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Murkoph
 
PostPosted: Thu, Oct 15 2015, 5:40 AM 



Player

Joined: 28 Sep 2011

Biblio Tuphlos/Panoptes: Book of the Blind/All-Seeing.
Author: Asya, Daughter of Goodmon.

A manuscript written on thick vellum tanned from the wing membranes of wyverns. At present the first copy resides in Tarkuul's libraries.

Foreword:

Early into my apprenticeship under a wizard named Sloane, I met two travellers. One; a Priest of Shaundakul, the other; a young woman who was training as his apprentice. Having to work hard in order to pay for my master's tuition; I accepted a job from them to trap a wolf, and use its pelt to craft her a new cloak to ward her against the harsh weather of the Frozenfar.

That night, I laid out a trap as my father had taught me, and I stood watch over it. The young priestess to be accompanied me, and spent the night regaling me of her story. Of her special relationship with her god. It started with the tales of her travels with her mentor, of the far off places she had been, and how fulfilling her life was. Many things she laid out to me of herself: Of how she considered Shaundakul to smile upon those who walked while scoffing at those who rode; Of how she hated maggots and flies, and would scream should one find itself on her person.

I suppose she thought me her friend.

As the night neared the witching hour, I heard a faint yelp as the trap snapped upon a wolf's leg. And as I waited for its pack to sniff around and give it up for dead, she made her greatest claim yet. She told me that she in fact truly understood the plans of the gods. That she had full understanding of how they worked perfectly, and told me could not understand why anyone would not be able to understand how they made the people of this world brave, or kind, or healthy, or happy.

The next afternoon she and her master visited me where I worked on the cloak. I had drawn out the pattern as a tailor would to create a plan, but had yet to cut and assemble the component pieces. I asked her if she thought this would come together in a way she would find pleasing.

"I'm sorry", she replied. "But I never could understand this sort of plan."

And so, I turned to her mentor. The old priest raised his eyebrows as I said to him "Your pupil understands all the gods' plans, she says. Would you mind praying to your god? Saying what you're seeing here that he can explain it in a way even she can understand?"

The cloak I made that day is the same one I wore when I first stepped off the boat, on the very day I first set foot on the Isle of Amia. She never spoke to me again.

I will never forget that young priestess to be. She was a fool.

So is anyone else who claims to know why a god does what it does, or thinks, or feels, or believes. Anyone who really and truly thinks they really know what's going on in the world is likely the one farthest from the truth.

This I truly believe.

This is a book about how I really know what's going on in the world.

Take from that what you will.

_________________
Player of:
Asya Goodmonsdottir - Knight of Lesser Gods.
-Winner of 2014's "Razored Tongue" Award, and Emcee's pick "Authoritarian of the year".
Jannah Vindle - Mistress of Coin.


Last edited by Murkoph on Fri, Oct 16 2015, 5:03 AM, edited 2 times in total.

 
      
Murkoph
 
PostPosted: Thu, Oct 15 2015, 5:42 AM 



Player

Joined: 28 Sep 2011

Part 1: Apocalyptica via Blood.

An alarmist title for the first section of the first book I've written, and intend to actually share. Especially in light of the fallout of the Arcanum War, and the damage it wrought; both in lives, and in more abstract notions. Yet, at the same time the conflict of the Arcanum is one which lead to a great rethinking of the way many think about magic. I begin writing this in the Year of the Vindicated Warrior after all. Now, having resigned from the position in which I fought in that war for this world, I elect to become the veritable warrior-scholar and put ink to vellum that I can explain what I can about the cosmic implications of the mere existence of the abomination once known as Collin Reyes.

I put to paper a prayer that Oghma not strike me down for speaking of the forbidden in casual manner. I assure him I will not be telling anyone anything about what I may or may not know about the practical functions of magics which one man used to challenge the gods and retain his status as a man. I also have to say that I say some pretty amazing things about Oghma and his magnificence, as well as importance to this world. So please don't smite me, oh great Binder of All That is Known.

