Dantia/Storylines/Mana Surges & Wild Magic

This is an ONGOING ROLEPLAYING EVENT. Information is being updated as it becomes available.

2021 - June 14, 2024: The Long Lead Up

438-05-38(ish) (June/July 2021) - People started receiving occasional odd messaging when casting spells. During Hollow Eve 2021 (and 2022), several Merelew Greeters asked adventurers if they had been having these strange feelings, too. For a comprehensive list of messaging and probability over time, see Urbaj's roundup.

448-05-04 (March 2, 2024) - Mazrian hosts the "Investigating the Magical Mind" event, where adventurers participated in an experiment to try to recreate these oddities in a controlled way. Various mana types and spells were tested, with casters being observed, and other casters attempting to tamper with the mana streams to induce resonance or dampening, with the goal of inducing a similar state as the oddities. There were no conclusive outcomes of this investigation.

449-05-20 (June 14, 2024) - The magic oddities (sometimes referred to as surges) begin increased in frequency, eventually culminating on June 14, 2024 to occur on each and every each cast. Several meetings are held to discuss what this might signify, with no solid hypothesis. One idea that comes up is to try to reduce the amount of casting that adventurers are doing, but it's decided that would be too hard to orchestrate.

June 15, 2024: Magic is Out

449-05-184 (June 15, 2024) - Realm wide, people felt one of the below messages, depending on their mana type/Guild:

• Pain stabs through your mind and body as your attunement to the breathing rise and fall of Life is suddenly severed! (Empath / Ranger)
• Pain stabs through your soul as your attunement to the footsteps of the gods wavers and becomes lost! (Cleric / Paladin)
• Pain stabs through your mind and body as your attunement to the elemental forces around you is suddenly severed! (Warrior Mage / Bard)
• Pain stabs through your mind and body as your attunement to the heavenly bodies is suddenly severed! (Moon Mage / Trader)
• Pain stabs through your scarred mind as your multifaceted attunement to the mana spectrum is suddenly undone! (Necromancer)

After this, attempting to use the magic system (such as prepare a spell, harness, invoke a tattoo, or use a wand) you would receive one of two messages. Magic was off!

• [The magic system is inoperative at the moment. Sorry for the inconvenience.]
• Strangely, you can sense absolutely nothing. It's as if magic didn't exist.

Over the next hour, we felt (in this order):

Your body trembles as your mind instinctively reaches toward that place where you usually feel your connection to magic.  It is cold.

You feel a surge of mana reaching toward you!  You instinctively reach out to grasp it.  You struggle to hold on, but it slips away again, leaving you feeling exhausted.

You sense a fleeting trace of mana.  It briefly grows stronger, but quickly fades away again.

Your senses explode and you are momentarily blinded!  Mana overfills your being, and you struggle to control the flow!  Just as suddenly, it seeps away, leaving you empty.

You feel a deep sense that something has changed.  Your attunement to the breathing rise and fall of Life is restored, but it does not feel controllable!

Casting had returned, but now it was Wild! For more information on how Wild Magic works, the messaging, or effects, please visit Wild Magic (Concept).

June 15, 2024: Vile Plague Wraith Invasion

On 449-05-184 (June 15, 2024), shortly after the the Wild Magic release, there was an invasion of Vile Plague Wraiths throughout Shard, Zoluren and Therengia.

> look wraith
Held aloft by two expansive skeletal wings, the massive plague wraith towers over thirty feet tall.  Under its tattered cloak, a black mass of writhing insects and serpents cling tightly to a nearly fleshless skeleton.  Four elongated arms, covered in a tangle of scorpions and spiders, end in wickedly curved talons that twitch in anticipation of its next victim.  Practically obscured by the inky shadows cast by its voluminous hood, two flaming emerald eyes partially illuminate its malevolent hook-toothed skull.

Some of these creatures drop an emerald scarab medallion with a delicate gold inlay, which was cursed (meaning you could not drop it until it was uncursed).

June 15, 2024: Breakthrough Messaging

Along with the release of wild magic was the addition of a new RESEARCH option, RESEARCH WILD. Each Guild received a different piece of information regarding what was going on:

Trader:

Breakthrough!
Lunar mana fizzes out of focus with unknowable, periodic perturbations from the planets in your range.  Oddly enough, it is the Negotiants' unbidden tutelage that nudges you toward the research's endpoint and a wealth of knowledge relating to wild magic.  You are assured that the Contract is still inviolate and binding, and all prohibitions remain.  The Contract is all that matters.

