WILD MAGIC THEORY FOR 'TOGS
The fountain gurgled pleasantly amongst the scents of plants and flowers nearby. The buildings of Academy Asemath surrounded us while people began to arrive at this meeting and a sense of tranquility pervaded the warm night air. Folks of all opinions or beliefs gathered in one place with a unified desire for knowledge.
Unaka was already there when Valenal wandered into the area, mumbling an attempt to control the familiars who mysteriously shared space in his mind. Valenal said quietly to himself, "Alright, remember what we talked about." Unaka fixed Valenal with a heavy, ponderous stare. Valenal spoke to himself again, "Maybe tone it down a bit." Valenal coughed while Unaka fidgeted nervously. Valenal calmed himself and wished everyone a good evening.
He shook hands with Unaka and the two formally introduced themselves to one another. Unaka went first, "Valenal? Unaka." Valenal replied, "And goood evening to you, young Paladin. Valenal? And I am Unaka...wait, no, that's wrong." Unaka slowly said back to Valenal, "No, you're Valenal. You feeling okay to do this?" Valenal cautiously answered, "Right, right, of course. Well. We're definitely doing it? So I think we must press on, regardless." Unaka said, "I mean. Truffenyi wants me to understand. So I've gotta start somewhere." Valenal nodded in agreement.
Valenal slapped himself on the cheek a few times in an attempt to pull him...selves together? He mentioned that all of "them" were together, and the lesson began. Unaka welcomed everyone, " This man, who is probably Valenal, is going to tell us about wild magic." A lengthy lecture ensued, with many taking notes. I've recorded the highlights of Valenal's explanation of wild magic and what he thinks it means to achieve balance.
"The Plane of Abiding is unique in a specific sense. Only in Abiding do all the various mana frequencies coexist, interact, and mix. Giving rise to the wondrous reality we experience." He paused to address Unaka directly. "If you like, the Plane of Abiding is like a pond, with mana pooling and mixing from streams and other sources. The practice of magic produces energy and the energy fills the pond, in this analogy." Unaka, fond of large things, asked for smaller and simpler words.
Valenal considered her request and continued, "Pure mana produces a particular quality of energy, in line with its... type, if you like. So where were we...juice. The pond is like juice. Pure mana casting produces a certain flavor of juice, or type of juice, if you like. Mixed-mana casting produces a different sort of juice." Unaka approved of his analogies in terms of consumables.
"There are two factors that matter, broadly speaking, in preserving the stable...ish...if you squint...system that we live in. One is the level of juice in the...let's call it a bowl. And the other is the mixture - how much of each type. Does that make sense so far? Changing density and pressure, creating eddies and tides and such like. It isn't static. And when the level in the glass gets too low, that circulation becomes erratic. What we experience as Wild Magic is that erraticness."
Unaka wished she'd brought her own notebook, and curiously asked, "So wild magic... is when the juice, or the pond, gets too low?" Valenal nodded in her direction. "Yes. Imagine the water in the pond normally flows back and forth, with plenty of clearance. But if it gets too low, it starts to froth and surge among the rocks on the bottom." Unaka delved further, "So why are these Herald messengers saying not to do sorcery? Does that have something to do with the pond level?"
Valenal said , "It is a bit more complicated. It has to do with the mixture. The juice in the glass is like JUICE. It's energy if you can use it, right? If you run, you drink some juice and you can run further. If you're playing a long hard round of togball, you might drink lots of juice. Make sense? Alright. What has been happening for several years, and which has accelerated recently, is that someone or something is drawing a LOT of juice. They behave differently, and as it turns out, it seems whoever is drawing so much juice can only utilize one type. The pure type."
Unaka tried to be sure she understood and said, "Okay. So the mixed type tastes bad to them." She also asked who was drinking which juice. Valenal elaborated, "Tastes bad, or they can't process it. I believe the Heralds are the ones trying to drink the Pure Juice." Unaka put two and two together - that liking one type of juice was why they would not like sorcery.
Valenal says, "Often, the way you mix your ingredients matters. To the final product. Normally, you wouldn't care. If the system were chugging along and they were draining whatever they normally do, there would be no issue. But they are pulling so much energy that eventually there will not be enough to sustain all of this." Valenal gestured around him. "The Heralds are literally draining the system dry. And when there is too little juice to sustain it, reality will collapse."
Valenal concluded, "To an extent. Imagine you have a...call it a priority list of problems. First problem - there is going to be no juice and we all die. I mean, or whatever happens when reality collapses. I suppose you can't die if you don't actually exist." He stopped himself short at continuing with that branch of philosophy and finished, "Do NOT get started on that one...Anyhow, that is the first problem. The second problem is the mix of juices needs to be right. Right within a range, at least. Balanced-Ish. Since the Heralds can't use the sorcerous juice, it actually stays in the cup."
In summary - Valenal believes we should cut off the Heralds supply of pure juice before we focus on balance by refilling the vessels with a mixture of different flavors. Here's hoping Valenal's advice and the aid of the Immortals ends in our favor and not the end of the world.
Until next time,
Shaylynne Kendialahle
Reporter of the First Land Herald
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