---

The first question one may ask is simply... Why would I write this? The answer is that it makes sense to me. It has now been nearly a year since the end of the Arcanum conflict. The defeat of a self styled human-god in the skies of Cordor, under the sign of Mystra in the sky. When the mightiest warriors from the Sea of Swords gathered and acted collectively as divine agents to protect the Realms. It has been perhaps longer than this time since another widely distributed document spoke of changes in history.

As the History and Threat of the Arcanum and Collin Reyes; a document penned by a Lord of Kohlingen, and the servants of the deposed Duke of Cordor questioned:

History and Threat of the Arcanum and Collin Reyes wrote:
In addition to physical documents changing due to the manipulation of the time-lines, Reyes' recalculations of our reality are beginning to manifest in the minds of the people. Have you experienced moments where you feel as though what is happening around you has already happened at some point? That perhaps you dreamed it one night? Have you been experiencing them with more frequency than normal? Are you a person who has always been certain of your memory of events, but have of late been given cause to question your own memory, as you seem to recall a different set of events and then wonder if you might be conflating one point of your past with another?


The problem is that... Despite later claims that Reyes, upon his defeat was transformed into a being which was to be charged by the gods to repair the damage he did to history, there are still a great many widely available signs of history still in disrepair! As I write this, I have among my study materials multiple sets of gloves, weapons, and helmets which show telltale signs of being partially out of step with reality. Paradoxical weapons and arms.

Ones which are now bought and traded. I'm told that paradoxical blades make fine razors for grooming, even! Have we perhaps become so dulled to this that men will scrape the hair from their chins with objects antithetical to reality? Underneath Cordor to this day a rift in time has formed in the bay where a third of the city once stood! An army stands ready, with weapons meant to tumble fortresses trained on the hole, lest beasts crawl out from inside it.

The proper identification and precautions for time paradoxes will be covered in a later addition to this manuscript, along with theories of hypothetical time, and the states of "unbound" entities which may be encountered. But I digress.

The purpose of this book is to lay out the revelations of magic, history, reality and time learned throughout the Arcanum war - as I understood them at the time as an Officer and Mage of Tarkuul in the Cordor West Garrison. The implications of what it may mean for our reality, and the planes as we know them.

Our world is broken. Many things have not been restored, and I fear that in many ways they may never again be restored wholly. But I believe that even a partial sundering of all we know is a matter which transcends many mortal concerns.

_________________
Player of:
Asya Goodmonsdottir - Knight of Lesser Gods.
-Winner of 2014's "Razored Tongue" Award, and Emcee's pick "Authoritarian of the year".
Jannah Vindle - Mistress of Coin.


 
      
Murkoph
 
PostPosted: Fri, Oct 16 2015, 4:58 AM 



Player

Joined: 28 Sep 2011

Part 2: Way back when...

In the beginning there was nothing. Then there was something. Depending on what you think, and how willing you are to work on an astounding lack of evidence; A being named Ao created everything. The first two beings to exist were sisters. They were named Shar, and Selune. Together they created the world as we know it, but then was born Chauntea, who implored the sisters for light. Selune heard this, and alighted the sun with the essence of pure elemental flame, and life was created.

Shar, who valued the primordial darkness was enraged by this, and this started a war which continues to this day. The first major conflict created by the two warring sisters however was ended when Selune tore a part of her essence away and flung it towards Shar. This piece of her essence wounded Shar gravely, and became known as Mystryl, first of three goddesses of the Weave. I say the Weave, as opposed to Magic as our reality possesses multiple deities intimately tied with magic, but only one inherently tied to the Weave.

This is all quite common theological history, so far. The problems here however are that there are holes in this story, many of which can in fact be filled in some part by the simple idea that Blood Magic is a power which exists. A power of incredible scope and size, and one which exists separate from the Weave.

While many alternative forces exist outside of the Weave for magic, few seem able to create abilities potent enough to accomplish the feats mentioned in this story. The Weave did not exist until after multiple events which practically require supernatural abilities had already happened: Depending on adherence to the Ao theory, one can consider the creation of two full fledged deities to be the first act of supernatural power. These two deities used powers to create worlds, to create another goddess; Chauntea, and from there create life as we know it. At some point, the sun was created as well. Can't skip that one.

