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Magic Symposium
In the year 435 AV, Mazrian and Perune hosted the Magic Symposium within Zengmodaleth to bring adventurers together to discuss subjects of a magical or supernatural nature. Adventurers were asked to submit their own theories for discussion and as part of a contest.
Submissions
Ayrell
Title: The Curiosity of Time
Time is an intriguing concept. A concept we all face on a daily basis yet never really stop to think about. A roisaen is simply a roisaen. An anlas is simply an anlas. The past is the past, the present is the present, and the future is the future.
But what if it is not?
What if time is not as linear as we think? What if time is not what we think at all? What if time could be manipulated or changed? History re-written. The fate of our future altered. What if our actions in the present had the power to undo or create anything and everything that has already been or might be?
Until recently, these questions were little more than idle thoughts with little reason to find their way into our daily considerations. After all, why waste precious moments contemplating a subject matter that is beyond our basic ability to investigate. Without a means to gauge time, or truly delve into it, there has never been a way to research how it functions. The only ones with that ability are the ones known as Timekeepers. An elusive group tasked with “tending the lines,” as the one known as Veralos explained. But before I get into any sort of explanation, I should start with the initial theories, speculation, and concerns.
The most common theory is that which was suggested above. That time, itself, is linear, and the past, present, and future are what they are, and history is what it is, forever and ever, into eternity. There are some who also believe the future is set by fate and nothing we do in the present will affect it. This suggests we all are simply going through the motions of a life and timeline foreordained by fate. Another theory about the future is that only the present can affect it. That the past is done, but changes we make in the present can alter our path in the future, be it for better or worse.
So, what about the past? Belief that the past can be changed is one of the rarer theories. It is also the aspect of time which brings about the most disturbing of questions. If we were to, somehow, change the past in the present – would it change the present? The idea of time being linear suggests that would be the case. If we, in the present, found a means to travel back in time and change a pivotal moment in history, it would then create a waterfall of changes, each affected by the one before, until the present is transformed into a world where the history we once knew no longer exists and a new history has played out in its place. As such, those we knew to have died might still be alive. Those we knew to be alive might be dead. The altered chain of events could lead our friends and loved ones down different paths that might cause them to never enter our lives at all… or cease to exist altogether.
The fears associated with these theories, however, were never more than an uncomfortable thought until the past suddenly showed up on the present’s doorstep in the form of the Gorbesh. This was when my search for answers became more of a necessity than a curiosity. If the Gorbesh from the past were here in the present, what was that doing to our history? What did it mean for our future?
My first observation was that the present appeared stable. After each assault waged by the Gorbesh, nothing shifted in our current time. We still remembered history exactly as it was. The books still told the story of the Gorbesh war the way we all remembered it to be. Despite interactions with Veralos that spoke of lines being twisted, we were clearly interacting with the past without alteration to our present. This made me realize there is another theory about time that had yet to be considered. That there is not just one time. That time itself is not linear, but a constantly shifting and changing thing that exists with not only what we know to be, but what could have been and what could be. Endless combinations and possibilities. This was the theory that most interested me. The most intriguing of all, to think that there could be alternate timelines out there, running parallel to our own, but so different from the world and life we know. Alternate versions of ourselves, leading different lives, with different experiences and, therefore, different personalities or perspectives.
Although I didn’t expect my investigation to bear much fruit, given the limits we face when it comes to researching something so far beyond our ability to see or touch, we experienced a revelation during yet another interaction with the Timekeeper Veralos. A revelation that provided several answers to several questions already floating around in my head. Answers that confirmed the existence of “parallel” timelines, as I had already begun to suspect. Through our interaction with Veralos, he confirmed that time is, in fact, not linear. As a Timekeeper, he is able to see, not only the timeline we exist in, but a host of other timelines which allow him to view the possibilities which could have been, or would have been, had anything in our timeline occurred differently. These were described as branches, extending from our timeline, in every direction, to account for every variation, every choice that could be made, no matter how good or bad, benign or devastating.
When I inquired about what effects our interaction with the past might have on us in the present, the answer I received from Veralos indicated that the past in our timeline could not be altered itself, but that more branches were being created, separate from our own, to account for the changes being made without altering the world we know. This is an indicator that our timeline, with regard to the past, is in a fixed state. Interactions with the past as we know it, while it should not be possible, would not alter our past but would form additional branches with additional possibilities that had not previously been, but now are. Another timeline, with yet another version of us, living with the repercussions of the changes that were made.
