RikuXIII
Random Schemer
~*Lore*~
The history of Nairys can be divided up into 3 ages.
The 1st Age (4,000 BML-0 ALM) is known as the Age of Plenty. Magic abounded with mighty kingdoms reportedly living in harmony. It was an age of adventure and myth. Legends say this age came crashing down when a greedy mage known as Surak The Archmage attempted to take all the magic for himself, sealing both it and himself in Nairy’s core. This caused the once mighty fountain of magic to be reduced to a mere trickle.
The 2nd age (0 ALM to 2008 ALM) is known as the Age of Draught or the Age Science. With only a little magic left, the living creatures of the world had to adapt. For humans, that meant a new focus on exploring other natural phenomena through the scientific method. As this age unfolded, more and more focus was removed from magic and placed on new technologies. While there was still enough magic around to keep it from passing entirely into myth, its limited use in this starved time made many to believe stories of the great spells of the past to be fairy tales, and that magic itself was an obsolete area of study.
Like the 1st age, the 2nd Age ended in catastrophe. A mage referred to as Tal the Destroyer began probing the core of the world to gain access to the magic trapped there. His attempts to do so ended in a chain reaction that cracked Nairys open, shattering it into many pieces. Complete destruction was prevented by a resurgence of magic. Magical chains formed to bind the shattered pieces together and to the core. Some of the pieces were also connected by magical bridges. The most intriguing part of this was that major population centers were protected by magic barriers as well as reports of “angelic beings” saving some who would have fallen into the cracks. There is currently no unifying theory as to the how and why these lifesaving spells happened. Some attribute it to the Divine, others some sort of ancient spell, even some that claim that it was Tal that kept the world together. While thousands still perished, millions were saved. There is even a growing theory that the magic trapped in the core was reaching a critical mass and would have detonated on its own in time.
This brings us to the 3rd Age (2008 ALM – 2143 ALM), known as the Age of Saturation or the New Golden Age. Due to the magical explosion that heralded the end of the 2nd age, Nairys became completely flooded with magic. Magical mutations among humans were discovered immediately after the blast and continued, leading to a new sub-species. With a new abundant energy source with controllable affects, technological advancements skyrocketed, with the first flying city constructed and launched a mere ten years after the world shattered. While learning how to directly control magic was difficult at first, subsequent generations have grown an innate talent for it. About 70 years after the world shattered saw the invention of the first android. While it was designed to simulate sentience, even the inventor was surprised by the display of actual free will by the sentient life. Over the years, more of these “Golems” were created and eventually given rights. It has been shown that robots and androids created without the spark of magic within them do not gain sentience. It was also rediscovered that humanity was not alone on Nairys. Dragons were revealed to still exist, though in reduced forms. With Humans, Dragons, Golems, and the magically mutated “Fae” Humans, Nairys saw many new cultures and people groups form.
As the years past, magic grew in strength. It became natural to use and continued to push advancement. Some of the more powerful and destructive spells and types of magic are outlawed, particularly in warfare. The most recent development that have many concerned is a new type of being known as Titans. First documented some 40 years ago, Titans are individuals with immense magical might, sparking comparisons with the demi-gods of myth. A Titan can be born from any of the four races, with no discernable reason as to why or how. Known Titans are at best discretely watched, at worst controlled or killed outright.
What with the rise of Titans and the question of how magic can sustain Nairys, worries grow that this golden age is drawing to a close.
~*Magic: More Facts*~
Magic, while easy to use, is still difficult to master. For example, we can look at healing magic. Healing a small scratch is rather easy and simple. But more serious wounds requires knowledge of how the body works. If you try to heal a gunshot wound through a vital organ, the odds are overwhelmingly against an untrained mage successfully mending the organ in a way that allows it to properly function, or to function at all. To be a proficient healer, you need to have medical training.
This concept of needing to know what you are doing is present in all magic. While some kid might know how to make a little flame in his hand, it is the person who understands the science of fire that can create a flaming effigy of a Phoenix.
Magic provides the might, the mage provides the mind.
It is therefore puzzling that magic mutations are not lethal. Without an intelligence to guide it, magic shouldn’t be able to keep vital systems in living organisms intact as it changes creatures. This has led to much debate whether magic itself has an intelligence or if someone or something controls it.
It is also important to note the blocking effect silver has on magic, similar as lead to radiation. It has also shown to have a dampening effect on certain types of magic illnesses.
~*The Dram*~
The Dram are a mysterious species that is only known through legends. The Dragons have said that the Dram are why they hid among the humans. After the world shattered, stories of individual or committees of Fae disappearing under mysterious circumstances attributed to the Dram. The Origin of these monsters are not rightly known. Dragon oral history doesn’t refer to the Dram until after the 2nd Age began, leading scholars to theorize that they are a species born out of the Magical Drought. Their targeting of the more magically infused races indicates an animosity or need on the part of the Dram. Fae folk legends often refer to the Dram feeding off their victims. This does seem to support the idea that the Dram feeding off magic, but still no conclusive evidence. There are also a theory that rather than being a new species created by the Magical Drought, the Dram are something old awakened from slumber. Prominent occultists point to ancient texts speaking of the Elder Ones, beings beyond the stars and understanding.
While the number of Dram “attacks” were on the rise in the early half of the 3rd Age, the latter half has shown the dwindling of such reports to almost nothing. Some still blame the Dram for unexpected deaths, but no evidence to support this.
