Dantia/Storylines/Mana Surges & Wild Magic
This is an ONGOING ROLEPLAYING EVENT. Information is being updated as it becomes available and as I have the time.
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
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 22, 2024: Efforts Rewarded
Ayrell hosted a discussion at Milene's Rose Inn in Shard. 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!