In closing, there remain unanswered questions about time, and these so-called branches, that continue to pique my interest, and fan my desire to seek greater knowledge of the unknowns connected to the theory and idea of time. Veralos stated that the “lines” cannot cross, though the arrival of the Gorbesh from our past into our present serves as proof that the lines can become what Veralos referred to as “twisted.” But what causes these twists? How do these twists get undone? And what would happen if these “branches” did somehow cross? When Veralos says they “can’t,” does he mean it is impossible, or does he mean it would be catastrophic and therefore simply “shouldn’t” cross? Were they to do so, I feel it is safe to hypothesize that the end result would be disastrous. It also begs the question that, if we are able to create alternate timelines, are alternate timelines also being created by the versions of us in those alternate timelines? Could a threat to time as we know it be instigated in our time by versions of ourselves in another? Only a Timekeeper would know for sure. And without a means to speak with one, or see the web of time ourselves, we are left with little more to do than speculate upon the potential answers to these questions and wonder about the infinite curiosities of time.
Briaen
Title: The Undying Threat II
By Briaen Huns Necrolord and former Apprentice of Zamidren Book Now Divine Knight of Berengaria
Introduction He called them the Undying Threat.
And then we went and became one.
Zamidren Book set out as a young neophyte Warrior Mage with the auspicious intent to find enlightenment, to seek out the secrets with hopes to better understand what he knew to be an enemy. Many may well not believe it, but he did at least that much. It was long thought he may have died or fallen to the plagues and monstrosities he himself called a scourge. That he might have bravely fought a battle of zeal and faith, but in his last breath, fell a faithful man of Murrula.
This, however, is just the first of many lies. Zamidren Book can still be found, if one has the inclinations on where to look. In so having those inclinations, I found him. But why? A question I have been asked time and time again. Being born of the Clan of Shadow in a blighted land known well for a history of undead, I perhaps had a similar line of thought to Zamidren’s first attempts. I sought the knowledge to understand my enemy. Naivety and determination are a potent combination for fool’s errands.
Chapter 5: The Great Work, The Great Lie
Many others have followed this path, one gilded with promises of a better world, freedom from an existence of pain, of strife, disease, and even death. We called it the Great Work. It is the primary drive of organized Necromantic cults, no matter their claims to the contrary. Through the blood and visceral use of cursed blades drawn through the flesh of the dead, our twisted view was to find the secrets of immortality by any means necessary. This sort of pursuit is not for the fainthearted, and certainly not for the faithful. Well, at least not those who would claim the Grace of the Thirty and Nine.
The Great Work is a Great Lie.
It is an abomination against Their Grace for it seeks to directly undermine Their Authority and to ultimately usurp Their Divinity. We are taught to gaze into the viscera of the dead in hopes of gleaning secrets and a more complete understanding of how to bring about a change in the status quo. In essence, the various Necromantic cults use ritual knives as a tool for advancement, without realizing or even perhaps ignoring the obvious threats such a study brings upon the sanctity of this world. Claims will be made against this statement and heresy will follow in the explanations as to why I am wrong. For a long while, I too ignored the warnings and shame I felt at my pursuit of the Great Work.
I now know that it is a Profane inquiry, and suspect that Zamidren and his ilk only teach so that they might reap the benefits of their potential students for the sake of themselves. Whether they are aware of it or not, the study of Necromancy is far from making this world better. It is, instead, an Unholy attempt to reorganize the blessedness of this life in an attempt to undermine what follows. Necromancy and the further of the Great Work are lies told to by manipulating masters to petulant children. They seek the great source of the Divine, from whence we all belong and to where we must all return. The blight upon the soul of a Necromancer directly prevents this return, and thus creates a conduit by which the Others might gain strength.
Whatever secrets Zamidren does know, only a faint hint of it does he teach to his neophytes. There are even secrets beyond his ability to stomach teaching, so dangerous that even he refuses to teach them and has, at times, barred his students who have sought such knowledge elsewhere. The Others, as I call them, the eyes in the black, beyond the depth of shadows, beneath the darkness and behind the void of Urrem'tier - in the spaces between, the demonic lurk. Some have names you know, others only we know. I intend to keep it this way. I will not detail such knowledge here. If my story and Zamidren’s story prove anything, it is that seeking to understand the enemy only leads you to become the enemy.
Chapter 6: The Death of Demons
One such name you do likely know is that of the Mistress of the Zulfang: Maelshyve. It is due in no small part to Her death that I found myself facing a paradigm shift in my own standing with my former associates. I was there, as were many, many other adventurers as the Philosopher Osven used devices charged with Feral magic to tear a hole between worlds. A plot that allowed us to complete what was once considered impossible. The citizens of this world killed a demon. Let it be known that those who seek power from such entities consider this to be a murder and not the righteous removal of a long-lived threat to Elanthia.
I submit that perhaps both sides are correct.
When Maelshyve died many of us heard whispers, screams of rage, and pain. I felt fear. I felt Maelshyve’s fear. I believe she may have served a purpose, that she filled some space between this world and the places where The Others preside. And while I make no squabble about her death being necessary, I cannot help but wonder if we did not create a crack in the dam. For now, I fear what will fill the places where Her essence fades. Maelshyve was cruel, unjust, and very much a foul creature to behold and an abomination worth destruction, but She was far from the worst of what lies in waiting.
Chapter 7: Return to Grace
Thus, with the successful attack upon that wretched creature and left with the fear of not knowing what would come, I finally saw the truth. I yearned for the Grace of the Thirty and Nine. Like no time in my life before my fall or even before I sought to find Zamidren. The adventuring gilded often forget so many of the living are born without the ability to gain Their favor. We overlook the Grace that seems so simply bestowed upon us because of our ability to manipulate forces They granted us in the first place. I would beg of you, dear reader, do not let such piousness beget a forgetfulness of the gifts you wield.
Is it possible then, for a Forsaken soul to find Their Grace once more? For decades, even perhaps centuries, it was thought the only true Redemption could be found in death. I wonder how many poor, lost, pained souls we sent home without properly giving them time to learn a better way.
The answer is, simply, yes. The Eyes of the Thirty and Nine are ever upon all of us, even those of us who abuse our gifts and fall from Their Grace. They see us all. They know our hearts. They know our pain. The Aspects of the Dark and of the Light, along with those of a Balanced approach, all of them have the desire to see Their children return. I have been filled with Their hatred, They have made clear Their disappointment, and have cleansed my sins in the warmth of Their Love.
If it is of your mind to undertake such a thing, do so with the faith that only penitence will see you through it. If you have fallen, if you know the pain of being forsaken, and have started a path you do not intend to see walked, I pray you seek the Gardener in the Gilen Otso Steppes to begin your return to grace.
Chapter 8: Closing
It is with great pride that I now serve the Immortals once more. Primarily, I atone for my blasphemies through Berengaria, the Light Bringer, the Mother of Dawn. She came to me before her humble shrine and spoke of planted seeds. Within my soul she planted a singular seed, a tiny portion of Her Grace that I will continue to nurture until I am called to return to the city of souls.
It is my purpose to plant more seeds in the souls of others who have lost their way. I will bring about a harvest born of a return to Their Grace in even the most foul and damned souls. Their creations will be destroyed outright. Their attempts to sour these lands with footholds for The Others will be cut out, root and stem. This is my declaration of intent. I will spend the remainder of my days cleansing unholy places and dismantling all attempts to the contrary. Cast aside is my desire for the easy path, for the childish desires of corrupted enlightenment, and I am now filled with the memories of what I was meant to be.
What was once my tool of insurrection has become my tool of mended hope. It is a sign of my devotional strength and a token of the Divine Directive I have received. My knife is now my instrument of wrath and of purification. Where my Goddess walks, renewal follows. I will be her instrument of salvation upon these blighted places. My garden will grow from the souls of the faithful pious and the forsaken hubris.
I am the Undying Threat long spoken of by Zamidren before me and when my Great Work is complete, the Divine’s mastery upon this world will be fortified against further erosion from the damned.