The history of Nairys can be divided up into 3 ages.
The 1st Age (4,000 BML-0 ALM) is known as the Age of Plenty. Magic abounded with mighty kingdoms reportedly living in harmony. It was an age of adventure and myth. Legends say this age came crashing down when a greedy mage known as Surak The Archmage attempted to take all the magic for himself, sealing both it and himself in Nairy’s core. This caused the once mighty fountain of magic to be reduced to a mere trickle.
The 2nd age (0 ALM to 2008 ALM) is known as the Age of Draught or the Age Science. With only a little magic left, the living creatures of the world had to adapt. For humans, that meant a new focus on exploring other natural phenomena through the scientific method. As this age unfolded, more and more focus was removed from magic and placed on new technologies. While there was still enough magic around to keep it from passing entirely into myth, its limited use in this starved time made many to believe stories of the great spells of the past to be fairy tales, and that magic itself was an obsolete area of study.
Like the 1st age, the 2nd Age ended in catastrophe. A mage referred to as Tal the Destroyer began probing the core of the world to gain access to the magic trapped there. His attempts to do so ended in a chain reaction that cracked Nairys open, shattering it into many pieces. Complete destruction was prevented by a resurgence of magic. Magical chains formed to bind the shattered pieces together and to the core. Some of the pieces were also connected by magical bridges. The most intriguing part of this was that major population centers were protected by magic barriers as well as reports of “angelic beings” saving some who would have fallen into the cracks. There is currently no unifying theory as to the how and why these lifesaving spells happened. Some attribute it to the Divine, others some sort of ancient spell, even some that claim that it was Tal that kept the world together. While thousands still perished, millions were saved. There is even a growing theory that the magic trapped in the core was reaching a critical mass and would have detonated on its own in time.
This brings us to the 3rd Age (2008 ALM – 2143 ALM), known as the Age of Saturation or the New Golden Age. Due to the magical explosion that heralded the end of the 2nd age, Nairys became completely flooded with magic. Magical mutations among humans were discovered immediately after the blast and continued, leading to a new sub-species. With a new abundant energy source with controllable affects, technological advancements skyrocketed, with the first flying city constructed and launched a mere ten years after the world shattered. While learning how to directly control magic was difficult at first, subsequent generations have grown an innate talent for it. About 70 years after the world shattered saw the invention of the first android. While it was designed to simulate sentience, even the inventor was surprised by the display of actual free will by the sentient life. Over the years, more of these “Golems” were created and eventually given rights. It has been shown that robots and androids created without the spark of magic within them do not gain sentience. It was also rediscovered that humanity was not alone on Nairys. Dragons were revealed to still exist, though in reduced forms. With Humans, Dragons, Golems, and the magically mutated “Fae” Humans, Nairys saw many new cultures and people groups form.
As the years past, magic grew in strength. It became natural to use and continued to push advancement. Some of the more powerful and destructive spells and types of magic are outlawed, particularly in warfare. The most recent development that have many concerned is a new type of being known as Titans. First documented some 40 years ago, Titans are individuals with immense magical might, sparking comparisons with the demi-gods of myth. A Titan can be born from any of the four races, with no discernable reason as to why or how. Known Titans are at best discretely watched, at worst controlled or killed outright.
What with the rise of Titans and the question of how magic can sustain Nairys, worries grow that this golden age is drawing to a close.
~*Magic: More Facts*~
Magic, while easy to use, is still difficult to master. For example, we can look at healing magic. Healing a small scratch is rather easy and simple. But more serious wounds requires knowledge of how the body works. If you try to heal a gunshot wound through a vital organ, the odds are overwhelmingly against an untrained mage successfully mending the organ in a way that allows it to properly function, or to function at all. To be a proficient healer, you need to have medical training.
This concept of needing to know what you are doing is present in all magic. While some kid might know how to make a little flame in his hand, it is the person who understands the science of fire that can create a flaming effigy of a Phoenix.
Magic provides the might, the mage provides the mind.
It is therefore puzzling that magic mutations are not lethal. Without an intelligence to guide it, magic shouldn’t be able to keep vital systems in living organisms intact as it changes creatures. This has led to much debate whether magic itself has an intelligence or if someone or something controls it.
It is also important to note the blocking effect silver has on magic, similar as lead to radiation. It has also shown to have a dampening effect on certain types of magic illnesses.
~*The Dram*~
The Dram are a mysterious species that is only known through legends. The Dragons have said that the Dram are why they hid among the humans. After the world shattered, stories of individual or committees of Fae disappearing under mysterious circumstances attributed to the Dram. The Origin of these monsters are not rightly known. Dragon oral history doesn’t refer to the Dram until after the 2nd Age began, leading scholars to theorize that they are a species born out of the Magical Drought. Their targeting of the more magically infused races indicates an animosity or need on the part of the Dram. Fae folk legends often refer to the Dram feeding off their victims. This does seem to support the idea that the Dram feeding off magic, but still no conclusive evidence. There are also a theory that rather than being a new species created by the Magical Drought, the Dram are something old awakened from slumber. Prominent occultists point to ancient texts speaking of the Elder Ones, beings beyond the stars and understanding.
While the number of Dram “attacks” were on the rise in the early half of the 3rd Age, the latter half has shown the dwindling of such reports to almost nothing. Some still blame the Dram for unexpected deaths, but no evidence to support this.
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