The dangers of magic
Kaira is a mage, and magic is the most dangerous activity in the world of Rund.
In the human lands, mages elicit fear and hate among the commoners. Some are lynched by angry mobs, some are tortured to death in the dungeons of the Inquisition…
However, the biggest enemy of any mage is different – it’s their own self, for the majority of mages die when they lose control over their own power.
From curiosity to addiction
Many humans and non-humans in Rund have a basic predisposition to magic, which is like the ability to anticipate a change in the weather: something vague, something like an intuition.
A few have a real talent for magic – a talent that remains dormant until and unless its owner receives proper training. Still, even with training, there’s a long way to the level that allows a person to cast spells.
At the core of any spellcasting are magic crystals from which mages draw energy so that a young sorcerer may harness the power comparable to that of an advanced weapon.
Such crystals are extremely rare – and this is fortunate, as otherwise there would be much ruin and tragedy… Why, you ask?
Because when a young mage gets a chance to handle magic energy for the first time, there's nothing in the world that compares with the delight and ecstasy of using the crystals.
For most people, it proves impossible to resist the temptation of doing more magic again, and again, and again – once you have tasted the power of sorcery, what started as a curiosity becomes an addiction.
Only a few mages have enough willpower to control their engagement with this force. For most, it takes the Suppressive Potion to diminish the mad thirst for more.
As to the rest of the mages… they become an easy prey for the distortion.
Destroyed by distortion
Each use of magic crystals and spells punches a new hole in the fabric of space. Such holes allow the distortion from the Phantom Realm to seep not only into the environment of the Free Realm (which is where humans and non-humans dwell), but also directly into the bodies of practicing mages.
Touched by distortion, mages experience a bout of euphoria, which leads them to seek and cast more powerful spells – until the distortion eventually takes over their whole bodies and minds.
A mage infected with the distortion becomes a threat to themselves and to others, including those that are closest to them.
Under the influence of the distortion, the mage’s mental state deteriorates – in the end, they go mad. The powerful streams of magic energy that they summon get out of control, which leads to the summoner’s death, as well as kills the innocents, and causes a terrible destruction of the land.
To prevent such tragedies, the Inquisition searches for mages throughout the human lands – to neutralize the threat before it explodes. As to the commoners… if they suspect someone of being a mage, they resort to stoning or drowning the suspect. And while the majority of the lynched may not even be mages, this is accepted by the Empire as a lesser evil, and a price worth paying.
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