By my faith and by Their Grace, Briaen Huns
Broichan
Title: Harnessing Inherent Magic through Crafting
By now, we’re all familiar with the burgeoning slate of products created by the talented members of the Enchanting Society, from popular mainstays like gwethdesuans to the more obscure, such as the mining stones which protect those daring delvers in our midst, one narrowly avoided cave-in at the time. However, even those of us who would feel more comfortable using a brazier to warm their hands rather than scribe sigils can still create items with obviously magical properties.
Even before the formalization of the various disciplines of crafting into the societies we know today, there was some understanding of how supernatural effects could be created in a reliable way without the use of enchantment or spellcraft. The preeminent example of this is the widespread use of healing herbs. As best understood, such herbs don't manage to produce their effects through the manipulation of mana or spell energy. Rather, they're the residual product of some external magical force causing a lasting effect that operates under its own set of laws and not the physical laws of magic. Though still not fully understood, we have better learned how to refine these effects through the various alchemical processes; distillation, decoction, and catalytic augmentation allow for us to manipulate and focus these energies.
Of course, as I am not an alchemist myself, I leave further experimentation within that realm to the experts of that craft. Instead, my musings upon this phenomenon spurred me to consider other supernatural effects achieved through this sort of unique, "non-magical" mechanism within my own chosen profession: engineering. While arguably the most obvious way to create a magical weapon is to simply enchant the finished item made by an artisan, we engineers have also employed a separate means of achieving this goal.
In the creation of bolts and arrows, we often fashion the heads of our projectiles with the fangs, teeth, and claws of a wide variety of creatures. The majority of these products are mundane ammunition, created with pieces taken from mundane creatures: boars, cougars, and elsralael, to name a few. However, we have also found that pieces taken from other, more exotic creatures make suitable tips: firecats, ice adders, lava drakes, and storm bulls. Even once removed from the beast, the trophies collected by a skilled outdoorsman still retain whatever latent magic resides within these supernatural creatures. Neither the components nor the bolt- and arrowheads created from them carry any magical patterns that can be found through examination by even a highly experienced practitioner of elemental magic, as one might expect though a focused examination. Yet when these pieces are crafted into a finished bolt, it strikes with a force reminiscent of the creature from which it was harvested. A soot-stained arrow carries the fiery bite of a firecat as if the beast were leaping forth from your bow as the arrow takes flight! This power endures for the life of the arrow and does not fade, suggesting that the inherent power found in such fangs is a durable one.
Fascinating as this observation may be (and as useful as a skilled hunter may find these marvelous creations), this phenomenon lends itself to further consideration. Firstly, I posit that these bolts and arrows drive their inherent supernatural properties from a source similar to those found within healing herbs and their resultant alchemical products. The nature of the creatures from which we collect these pieces has been deeply and indelibly affected by some significant magics. Perhaps these creatures themselves were once subject to some immense magical force that alerted the species in some manner that breeds true and perpetuates the imbuement of the beasts with unique properties. Or it could be, likely in the case of the lava drake and similar constructs, that the magic that animates such a construction endures even in pieces separated from the defeated corpse.
This leads to my second conclusion - one which holds promise for future study and exploration. While we have identified a handful of creatures whose components can be collected and harnessed to provide a range of elemental effects in ammunition, it is worth considering that other similar creatures exist whose supernatural character may lend their remains a similar magical flair. And we need not limit our consideration to creatures suffused with elemental energies (even if my own experiences as a member of the Bards' Guild does endear me to the fire and frost). Consider the golems and mantraps of Su Helmas: who can say what magics they may have absorbed from their proximity to the entropic and lunar energies let loose upon that place? I cannot say I would be eager to be struck with a bolt fashioned from a mantrap spine that may cause me to be plagued with visions of the future (beyond the general unpleasantness of being struck by a bolt in general, of course). Perhaps we could harness the powers of decay that corrode the malign beasts of the Zaulfung or the Dark Hand. Or what if an arrow fashioned from the fang of an endrus serpent might yet carry the animating power of nature?
With all this said, I feel that it would behoove us to consider what other supernatural creatures we have come across in our travels, and to recall what sites we know have borne witness to great expressions of magic. There, I believe, we may be likely to find similar creatures whose powers we can harness. Even beyond the creation of alchemical remedies and elementally infused ammunition, the possibilities expand before us!
Dasheek
Title: A Theory on Aegis of Granite
Hello and thank you for your consideration!
