Wish Magic
This treatise on Wish Magic was collected from various sources by Gordon McHugh of the Pale Flame organisation, scribes division, in 1407. Gordon is not a Wizard or a Sorcerer, but is an expert on magical theory and the mathematics behind spells. The document was added to this book by Thomas Newgent, because it sheds a little light on the magical theory behind the causes of The Great Disaster.
Introduction
Thought to be closely linked to The Great Disaster, the use of an obscure branch of magic known as Wish Magic is raising some eyebrows in some sections of magical society. While largely frowned upon as tool (it could be very dangerous in the wrong hands), many Wizards are itching to understand how Wish Magic works, and why it is so much more powerful than the regular spells they have available. I will attempt to clarify some of this; we have observed the use of Wish Magic in test conditions, that we have been able to formulate some detailed theories about the operation of this energy source.
What is Wish Magic?
Wish magic is closely related to the schools of Evocation and Summoning. At its most fundamental level, it channels raw energy from the power sources of those two schools and unleashes it in a creative manner. The energy can be used in two ways - to create something new, or to change something that already exists in such a way as the fabric of reality believes that the object has always existed in that way.
The uses for this magic could be endless, but also, having it fall into evil hands could cause untold problems. A repeat of The Great Disaster is easily possible with the use of this magic. Its effect on the world in which we live is not know either; the last time any magic of this magnitude was released, the world was nearly broken completely.
Magical Theory
The fundamental fact of magic is that an energy source is tapped using a magical spell or incantation which, when focussed through the mind of a trained expert, produces a target effect. Some of the effects are quite esoteric, such as changing an individual's outlook or mindset (such as with a charm or dominate spell) while others are more blatantly apparent, such as with a Fireball spell.
Ordinary Magic by Spells
There are many works on this subject, so only a short summary of the process is needed. To use 'magic', the trained spell caster uses an incantation to open a power source, which they then concentrate upon to provide the magical effect. The incantation (often coupled with gesturing) serves to help focus the mind on what the energy is needed for and also to allow energy to be drawn through from its source. Spells never 'use up' energy in this manner; indeed, magical research has recently shown that the energy drawn to create the effect is only changed from one form into another.
With ordinary magic, both the energy source linked to the spells school is tapped, and any ambient, residue magical energy (termed magical flux) in the area of effect is also used. It is important to note that the energy must exist in magical form, other forms of energy such as heat or light cannot be used in this way, it is too much work for a spell to convert such energy into magical energy first before a spell can be cast (although some spells exist which do just that - they take non-magical energy forms in an area and convert it to flux-like magical power, but for those, the effect of the spell is the conversion, the conversion does not happen before the spell takes effect).
Energy Conversion during Spell Casting
The problem for magical theorists has always been that the energy 'expended' (i.e. converted from one form to another) during the casting of a spell is not always consistent with the task being done. Some spells require less energy, while others need more. And the relationship is not straightforward - sometimes individual castings of the same spell can draw different amounts of energy, even when magical flux is ignored. It all depends on the size of task required, and the level of control available in the mind of the spell user.
Recent research has shown that the amount of energy converted depends on the amount of energy drawn for the task compared to the amount of energy required by the task, and the experience or skill of the spells caster (a difficult factor to measure). Any extra energy that may accidentally drawn off in this manner can be converted into matter. This particular discovery passed largely unnoticed by many of the Pale Flame's members when it was presented in 1401. It was so insignificant that the papers announcing it were overlooked for three months. At the presentation of this new magical work, eight people turned up to the presentation and no-one appeared to take any notes.
The importance of the discovery has implications for our understanding of Wish Magic (and of magic in general) because it clearly states one important fact: that energy from a source of magic can be converted into matter, and vice versa. Every trainee Wizard or Sorcerer had it drummed into them that while magic can convert things from being one thing into another, make things invisible, unleash destructive energy on something, or similar effects, it cannot actually be used to unmake something. No matter how hard we try, we cannot dissipate the energy we would create by converting an object into an energy stream - it has nowhere to go. Even the spells which manage to carry out this formidable task only allow the energy stream to be focussed elsewhere (such as in a teleport spell). The energy cannot be 'lost'.
