Weird and Magik

While the information of the Weird and Magik remain mysterious, I have collected all I can into this file for you.

— Warden O. B. Davies

Weird and Magik are two supposedly independent supernatural forces that are believed to have been brought into our realm from a creature or powerful force that stems from outside the physical borders of our realm. The force's nature, level of sentience, and intentions remain currently unknown.
There have been many events in the realm that draw back to these forces. While often reffered to in the same breath, the two forces act independently upon the realm. While their independence is key, from the information I have gathered, it is hypothesised that their origins among the realm are the same.

Weird

The Weird seems to have a stronger grip on the realm's physical form, twisting reality and its features. The Weird seems to work through the idea of transmutation and direct influence. It should be noted that Weird Detectors can identify the remnants of Weird forces acted upon a location, however it cannot detect who can harness Magik, nor the casting of Magik.
Weird is a strange case that it cannot be controlled and often when one is inflicted by an element of Weird it stays with them for a long part of their life. Some people who have been afflicted lose their lives, however those who survive are often kept by their gonvernment officials or join Arcanum to help learn more about the force that afflicted them. While not limited some of the primary forms that Weird has taken are listed below.

Lycanthropy is an afflication of Weird that curses a person with a raging inner monster. There will be a whole file on this as these creatures have much recorded history among Arcanum.

Vampirism is a presentation of Weird that forces a state of undeath onto a person. There are many rules that follow creatures who possess such an afflication, therefore they will also garner their own file.

Voidkith is a strange and unusual affliction, this is one that I have much to theorise about below. Voidkith seem to have an innate connection to a set of powerful entities that have not been named thus far in my research.

Undeath is a common side effect of Weird, this often presents as ghostly figures or reanimated corpses.

Magik

Magik seems to be a force that can be controlled, usually through the use of a focus or ancient runes from before the Oldfront Empire. Of the two forces, Magik is the reason we believe them to be sentient. It seems to choose those who can wield it and instill them with an innate understanding of how it works.
There's said to be several people who have learned how to harness their magikal potential to invoke ancient rites from the Wild Years, though there are few cases that report such a mass of power contained in one individual. Unlike Weird, there are numerous members of Arcanum Noctus who possess the ability to wield Magik in its varied forms.Magik often takes one of four primary forms, each with a direct connection to how they can be wielded.

Elementalism allows the user to control or create some physical matter of the realm, such as fire, shadows, light, and water.

Summoning, which is a more dangerous form of Magik, allows for the summoning of strange and powerful creatures, however these creatures can lead to leathal consequences.

Augury allows the user to look through time and space to learn of events, while not an exact science there are elements of interpretation and truth to its ways.

Apotropaic allows for the user to produce magical warding against physical, spiritual, and magical attacks. It is also said to allow a user to produce wards that are both powerful and small.

Portrait of the Weird by Owen Davies

Force Origin
Unknown
Point of Entry
Unknown, Stanos
Year of Appearance
1701 CY (allegedly)
Impact on the Realm
Immeasurable

The Strangeness of the Universe

As I sit and write this file for the record we are collecting, I am reminded of the fact that we know very little of the nature of these powerful forces. They just appeared one day centuries ago, imparting a powerful and unknown effect on our realm.
I am considered by some in Arcanum to be an expert in this field. The study of the universe and cosmos. However, even the limits and capabilities of the cosmos are truly beyond my scope of understanding. I shall write some of my theories within this file to grant a certain point of view on the matter. Though my hypotheses, like all claimed truths and theories of the universe, should be taken with a grain of salt.

The Two Forces

As mentioned, Weird and Magik are two seperate forces, though it is often difficult to determine them from the other as they are intrinsically linked. A creature brought forth through Magik has often been twisted by Weird in some respect. I hope to dispel the differences between these forces and particularly how they affect the realm on a grander scale.

My Personal Theories

While some of these derive from reports and other theories, it is important to note that these are my own thoughts and in some cases contradict each other. My reason for placing these here are to emphasise that while I can speculate on the nature of Weird, Magik and the cosmos at large, none of my theoretics can be proven correct without disproving others.

The Weird and Magik are Entropic Forces

In this theory, its important to note that the term entropic forces are used to indicate a type of force that doesn't exist in the normal realm that we reside in. I guess this on is my interpretation of a scientific approach of the forces. They are in battle with each other acting like magnets do, repelling and attracting one another. Within this "battle", the forces ripped a hole in the cosmic balance that is the universe and let themselves into the realm, upon which their fields of attraction and repulsion cast them throughout the realm and forced a new element of nature into our own world.

Eldritch Influence

Going from a theory stooped in science to one drowned in faith and mystery. There is a part of me that is skeptical of the powers that are written within ancient carvings and runes from the Wild Years. There are some that speak of powerful unnamed entities that have reached a hand down and guided us from the beginning of the very universe, yet this is not the only example. For other writings state that these entities were eternally hungry and would eat the ancient people as playthings. This puts me in a state of distress for the nature of Weird and Magik in this relationship, are the gifts from Eldritch beings, or seasoning on their meal before they enter our realm and feed upon our flesh, minds, or spirits.

The Weird and Magik are one in the Same

I understand that earlier in this file I noted that my aim was to dispel the understanding that the forces were two different things in their entirity. However, there has always been an itching in the back of my mind that they are not only connected but are two parts of the same singular force. There are heavy elements of overlap between the two forces, with only certain elements where they diverge. What would occur should the two forces be driven into a singular energy force?

The Emergence

Some consider this to be a theoretical event, however there are files under the care of Arcanum which indicate the truth behind the event. As such, this account contains both the mythologized version, as well as the reported version from witnesses who were at the source of the event.

An Eclipse of a Nation

Branded as heretics among the nations of Farrow and Marine, the people of Voran are said to have been worshippers of a powerful ancient entity whose name has been lost to the sands of time. One day, in the afterglow of the Oldfront Empire, the leadership of Voran attempted an ancient ritual to summon this entity, by doing so they caused a large complete eclipse that incurred darkness over Stanos.
When the eclipse occured a large selection of colors lined the skies. These colours are said to have reached out and touched certain people, thereby imbuing them with powerful connections to Magik. The glow of the realm activated a powerful force that was buried deep in the cracks of the realm, this powerful force was known as Weird.
However, while the people of Voran were able to summon this powerful rite of forces unto the realm, their hubris was believing it came without a cost. It became clear to the people in the city that their being wished to garnish a blood cost for the gift that was bestowed unto the realm. It was then that the mountain that had been carved nearly hollow containing Voran was crushed into piles of rubble.
Once the eclipse passed, many people didn't have an idea of the powers that the people of Voran had bestowed unto the realm, nor the sacrafice that had been made by the city for the forces of nature that now inhabited the realm.
This story is told as part of the historical classes that are prominent among those who recieve education. Particularly in Farrow as a way to tell people of the power of the celestial objects and identify that at one point in our history we thrived without Magik, therefore diluting down the importance and even status of those who can harness Magik. It is important also to note that the Weird is not mentioned in these lessons, as if it was to be hidden from the view of the population, sweeping it under a rug.

The Reported Events

Despite the tales that are written, not every person from Voran was killed. There are reports that I hold transcripts of in my hand that show that at least three families were able to escape from the destruction of Voran, each playing a pivotal role in the development of Arcanum with the heads of each family acting as a founding member of the entire organisation as well as the orders Ex Veritasium and Tenebras Magicarum.
It is reported that the leading council of Voran had been indoctronated by a singular member to follow the rites written in a book that has since remaind untraceable due to the destruction that it left in its wake. When they invoked a ritual of summoning on the date of a complete eclipse, a powerful entity attempted to reach through the void that the rite creatred in the centre of the eclipse.
When the creature attempted to cross from their plane of existence to ours, it is written that one of the family members, I won't say which for the privacy of our organisation's history, leaped into action and disturbed the ritual. By doing so, they doomed most of Voran, except for a small set of ruins that survive to this day. The creature laid siege using its physical might to destroy a whole mountain, the families were able to survive using a piece of Magik that pre-dated this event that transported several of their members to a safe place in the south of Farrow, from which they were able to witness the carnage that was to be laid upon their homes.
While this eldritch creature was pulled back to the realm from which they came, some of the reports noted that a large eye was seen in the void of the eclipse and it was from that eye that the colors lined the sky. The reports and writings I have access to don't seem to set forth an indication of what this may mean or the validity of what is written, but I trust it more than the mythological propoganda that is spread by fearmongering governments.

Conclusion

It is unfortunate that I can only postulate on this topic. There is much that I would wish to know, particularly if these forcs orignate from another realm of beings so powerful they could destroy a mountaing without thought. We are only able to detect Weird through the use of Malusite, Magik however currently remains undetectable by those of us who don't possess the skill to utilise Augury to determine the truth of a situation.
Regardless, there are many questions that I still have and should this get through to the right people, I will hope that I can update the information should more facts come out of the wood work. I wish there was just a way to see the forces directly so I can trace their potentiality and test the theories I possess.