Moon Mage:

Breakthrough!
Lunar mana fizzes out of focus with unknowable, periodic perturbations from the planets in your range.  Oddly enough, your calculations prompt you to think back to a time with Katamba unburnt and Grazhir whole, the golden age of near-effortless Lunar miracles.  All lost now, and the threads are converging on a similarly disastrous trajectory!

Paladin:

Breakthrough!
You have come to an alarming conclusion you attribute the changes in Holy mana's behavior to long-standing and widespread lopsided practices of magic.  An imbalance is shaking the Bulwark loose, which seems bafflingly vulnerable against this menace.

Cleric:

Breakthrough!
You have come to an alarming conclusion you attribute the changes in Holy mana's behavior to an 'upward' lurch in the flow.  Something is stymieing or etiolating the Font of Creation, and Divinity itself is suffering for it!

Bard:

Breakthrough!
Something is broken with the replenishment cycles of Elemental mana.  Even though you have not noticed a decrease in available power, it seems inevitable.  From what your research has evoked, you have the smallest understanding, the barest shape, of an eonic plan that stretches back to the dark histories -- gods and demons, mortals and monsters all helpless before it.

Warrior Mage:

Breakthrough!
Something is broken with the replenishment cycles of Elemental mana.  Even though you have not noticed a decrease in available power, it seems inevitable.  Lessons from long ago prickle at your mind concerning the lore of Sraan Mehath.  You cannot shake a feeling of deep dread.

Empath:

Breakthrough!
Life mana has buckled under vast pressures from what feel like above and below.  Although this instills a fear in you for the fate of the cycle of life, you do not think the repercussions will echo to the natural world just yet.

Ranger:

Breakthrough!
Life mana has buckled under vast pressures from what feel like above and below.  You have an intimation that the Life dragons are keenly aware of the causes, preparing and further isolating their conserved lands.  However, as usual, they have withheld their counsel.

Necromancer:

Breakthrough!
You just concluded the unpleasant task of tracking the continual disruption in Arcane mana, step by minute step.  Some force beyond your ken, nothing short of godly, has been changing the rules with a brutal hand.  The Great Work is tipped on the brink of impossibility as the mana streams become increasingly immiscible, sterile, and foreign textured all at once.

Necromancer (Redeemed):

Breakthrough!
You just concluded the unpleasant task of tracking the continual disruption in Arcane mana, step by minute step.  The grand order ordained by the gods is under attack by... itself?  In ways you cannot approach grasping, the mana spectrum is separating out, each strand resisting attempts to bend it into patterns.

June 18, 2024: Remembering Keishalae

Posted by Dantia to Discord:

Dantia rubs her temples, trying once again to fend off the weight of worries pressing down on her.  The bizarre forces and implications behind the Wild Magic phenomenon were causing her sleepless nights -- but there was just so much work left.

In the aftermath of the events, anyone of a spellcasting Guild with a basic knowledge of Arcana could set about researching this Wild Magic, and the findings all proved to be of great concern.  Empaths themselves had concluded that Life mana was buckling under some vast pressure from what felt like above and below.  Broadly, Life mana flows from the cycle of life and death, so this was enough to instill a fear that the cycle itself was under threat.  And Dantia was not one to sit idly by in the face of a threat.

Around her on the floor are organized stacks of notes, books, scrolls, and messages, all within easy reach.  From between these piles, she lifts a small sanowret crystal, the light of a nearby candle flickering across its surface.  She lowers her gaze into it and the recollection of wisdom again fills her mind, her lips moving silently to mouth the words memorized as if a mantra.

"Life magic is perhaps the most mysterious realm to Kermorians, lacking the scholarly body of the other three conventional realms and the critical eye placed upon Arcane magic.  Broadly, it derives its power from the cycle of life and death, expressions of biological order and entropy."

The tones of the sanowret crystal continue.

"Despite the name, Life mana is strongly identified with the natural process of decay.  This has been a matter of confusion, since common sensibilities would place the 'magic of death' as being Necromancy, but this is not the case.  Necromancy deals with perversions and unnatural permutations of life and death.  The actual process..."

Exhaustion begins to overtake her, the words of the sanowret playing through her mind like a soft lullaby - the kind which brings stillness to your mind and allows you to drift off to sleep more easily.  Her chin tilts downwards, aching for someplace to rest.  Her own mind begins to wander amidst the words of the sanowret, the two entwining in the space of her mind.