My name is Dasheek Ku'Rein, a Warrior Mage of some renown. During my studies I have noticed that there are some oddities to be explored within the Aegis of Granite spell.
When cast, the spell takes surrounding energy from Elanthia itself and molds it to the caster's body, strengthening it. When the spell dissipates the energy returns to the surrounding area. Travel, being what it is, means that the caster can be a very long way from where the energy was taken.
What happens when many powerful mages scatter themselves across the realms and return with that power stored, and infuse one area with it. What happens, dare I ask, if many powerful mages took the energy from ONE place, and transferred it?
I think this would make an excellent magical experiment requiring all of the things that make the Warrior Mages the most powerful guild in the Realms, teamwork, organization, and finesse. I kid. All we really need is Guild approval.
Again, thank you for your consideration and have a wonderful day.
Dash' Ku'Rein
Eyst
Title: Our Inherent Power
Our magical community produces remarkable works driven by great minds able to study and build upon the works of our predecessors. There is a wide breadth to this body of magics from the blessings of clerics, bombastic invocations of an elementalist, to the cunning manipulations of a lunarian. But even so there is much seen as too dangerous to study, forbidden. This is of course for good reason as the stories of mages meeting tragic ends reaching for things best left alone are myriad. However, as our field is constantly growing and changing - boundaries should always be reassessed.
This paper will step into a territory that some may consider dangerous. Plainly, it will be touching on powers that involve the use of blood in their invocation or resulting effect. The author acknowledges that some magics falling into this category are among the foulest known and does not suggest their acceptance or furtherance. What is desired is for some powers to be seen for what they are, allowing us to further a field of study that deserves the focus of keen minds.
"Blood Magic" - The Dark Side
Not being an accepted book of magic it is no wonder that such a thing has historically been linked solely to deviant sorcerers. Indeed, the phrase may conjure to mind any number of dark scenarios. Perhaps cursed Adan'f empowering their weapons through the blood of the fallen or some black-robed figure performing ritual sacrifice to his dark masters. This sheer variety tells us something of our folly however.
Even among just the fell aspects of “Blood Magic” we can see can see that there is room for separation and categorization. As an example, how does a spell using blood as fuel differ from one merely acting on it? How do rituals involving bloodletting without any discernible spell pattern produce their desired results? No upstanding researcher can answer these basic question so we cannot know where proper magic ends and the depraved begins.
Fundamental to Life
Having touched on the darkest sorts of this magic it's time to turn our attention to the beneficial aspects. The obvious is its life-sustaining qualities. Any mortal being by their very nature is using the same fuel of the aforementioned dark rituals with every beat in their breast. Perhaps it's this integral nature of blood with continued immediate survival that makes it seem perverse to be used in any other way. As intelligent beings we can rise above these instinctual assumptions and reason for ourselves whether this is true.
If we accept that the basic qualities and purpose of blood are “good” then we must also accept that purely as a source of power there is also goodness. How one uses it is of course an entirely different story. We compare this to various other accepted magics that draw power from planes utterly inimical to our own and we begin to see just how much our problem is just a matter of image and perspective.
Indeed, as a possible confounding influence on magic one could argue that this appears one of the most pure available to mortals. It does not beg power from the immortals, toy with the fundamentals of our plane, nor disturb or attract attention from other planes. Of course the immediate question is “If this assumption is true why does it not appear so in practice?”.
The Missing Factors
The authors answer to this question is a hypothesis with admittedly shaky grounds. It is an answer unfortunately born from an ignorance that any researcher wishing to be part of polite society necessarily has. However in the interests of establishing grounds for future research it is thus “Blood is the source of power for mortal beings wielding seemingly magical abilities whose origin defies traditional magical explanation”.
At the beginning of this paper we lauded the magic community's depth and breadth of abilities but mana streams and spell patterns are by no means the only way of producing extraordinary phenomena.
As examples:
- Barbarians, though exceptionally non-magical are by no means comparable to your average commoner off the street. It is perhaps the easiest leap of the imagination to connect their preternatural skills with blood, as the shedding of blood is so often involved.
- Elven lifesculpting, producing verifiable results in their surroundings and on objects using only time and some art of the mind. Although usually applied to simple living flora there are accounts of other more fantastic applications.
- Empaths, their ability to transfer wounds and ailments is both simple and mind-boggling. Any child can understand the relation between a wound disappearing from one person and appearing on another, yet the implications are staggering.
