View source for The First Land Herald/450-1-17

{{FLH
|author=Illiya
|gamedate=450-1-17
|articlenumber=93
|headline=Wild Magic Recap: Mystery Visitors, Cataclysmic Rumors, Messages From Beyond
|article=Since the disappearance of the five adventurers, Elanthia has been gripped by a growing sense of unease.  With strange occurrences multiplying in the wake of this event, it's easy to feel overwhelmed.  To help you make sense of the unfolding chaos, we offer this overview of recent events.

Mysterious Visitors: Who Are They And What Do They Want?

In recent weeks, our lands have been visited by a series of enigmatic figures, each bearing dire predictions and proposed solutions for the escalating wild magic crisis.  To help you navigate these claims, we present a summary of their messages.

Asildu: A Human scholar who has dedicated his life to the study of the Heralds, Asildu first appeared at an Overhealers Anonymous meeting.  He listened intently to our theories about the missing adventurers and declared that sorcery was a "disease" affecting our world.  He argued that its rampant use was worsening the wild magic situation and suggested that convincing people to abandon sorcery might be a viable solution to the crisis.

Miraena: Hailing from an unnamed village west of Wolf Clan, a Human woman named Miraena presented herself as a farmer with an extraordinary claim: she's had visions she believes were sent from the Heralds.  Driven by a deep-seated conviction to prevent impending catastrophe, she traveled to the Crossing to ask adventurers to stop using sorcery, for the good of the world.  According to Miraena, her village's fields and small homes were ravaged by swirling vortexes of light energy.  She pled to the skies for ways to protect her family and was graced with visions from the Heralds of the death and destruction bound for our world should the use of sorcerous magic continue.  She gifted blue irises from her village to those who pledged to stop using sorcery, saying that they would serve as a reminder of who they hoped to save.

Valenal: While I have not personally had the chance to meet Valenal at the time of this writing, reports from Kethrai and Avrenka paint a curious figure.  Claiming to be a Human Warrior Mage, he behaved strangely, speaking in mathematical terms, attempting to eat a lead rope, and mistaking a sandwich for a type of headwear.  Despite these eccentricities, Valenal offered a compelling theory about the escalating magical disturbances affecting our Plane of Abiding.  According to him, the magical oddities we are experiencing are caused by a net outflow of energy from our plane to somewhere outside our plane.  Each non-sorcerous cast has the potential for an unknown force to siphon energy away to a place outside our plane.  Conversely, the interaction of different mana types via sorcery can pull mana into our plane from the void.  Intriguingly, Valenal expressed skepticism towards Asildu, calling him a liar and possibly in league with thieves, warning us to "watch out for those who would warn you against sorcery."  He advised that if we identify the motive and the means, we will find the perpetrator.

Unaka: A Gor'Tog Paladin, Unaka claims to have been sent by Truffenyi to help protect us.  She said that she received a vision, or what felt like five visions at once, of a giant ox head in the sky while she was sitting in a clearing tending to a lavender plant.  According to Unaka, the vision was a message from Truffenyi, who told her that he loves us and wants us to survive, and that he was sending her to protect us.  She seems to have garnered particular trust among adventurers due to her appearance and circumstances, which echoed a recent Cleric vision. (See FLH article from 449-10-33.)

Liraxes: Liraxes, a crystalline entity composed of fractal blue lattices vaguely resembling a male humanoid, made its presence known during a gathering convened by Urbaj to address potential breaches of the Trader guild's pact with the Arbiter in Darkness.  It declared that our plane's homeostasis was no longer guaranteed and that its purpose was to restore balance.  Currently in an observational phase, Liraxes is gathering data to formulate a corrective course of action.  The entity assured the assembly that once a concrete plan is established, assistance will be sought, and it will report additional findings in the future.

With such divergent viewpoints, it can be challenging to determine the most credible path forward.  Kethrai leaned toward trusting Unaka while remaining cautious.  "Of all the visitors we've had, Unaka seems the most truthful about what she is and who she represents," he said, absentmindedly grooming one ear with his hand.  "Valenal seems the least.  But everything else about wild magic smells of sorcery, so there might still be something to what Asildu and Miraena are saying.  For now I'm going to continue not using sorcery, and gather more information before deciding who we should trust."

