The River: Our Source of Magic

The following is an excerpt from a textbook on basic magical principle:   Sages say that the simplest way to perceive the source of magic is as a river. This river runs fast in some places, and is nearly still in others, but it is always present. It is the source of the energy used to create magic, and the strength of its current is proportional to the amount of magical energy present in an area. All magical spells draw upon this energy -- no spell is truly conjured up out of thin air. A mage is simply a vessel for the energy he or she draws upon, focusing it into our plane, and shaping it into the proper "form" for the spell he or she wants to cast.   One of the most difficult concepts for novice mages to grasp is that a stronger current (more magical energy in an area) does not translate into a more powerful spell. If I were to cast a fireball in a room with an intense amount of magical energy and then place an anti-magic shield (say with a 50 percent attenuation factor) and cast the very same spell, you could not tell a difference between the two. The sole difference is the amount of effort that I may have to put into casting the spell.   This is where the river metaphor truly shines. To cast a spell, we obviously need some amount of energy. When we gather this energy for a spell, it is like dipping a bucket in a river. If the current of the river is very strong, our bucket will fill up rapidly. If, on the other hand, only a trickle of water is forth coming, our bucket may take a very long time to fill. Herein is the primary challenge of spell casting in a low-current (low-magic) area. The second fireball I cast may take significantly more time to cast if the current is slow enough after being attenuated by 50 percent.   Before we close this chapter, let us discuss a few bits of terminology:   We say that a location is extra-ordinary if the magical current in the area is sufficiently high, usually many times higher than the average flow experienced in more mundane places of the world. Creatures begot in extra-ordinary places are more likely to be naturally attuned to magic, and can often manipulate it without consciously calling upon its power. In extreme cases, such as in the wastelands of Vashyl Major, the magical current can be so strong that it threatens to break the thin planar veil keeping it out of our reality. In these cases, life is often harsh and unforgiving, and creatures not mentally equipped to handle such high levels of magical energy will often go mad and die once exposed.   A location is referred to as barren if the magical current in the area is extremely low. Barren locations have never been observed in nature, but have been created inside of extremely high quality anti-magic shields. These conditions are not harmful to any known lifeforms, and many mages find it useful to carry some anti-magic shielding with them to their field studies, as it can be hard for them to concentrate in extra-ordinary areas.   Any location that is neither barren nor extra-ordinary is generally referred to are ordinary or common.