From this we surmise that there is indeed power out there. Magical power even; which is capable of creating entire worlds, and which can at a certain extent be wielded by deities to create just about all things. And even then there is probably a reason why the Gods do so sparingly.

Consider this my logic on believing so: Deities are known to be empowered by the faith of their followers. In exchange their followers may be granted blessings and access to The Power. But many groups, particularly those of a given race, explain their own existence as being the acts of gods. Those gods, and the races they sponsor often are at war with other groups. Long standing grudges that have gone on for centuries, if not millennia. So why is it that no new races are being created from whole cloth? I have yet to come across races, or a new species which has recently emerged.

To go to a rather apt example, the Dwarves and the Orcs have been at war for longer than many histories can record. What Dwarven myth has told me (not that I am well versed in their ways in much depth) was that the first Dwarves were created by Moradin the All-Father. He forged their bodies from metal and gems, and sparked souls in them when he blew on his creations to cool him, it's quite unlikely that this is in any way inaccurate. I'd like to dare anyone to bring this up to a Dwarf and try to claim otherwise.

But my question is, why is it that the All-Father who cares for his people so would not forge more Dwarves when there is a threat either to his people or to himself? An influx of faithful Dwarves would not only bolster their population (and these are Dwarves; a battle ready population is likely), but boost the power of the one they worship who could use this power to smite Gruumsh himself? And not to put too many words into the Mordinshamman's mouth, but conversely as there is almost certainly a good reason why a staunch and goodly deity such as Moradin would not do this, why would a raging and brash war god such as Gruumsh not turn around and do this to the Dwarves? Create an unstoppable horde with his own hand and drown out all opposition with force of sheer numbers? The creation of the horde and the conquest of the lands of your enemies is almost literally the word for word dogma of the Orc pantheon.

At this point I will just state that I chose to use the Dwarven and Orcish gods as an example as they have a prominent creation myth for their own people, and provide good juxtaposition. I do not in any way wish to question the wisdom of those gods, and only sought to use this as a thought exercise.

But to extend this line of thought: Why could not any god of a certain degree of power do just this to bolster themselves or their chosen people, or cult?

It seems that this great miracle of creation is one which in many ways is possibly now lost to the gods. Garl Glittergold no longer carves his people out of gems, Moradin does not forge entire new clans, Corellon Larethian's spilled blood no longer sprouts new branches of his people. The potential for new life certainly exists, but it seems that at some point; our reality does not allow for new beings to be created in mass numbers.

One very interesting aspect of Collin Reyes was that he was in many ways interested in life. A great creature of blood said to have been given life by him was once found underneath Cordor, its blasphemous existence was ended (if I remember correctly, by Richard Johnson?). He went to great lengths to create a clan of those I heard he referred to as his 'Children'. The blood mage Amon being the greatest of them, who was reportedly the result of a breeding program set in motion to intermingle the lineages of Collin Reyes and the Netherese Archmage Tytalus.

That he would go to such great lengths to emulate the creation of new life in a process involving blood, and would do so to create his own children in the image of himself and another man once amused me, and made me ponder occasionally on the nature of the relationship between these two mages. But intellectually it did make me consider that in many ways the greatest act of creation is one which is now the most mundane. One which in all likelihood the vast majority of those reading this would have undergone at one time, and one which Reyes had to break reality in order to obtain solely for himself

The ability for a god to breathe life into a new soul is one possessed by a large number of mortals. As a woman, I possess the ability to create a new soul within me. I would need help, but I could do it. This is in and of itself a representation of a power truly divine, an ability that the gods use sparingly, yet is used by accident by many mortals.

I have yet to meet a single mortal Arcanist or Faithful who can utilise the Weave in order to create a new soul, and a new life. Powers beyond the greatest blessings of the Lady of Mysteries forged us, and will forge those who come after us. Truly we are blessed by the miracle of all our existences. Truly we could be damned as it's possible that every new birth has consequences far beyond what we know.

_________________
Player of:
Asya Goodmonsdottir - Knight of Lesser Gods.
-Winner of 2014's "Razored Tongue" Award, and Emcee's pick "Authoritarian of the year".
Jannah Vindle - Mistress of Coin.


