Brons, I want to thank you for honoring your agreement to pay me back a small favor for my lending you, “A Categorization of Ore.” I’ve been thinking a lot about your words to me last week about how I am contributing to the world. I have been born with so much: good looks, intelligence, raw arcane power, humility, and so much more. So I thought to myself, perhaps I can contribute to the betterment of the world by sharing some of my knowledge with people less fortunate than I. And that is when I thought of you! Thank you for letting me borrow some of your time.
You see Brons, you take so much of your magical ability on faith. You say a prayer, wiggle your fingers, then you are granted the power to make something happen. What I fear is that you will wiggle your fingers and unintentionally do something you will regret. I know the kind of man you are and that would weigh on your soul like a bag of stones. So I am going to teach you a little about magic. This will be the first of what I hope will be many incredibly detailed and in depth lectures on the properties of magic in Elrun.
Today we will be discussing the time decay aspect of magic and how its properties relate to tethering. We will conclude with some conjecture about magic items and how they circumvent the time decay principle.
Now, you are familiar with the different schools of magic. There is illusion, enchantment, evocation, conjuration, and so forth. All these schools of magic share a few common principles with how spells are formed and how they interact with our world. A basic principle is that spells are created in an instant in our world, and immediately after they are created, the world to which they are attuned has already changed. We call this time decay. It may be close to imperceptible to our eyes, but every second that passes our world changes. The sun moves just a little bit more towards the West. The clouds change shape and drift in the wind. Grass grows a little longer or changes to be a bit greener. The number of changes are innumerous and those changes make a spell’s attunement to this world oscillate, then break. For some spells, this is perfectly alright, as the spells are only meant to last an instant. Think of when I shoot a bolt of fire from my fingertips. The spell is only meant to travel a hundred feet or so, hit, then dissipate. For other spells, like your wall of fire, a duration of an instant would render them completely ineffective. That is where tethering comes in.
Tethering, often referred to as concentration, occurs when a spell is cast with a link to the caster. You could think of that link like a stream of magic energy that sustains the spell and allows it to persist in an ever changing world. With the link, the tethered spell is being consistently reattuned to the world around it. With very few exceptions, casters can only have one tethered spell at a time. The casting of a second tethered spell would break the connection of the first tethered spell and cause it to dissipate. Significant changes to the caster can also break the spell, such as taking damage, moving a distance away from the spell’s area of effect, or time passing long enough that the caster is significantly different than when he or she first cast the spell. Think about it, every second that passes our bodies age and we grow wiser (at least most of us grow wiser). Tethering allows casters to cast spells that endure for minutes, hours, or even days.
Tethering is the most common form of extending the duration of a spell, but there are others I have uncovered, and the methods change based on the nature of a spell. For example, I have found that illusions, because they have no true form in this world, are more resistant to the effects of time decay. I have found that by expending extra magical energy, I can tether a spell to a location in the world, instead of myself, and have the illusion sustain itself by adapting to the world around it. In essence, I make the Illusion a part of this world that changes at the same rate as the location around it changes. I conjecture that using a spell to create something of substance and repeating that spell at a regular cadence in the same spot would create a similar tether effect, attuning that spell to the world around it. I feel I have only scratched the surface of enduring tether possibilities.
This brings us to the exciting bit: magic items. As you are aware, there are true sources of magic in this world. Branmir is your source, my blood is mine. Magical creatures in this world have a magical source as well. We have already learned that specific magical sources produce specific effects. By applying these magical sources to weapons, armor, and other objects of use, theoretically we can channel their magical properties in new ways. The trick we need to uncover is how to tether a magical source to an object and to ensure we create the desired effect. For example, a salamander heart is a magical source related to fire. If I apply it to a piece of armor, will it grant me protection from fire, or make the armor so hot it’s unwearable? Just like somatic and verbal components govern how we shape magical energy in our spells, I believe there are principles in how a magic item is applied that will affect how it lends its magic to a magical item. I am very excited to explore this subject with you.
I am led to believe that certain gems can be containers for magical energy (essentially making them a source of magical energy) and amplifiers to that magical energy. Because gems are everlasting by nature (they take thousands of years to create, are incredibly durable, and last for thousands of years more), they make great containers that protect magical energy from time decay in our world. I believe that gems can be used as focal points to not only store magical energy, but amplify it and channel it. Using the right metals and the right gems in the right combination could be akin to using the correct verbal and somatic components in a spell. Basically, you would not need to wiggle your fingers or pray to produce the desired effect. The possibilities are endless!
Tis fun to theorize and conjecture. I hope this was educational and insightful for you Brons. Brons? Brons! I can’t believe you fell asleep! You have stones for brains and that is all you’ll ever have unless you learn to discipline yourself. Don’t yawn at me! Bah! True scholarship is a lost art in this world.