The Complexities of Extra-Planar Relations

The following article contains player-created lore or theories. It is not necessarily an accurate reflection of official game lore.

The Complexities of Extra-Planar Relations
The lecture from Aaoskar and Lenaea on 3.3.19, held in game at Crossing moon mage guild

"Thank you all for gathering. I would like to take a few roisaen of your time to speak of recent events, namely the recent attempt to converse with extra-planar entities. To refresh the memories of those who were there, and to inform those who may not have been there, I would like to briefly go over the goals of our attempt and what occurred on Taisgath Island."

"Myself, Lenaea, Traim, Chawguay, Kenamer, Zaer, Atazai, Zandari, and many others traveled to Taisgath island a week or so ago and stood before the Obelisk there. Our goal was to attempt to converse with extra-planar beings, namely, shadowlings and shadow servants-entities that, in all likelihood, you see every day."

"Although I cannot speak for everyone who decided to participate, the goal Lenaea and I shared in promoting the event was to learn what the shadows might have to say... to ask questions to enhance our understanding, and to attempt to create a dialogue between our realm and the Shadow plane to achieve peace."

"To begin, we announced that our intention was to communicate, not to harm. For our safety, and to further express our good intentions, Kenamer summoned a Banner of Truce. Later on, Navesi raised the Bardic Sanctuary enchantment to further pacify the area."

"The moon mages present were asked to cast spells to increase their connection to the plane of probability, such as tenebrous sense, seers sense, thoughtcast, and so forth. Once all were ready, we began to summon shadowlings and shadow servants, preparing to pose questions to them."

"Almost immediately, we began to feel a foreign presence. The shadows, it seems, were alive."

"We began to pose questions, including whether we caused shadow creatures any harm, whether they knew the Arbiter, why we are called Defilers, what we had done wrong, and so on."

"Shadows began to gather, and the more questions we asked, the more they reacted. First, they coalesced into some unknown script on the obelisk. They defied gravity and dripped upward and outward from it. A snarling face appeared on the surface of the obelisk, with too many eyes."

"Then the shadows spoke. They said, "Defilers, is it not enough that you bid us to do your petty errands, that you wish to bind us to answer your questions in your primitive tongue?"

"The shadows writhed in pain as we directed our individual thoughts and energies toward them. They spoke again, with many voices angrily calling out in unison "Children of Grazhir."

"We refocused our efforts, joining together in a singular line of questioning. Some attempted to make apologies, and to ask forgiveness for whatever wrongs had been committed in the past. Generally, though, we asked only that the shadows help us to understand their anger."

"The shadows writhed again as we continued to seek understanding, repeating in the same cacophonous voice "Children of Grazhir," this time with rage."

"Then the shadows swarmed around the obelisk, covering it in inky blackness! Rippling under unseen forces, the shadows suddenly froze in place, and thrust jaggedly outward!"

"I approached the obelisk and reached out towards it. Then, the shadows... they..."

"The shadows attacked my mind. I felt their pain, and their anger. I cannot say more right now. The wound they created still aches."

"After the shadows attacked me, they disappeared into nothingness, taking their whispers with them. Leaving us in silence."

"At this point, let us pause to see if anyone would like to discuss this so far. When everyone is ready, I will submit to you what I think we learned from this."

"I hope you will indulge me for a few minutes more to hear my thoughts on what we learned from our endeavor."

"Navesi, who was present for most of the events, wrote an account of what occurred, and concluded that little was learned from the attempt."

"I disagree."

"First, we learned how little is required to entice, encourage, or enable extra-planar entities to manifest in our plane. The only magical spells that were used were those we use on a daily basis."

"No one used sorcery, teleologic or otherwise. Our regular spells were enough to breach the Plane of Probability."

"Second, we learned, or at least suspect, that some of the entities who manifested themselves were likely Negotiants. Servants of the Arbiter in Darkness."

"We also learned that unfocused psychic energy caused the entities harm, or pain."

"We were all asking many different questions."

"I say this because before we began to focus our energies on a single question, the shadows covering the obelisk cowered from the unfocused concepts and psychic energies battering them."

"The knowledge that psychic energy effects them in a negative way has interesting implications. If psychic energy alone makes them upset with us, how much of our magic would we have to forsake to appease them?"

Lenaea asks, "Nevermind our magic, what about the gweth network?"

Lenaea asks, "If our unfocused questioning alone disturbed them, how do they feel about the constant influx of thoughts from the numerous people using gweths to communicate on numerous different topics?"

Lenaea says, "In that sense, if the psychic energies from gweths could affect them, Moon Mages alone would not bear the blame for their suffering."

"This may seem obvious at this point, but the entities were angry. They were not interested in our good intentions, nor in any attempt on our part to figure out what we may have done wrong in the past."

"This became all the more clear once we started to focus our energies and ask the same question."

"Their words, and their actions, indicate they have ill intentions toward us."

"Finally, we learned that the entities are more powerful than we anticipated. The combined effect of a Banner of Truce and a Sanctuary enchante could not stop the mass of shadows from launching an attack. In no way were the shadows held at bay."

"I will close, because I know we have other places to be. I propose that we continue to research our past to discover how we arrived at this point. Although some, I know, will disagree, and think me foolish, I maintain that we must also prepare for a potential war. The entities made plain their feelings about us. I cannot discuss it today, but I believe that an attack may be imminent."