So we are left with innumerable paths of investigation open to us on this topic. We can see that this potential source of power need not only be associated with forbidden arts. Allowing this field of study to remain solely the domain of sorcerers and uncivilized beings could be a fatal weakness. To conclude, it is our hope that this paper offered a fresh perspective on the subject and provided sound logical grounds for further exploration.
-Written by Eyst for the Grand Magic Symposium of 435 AV
Korya
Title: Theory of Size, Patterns, and Magical Devices, by Healer Korya, transcribed by Almarius Kendialahle.
My theory is that a spell pattern on a much larger scale than we are familiar with could be used to cast a much larger, stronger spell. I will go over what I understand about the formation of spell patterns and the manipulation of mana, and end with a few questions about the possibilities of creating a magical device of ridiculous scale. My thanks to my assistant on this paper, the gnome bard Almarius Kendialahle.
The weaving of mana can be done in many ways. Maybe mana is a body unto itself, and reacts to different stimulus the way we all have different senses. Guilds teach us to manipulate mana in different ways, such as prayer, chanting equations, drawing the pattern in the air, or moving our body in such a way that it invokes the pattern. As an Empath, I am aware of both large and small movements, from fingers, hands, and arms--or when those are lacking, the entire remaining body. It is in these movements that our minds record the pattern and shape the spell inside and around us. Sufficient familiarity with a spell pattern does not require movement at all, and a body with no limbs or ability to move can still mentally draw in mana and complete the pattern. Empaths are taught this feat before we are even allowed to heal our first patient. And yet it seems to me that the larger a movement, the more powerful the spell becomes. While this is perhaps only in my imagination, it is the basis of my theory!
Magic can also be done by objects with no minds or movements. A runestone holds the pattern within itself, and activates when mana is pushed through it. Our minds do not, or cannot, understand the pattern in some of these stones, yet the spell is able to be cast anyway. It is not necessary for a mind, only for the mana to complete the pattern within a body.
I myself own a pair of goggles which have no discernible pattern, yet are able to cast a spell on me that allows me to use my skin to see the world around me. If there is a pattern, it is so small, so finely etched within the lenses or the leather band, that I cannot feel it, and those with sight have not been able to see it. Furthermore, the goggles do not require charging with mana. A simple rub or tap will active the spell pattern, once they have absorbed enough ambient mana.
Sometimes I feel that there are two patterns. When my body is whole and I perform a spell pattern with the movement of my body, I imagine there is the pattern within my mind, and the pattern of the mana woven by my movements. Though more difficult and longer to complete, this larger pattern draws more mana from the area around me, and I feel my spells both last longer and have greater potency. (The opposite of this would be what is called "snap-casting", where a spell's pattern is but a momentary thought in the mind, and the mana is drawn into the body as if taking a sharp breath of air. For those without practice, the pattern conjured in memory can often be mis-remembered, leading to the spell's failure and damage to the body.)
So then, what would happen if a larger device were to create a pattern? Though I have never been near it, I have heard the stories of giant mechanical spiders large enough to carry the largest Gor'Togs across vast distances, to an even greater sized spider, as big as a city and bustling with merchants in its very limbs and body. If such a device were to be built with the pattern of a spell in mind, how much mana would it draw from the world to power the spell? How powerful would the spell be?
What if the earth itself could be transformed into a runestone? If tunnels were lined with the same mana-resistant materiel, or a large device were planted deep beneath the ground of a farm, would a farmer be able to absorb the mana in his fields, and water them with a bard or warrior mage's elemental spell, so that they may survive a drought? How long would such a huge pattern take to absorb the necessary mana?
What if several decives were layered, each one attuned to a different type of mana? If they were invoked all at once, what would the consequences be of the area being momentarily stripped of such massive amounts of mana? I am not knowledgeable enough to answer such questions, but maybe you are! I mean the reader, but maybe you too, Alma!
Miskton
Title: On the Nature of Prophecy
Although our connection to the Plane of Probability is one of the core elements of being a moon mage, it is an aspect of our profession that is little understood outside of the guild. Many people think of prophetic visions as something like peering through a window into the future. Those a little more familiar with the abstract or metaphorical nature of some visions might think of them as something more like a dream, being put on for the seer like a play on a stage. And indeed, many moon mages look on visions as something like a dream, as the experience shares many similarities. I posit, however, that there is something deeper to the experience.
