An excerpt from the "Physics of Things in the World", a scientific book written as part of the Volumes of Knowledge of the Chultan Empire of Gnomes, 1488 DR, by Tr. F. N. Bookerfeltendraftter
Magical energy, though seemingly misunderstood to most, is just another aspect of interaction within the universe. In its natural state, magic is a zero sum chaotic force that can only manifest minute effects over short periods of time and space. However, with the proper direction, magic can become the most powerful force imaginable.
The weave can be thought of as an ocean of magical energy, swirling in chaos, parallel to the dimensions of the universe. This ocean, in the beginning, flowed back on itself, giving no currents large enough to manifest in discernible ways.
First came Mystral, and later Mystra and other incarnations to bring order and direction to the magical chaos of the weave. Much like Umberlee controls the flow of the oceans, Mystra brings order to the flows of magic. She directed the random motions into rivulets and currents and flows of enormous magnitude. The energy of the weave came alive.
Once magic is flowing, it can be directed to action. Directing magic to action requires increasing the disorder (entropy) of the plane where it is to manifest. When this occurs, in just the right way, tuned to the proper flowing currents of the weave, the entropy draws the organized energy from the weave into the plane. Raw magical energy cannot exist in free space outside of the weave, so it immediately transforms into some form of information, matter, or energy.
Disruptions in the flow of the energies of the weave cause conversion towards chaos. As a result of Karsus' folly, the weave first surged as its chaos returned, giving a moment of extreme magical power. It then blinked back into its natural state of zero sum, with no direction, no power to manifest. Only the divine intervention of Mystra restored the natural flows of magical energy to the weave. Unfortunately, it was too late for the Netherese, who lost their floating cities to the lack of magical power for a moment.
During the spell plague, the loss of control of the flows caused convulsions in the weave, spilling random energies in regional surges. Like a piece of paper that has been laid flat for a very long time, the folding of the weave back towards chaos did not proceed so easily as during Karsus' folly. The result was dumping of magical energies across multiple planes, surging magical energies called azure flames, and the warping of reality. Only the return of the mitigator of magical energy flow, Mystra, did the chaos subside.
Based on the trends of Karsus' folly and the spell plague, it is expected that in approximately 5000 years, the weave state of flow and its connection to the mitigator will become permanent. When this occurs, Mystra will essentially become the flow of the weave and lose her separateness as a deity. When this occurs, the universe will finally be free of the threats of magical chaos unleashed from the breakdown of the weave.
In addition to maintaining the flow of energies, Mystra can increase or decrease the magnitude of these flows. With this, Mystra, can effectively limit the instantiation of energy in a manifestation, allowing her to enforce the 10th level spell limit without fail. In addition, because Mystra is the organized flow within the weave, she is tightly bonded to all of those that pull the energy from the flows of the weave. The flow patterns of the weave also also purposely manipulated through a "spell" of Mystra to disallow time travel. This is accomplished by a paradox that eliminates the source energy in the future of any connection to the past, negating time travel spell capabilities.
The shadow weave operates similarly to the normal weave; however, the flow of entropy is effectively reversed. The shadow weave operates at high entropy. The user of shadow weave energy inserts order into the shadow weave by pulling it from the manifestation plane. This cause a reverse surge of chaotic energy that can be transformed into energy, matter, or information. Because the reversal of the flow of information, the caster must be linked to the organizer of the shadow weave, Shar, or accept a level of chaotic madness to be able to read its local entropy. Shar, because her relationship to the shadow weave is inverse that to Mystra, will never be able to merge the same way as Mystra someday will.
The storage of raw magical energy is a difficult prospect on the material place. Some magical items have the ability to permanently store energy using specialized vessel designed to exact specification. These items act as batteries for the energy in a pseudo state between raw magical energy and the released state of the spell. As a result, these items typically can only perform operations with similar energy manifestations. Storage-based devices must be recharged.
Rather than storing energy, some magical items have permanent connections to the weave. This connection is quantum in nature and allows only the smallest trickle of energy. When the energy reaches a maximum level, the back pressure of the vessel effectively cuts the rate of flow. Generally these items can build up charges automatically that can be expended. However, in some cases, the full discharge of these items can increase the flow rate of magical energy too much, potentially damaging the item. All of these mechanisms require clean, predictable magical energy from the weave source. During times of disruption, these items may malfunction or be destroyed.
The other fundamental nature of magical energy is that the complex patterns required to charm it into manifestation, rather being communicated by figure, motion, and word, can also be mimicked by neural circuits within the brain and nervous system. As a result, some creature and humanoids evolve natural abilities to channel magical energies. Those that use their entire nervous systems are typically consider sorcerers. Sorcerers still include many of the verbal and somatic context of their purely artificial wizard kin, while relaying on their nerves to form the other components. Psionic magics are formed entirely within the complex confines of the brain, often without the need for additional components.
Divine intervention can also cause manifestation. Much like Mystra, other deities have control over the flow of the weave, albeit far limited compared to that of Mystra. Using this limited control, they can use combinations of weave manipulations (aka divine intervention) and manifestation plain mechanics (divine spells and rituals) to cause spell effects. These divine spells are different from arcane spells because they only work with the assistance of the specific deity for which they were designed. In modern times, many deities may use the same manifestation plane ritual to generate an oft-needed effect.
