A Wizards view on Magic Ripple Theory

[Lord_of_losers 950]

To those of the Wizardly kind.

You may be reading this because you have divined it.

You may be reading this because you have pondered it within your orb.

You may even, if you still hold to such things, have tapped into my message by means of reading your tea leaves.

Or, if you are fond of the old ways, you may have created a ritual consisting of candles, octograms, thuribles and other such devices whilst maintaining a low hum and muttering nonsense, and summoned the latest Wizardly Newspaper, which of course, only Wizards are able to receive and read.

 

Or, much more likely, you just read this on a noticeboard after someone pinned it up and said 'look at what this idiot wrote'.

 

On the subject of the phenomenon of 'Magic Ripples', I do propose a thought.

 

To those unacquainted with the concept of 'Magic Ripples', they can be defined quite simply. Magic Ripples are a phenomenon that occurs whereby a magic, once perfectly accessible to many of descendent-kind, suddenly vanishes with hardly a trace of its existence left behind. It becomes a thing that exists only in books, imagination, or stray dreams. Wizarding folk who once possessed expertise in their art wake to find themselves bereft of their, in many cases, mastered spellcasting.

 

Many of us will remember - and some of us will have seen writings on - wizardly undertakings such as lightning thaumaturgy, arcanothaumaturgy, beardmancy, etc, vanishing into thin air over the span of less than ten years with little warning. Oftentimes even less than that. Some of the younger generation even still query about these lost forms, asking for teachers or guides that no longer remain. Perhaps, amongst those with more nefarious ambition, they might aim to reclaim the old magics through darker means.

 

And who can blame them? The temptation to learn is strong when you read of past accomplishments. Colossal shields covering entire cities. The power of lightning at your finger tips. The ability to tap into another's mind and see their thoughts or change them. Grand performances of telekinesis. And some sillier, though still powerful, possessed the power to grow impossibly long beards and manipulate them as one might another appendage. Even amongst the darker magics in the before times, there existed greater feats of power that were lost by some means. We no longer witness the Dread Knights of yore, nor the ghouls that stalked the roads, for example. Maybe these Magic Ripples impact not only the voidal arts, but on a more subtle level, touch upon the Dark, and the Divine, and the things between?

 

Thus, I'd like to propose the following question: What if one day, magic will cease to exist in its entirety?

 

I theorise, to those that fully understand the term 'Magic Ripples', that they are not in fact ripples on the surface of some great lake, but a levelling off. They say, and have said, that the void is a realm of limitless potential. That it is everything, and that it is nothing. Between us and that greater thing is but a thin veil maintaining a careful balance - a balance we disrupt little by little by poking holes into its immense fabric. From even the simplest acts of alteration, to the grander scale feat of creating voidal tears, the price we pay is Mana, and Willpower. Though I do not claim to understand the Dark Magics, nor the Divine, nor the things between, I am certain that they must draw from some source of Mana. You cannot create something from nothing, and mana is most certainly something.

 

Mana permeates the air. It is in our very beings. Mana flows through all things, and we all have different names for it. A realm of limitless energy such as the void is perhaps the greatest source of Mana of them all. Could we, for a moment, stop and ask ourselves 'Would it be sensible to propose that the Void could be the source of all Mana?' My answer to that is 'Yes'. I believe it could be a sensible thing to propose, if it is, as we have parroted for many years amongst the voidal wizarding circles, 'infinite'. You would be, Divine or not, silly not to use such a tempting and accessible source.

 

I believe that there are three methods through which one can cast:

 

The first are those that manipulate the Mana around themselves, and from within, displace and expend this 'Worldly Mana' and burn it off. The void leaks through the veil and replaces it slowly. This is perhaps the most 'natural' ways of casting. It expends little, and rarely disrupts the flow of things.

 

The second are those who manipulate Mana given to them by providing a source. For example, the Divine, likely grant their followers power. A Deity, in my view, would certainly have the capacity and the ability to resist Voidal taint, and would be more than equipped to draw from the immense ocean that is the Void. They, having purified the taint with their 'Divine Touch', much like a filter, would then be capable of filling their followers with this Divine Mana, though it is ultimately still burned off after casting.

 

The third are those who manipulate Mana directly by breaking through the Veil. They pull the raw, unfiltered elements of Chaos, and shape them into form with the sheer force of will provided to their mortal vessel. Void Wizards. It would make sense to me then, why Void Wizards are capable of crafting their own spells following decades of research. Why they can rip and tear the fabric, where others fail to do either of these things to my knowledge. It is because they, perhaps unwisely, directly touch that which was not designed to be touched. The source itself.

 

In general, no matter how it is performed, when we cast or perform feats of High Magic, we expend and burn the mana we use. This certainly includes beings we cannot see that also use Mana for their own devices. Horrors, namely. We are not alone in the world, after all, and creatures beyond comprehension possessing sorceries do exist. This, to me, would explain why our magics have become increasingly stifled. Why magic has become increasingly restrictive and controlled with conditions of usage. Why sometimes we question 'why is this the case, why can I not do this'? It explains, in my mind, the loss of Arcanism. The loss of the Mental Wizard. The vanishing of the feared Dread Knights and Ghouls as we once knew them. The vanishing of Anti-Wizards, Beardmancers, Runecraft, and so on, and so forth. It explains much.

 

The more we use, the more the Void must adjust to accommodate our demands. Perhaps it is not infinite, but merely so vast we can barely begin comprehend it. In the few millennia our kind have existed and practiced magic our powers have been in slow, though noticeable, decline. There must be a reason for it. I propose that the reason for such a thing is because the ocean is slowly being used up. Slowly. Surely. I doubt any reading this will be alive by the time magic ceases to be practicable by mortal hands, so in reality, it offers very little cause for concern for us. But, I found it interesting enough to share the idea, despite the fact that I made this in quite a rushed state. I will revise, and refine, these thoughts at a later date.