My theory is that our visions are neither true glimpses of the pure facts of the future, nor dreams plotted out for us by some extraplanar playwright, but rather the result of a stream of complex information, which our mortal minds do their best to attempt to assemble into something we can understand. Ultimately, with enough knowledge, nearly everything can be expressed in mathematical terms. It does not seem to be possible for a mortal to have the perspective, or the mental capacity, to acquire all the knowledge needed to predict the future to that degree, but luckily we don't have to. The Web of Fate contains all of that information, which our connection allows us to tap into. We have no method as yet for seeking out particular knowledge of specific events in the Web, but certain inflection points known as 'nodes' seem to resonate with us enough to allow us to see visions of the relevant events.
But that alone isn't enough to dismiss the idea that literal visions exist out there in the web, waiting to be plucked up. But consider the other uses of our connection to the Plane of Probability. Enlightened Geometry involves calculations that would be beyond even the greatest math genius operating under normal conditions. Attempting to calculate all of the necessary conditions to accurately teleport from one location to another, especially in the time available in which to weave the needed mana patterns, should be impossible. Being just a small percentage off in your results, when dealing with a planet spinning through space, could result in being flung off the planet entirely, even if you somehow managed not to tear yourself into pieces through other errors. But our connection to Probability feeds us the information needed to make those calculations, without even consciously thinking them through. Like a more advanced version of the way even a child can make it through the complex vector calculations needed to see and catch a moving ball, without having to consciously understand them, or even perceive the math at all.
And so our mind takes the information gleaned from the Web of Fate, and turns it into something we can understand. As a very simplified example, consider the following scenario. At some point, a significant event will occur in which a man falls from a horse and badly injures himself. The information we are sent: There is a man. He is on a horse. He falls. He is injured. (The actual information sent, of course, would be far more difficult to simply summarize in words.) The seer's mind then fills in the details. He sees a man on a horse galloping down a winding road, the wind streaming through his hair and the horse's mane. The horse suddenly stumbles, sending the man tumbling forward, to strike the ground on his arm with a sickening crack. And so the brain fills in the gaps to make a comprehensible story.
But, you may ask, how does this account for the fact that many seers experience the same vision, and can compare notes to confirm? Surely the different experiences that different people have would cause their minds to leap to different default perceptions. You see a man, but what color is his skin? His hair, his eyes? But here we return to the idea of visions as dreams, because they do indeed have certain similarities; notably that, once the initial experience passes, many of the specific details slip away, like water running out of one's hands. Two different seers both agree that they saw a man falling from a horse. But if you ask what color the horse was? Well, neither of them can say, despite the fact that it would have been one of the most obvious things about it, if seen in reality. The aspects they agree on, and can recall with certainty, are those which directly correspond to the underlying information gleaned from the Plane of Probability, and most of the rest is just decorations conjured up by the mind. This also explains why certain visions contain experiences which are difficult to convey in words, because sometimes the information we receive simply isn't something our minds are able to wrap around. Seeing colors that don't exist, or chaotic jumbles of fragmented sights, and other such things which come up in visions from time to time.
I believe that, in theory, if we could record a more raw form of this information, over time we could decode something of the mathematics involved, which could lead to more precise methods of predicting the future, and even being able to change the values of variables in the equations to see alternative outcomes. Unfortunately, both being able to reliably perceive the underlying information, and actually being able to record it before it slips away from one's memory, are both currently unsolved problems.
Qiyan
Title: Theory of Neutering
To whom it concerns of the assorted judges lucky enough to be judging,
I aim to theorize on the possible magic of Neutering. Now I ain't one to know much on writing up a Theory and I'll be dagnabbit'd that there weren't a single how to book in the libraries. So we're just going to pretend we're talking and I'm tellin ya and you aren't interruptin with questions. So here goes.
While this theory ain't been proven so yet, I believe soon enough it will, as I been attemptin it as often as I can find cooperative test subjects. The cooperation of a test subject is most important to the results of such a thing as Neutering, as it needs to be a choice unlike other doings with this ability. Which is also another Theory of mine for the next Theory taking opportunity, as this ability of manipulation called shifting may not always need cooperation for the most skilled of such.
