The Law of Equilibrium

Composed by Renaldus Blackvine, Scholar, philosopher and priest of Isolde, 1431, 4th Era

I - Origin and Historical context

"A thing of purity increases itself, the good begets the good, and the wicked breed only the wicked" - an unknown temple priest, 2nd Era.
  This doctrine claims that divine blessings, heroic deeds, and magical forces would propagate in a single, straight, uninterrupted direction. Consecrated water, holy relics and symbols where cited as proof. And the epics of heroes, like Eldoria, seemed to confirm those believes. For millennia priests, mages, scholars and the likes adhered to this doctrine of Singular Purity. Any subtle phenomena, and the fragments of folklore that survived that counter this belief are couched as warnings against the 'Hubris of Purity'. Meaning that any subtle, yet often reoccurring, events where either outright dismissed or explained as coincidence.
  I submit herein what I have come to term "The Law of Equilibrium". A principle that governs all energies, whether they would be mundane, arcane and potentially even divine. For centuries we have clung to the notion that goodness only begets goodness and wickedness only begets wickedness. My studies however, conducted over multiple decades and countless sites of observation, have compelled me to reject this doctrine. No force exists without its rival, where virtue blooms, its shadow stirs.
 

II - Residual forces in the Arcane Arts.

In my experiments I have consistently observed that every act of arcane magic produces not only its intended effect, but also a subtle reactive echo. For example: Fire, when a controlled evocation flame is conjured within an enclosed iron chamber, afterwards one will find a thin dusting of hoarfrost along the hinges and rivets in the chamber. And strong necromantic pulse observed in the Halligard paupers mausoleum caused motes of flickering light, like drifting candle bugs, to appear. The motes lasted for no more then three heartbeats. I have termed these phenomena 'counter residues' . They are always present, but so far never been equal to the forces they accompany. My hypothesis is that these counter residues ensure that no one energy ever achieves absolute dominion.

In Sealed Chamber, Flame invoked midday in a square iron clad room; post-ignition, frost appeared only on the lower hinge.
Blackvine speculates: “Why hinge? Material resonance? Or hinge angry?”.
Apprentice annotation: Master, hinges cannot feel emotions. Please stop asking the hinge what it wants.”

— note 17 - fire/frost experiment #21

 

III - Sacred Spaces and Their Shadows

This principle extends further then just arcane magics. Beneath the altars of even the most revered temples i have detected the faintest necrotic undercurrents. Holy waters, though radiant and pure, accrue subtle stagnancy over decades. Areas suffused and consecrated with divine light like sacred groves often attract imperceptible corruption of shadowed growths. I have named this concept the 'counter hallow'. Their presence not malevolent in itself. Just as with the counter residues i suspect they serve the universe by tempering the dominance of a single power.

Found in a high hallow grove, near a shrine. At the base of an intensely sacred tree, new shoots of Nightblight Creeper emerged ,a plant usually exclusive to burial fields.
Blackvine: “Botanists insist ‘coincidence.’ Botanists are cowards.”

— note 36 - fieldnotes on Opposing Bloom

 

IV - The Balance in Emotions

I have extended these observations to the passions of humanoids. Courage for example, when magically enhanced, leaves behind tremors of fear and doubt. And charms induce very brief and fleeting feelings of melancholy after the effects of the spell wear off. Certain stronger healing and restoration spells produce dreams of injury or loss. Most that experience these forget the dreams right as they wake up, at most feeling uncomfortable like after one feels like with a nightmare. These effects however are not shortcomings of the spell, but necessary counterbalances. As to grasp one end of the rope is to tug on the other.

After a major healing rite, patient reported sudden, overwhelming sadness lasting five minutes. Observation: No wounds or pain present.
Apprentice Note: “Could the sadness simply be because the patient dropped his lunch afterward? He looked upset.”
Blackvine (ink splatter reply): “NO! OPPOSITION!”

— note 22 - Tears After Healing

 

V - Conclusion

All forces, mortal, arcane, and even divine , exist in tension. Every light cast a shadow, Every shadow clings to a light. To deny this principle is to court catashtrophe. To study it is to understand the self regulating nature of the universe.
 
 
  Below are some of the lost chapters which have been banned and suppressed by orders of the grand temple of Actrurus

XX - The Divine and the Equilibrium

If every force in creation summons its contrary, then divinity, being force in its highest possibility, must summon the most profound of shadows. I must state clearly that i do not assert the divine is imperfect, but rather I investigate whether equilibrium precedes even godhood. Even our pantheon has instances of gods whos domains and natures oppose each other, yet who are intertwined and described as twins, not enemies. For example; the twins Thalvian, god of peace and Thalgrin, god of war. And Aria, goddess of nature and Veatra, goddess of tempest, which quite some cultures claim are the same deity with different masks or faces. Among other gods that are tied yet opposed.
  Through this I propose what I call the 'Locked Aspect Theory'. Which would mean that each god or goddess possesses both an expressed aspect and a latent aspect. Examples are abound in the mythical records, where gods of life and fertility are responsible for famine. And even more start are Aria and Veatra, who both through human and elven views are said to be the same being all together. Were the locked part of the aspect to ever surface, the god would appear transformed, yet remain the same. Corvin would be an example that is noted in our own codified mythos where he started as a god of guidance and compassion in death and loss, to the lord of undead and tyranny that he is now.
  From these observations I infer that balance is not merely easthetic or moral, it is foundational. Without opposition, creation itself would unravel. Reality constrains even the divine in this as it constrains us mortals. Every Phenomenon, be it arcane or natural, caries its counter. Stability does not arise from the absence of conflict, but from regulated tension.