 

Perhaps more of my Wizardly colleagues would care to chime in with their thoughts? I think Magic Ripple Theory is an incredibly under-explored field.

If so, please ensure that you follow these instructions to properly respond, and enter the thought web created:

- Create an Octogram of any size using WHITE chalk,

- Connect the points of the Octogram,

- Ensure that the Octogram is sprinkled with Salt and Water,

- Burn in your thurible, located no less than five feet from the outer rim of the Octogram: Gold, Frankincense and Myyrh,

- Place within the centre of the Octogram exactly 10 CC's of Mouse Blood,

- Place your Armillary Sphere atop the deposited Mouse blood,

- Place a single droplet of Quicksilver atop the Armillary Sphere and chant magical phrases and words,

 

Once these steps have been complete, you should then be able to respond in appropriate Wizardly fashion with your own thoughts and opinions.

If you have failed, and cannot respond, remove all objects from the room and start again.

 

Signed,

Artenin the Wizard.

[Jentos 6813]

There was a spasm in the continuum as a sorcerous message was transmitted. 

 

The core of the argument rests on Mana, which, if understand correctly -- claims to be a realm or force about all things. But mana is a word, and my theory is that it should be understood as the very exertion of the soul. The use of mana is the metaphysical movement of the soul - which extends itself into some act (we would describe this as sorcery). Mana in of itself cannot be depleted, it is not so much a source of power as is the contradiction of Nothing (Void), but represents the very being that we are. Even plants possess mana - as do animals, it is merely tied to the soul. Mana, hence, finds a broad application that its common description or understanding simply puts down to some magical resource. 

 

Mana hence, cannot become to 'lack'. But what might then explain the disappearance of certain sorceries, or even the loss of certain creatures? The necromancers once collapsed under their own weight; infighting, dogmatism, poor teaching, this was the bane of the ghoul. As their masters cut at their throats these creatures went mad and howling and died in the northern wastes of Atlas. I would not be surprised if their new covens now seek to bring about similar creatures, whose rites they lost; but they have instead focused on other creations. And as of other magics and entities? Those are stranger yet still; some seem almost corrected by the World at large, as if some flow or force took and choked those powers into nonexistence. Yet still, there are miraculous circumstances where great beasts turned back into men, cured from an incurable ill of sorcerous origin. I will give no concrete answer, but I will leave you with this; that perhaps we are not as free as we might assume, and that there are more eyes watching than we might think there to be. And while some sorcery is stifled and choked; others grow. 

 

The mysteries of the world are deep and thick, and we will seek on, until the end of times. 

Many blessings, 

- The An-Gho 

[sam33497 2751]

An elven magi was pondering his orb when he received such a communication, the information instantly transmitted throughout the recesses of his brain. In haste he completed the instructions given, and gave a proper response in wizarding fashion:

 

"Wizard Artenin, your theories regarding the displacement of magic practices are quite interesting... If I must give my own input, it would be precisely this: viewing mana as you do as an arcane-potential of change, we must not find ourselves surprised when the world, when reality as we indeed know it, is rewritten or unwritten. We already know from the active practices of Illusion that the mind is a suitable target for the reality-changing properties of mana, though past arts which acted upon this have been erased as if by the universe itself in the ways you describe.

 

So instead it is perhaps best to concede that descendant magi cannot possibly comprehend the extent of how mana can be used - indeed our uses of it cripple the mind and body for just slivers of environmental effect- and yet of beings greater we see great feats of mana-manipulation that descendant-kind could never approach. So I propose this:

 

There is a being or beings - perhaps of the void itself, or perhaps simply existing outside of common knowledge or understanding - beings of great mana-potential, or perhaps just a body of mana-potential itself that acts in response to the events and actions taken by descendant-kind - perhaps they act as arbiters or balance-makers. Perhaps their goals are beyond our understanding. Perhaps the magi of this world are governed, or perhaps the loss of magics is arbitrary. I cannot immediately dismiss your concept that the void rejects in some way certain magics used, but I would cast doubt upon the concept that the void depletes. Something so vast and beyond our understanding should not be defaultly estimated to be weak or dwindling - such is a naive position to take.

 

Thank you for bringing such a theory to my attention, there will be many nights of pondering fueled by this.

 

-L.C."

[Luxury 601]

A dusty hat rumbles in some forsaken corridor, speaking to the rats that scamper by. Naturally attuned to such wizardly methods of communication, such as the combination of Ink Evocation with Paper Evocation. . .

 

”Look at Sarah go!”

It’ll spout cheerily

 

”Next, tell meh wot becomes of all o’ th’ Aura that comes from burnin’ off Mana.”

[DISCOLIQUID 1956]

Content with the information she found within her orb, Ibisa began to stalk up on chalk.

[ᚽᛁ ᚢᚽᚭ ᛌᛁᛁᛌ 57]

Spoiler

Now this is some proper wizardposting

 

[Mr. Etan 2839]

[!] A wizardly response would eventually be returned through the ritual provided. It was illustrious rich and pompous parchment for thy eyes only.. Upon it transcribed...

 

"Take me off your mailing list."

-Sarrion

 

Spoiler

I love this, this is an amazing post.

 

[ECS1999 945]

Edvard proceeds to avoid the ritual, leaving a dirty and half-burnt note in Sarah's mailbox, explaining his plan on how to open a Voidal Tear and leech all the mana, storing it in huge tanks just for personal use.

(Cool post!)