Unreality
From Reydala
Contents |
Properties of Unreality
Picture all of reality as a framework of strings. Normally the strings are taut and prevent anything unusual from happening, people do not randomly sail into the air and castles remain firmly rooted to their foundations. Your average mortal need not concern himself with these "strings", for he can neither see them, nor interact with them. However, Dieties can see them, and by manipulating them can create just about any sort of effect that they wish.
However, whenever the gods pull on reality's strings, after effects are produced. Undulation ripples through the strings, or perhaps they break completely. Without these stable strings to hold life under the usual laws of time and space, reality starts to break down, and unusual things begin to happen. This phenomenon is referred to as Unreality, and is naturally extremely dangerous in large amounts.
Unreality disperses through the world quickly at first, gradually slowing down as time progresses. It is not uncommon for huge interventions to have distinct "Unreality Waves" resulting from the sudden rushing escape of Unreality. These waves slowly lose steam as they travel, but can create drastic, if short-term, effects on living things and matter in their wake. Sites of large interventions can retain unreal residue for years, depending on the gravity of the originating event.
Unreality Concentrations
Most corners on Reydala have small background levels of Unreality present, Lucion researchers have theorized that it is so widespread because the elemental Goddesses intervene regularly in slight ways to keep the world running as it is. For the most part, small background levels of Unreality are not harmful to humans, and unable to effect objects in any appreciable manner. For example, a pebble thrown with the same force in an area with only background unreality is unlikely to land in the same place every time, yet it will often land within a few inches or so, provided no other forces act on it.
Higher levels of unreality are usually found around areas of Godly intervention in the world. For example, Mulinel summoning a great dome of Ice to protect Krasevae from utter destruction had unfortunate side effects for the surrounding countryside. Not only did this sever the cords of life and death from many who had perished in the attack, but strange events began to occur as far south as Sanoan. Because of this, many Good deities will only interfere in the world as an absolute last resort.
Although rare, fields of pure reality can be found or created on the globe. Usually they are created as a result of wizardly actions (See uses of unreality below), however sometimes a natural field will come into existence in the more god-neglected areas of the globe. These areas are usually temporary and quickly consumed by expanding unreality.
Lucion researchers have categorized unreality concentrations as follows:
| Category | Referring Term | Observable Effects |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Pure Reality | Spells, Magic items do not function. Everything occurs according to Strict Natural Laws. |
| 1 | Spells, Magic items have weakened effect. Randomness Is minimalized. | |
| 2 | Background Unreality (Normal) | Spells, Magic items have normal effects. Standard Principles of Randomness Apply. |
| 3 | Ambient Temperatures may slightly increase/decrease, other minor effects. | |
| 4 | Minor Unreality Saturation | Thrown/Falling objects may have strange trajectories. Time may move slower/faster in random pockets. Spells may surge and behave unexpectedly. |
| 5 | Smaller objects may begin to levitate. Uniform Time abnormalities. Spellcasting very difficult without significant skill. Objects recently destroyed may reappear, and existent objects may disappear. Mortals may become ill with prolonged exposure. | |
| 6 | Unreality Saturation | Mortals within the area may feel physically ill and report hallucinations. The Recently Deceased may return to life. Time distortions grow more severe. Spells become nearly impossible to control. |
| 7 | Mortals within the area are prone to vomiting and symptoms of madness and terror. Long Dead Corpses may rise to walk again. Animals become violent and restless. Time becomes disjointed and action may no longer lead to consequence. Gravity Reversal in many areas, great pieces of land may be torn from the grasp of the earth. Spellcasting becomes entirely random in effect. | |
| 8 | Major Unreality Saturation | Physical Forms start to break down, Lethal to most Organisms after anything but fleeting exposure. Trees and plants begin to twist into horrid shapes and may begin to move under their own power. Events from Ancient history or the future may be replayed over and over again. The dead rise and many become mutated, often sprouting multiple extra limbs and heads. Attempting to cast spells results in death as powerful energies tear the caster apart. |
| 9 | Pure Unreality | Organic Forms collapse into amorphous masses of ooze within seconds of exposure. Even the dead are unable to maintain their shapes. The shape of the land is irrevocably altered, with huge sections of earth rising into the sky and being dissolved into the mass. Only quickened spell casting possible before the onset of death, and only hastens the process. In the end nothing remains but a compacted, bubbling mass of inorganic and organic material of constantly changing shape and size. |
Uses of Unreality
Just as the Gods can see and move the strings of reality, Mortals (with sufficent training or natural ability) are able to see and move forces of unreality. Casters of Spells are able to channel this latent energy of the world into beneficial or harmful effects. Doing so requires intensive training and a firm knowledge base or intuition into unreality and how to manipulate it. Casting spells effectively negates Unreality, in a mirror process to Godly intervention. However, even the most skilled mortal cannot restore reality at the rate that a God can create unreality, though with enough friends they might be able to disperse the field enough to have a noticeable effect.
As spellcasters rely on Unreality to be present to work their magic, all of their training and skill is useless inside of a field of pure reality. Magic items, usually created by spellcasters to resonate with background levels of unreality, likewise cease to function.
Mortals Manipulating Reality
There have been rare mortals in history that have shown abilities to modify reality just as the gods are able to. In all cases, their ability is far below that of a Deity, and resulted as some sort of Divine Intervention enacted upon them (Laviege is the primary culprit). These spellcasters can function normally inside fields of pure reality, and there are rumors that some have created magic items with similar abilities. These mortals are near universally looked down upon by good organizations, not only because they pass where mortals were never intended, but for every incantation they weave, the world suffers as a whole. Manipulating Reality often comes at a great price to the casters body and mind, and often brings both to ruin.
There are hushed rumors spread upon some circles that the Gods are merely mortals that learned to control reality so well so as to do it without the physical and mental side-effects. This line of thought is near-globally reviled as utter blasphemy. Most scholars blame Gnomes that the idea exists at all, though it is unknown if they actually started it.