"... of dying and decaying into constituent parts..." Death.  Decaying.  The cycle of life. 
"... is part of the power of Life." Life magic.  Life cannot defeat Life.  The Starry Road.

Finally finding a solid resting place, her chin ends its downward tilt, and her mind finally falls silent.  Sleep comes for her, and all is peaceful for a moment.  Two.  Three.

Her head snaps up, eyes wide as she stares into the distance.  "Keishalae..." she chokes out.  All at once she spurs into chaotic action.  She frantically pushes and pulls at the once organized piles of knowledge around her until she finds a scrap piece of paper with enough space to write on.

"The process of dying and decaying is part of the power of Life," she repeats, urging herself to remember whatever sleep-based thought she has had.  The tone of her voice changes, a clear imitation of the last time she heard Keishalae speak: "I have different needs now.  The price for your work will be your death." 

With a shaky hand she takes up her quill, dabs it into an inkwell, and writes in a hurried script.

"Life magic under pressure. Something threatening cycle of life and death. Font of Creation stymied. Gods, demons, mortals, monsters all helpless.  What is responsible?  Remember Keishalae."  She hastily blows out the nearby candle and hurries from the room.

I will be getting a calendar event up to discuss this theory line I have, but wanted to get my thoughts down while they were fresh!

June 19, 2024: Additional Points of View

• Story posted by Aislynn, available on Discord.
• Story posted by Nazzarus, available on Discord.
• Story posted by Nawain, available on Discord.

June 21, 2024: Grey Dragons Seek Amnuva

Waydren, of the Grey Dragons, hosted an event to reach out to the Kather Anmuva, on the hopes that the Life Dragons may know more about what is happening. Anmuva articulated concerns that wild magic disruptions were not only affecting mana streams but also potentially endangering the Immortals themselves. His metaphorical descriptions likened these disruptions to obstructed rivers, illustrating how such disturbances could lead to broader metaphysical repercussions. He emphasized the urgency of understanding the root causes of wild magic, advocated for cautious magical practices, and encouraged collaborative efforts among attendees to mitigate these effects and explore potential solutions.

During the event, Anmuva was confronted by Atuen who called Anmuva a false dragon.

* Anmuva suddenly extends to his full height -- you estimate as tall as an Ogre -- and lunges unexpectedly at Atuen, a snarl baring vicious teeth.  Atuen falters at the gesture, her willpower failing to maintain composure!

Anmuva appears satisfied, and stands his ground.

Atuen continues to huddle against the ground, shivering slightly.

However, upon recovering, Atuen attempted to cast on Anmuva, to this end:

Anmuva springs towards Atuen, with the speed of a tiger.  Anmuva angles himself to knock him to the ground!

Anmuva slams into Atuen, knocking him prone!

* Anmuva bites off Atuen's face!
* Atuen is slain before your eyes!

The full log of that event is available here.

June 22, 2024: Efforts Rewarded

Ayrell hosted a discussion at Milene's Rose Inn in Shard (log available here). While various theories on what is happening were being shared, we received:

You feel as if you've gained attention.  It is not a comfortable feeling.

You take a quick breath as you feel the eyes upon you fade away.

At a follow up vigil the same evening, hosted by Jaelia, we felt the following:

The back of your neck itches slightly for a moment and you feel as if you've gained attention.

You feel as though Life mana is behaving differently in ways you cannot quite interpret.

You feel the eyes upon you fade away.

The air takes on a honeyed-tone, and everything slows.  The ground seems to heave and you lose your balance.  After a moment, the sensation passes, though something feels very wrong.

The mana streams roil, and you are unable to make sense of the chaotic fluctuations!

You feel yourself leaning over the edge of a cliff, a barren abyss incapable of growth or change! (Note: this line changed depending on your Guild, see below)

A gust of turbulent hot air billows around you, while an expanding ring of frost spreads around your feet.  You smell burnt sugar and your throat stings.

Your connection to the mana streams buzzes painfully, a pounding headache building as your ears throb and you squint against the pain!

Darkness begins to encroach around the edge of your vision, erupting with silvery star bursts.  You fight against the loss of sight, but everything begins to go black!  A wolf howls in the distance, and a golden lightning bolt forks across the darkness, restoring your vision!

The strange quality of the air fades, and the headache passes.  You take a shuddering breath and everything feels...  a little better?