 
      
Murkoph
 
PostPosted: Sat, Oct 17 2015, 6:59 AM 



Player

Joined: 28 Sep 2011

Part 3: Yet back at how.

"Fish swim, birds fly.
The rest of us unlucky bastards are stuck with asking 'Why? Oh gods, why?'"

~A meditation on his 50th birthday, Master Sloane.

Evidence of one form of force does not mean that it is the true source of everything. I do not wish to imply that the gods directly used what we know as 'Blood Magic' within the context of the Arcanum conflict to forge us, or any part of the world. The information that I was given (or more accurately, paid for) stated the following:

"Before the universe, there was many forces. And one of them was blood."

Of what there was 'before' us there is startlingly little evidence or really hearsay that I've ever been made aware of outside of two small parts of theological myth. The first is that Shar is a representative of what is referred to as a primordial void. The second is the entire myth of the origin of Oghma. Remember him? I mentioned he would come back, and it turns out he's incredibly important to the fabric of our reality. But at the same time he is also indicative of the limitations of our reality, and the scope of mortal invention.

Oghmite myth states that he is chronologically the fourth oldest god in Toril. That first there was nothing, and then there was Shar and Selune. Then Shar and Selune created the world, and from that was born Chauntea, the animating spirit of that reality. There was something which exists, and something that was animate, but according to Oghmite myth, all that existed then was unformed. Oghma's myth states that he originated not from something which just suddenly existed, as was the case with Selune, Shar, Chauntea and Mystra: Instead he came here from somewhere else.

Oghma became the Binder when he came to our reality from another one, and then started to define things. Giving each and every one a name, which defined exactly what was what, and if it is true that Oghma defined all things, then he created the foundations of all logic: That one and one makes two. Unformed chaos, by its definition has no static constants in which to assume logic exists. You cannot quantify it because it is an infinite mass. Before Oghma, it could be argued that there were only three aspects worthy of deific governance with which to form the foundations of all we know. And those were... Rather odd.

If one were to start a reality, whether you believe it being a deliberate function of a supreme Overgod, or through pure happenstance (if all was unformed chaos before a reality, then within infinite possibility there is a finite probability of two goddesses forming and creating a world together), why is it that creation should be started as a process of the following concepts?

The Moon.
The Darkness.
The Essence of Life.
Logic.

My question is this: Why are the two cornerstones of Toril's existence the Moon and the Night? What do these two concepts and divine portfolios have anything to do with the ability to create an entire reality? Certainly we have established that there must be forces out there which those two were able to manipulate to create life. One of them is blood, we are led to believe.

So why were we formed by a moonlit sky, and not a blood god? Could we have been formed by a god of just anything? Is there a possibility that there was a good chance that we could have been created by, say, a Deity whose portfolio is solely "The Smell of Burnt Toast"? The mighty "God of Lost Left Socks"? A deity for the transportation of small piles of rocks? Silly walks? Apple pie?

I make a stretch for the sake of some levity in this text, but I want to go back to the notion of why there was no deity of blood. Why is there still no deity of blood? There's gods of forgetfulness, slime, caves, multiple varieties of storms, but there is not a god of blood.

The answer would seem to be thus; while there are multiple gods for just about anything you could think of, indigenous gods of Toril are only dealt out a limited number of portfolios. Consider that there is only one God of Time: Labelas Enoreth, and they are not indigenous to our reality. Even then the role of this god does not seem to truly be one who tends time both past and present, rather as one who preserves knowledge of the past for the sake of the. For a god of time, Labelas Enoreth seemed completely impotent in the face of Collin Reyes. Within the limitations placed upon simply existing in our reality, it would seem that even the gods themselves are unable to touch what could be considered the immutable facts of our reality.

As such from this we must go on to consider the possibility that our reality is one of severe limitations. And that from a state of primordial chaos, we have become a solid and static, albeit still changing reality. And this is why Selune was one of two parts of an equation which was required to form all we know. The Moon, and what Selune stands for in extension can be summed up simply with this statement:

"That which changes predictably"

From a realm of chaos where all things are happening at once, with forces of scope so large that we are scarcely able to comprehend them, we required certain predictable principles from which all other things can form. There must be a set amount of stability within a realm of infinite change for the predictable to come about, there must be something which is constant to navigate by.