Meanwhile, Avrenka advocated for gathering information from all sources.  "I believe each visitor brings some kernels of truth to the table," he said.  "If only a small piece of a much larger puzzle, most of which yet remains unrevealed.  We need every data point available.  I will not write off any one as completely wrong yet."

As the situation evolves, critical analysis and information gathering are essential.  The fate of our world may hinge on our ability to discern truth from deception.

Rumors of Mass Catastrophe in Surrounding Villages

Last night, after the vigil for Ayrell and the others, I was walking home along the streets of Shard when I overheard a disturbing conversation between two guards on a smoke break.

I was not paying much attention to their conversation until I heard one guard say to the other, "A whole village went silent, so we sent Rangers to check on them, and they found everything frozen in crystal outgrowths." 

The second guard nodded grimly and added, "Yeah, weird stuff happening all over.  In another settlement, all the cattle got caught in a tornado made of vines, and when it passed there was nothing but twisted bones and gristle."

I ducked out of sight and continued to listen.  They rambled back and forth for a little while.  "We've heard of mana storms ripping apart buildings, rip tides in the ocean, and unusual weather phenomena all over the place.  It's just a matter of time before it reaches us here, and I don't know if we can handle it."

At this point they began walking away from me now into a more well-lit area, so I didn't think I could follow unseen.  I left off following them as I was pretty sure they did not want to be overheard and didn't want to risk being seen.  But I was left feeling shaken and filled with a sense of impending doom.  The events we've endured thus far may pale in comparison to these cataclysmic occurrences, but they serve as a stark reminder that we are in the midst of a crisis of unprecedented proportions.

Messages from the Lost Adventurers

A couple days later, our connection to magic was severed once again.  Many of us rushed to Arhat's Tower, thinking that that place, if any, might hold answers.  As reported to me by Nawain Augtaire, who was in the tower at the time, when magic disappeared she began to examine the beacon she had been maintaining for potential damage.  At that moment, she suddenly began to hear the voices of the lost adventurers, each with a message to a close friend or loved one, which she quickly scribed down and relayed to the intended recipients:

~ Madigan, we are alive, together, and fighting.  Ours is a battle, but you and the world are at war.  You must take action, not just talk!  Fix the imbalance!  We will fight together again, my love.

~ Ezerak?  Ez, if you can hear me, I am alive.  Tell our children... tell them I will find a way home.  Protect them, please.  I beg of you.  We are trying to find a way out, but the world is in danger and in desperate need of your help.  You must keep fighting!  Do not give up!

~ Saragos, we're still alive.  We've searched, researched, experimented exhaustively, and there's no way out from this side.  The others seem optimistic but I think I may see things more clearly than they do, and I am losing hope.  Take care of our children.  I love you.

~ Vaerek, hope this reaches you.  Spread the word.  We are all still alive.  Our magic is suppressed.  No physical restraints, but no objects or landscape to interact with.  Passage of time difficult to gauge.  No sign of captors.  Do not believe we have moved far from initial entry point, but difficult to judge.

~ Anuril.  We are alive and will escape if possible.  You know your duty.  Don't miss your shot at killing them to save us, and don't let anyone else.  If I don't make it, tell those punks I'll see them in the void.

After weeks of tireless effort maintaining a beacon with little indication of success, Nawain was overjoyed to finally receive a message from our missing companions.  "I am so grateful to have been right where I needed to be right when I needed to be in order to hear those messages," she said.  "Knowing they are alive and unhurt, but relying on a rescue, has honed and focused the efforts to get them back.  We're going to bring them home.  Soon."

Although mysteries still abound about who the visitors are, where our friends are being held, and who is behind it all, knowing they are safe is at least some small measure of relief. 

With hope,

[[Illiya|Illiya]]</br>
Assistant Reporter for the [[The First Land Herald|First Land Herald]]

|subject=Wild Magic
}}