Considering all of these aspects, it is important to understand that magic is simply a force. Much like with other forces, magic can be manipulated by care preparation of certain patterns of materials to generate all sorts of useful effects.
Magical energy, though seemingly misunderstood to most, is just another aspect of interaction within the universe. In its natural state, magic is a zero sum chaotic force that can only manifest minute effects over short periods of time and space. However, with the proper direction, magic can become the most powerful force imaginable.
The weave can be thought of as an ocean of magical energy, swirling in chaos, parallel to the dimensions of the universe. This ocean, in the beginning, flowed back on itself, giving no currents large enough to manifest in discernible ways.
First came Mystral, and later Mystra and other incarnations to bring order and direction to the magical chaos of the weave. Much like Umberlee controls the flow of the oceans, Mystra brings order to the flows of magic. She directed the random motions into rivulets and currents and flows of enormous magnitude. The energy of the weave came alive.
Once magic is flowing, it can be directed to action. Directing magic to action requires increasing the disorder (entropy) of the plane where it is to manifest. When this occurs, in just the right way, tuned to the proper flowing currents of the weave, the entropy draws the organized energy from the weave into the plane. Raw magical energy cannot exist in free space outside of the weave, so it immediately transforms into some form of information, matter, or energy.
Disruptions in the flow of the energies of the weave cause conversion towards chaos. As a result of Karsus' folly, the weave first surged as its chaos returned, giving a moment of extreme magical power. It then blinked back into its natural state of zero sum, with no direction, no power to manifest. Only the divine intervention of Mystra restored the natural flows of magical energy to the weave. Unfortunately, it was too late for the Netherese, who lost their floating cities to the lack of magical power for a moment.
During the spell plague, the loss of control of the flows caused convulsions in the weave, spilling random energies in regional surges. Like a piece of paper that has been laid flat for a very long time, the folding of the weave back towards chaos did not proceed so easily as during Karsus' folly. The result was dumping of magical energies across multiple planes, surging magical energies called azure flames, and the warping of reality. Only the return of the mitigator of magical energy flow, Mystra, did the chaos subside.
Based on the trends of Karsus' folly and the spell plague, it is expected that in approximately 5000 years, the weave state of flow and its connection to the mitigator will become permanent. When this occurs, Mystra will essentially become the flow of the weave and lose her separateness as a deity. When this occurs, the universe will finally be free of the threats of magical chaos unleashed from the breakdown of the weave.
In addition to maintaining the flow of energies, Mystra can increase or decrease the magnitude of these flows. With this, Mystra, can effectively limit the instantiation of energy in a manifestation, allowing her to enforce the 10th level spell limit without fail. In addition, because Mystra is the organized flow within the weave, she is tightly bonded to all of those that pull the energy from the flows of the weave. The flow patterns of the weave also also purposely manipulated through a "spell" of Mystra to disallow time travel. This is accomplished by a paradox that eliminates the source energy in the future of any connection to the past, negating time travel spell capabilities.
The shadow weave operates similarly to the normal weave; however, the flow of entropy is effectively reversed. The shadow weave operates at high entropy. The user of shadow weave energy inserts order into the shadow weave by pulling it from the manifestation plane. This cause a reverse surge of chaotic energy that can be transformed into energy, matter, or information. Because the reversal of the flow of information, the caster must be linked to the organizer of the shadow weave, Shar, or accept a level of chaotic madness to be able to read its local entropy. Shar, because her relationship to the shadow weave is inverse that to Mystra, will never be able to merge the same way as Mystra someday will.
The storage of raw magical energy is a difficult prospect on the material place. Some magical items have the ability to permanently store energy using specialized vessel designed to exact specification. These items act as batteries for the energy in a pseudo state between raw magical energy and the released state of the spell. As a result, these items typically can only perform operations with similar energy manifestations. Storage-based devices must be recharged.
Rather than storing energy, some magical items have permanent connections to the weave. This connection is quantum in nature and allows only the smallest trickle of energy. When the energy reaches a maximum level, the back pressure of the vessel effectively cuts the rate of flow. Generally these items can build up charges automatically that can be expended. However, in some cases, the full discharge of these items can increase the flow rate of magical energy too much, potentially damaging the item. All of these mechanisms require clean, predictable magical energy from the weave source. During times of disruption, these items may malfunction or be destroyed.
The other fundamental nature of magical energy is that the complex patterns required to charm it into manifestation, rather being communicated by figure, motion, and word, can also be mimicked by neural circuits within the brain and nervous system. As a result, some creature and humanoids evolve natural abilities to channel magical energies. Those that use their entire nervous systems are typically consider sorcerers. Sorcerers still include many of the verbal and somatic context of their purely artificial wizard kin, while relaying on their nerves to form the other components. Psionic magics are formed entirely within the complex confines of the brain, often without the need for additional components.
Divine intervention can also cause manifestation. Much like Mystra, other deities have control over the flow of the weave, albeit far limited compared to that of Mystra. Using this limited control, they can use combinations of weave manipulations (aka divine intervention) and manifestation plain mechanics (divine spells and rituals) to cause spell effects. These divine spells are different from arcane spells because they only work with the assistance of the specific deity for which they were designed. In modern times, many deities may use the same manifestation plane ritual to generate an oft-needed effect.
Considering all of these aspects, it is important to understand that magic is simply a force. Much like with other forces, magic can be manipulated by care preparation of certain patterns of materials to generate all sorts of useful effects.
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