The Five Pillars of Magic
The Answer to the Elven Arrogance of Old
Rising invisibly and taller than the highest mountains, the Five Pillars of Magic have stood unwavering for millennia. It is said their roots go deep beneath the earth, as deep as Labyrinthian at least, though none except Niskus who put them there can say for sure. Their original purpose was simple: to siphon away the destructive storms of magic that battered the continents of Calcaria after the ancient Elves delved too deep into the studies of the arcane. It was the pillars that drew the spell-force from Temposa and froze it in place at the center of the Altom Ocean. Since then, the pillars have had a significant side effect: the dying of magic. Already the spells of old can no longer be used among mortals, and even wish spells now tax the users heavily when cast. If the scholars at Elfin are to be believed, in another seven millennia the ability to use base magic will have evaporated from the prime material altogether.
"Without a doubt we Elves deserve the punishment meted out toward us by Niskus, but does the entire world deserve the punishment of the pillars? Perhaps, considering the alternative... A shame for all the lost knowledge nevertheless." - Uradriel, first Keeper of the third pillar of magic
Manifestation
When casting detect magic near a pillar, one can see an infinite glow of blue reaching into the heights of the sky above. This is ill-advised however, as the conflux of magic detected will confuse the caster and may require a short rest to be able to use magic efficiently again. Beyond this, the pillars are only visibly to those that posses truesight, though their presence is obvious beyond a doubt.
All around each pillar the ground crystalises, cracks and pulses with arcane flows of magic through it. Birds and other animals avoid them, sometimes even for an entire mile, and nearly all are found within a settlement or a ruin of an Elven city of old.
Type
Metaphysical, Arcane
Comments