Where does Shar come in? Shar has been described as emblematic of primordial nothingness which existed before Toril. Under this theory, the best explanation is that you can't have stable change without differentiation between one state of change and another. The moon's phases would not be meaningful if the moon shone the same each night, and we would not understand darkness without light to give us something to compare it to. We need a full moon and a new moon to have a proper 'phase'.

These two represent the two functions needed to lessen a segment of total chaos into an area of stable reality.

To have something exist with any form of stability, it must be lessened from a state in which all things happen at once. That way you can have a place in which things are possible independent of one another. But there still needs to be enough energy and change to prevent simply nothing happening at all. These two factors in existence can create a stable area of finite possibility in which things can be reliably predictable. In this place, it is therefor possible to begin classifying stable formations of predictable change.

In more simplistic language: I have just described the story of Shar, Selune, Chauntea and Oghma in far too many words, showing off that I'm quite clever.

To make the world, Shar's dominion of loss drained a zone of total chaos of a portion of its possibility.
To make the world, Selune's dominion of loss kept what cycles of energy were left after Shar was done with them stable.
Once they had done it, the zone of stable cycles became cycles of life and was called Chauntea.
The one who decided everything that happened was called all this was a traveler named Oghma.

The unfortunate implication of this, and the ultimate irony of it all is that if this theory holds any water at all, Shar who desires that all things never came to be could be the one force which protects us all. A universe of infinite possibility by default has a 100% probability that we could see a terrible doomsday in which all mortals and gods alike meet their end via an overabundance of the smell of burnt toast. It is only through the blessings of Selune that we aren't also summarily completely drained into the nothingness of Shar.

And it is my belief that the nature of all reality being dependent upon the strain of two different apocalyptic forces being balanced in a stable cycle of conflict is exactly why life on the whole is awful for most people living it.

Next time: Mystryl, Mystra, and Midnight; or why Magic probably isn't exactly what you thought it is.

_________________
Player of:
Asya Goodmonsdottir - Knight of Lesser Gods.
-Winner of 2014's "Razored Tongue" Award, and Emcee's pick "Authoritarian of the year".
Jannah Vindle - Mistress of Coin.


 
      
Murkoph
 
PostPosted: Sat, Oct 17 2015, 22:54 PM 



Player

Joined: 28 Sep 2011

Magic?

'To evoke flame from your hands you need simply to make the sign of breath, while incanting the first precept of universal dawn.'
"What are you talking about?"
'Look, just move your fingers like this and say what I wrote on the board.'

~A conversation I had about 17 years ago.

On this island I have read multiple treatises on magic; on its ethics, its use, and on what certain particular gods are doing with it at any one time. Very few of them seem to question the nature of the Weave itself. Why? Because we probably know very little about it, and it is incredibly like that true knowledge of its nature would be considered a security risk for multiple gods out there.

Oh great Mystra don't smite me.

The Weave itself is Mystra, the goddess Mystra is the weave, the goddess Mystra at present is a rather nice woman who likes to learn more about magic. For most it seems... That's about the end of it. I would think that incuriousity in and of itself regarding the nature of the Weave could be considered a sin for many orthodox Mystrans, but here we go...

Under my theory of a Genesis of Stable Change, in which the two powers of Selune and Shar together acted to forge a universe by lessening an infinite, and then creating stability in what was left, the explanation for the nature of the Weave is one which states that the Weave is by necessity a lesser entity than other forms of power which were born outside of our reality. This held true with the discovery and usage of Blood Magic during the Arcanum war. Blasphemous, dangerous, difficult, and rightfully never intended for mortal usage: Yes. More effective than almost all forms of magic produced via the Weave: Unfortunately for everyone else, also yes.

The Weave is representative of all possibilities of magic.
In a reality built upon the foundation of having fewer possibilities, the Weave is representative of those possibilities being limited.

