Wild magic (event)

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.

• Since at least 2021, a small portion of spell casts has resulted in "weird magic" messages about mana streams, often involving unexpected synesthesia. The weird fluctuations seem to be present across all types of spellcasting. All guilds see these sorts of messages at similar rates. The type of magic (augmentation, warding, sorcery, etc.) does not have an effect. At first, roughly 1 in 5,000 of casts. The initial batch of messages included:

Alarmingly, the familiar streams of mana seem shift entirely away from you for a moment.

You smell lush vegetation, the scent heady and intoxicating.  Your nose itches, and you sneeze.

Strangely, the familiar streams of mana seem to jitter out of your control for a moment.

The mana streams intertwine oddly, forming a curious knot.  The tangle relaxes.

As you manipulate the mana streams, you feel suddenly out of breath, and your heart begins to race.  After a moment, the feeling passes.

The familiar task is disrupted by a moment of synesthesia.  You hear the streams of mana come together as you complete your casting.

As you manipulate the mana streams, you feel like you are falling, and gasp in surprise.  The feeling passes.

The mana streams buckle oddly for a moment.

Something feels off.

• Around December 10, 2023, these sorts of messages began appearing more frequently, reaching 0.9% by December 31, 2023 (a 40X increase). New messages also began appearing around this time:

For a brief moment, the mana responds with an unexpected surge, tingling through your fingertips like an electric current.

As you weave the mana streams together, a scream not unlike the scraping of metal on metal resounds, only to warp and be replaced with... laughter?

A momentary distortion in the mana reveals fleeting glimpses of distant landscapes, each branching and vanishing in an instant.

The ambient temperature drops noticeably as you manipulate the streams of mana, causing a shiver to run down your spine.

The mana takes on an iridescent glow, growing in brightness until you are forced to blink.  Then, the glow is gone.

As you manipulate the mana, an unexpected taste fills your mouth, reminiscent of bitter herbs.

The ambient temperature rises sharply as you weave the mana, a sudden wave of warmth enveloping you and making beads of sweat form on your forehead.

• On January 5, 2024, a new batch of messages began appearing:

You smell the verdant scent of fresh grass.

Frighteningly, the mana streams suddenly disappear!  You blink in surprise, only to find they have returned.  Did it even happen?

The mana takes on an iridescent glow, growing in brightness until you are forced to blink.  Then, the glow is gone.

The mana streams stretch and droop languidly like ropes of elongated taffy, then snap back to normal.

The mana streams take on a sudden brittleness, snapping and crumbling under your manipulations.  After a moment, they return to normal, and you are able to complete your casting.

You are suddenly shocked with the bitter flavor of too-strong coffee in your mouth.

The mana streams twist and ripple suddenly like ribbons of seaweed underwater, then snap back to normal.

You hear a sound like cracking ice, and are struck with a sense of uneasiness.

Sounds suddenly mute themselves, until you find yourself completely deaf! Your heart pounds for several seconds, then, with a small *pop*, the auditory world returns.

You taste a myriad of fruity flavors in quick succession -strawberry, orange, lemon, lime, blueberry, grape, and taffelberry stick out to you among the chaotic jumble of sensations.

You suddenly taste an intensely sweet flavor, like too much icing on a cupcake.

Out of the corner of your eye, you sense a shifting in the mana streams, a languorous movement like that of coiling snakes.  When you turn to look, everything appears normal.

As you manipulate the mana streams, color seems to drain from your surroundings, momentarily leaving everything in shades of grey.

You smell the warmth of baking bread, the coziness of cinnamon and cloves settling around you.

The streams of mana before you suddenly appear to become shards of light, a profusion of crystallized growth blooming in clusters around them.  After several seconds, the crystals melt away and the streams appear as they always do.

Your nostrils are filled with the scent of the ocean, a mysterious depth to the smell that sinks into dark notes of salty chocolate.

The mana streams suddenly appear thin and threadlike, like the filaments of a spiderweb. They twitch slightly before returning to normal.

Your mouth goes dry with the taste of something cool and freshly alcoholic.

As you manipulate the mana streams, they rub against one another oddly, like a bow on the strings of an instrument. You hear a drawn out, discordant note.

• 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.

• On March 9, 2024, all of the previous messages were replaced with more aggressive and violent ones:

The mana seethes with violent intent, thirsting for destruction and chaos.

The mana coils around you like a violent storm, ready to unleash its fury upon the world.

As you weave the mana, a violent sense of dread washes over you, chilling you to the bone.

As you manipulate the mana, a violent surge of pain shoots through your body, threatening to overwhelm your senses.

Your senses are assaulted by a violent onslaught of visions, each more disturbing than the last.

The mana pulses with violent energy, threatening to overwhelm you with its sheer intensity.

A surge of violent energy courses through your veins, causing your muscles to tense involuntarily.

Violent surges of mana erupt uncontrollably, crackling like lightning in your mind.

The mana pulses with raw, unbridled rage, eager to unleash its fury upon the world.

The mana streams twist and writhe violently, as if resisting your commands.

Your vision blurs as violent images flash before your eyes, disorienting you as you attempt to cast your spell.

As you manipulate the mana, you feel a sudden, violent pressure building within your mind, threatening to consume your thoughts.

The mana surges violently, pulsating with dark, ominous energy that threatens to consume you.

As you channel the mana, a violent surge of rage overwhelms your senses, driving you to unleash your magic with reckless abandon.

As you channel the mana, a violent sense of rage washes over you, fueling your magic with unchecked fury.

Your senses are assaulted by a violent cacophony of screams and wails as you manipulate the mana.

As you channel the mana, a violent sense of foreboding washes over you, warning of imminent danger.

A violent surge of power courses through your veins, leaving you feeling invincible and unstoppable.

The mana surges forward with violent intent, seeking to wreak havoc upon your enemies.

The mana crackles with violent energy, making you pause for a moment.

The mana surges forward with violent force, threatening to consume everything in its path.

The mana swirls around you in a violent maelstrom, threatening to tear you apart with its sheer force.

The mana twists and contorts in violent, unpredictable patterns, defying your attempts to control it.

The mana twists and contorts in violent patterns, defying your attempts to control it.

The mana surges forward with savage intensity, seeking to crush anything that dares to oppose it.

The mana surges forward with violent intent, seeking to annihilate anything that stands in its way.

With a violent roar, the mana streams surge forward, threatening to overwhelm you with their raw power.

As you weave the mana, you feel a sudden, violent pressure building within you, threatening to burst forth.

The mana surges forward like a crashing tide, slamming against the shore with relentless force.

As you manipulate the mana, a violent surge of anger courses through you, fueling your magic with raw emotion.

The mana coils around you like a violent serpent, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

• 449-05-20 (June 13, 2024) - The magic oddities (sometimes referred to as surges) increased in frequency to 50%, 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.

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 with mixed results.

Wild Magic

Spellcasting became subject to the effects of wild magic, causing all sorts of unexpected effects while casting, and unlock a new magical research option, with results that seem to give ominous warnings about events to come.

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).