Bard: You feel yourself leaning over the edge of a cliff, discordant echoes howling without pattern!
War Mage: You feel yourself leaning over the edge of a cliff, indistinguishable elements crackling and blurring together!
Moon Mage: You feel yourself leaning over the edge of a cliff, gazing upon the reflection of foreign and silent stars!
Trader: You feel yourself leaning over the edge of a cliff, gazing upon the reflection of dim and meaningless stars!
Paladin: You feel yourself leaning over the edge of a cliff, devoid of order and nobility!
Cleric: You feel yourself leaning over the edge of a cliff, empty and without Their grace!
Empath: You feel yourself leaning over the edge of a cliff, a barren abyss incapable of growth or change!
Ranger: You feel yourself leaning over the edge of a cliff, untended and incapable of growth or change!
Necromancer: You feel yourself leaning over the edge of a cliff, absent even Their snarled and threatening whispers!

At this point, we received this announcement on Discord:

Ongoing Event: Wild Magic Updates

The phase change tonight saw characters' efforts rewarded.  Someone or something .. did something.  We heard a wolf howl, we saw a lightning bolt.  And things feel a little .. better.

The Gods are tryin' to do what they do!  Because of their intervention, two effects have been dropped from wild magic:  You will no longer experience Mana burn, and you will no longer experience a full attunement refill.

With this release, we also added a few more spell customizations.  Thank you to the players of @Hamuk  @Imroth  and @Valynn  for their help with designs!

June 26, 2024: Planar Observatory Exploration Event

There was an expedition to the Planar Observatory to investigate whether the unique perspective of that location would shed any light on the difficulties with mana and spellcasting.

Adventurers entered the Astral Plane to find it more chaotic than typical. They heard voices with no clear origin echoing from every direction, whispering the word "Liraxes." A benevolent voice raises to the front warning that the Microcosm is less stable than before, and that "even now, Liraxes assembles itself." The voice began urging adventurers to return to the Plane of Abiding, even nudging at their backs. "Go! He comes!" the voice called.

A new harsh, distorted voice was heard saying, "I was named Pelag ai Aldam." The benevolent voice pled with adventurers to leave before something, someone "tears your consciousness to shreds." The nudging became shoving, and they were forced back into the Plane of Abiding.

Even when returned, adventurers could still hear the words "Liraxes assembles itself."

Those words ("I was named Pelag ai Aldam") are usually heard when Pelag ai Aldam encounters a Moon Mage in the Astral Plane and kills them. It appears that the benevolent voice was able to shove adventurers back to the Plane of Abiding before this occurred.

A log of the GM sent bits is available here.

June 26, 2024: Wild Magic and the Web of Fate Event

Miskton held an event where he would perform a prediction on people while they were engaged in researching wild magic (see more about that [Wild_magic_(concept)#Research|here]), with the hope that "attunement to the vagaries of wild magic will provide a focus for [his] prophetic insight."

There were a number of predictions completed. Below are the various results:

You focus inwardly searching for insight into Kethrai's future.

Everything shifts weirdly, and you feel off... The feeling passes.

After a moment, you smell pine and feel the need to wipe sawdust from your hands. A wooden box rests in your hands, as yet unpolished, but expertly assembled with precise dovetails. Opposing pine and oak make for a striking contrast, and the lid appears as a fractional gap interrupting the grain. Before your eyes, the box appears to shift, and is now a smoothly interlocked orb. As you blink, the vision fades, and the box disappears.

You focus inwardly searching for insight into Yvela's future.

Everything shifts weirdly, and you feel off... The feeling passes.

After a moment, burning pitch stings your eyes and the sky shatters, dripping reflective shards of rainbowed light. You watch this strange skyfall, mesmerized by the tumbling images of the sky and land spinning in every direction. As you watch, the pieces pick up speed and begin to slam into the ground, exploding into crystalline fire and evaporating. Gaps in the sky writhe with bulges of nothingness, and suddenly, one of the shards slices your cheek! You gasp in surprise as crystal erupts along your face, covering your eyes, your vision skewing wildly. The vision fades, and everything returns to normal.

Vaerek says, "A bell is struck in the distance, an odd tone with several harmonics. You feel yourself yanked forward, falling to your knees, and when you look up, a large hexagonal bell etched in strange symbols hovers in the air before you. The bell is struck, and you are buffeted backward by the deafening sound. The vision fades, and you wobble uncertainty."

You focus inwardly searching for insight into Saragos's future.

Everything shifts weirdly, and you feel off... The feeling passes.

Your hands itch, and you clap them together in irritation. The feeling persists, and you cannot shake the sense of something left unfinished -- an orlog assembled but missing a final component. For some reason you are confident that while something is missing, the whole is operational. And you ponder this certainty, the stars begin to howl, and the sensation passes.

