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A History of Gaeldan: Magic and the Astral Sea

Excerpt from A Magical History, by Alonsus Fadeleaf.

Magic has changed radicaly from the time wizarsd first came to be. When the world was first born, there was another, unnamed god. She was in control of magic, and it's derivitive, Mana. However, there was a disease that spread among magic users. Any magic user that was powerful enough to contract the plauge would die. Within days.

This plague, called the Mana Plauge, swept across Gaeldan. The strongest wizards of the day succumbed. As did the goddess. Her body dissolved and became a font of pure power. So, intead of being given the ability to use magic by the goddess, wizards had to learn to draw their power from this font.

The Astral Sea became what every magic user strives for. Wizard and Warlock alike. Though...how a warlock achieves that is a dark road. Or a dangerous one which will be covered later in this chapter.

You see, this Astral Sea is the pool, the very essence of our spells. Our abilities. And it is limitless. Infact, it expands. We can cast our conciousness out into this sea, and every day, we see that it has multiplied and expanded. It seems to truly be a renewable source of magical energies.

And the amazing part about it, is that your control over the power you can draw from it is limited only by your immagination and the control you can exert over it. This font of power is unstable at best and dangerous at worst. That is why a Wizard must undergo years and years of extensive training and teutalage.

This training generally starts at the age of 5 or 6. The child is sent to the Tower to be trained, allowed to return home during holidays and festivals, other than that, they are there 12 months a year. They are trained from, as I said, 5 years of age until the reach 15. Those that seem to have a grasp of what they are doing are sent to masters all across the country. Generally a one on one study. Sometimes 2 on one. Those that are deemed to have insufficient knowledge are given the opportunity it work at the Tower using the limit of their skills, or train for one more year and try again. Those that choose not to continue training for the year, or choose not to work at the tower are removed from the registry and are sent to a apprenticeship of their choice in the world. Be it farming, blacksmithing, fletching.

However, there are those that wish to take a quicker road, or those that are so desperate to increase their power that they go to any lengths. We know these people as Warlocks. Their power comes from three different sources depending on the pacts they make.

As a rule, there are three pacts. One of which is accepted as a valid vocation in the Tower. The three pacts are Fey, Infernal and Astral. The Astral pact is accepted as the spirits that help the Warlock channel his or her powers are born of the magic let behind by this mysterious goddess. They tend to be unaligned and work with the caster toward whatever ends he has.

The Fey pact is a deal made with the spirits of the Feywilde. The plane of life that my people and the Elves refere. The Spirits here are chaotic and natural. Dangerous to work with in plying them for magical purposes and fickle at the best of times. But very powerful. These Fey-pact Warlocks tend to exercise powers of the natural world. They also hold high places in Eladrin society.

The last pact and the one that I abhor is the Infernal Pact. These...wielders of fire often lack the control of even the most chaotic wizard or Fey Warlock. They are dangerous. They have made pacts with the demons of the Abyss to further their powers. These Warlocks labour under the asumption that they control the power, and not the other way around. Even as their skin burns and their eyes shift to glowing red.

The demon energy that permates them is apalling to anyone remotely connected to magic, or to the Divine. It is often noted that these Warlocks tend to be in the thrall of the evil gods, or at least, their denizens. Common ones are Bane and Lloth. Any Infernal Pact Warlock had best be on their guard. It is a quick path to power. But not one you can control and it will, ultimately, lead to your demise. Either at the hands of Hunters, wizards devoted to hunting down demonic entities (exluding Tieflings), or even some of the temples like Pelor or Bahamut.

At the end of it all, however, Magic is a force not only to be reckoned with, but to be respected by the wielder. If you, the Mage or Warlock do not accept this fundamental truth that you will never wield magic in any form, and it may, infact, consume you.

Posted by TheDM on 2008-07-07 16:03:58 | Rating: