Where does Magic come from? Time
Before Time, it was the Age of the Eldar. Manifest will of newly-born intelligences moved through the space created by Pha Rann, the first of the eldar. Pha Rann created the universe of Tehra. Wishing there to be others, Pha Rann created the eldar without rules or boundaries. Even though there was no Time, yet, there was linear consequence. "The Ethereal" in the map is TIME. It flows from the Nexus Gates through the Tehran Nexus to Oblivion. Let me explain.
Pha Rann encountered the eldar that was to become Demos-Gorgos. Fascinated by a creature of barely thinking creation and mutation, Pha Rann then had his existence divided in two: before and after meeting Demos-Gorgos. Demos met Gorgos and defeated Gorgos (this is why the name order is Demos first). For both of them, there then became three linear events: before encountering Pha Rann, after Pha Rann until their battle, and then after Demos won, as Demos-Gorgos. Try as they might have wished to, by the power of their will alone, they could not undo these things or the order in which they happened.
As the eldar multiplied and began shaping matter in the Age of Dragons, these linear events began to multiply. It wasn't memory. It wasn't hindsight. It wasn't regret. But, it was a chain of "my existence is: before and after each interaction." Some of the eldar became addicted to "winning" these encounters. To their dismay, the losers could not undo or change the reality of having lost. For the victor, they found their will magnified in comparison to the loser. The growing compilation of these linear events had some effects:
When the nexal gates were all close together, feeding simultaneously into each other, Time could not exist. Creation and its results became manifest instantly by the will of the eldar basking in these three very different powers. But, when the Dragon Wars began, the growing separation meant that an eldar could manifest the gate nearest them and it took "longer" for the other energies to become available. This perception, of a delayed manifestation of the other nexuses, was named Time. The eldar could pull, by force of will, these powers to them. The result, they continued as eldar as they always had. The outcome: they age.
The act of pulling the nexus gates (or their power) together is now called Magic. Tehran creatures, even the eldar still in Tehra, age. All the other eldar, as part of the Dragon Wars, left the flow of Time into their respective spheres, also called Dominions. While there is no Time in the nexus gates, the linear principle still remains. Observations of Time for those staying in Tehra meant that the eldar not in Tehra had to come to terms with Time and what it means to them.
Some examples:
Depending on a god's doctrine, their awareness of Time, and many other factors, they will or will not have a unique ethereal experience. For Tiamat, specialists and prodigies in sync with Her are able to access and use the River. They move in and out of it so quickly, they are able to "accelerate" their speed and actions in the real world of Tehra.
Because Tehra is solidly in the flow of Time, it is shunned by the ageless eldar who left. They send avatars or servants to help. When the god feels the need to interact directly, they do so through the Ethereal plane. It allows them to experience their worshiper in the linear moment that matters, without aging. That being said, Tehra is compelling to gods and drawing close to it subjects the god to the pull of Time as well as the pull of emotions. Love, hate, lust, desire, thirst for intelligence, etc... these are powerful drivers. The longer they stay, the more they age. The more they feel, the more they age.
So, why Magic? Wouldn't magic become a god unto itself?
What is Time?
Pha Rann encountered the eldar that was to become Demos-Gorgos. Fascinated by a creature of barely thinking creation and mutation, Pha Rann then had his existence divided in two: before and after meeting Demos-Gorgos. Demos met Gorgos and defeated Gorgos (this is why the name order is Demos first). For both of them, there then became three linear events: before encountering Pha Rann, after Pha Rann until their battle, and then after Demos won, as Demos-Gorgos. Try as they might have wished to, by the power of their will alone, they could not undo these things or the order in which they happened.
