From the writings of Utta Marvew, Wanderer of Cyrrn
A Preparatory Word
In my first entry, I wrote about the Tangian Plane, which contains everything, everywhere, and is the home of our world. This entry is different because I am now dealing with the dynamics of magic, a complex and controversial subject. Therefore, I feel it necessary to state the insights I share are not my personal opinion. My travels granted me the opportunity to converse with many wise and educated people, and this entry is the result of those enlightening discussions. My thanks go out to all those who welcomed my company.
I offer special appreciations to Nobleman William Casteel of Dukal, Master Mage Petair Talwyn of the Feb’Ron Order, and Master Mage Jonathan Wofhege of the Gen’Dom Order, for granting me access to their libraries and taking the time to answer my many questions.
As with before, I will attempt to maintain a basic writing style however some of the concepts I touch upon require some imagination to grasp. I apologize in advance if I lose you along the way.
The Magian Plane
The Magian Plane is known to be the source of all magic. It is an endless realm of energy that exists in parallel to the Tangian Plane. The story of its discovery and the author of the term are lost to history but some scholars have speculated it dates back to the seers of the Sum Sum Kingdom. It is a reasonable assumption considering the wealth of knowledge accumulated by the Sum Sum. However, the early vision of the Magian Plane being wholly separate from the Tangian is not completely accurate. The truth is far stranger.
Magic is everywhere around us. The Magian and Tangian Planes exist together, yet apart. They occupy the same space and time but whereas the Tangian is governed by fixed, unchanging laws that dictate the measurable actions of a dropped grain of sand to the attractive power of a super-sun, the laws of the Magian, if they can be truly considered such, are ever changing and never known.
The odds of an event happening is its probability. When you flip a coin, there is fifty percent chance it will land on top or tails (as long as it is an honest coin!), but always a hundred percent chance it will land. If you flip the same coin in the Magian Plane, all probabilities of its fate are equal, including none of them. The coin can land on top or tails, or edge, or never fall, or disappear, or explode, or transform into a plow. It is this lack of “probability restraint” that renders the Magian a wondrous yet extremely dangerous environment.
How can so much be known about someplace so impossible to visit? I was surprised to learn viewing the Magian Plane is a rather simple matter. Student magi are taught spells that reveal its magical energies as a way to understand spell crafting and casting. After being properly warned the effect can be unsettling, I agreed to be subject to one of these spells. I can honestly report the initial unease of having the surrounding world vanish was quickly replaced by such feelings of awe and joy as I found myself engulfed in swirling seas of color and light. It was an incredible experience I will never forget.
Since all probabilities of an event happening exist at the same time in the Magian, the chance that magic can cross over into the Tangian has an equal chance of it not happening, and so it happens. Of course, if that is true then the probability of the wild energies of the Magian destroying our world should also happen, but obviously has not. The current theory is the coexistence of both Planes is evidence of an unknown force maintaining balance between them. This hidden force was named the Grand Unification Harmony by Master Mage Tirra Hansleter nearly two hundred years ago. Unlike so much else I have learned, there is no mention of any such force in Sum Sum or Krell magical texts. Either they did not come to the same conclusion as Master Mage Tirra or chose not to write about it.
The Gateway within Us
There are two great truths of magic. The first, as we now know, is magical energies allow for the improbable to become real. The second, as we shall now learn, is the gateway between the Magian and Tangian Planes resides within our brain.
It is commonly taught the human brain is the center of our thoughts, feelings, and actions. It is necessary to understand the brain in a way typically reserved for higher schooling to learn how it can be the connecting point of two planes of existence. I do not intend to delve into an extensive medical lesson so I will try to only provide the details needed to explain its importance to magic.
The brain is made up of two halves, joined in the middle, and different areas of the brain control different actions. The lower back of the brain controls breathing while the front of the brain is where thinking occurs. Amazingly, the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, and the left side of the brain controls the right side.
As you read this document, the view of the page enters your eyes and is turned into signals of non-magical “living energy” (term courtesy of Master Mage Jonathan) that travel along pathways in your brain. The part of the brain responsible for sight lets you see and another part of the brain lets you understand the words. Close your eyes and imagine a sunny day. You can see it clearly even though your eyes are closed. Another part of your brain created the image based on your memories of sunny days, without help from your eyes. When it is time to turn this page, the part of the brain where you make the decision will send a signal to the muscles in your fingers to operate in a way that turns the page.
Thousands upon thousands of energy signals travel along thousands upon thousands of pathways in the brain. These pathways have been observed and studied through the use of magical means for generations, and they are the key to how magic enters the Tangian Plane and becomes spells.
Next: “Bubbles of Improbability” and the Rise and Fall of the Sum Sum Kingdom