You focus inwardly searching for insight into Crobin's future.

Everything shifts weirdly, and you feel off... The feeling passes.

Acrid smoke wafts past you, and you turn around finding yourself face to face with the woman in the wide-brimmed hat, her cataract eyes staring at you as she grins a cruel half grin around a lit cigarillo. "This isn't my doing," She says, "Though I'm almost jealous at the scale. But it's calling itself Liraxes, eh? Curious choice. Well, we'll see where this lands." The smoke stings your eyes, and as you cough, she vanishes without a trace.

You focus inwardly searching for insight into Allye's future.

Everything shifts weirdly, and you feel off... The feeling passes.

A rumble passes underfoot, and you cock your head straining to hear. A sound not unlike... sizzling oil? Rushes by again. You kneel, touching the ground gingerly, and feel it through your fingertips, the churn of hundreds of feet churning along. The ground erupts, and you fall, fall into a mass of appendages and digging claws, hearing the whispered word "Liraxes" echoing all around. Suddenly the feeling fades, and you look around in confusion.

You focus inwardly searching for insight into Jaelia's future.

Everything shifts weirdly, and you feel off... The feeling passes.

The ground heaves, and a chunk of stone thrusts upward, grinding loudly. Several strange symbols burn into the sheer face of rock, and reassemble themselves into the letters "L", "I", and "R". The stone suddenly collapses into a pile of rubble, the pieces vibrating slightly. You blink, and the vision fades.

You focus inwardly searching for insight into Kerennya's future.

Everything shifts weirdly, and you feel off... The feeling passes.

You find yourself surrounded by calm waters, a gentle sea breeze barely stirring the air. A trio of fish, one black as night, another blood red, the third a light blue, swirl circles around your feet. You look down and find yourself smiling at the three, seemingly unafraid. A fourth fish, pure white, swims in the distance, and the vision fades.

(This one was widely believed to be a representation of the moons.)

Vaerek says, "You stand before a cliff, looking down into a swirling maelstrom crackling with purple lightning. Echoes violently tear at the air around you, and you step back in fear. Far above, a slug-like creature drifts down, extending several tentacles and reaching for you. Suddenly, a lance of blinding light skewers the horizon, piercing the floating slug, which erupts into black slime as it falls into the storm below. A deafening explosion forces you to cover your ears, and the vision fades."

You focus inwardly searching for insight into Ayrell's future.

Everything shifts weirdly, and you feel off... The feeling passes.

PAIN! Talons and barbs twist along your insides and you gasp in sudden, almost absurd agony! Your whole body tenses, and you turn slightly, finding yourself face to face with a hooded figure. A blinding rainbowed light tears from the figure's hood, and you make out a massive maw screaming "LIRAXES ASSERTS ITSELF!" before everything goes white. You blink, and your vision returns to normal, the pain receding.

You focus inwardly searching for insight into Navesi's future.

Everything shifts weirdly, and you feel off... The feeling passes.

Everything wavers, and you feel wildly disoriented. You find yourself looking down an endless hallway filled with featureless doors. One of the doors opens, and an old woman emerges, closing the door behind her. She turns to you, and waves a hand in irritation, and calls out in a firm but reasoned tone, "Alright, enough, you've pushed your luck enough! Go, before they take note!" She opens the door to step through, and you catch a glimpse of kaleidoscopic lights, swirling galaxies, and find your mind pulled forward. The door shuts, and locks, and the vision fades.

After that prediction, Miskton felt:

The stars vibrate slightly, and everything shudders as the mana streams realign, resettle, and briefly calm. You hear them singing, exhausted, and unwilling to share more.

And all those gathered then felt:

You feel odd a moment, and the feeling quickly passes. Everything feels... normal? again.

A full log of this event is available here.

June 27, 2024: Diplomacy with Dragon Priests Event

Although previous talks with the Dragon Priests had yielded little information regarding their recent activities, the ongoing concerns surrounding wild magic and disruptions to mana have led to a different purpose in reaching out to the Ecclesiarch Suulnir. Research indicates the dragons to potentially have knowledge of the disturbance and its cause. As the Dragon Priests serve a dragon Emperor, Ayrell assembled a team attempted to speak with the Ecclesiarch in hopes of obtaining information that may aid in the continuing efforts to solve this mystery. Unfortunately, Suulnir did not appear at the meeting and thus the party was unable to ask questions.