pre-religious imagination.”
Structure and Categories
The Codex is divided into twelve thematic sections:
- Cosmology and Creation – Origin patterns and world-making structures
- Primordial Beings – Descriptions of figures such as the Eldinar and Palanem
- Divine Genealogy – Alleged lineages and relationships among forgotten deities
- Early Races – Accounts of sentient lifeforms not found in historical record
- Ancient Geography – Conjectural cartography of unverified landscapes
- Magical Principles – Frameworks for forces such as vorsys and omnicrux
- Ritual and Practice – Reconstructions of ceremonial systems
- Surviving Artifacts – Mentions of items rumored to retain unusual properties
- Linguistic Records – Partial glyph systems and speculative syntax
- Natural Philosophy – Nonstandard cosmological or elemental theories
- Prophetic Writings – Documents claiming foresight or cyclic return
- The Unspoken Era – Disconnected fragments hinting at total systemic collapse or transformation
Each entry includes:
- Title and Provenance
- Attributed Origin
- Current Status (if traceable)
- Summary of Claims
- Arkaeni Authenticity Score
- Cross-linked Symbolic Parallels
Interpretive Role and Reception
Among the Arkaeni, the Codex serves as both scripture and hypothesis: a guide to rediscovering or reviving forces believed to have once shaped reality.
Mainstream institutions treat it as an anthology of religious psychology and myth. While the Tethuric Church publicly dismisses the Arkaeni's claims, its Archive of Enen maintains a redacted version of the Codex under academic classification. The Church’s position holds that while the Codex contains “no usable truth,” it remains valuable as a “map of what people once believed they had lost.”
Access and Control
Within the Arkaeni Order, access to the Codex is limited to members who have completed at least five years of formal study. Sections involving active ritual theory or energy modulation are further restricted.
The Tethuric Church retains a copy for the purposes of containment, preservation, and hermeneutic contrast, but does not permit public study of the document. Requests for interinstitutional review are handled on a case-by-case basis.