What is this theory of Neutering you ask? Why its like this, a few truly skilled and experienced practicers of life magic are able to manipulate a whatsit from a he to a she and otherwise as well.
During this very complicated transition from one whatsit to the other a pinnacle(?) is reached where the whatsit parts are either a neither or a not. At this exact moment of manipulation from one to the other and being a neither, before becoming the other you are a not and therefore Neutered!
Mind you this must take great focus and tunedinitness to recognize the exact moment this transition occurs. And whats more it will take great discipline and quickery for the life mage to halt the manipulation. Those not as skilled or focused or tunedinit or not quick will surely be left with a failure and the whatsit will be the other than what it was. Those also not as skilled or focused or tunedinit or too quick will be left with a failure as well as a whatsit that was what it was before the attempt was started.
Neutering is not only important to those wantin to be such but also important to those that don't know that they want such. I, myself have met some such that are uncertain which whatsit suits them best. And until they decide, they can be a neither with the art of Neutering!
Thank you for your consideration and ability to get through this, respectfully wholeheartedly and sincerestly, Qiyan
Yvela
Title: Utilizing Constructs as a Labor Force
We live in a dangerous world, populated by dangerous creatures, people, and phenomena. As a consequence, a disproportionately large number of the spells practiced by modern mages are related to matters of offense and defense. Most mages know at least a handful of unique spells designed solely to take another being's life, and Warrior Mages are second to none in devising creative ways to kill. Even the Empaths, those benefactors of succor, have found a way to twist their talents to snuff out life.
It is unlikely that Elanthia will become a less dangerous place in our lifetimes. It seems that every year sees the discovery of a new den of ravenous beasts, or a breach of planar boundary and law occurs from within or out. Powerful forces beyond the reckoning of mortal minds wage battle against one another just beyond our senses. No, our world is not on the track to peace.
That said, it may not be too late to attempt to redirect the course of our future. Imagine if we could devote even half of the time we use to forge ourselves into weapons of war towards other pursuits. How might society benefit and grow if the magical researchers of the great guilds spent their days trying to create ways to unburden us of our base needs rather than more ways to separate flesh from bone?
I don't have answers for all of the problems in the world. It is far easier to shine a light on the wrongs than it is to do something to correct them. There is a line of thought that I believe is worth investigation, however, which may grant us the spare time and energy we need to address the woes of the world and better ourselves: a construct labor force.
What is a construct, you may ask, and how can it help us? A construct is an artificially created being, possessing no will of its own, animated by magical forces. A construct is a blank canvas upon which a mage can paint a directive towards nearly any end. Predictably, the most common types of constructs in existence are brutes of war; animated rock and clay designed to seek and kill.
Constructs are capable of far more than savagery, however. One need only look to Throne City to see a perfect example of how constructs can be employed to serve our needs. The Custodians of the Dusk are constructs created by the Moon Mage guild to patrol and uphold the laws of their research city, and they do so just as efficiently as any living guardsman, if not moreso.
The Custodians represent highly sophisticated constructs created to perform complex tasks, but constructs given simpler purposes would be a better place to begin. Every miner that need not brave treacherous tunnels, every lumberjack that need not fear a falling tree, every laborer that need not haul back breaking cargo is a man or woman that could be pursuing craftsmanship, artistry, research.
Perhaps eventually we could even defend our cities and borders with constructs. Think of how many lives might be spared if we met our enemies in battle with soldiers that do not bleed and are rebuildable, replaceable. How many distant villages might avoid the raiders' blade and torch if they had vigilant defenders that never slept?
There are concerns to consider, of course. Who controls the constructs? Can control be wrested away by nefarious actors? What safety measures would need to be put in place? Are the costs too great compared to the benefits? These questions and many more would need to be answered before any large scale deployment of constructs would be feasible.
Should any mages be interested in conducting cooperative research and tests regarding constructs and their potential applications, I am happy to offer my own time and expertise toward realizing this vision.
In pursuit of a better future, Philosopher Yvela Vorhalt.
[A separate page includes a charcoal sketch of a humanoid figure. Its proportions are like those of a Human, only bulkier and more rounded. Notions near the sketch describe some of its dimensions, including that it is "half again as tall as a Gor'Tog".]