And this is something which may be saddening; but in this context, observing Mystran history there is a sense of foreboding that the limitations of Magic mean that we may be reaching the end of our discovering the limits of finite possibilities. Possibly not within our lifetimes, no, but a century? A Millennium? A hundred eras? We may see that all magic is discovered and there will be nothing left to find. It's possible that it may have already happened, why else would there be travelers seeking out new primordial worlds in which to discover new concepts to be named and classified? (Please see previous mentions of Oghmite defining of reality).

Were I asked what the nature of the Weave is, I believe that it is impossible to simply say 'it is how magic works' and leave it at that. How does magic work? What is the nature of Mystra herself? Well, the common myth of it all is as follows:

After all things were created, Chauntea desired new and more abundant life for her world and begged for light from the two sisters who created her. She could not convince them both, for Shar loathed all light, and eventually Selune acted on her own and set alight the sun with elemental fire. Presumably at this point the first God of the Sun Amaunator was formed. Shar tried to snuff out the light of the sun almost immediately, and the great war started between stable change and the essence of nothingness. This war raged on, and from it were born many new gods, those of war, strife, and death.

This first battle was ended with the birth of Mystra, when in what sounds to be a moment of desperation on the battlefield; the goddess Selune tore a piece of her own essence from herself and flung it at Shar, and in this way wounded her gravely; banishing her to the darkness for hundreds of years. From the essence lost from both Selune and Shar, Mystra was born.

In this case, it would seem that Mystra is the first instance of a god being generated by a form of deific mating. An incestuous and violent birth created by combat rather than any loving act. The problem here is... Why was the act of sacrificing part of oneself to combat nothingness one which came out as 'magic'? I do very much want to know the answer, as the implications are horrifying. Simply put, the implication here is that the very first of magic which tapped into and forged the Weave is an act in which one stole energy from the stable changes in which our reality safely exists between all and nothingness, and then cast it at the nothingness.

Multiple times, and for a variety of reasons I have been told that it is anathema to think that the essences of Shar and Selune would in any way be compatible. That they could peacefully coexist. But there's a magical codpiece out there somewhere which is powered by the conjoined essences of the two.

The first act of magic is one in which energy was taken from the cycles of life and time in which our reality was forged. That energy was cast at nothingness. This would imply that the nature of magic is one which shows that it is stripping energy from the cyclical things we know, and consigns it to the void. The energy is spent, used up creating the spell effect. Many gods were born in those days, and usually they were created the moment a concept was created which needed monitoring. Jergal was created at the first death, Targus created at the first battle. Mystra was born the first time someone sacrificed the world's energy for the sake of having enough power to strike down an enemy.

Consider first that it is inaccurate when earlier I said that there is only one God of Time. Early Netherese records on Mystryl indicate that she was also the Goddess of Time. Power through sacrifice of a great cycle, using it to practical effect when casting it towards the void. And this resulted in a goddess who presided over time.

My question is, was time meaningful at all before the birth of Mystra? Was the cycle stable and eternal when Selune and Shar remained in balance? If all days and nights are the same, there is no need for history to be learned from, and no need for us to differentiate at what point in time anything actually is. When one upsets a cycle which before this only endlessly looped in circles, and nudges it towards a point where it cannot move anymore, time no longer moves in a circle, but rather in a downward spiral.

It's possible that the first act of the expenditure of finite energy is the first act which kicked off time itself. A start date, from which we forevermore will be moving away from until the cycle loses all forward motion and brings us to our final day.

In the days of Mystryl, magic was unfettered. She was destroyed in a time of great magical conflict.
In the days of Mystra, magic was a balancing act. She was destroyed in a time of great magical conflict.
In the days of the Mystra once known as Midnight, the goddess preaches that we are to treasure what magic we have, and to use it less and less.

The history of goddesses of magic who govern the Weave is one in which each time a major change is made to their nature, it becomes a necessity that magic is used less and less. I have no means to question Mystra or her servants, but I implore those who do to ask this question of them. I feel we mortals have a right to know if we are truly damned by acts of magic, no matter how well intentioned.

_________________
Player of:
Asya Goodmonsdottir - Knight of Lesser Gods.
-Winner of 2014's "Razored Tongue" Award, and Emcee's pick "Authoritarian of the year".
Jannah Vindle - Mistress of Coin.


 
      
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