As the eldar multiplied and began shaping matter in the Age of Dragons, these linear events began to multiply. It wasn't memory. It wasn't hindsight. It wasn't regret. But, it was a chain of "my existence is: before and after each interaction." Some of the eldar became addicted to "winning" these encounters. To their dismay, the losers could not undo or change the reality of having lost. For the victor, they found their will magnified in comparison to the loser. The growing compilation of these linear events had some effects:
- Separation of Gates by Principle: Creation, Chaos, and Warp began to move away from each other, pulling like-minded eldar with them as adherents to one did not want to "lose" to a disciple of a different gate
- Time began to move in fits and stutters... affected eldar aged
- Because the terrible god Set is so bound to the Gate of Chaos (change), when Set encountered any eldar, they aged... and Set began to use Time as a weapon of murder
When the nexal gates were all close together, feeding simultaneously into each other, Time could not exist. Creation and its results became manifest instantly by the will of the eldar basking in these three very different powers. But, when the Dragon Wars began, the growing separation meant that an eldar could manifest the gate nearest them and it took "longer" for the other energies to become available. This perception, of a delayed manifestation of the other nexuses, was named Time. The eldar could pull, by force of will, these powers to them. The result, they continued as eldar as they always had. The outcome: they age.
The act of pulling the nexus gates (or their power) together is now called Magic. Tehran creatures, even the eldar still in Tehra, age. All the other eldar, as part of the Dragon Wars, left the flow of Time into their respective spheres, also called Dominions. While there is no Time in the nexus gates, the linear principle still remains. Observations of Time for those staying in Tehra meant that the eldar not in Tehra had to come to terms with Time and what it means to them.
Some examples:
- Tiamat views time as a flowing river of energy, and calls it "The River." Standing in its current, a viewer would look upstream and see glimmers of recent or major events that happened in the past. Looking downstream, they would see the minute by minute degradation of their bodies and glimpses of events to be. Looking at their hand, they would see it aging but also were it will be in the next moment. The farther downstream for the "next moment," the hazier the flow becomes
- Magic users call it the ethereal and, like the eldar, can manifest the ethereal as whatever they want - a bag of holding, a glorious house, or whatever. A magic user worshiping Tiamat would see the River and still be able to create structural constructs in it
- Bapthomet and the minotaurs see a stream of conscious thought made up of phantasms. Some of the phantasms are terrible, insanity-inducing and represent the past. Others are glorious and inspiring, reaffirming of Baphtomet's worship. They understand that Tiamat sees a river of energy
- Lolth sees a web arcing out in all directions from her current place
- Pha Rann and his worshipers view Time as a natural and beautiful consequence allowing renewal and new creations to occur. They might see it as a lush forest, a sparkling river, or a burning star in the midst of space
Depending on a god's doctrine, their awareness of Time, and many other factors, they will or will not have a unique ethereal experience. For Tiamat, specialists and prodigies in sync with Her are able to access and use the River. They move in and out of it so quickly, they are able to "accelerate" their speed and actions in the real world of Tehra.
Because Tehra is solidly in the flow of Time, it is shunned by the ageless eldar who left. They send avatars or servants to help. When the god feels the need to interact directly, they do so through the Ethereal plane. It allows them to experience their worshiper in the linear moment that matters, without aging. That being said, Tehra is compelling to gods and drawing close to it subjects the god to the pull of Time as well as the pull of emotions. Love, hate, lust, desire, thirst for intelligence, etc... these are powerful drivers. The longer they stay, the more they age. The more they feel, the more they age.
So, why Magic? Wouldn't magic become a god unto itself?
- No, it cannot because Magic, by itself is not sentient. Time is not sentient. For there to be a god, there must be sentient thought and a dominion to hold onto. While there are many ascended gods who claim to be the God of Magic or the God of Time, they are actually claiming magical dominions that seem to affect them. For example, a God of Time is actually claiming the magic of freezing Time briefly, or being able to see past events.
What is Time?
- When Set was bound into the Abyss, that was the 2nd time in Set's existence that something happened he did not desire. He now looks forward to the 3rd and 4th and 5th instances when he is freed and can take vengeance. Time is - literally - Set's dreaming awareness that someday in the "future," he will be freed to destroy everything created by those who bound him in slumber. And each movement of Time, second by second, is Set marking the count of those moments until he is freed
- So, where Time began as a linear chain of events in the eldar "Time Before Time," it flows furiously when Set stirs in his sleep, anticipating freedom or when a disciple is intruding into his awareness. When left alone, and Set dreams deeply, Time moves "normally."
- The eldar can age. Immortals can age and die. Gods visiting Tehra age. The more caught up in a Tehran moment an immortal or eldar creature becomes, the more they age. This is why immortals seem aloof and dispassionate. They know that any single moment does not matter. They pick and choose which moments they engage in because the price is that they grow older