Inexperienced wizards and sorcerers often see the effect first hand when starting out at spell use. A lack of concentration can cause spells to pull too much energy from the source; this can cause a build-up of energy, which has nowhere to go. Normally, this energy would be expected to sit in the area where casting took place as magical flux, but when the flux reaches saturation capacity, the environment cannot cope with all the excess energy. This causes the energy to crystallise as matter, forming (usually) tiny diamond-like crystals around the caster. These crystals melt back into the surroundings in other energy forms, mostly as heat, which all trainee wizards have encountered from time to time. If the crystals are picked up, they feel warm to the touch, and larger ones can get quite hot as they melt (this is a 'natural' conversion from magical energy to other energy forms - a process which seems unrepeatable in the opposite direction, although theories abound about the possibility of it, if the right conditions exist).
We did some further research into this energy to matter transmutation process, and it turns out that the amount of energy required to 'create' something rises pretty linearly with its mass. It turns out that;
energy (in magiks) = mass (in ounces) x constant
We know that the value of the constant is very large, of the order of 9 x 1016; matter seems to require a huge amount of energy to create it. Furthermore, we could only discover this value using Wish Magic, because it is the only form of magic that allows the quick repetition of this creation process. We cannot work out what the constant represents, it may have other meanings in the world of physics.
So what makes Wish Magic different to normal magic? Well, it appears to be capable of channelling much larger doses of energy from its energy source, and uses imagination not concentration to control it. This makes it much more flexible to use, yet much more dangerous. Creation of items from apparently nothing seems to be quite easy; it is even possible to convince reality that such created items have always existed.
Also, Wish Magic allows the user to both channel energy into and out of the energy source, so items can be removed temporarily from existence. This only holds for a short time, however, because Wish magic cannot make reality forget of the existence of the item or creature so removed. The next time the energy source is opened for re-use, there is a chance that reality will allow the removed energy back in which will then reform into whatever it previously was. This causes dangers; during our testing we were hit with several objects that we did not expect. It also gives rise to new areas of research; we have recently started an investigation into using this property for transportation of goods or other items (including livestock or even people). Imagine purchasing several tons of a particular resource such as ore, and transporting it hundreds of miles away by forcing it out of reality at the mine using wish magic, and allowing it back into reality at the processing plant using a reverse form of the same magic.
Problems with Wish Magic
While Wish Magic would, on the face of it, make magic easier to use and more flexible, it is also highly dangerous. Despite the obvious problems with being hit with anvils and large bags of bricks when trying to use the magic, there are other drawbacks.
Wish magic seems to provide a one-way route to the introduction of extra-planar energy into the prime material plane through the process of creation. It is relatively easy to create things using the magical techniques but impossible to destroy items once created. It also makes it easy to change the nature of an item, and allows things to be transmuted, but unlike normal wizardry, this relies on imagination not on concentration. This gives the process an unpredictable nature, and hence final form of the object is frequently more random than was intended, and occasionally, the target form often does not bear any similarity to what was wanted in the first place.
The energy streams created using this kind of magic seem very stable compared to other energy sources from normal spells. But the nature of these energy streams is not understood. It is likely that unscrupulous entities lurk the other side of these inter-planar holes. With magical energy sources under the control of a traditional spell, the wizards or sorcerer can establish protection against these kinds of problems on the other side of the energy rift, through the incantation or through the other components. This does not seem to be the case with Wish Magic.
The energy being drawn from other planes into the prime material plane may also have an unbalancing effect on the universe itself. We do not know what will happen when we pull these huge amounts of energy though; we have measured the strain placed on reality by these energy streams, and we have been quite alarmed at times. It looks like accidental damage to the fabric of reality could easily ensue if this magic were pushed hard, and taken to extremes by a well-trained mind.