Unstable Arcana

Unstable Arcana is a consequence of ones repressed magic where, after holding it back for so long, it unleashes itself on its own with unclear, random, and sometimes wacky consequences.

What Makes Magic Unstable?

Unstable Arcana is found specifically in those with large amounts of mana, often those considered prodigies due to circumstances of birth or, in more messed up situations, through some artificial means of gaining mana.

Murphy Law by Jarhed

If these prodigies, either natural or unnatural, are not allowed to express and at least use, if not train, their magical prowess and let out the mana from their bodies and minds, it will fester and boil within the Weave Portals in their brain, where magic originates.
After it festers, it begins to be too much for the untrained mage to utilize. It grows uncontrollable and often unstable to the point that it can reach heights considered to be "the upper limits of magic itself."

Research Results

In the research of Orlayas Ojeux and Salasar Feaphed on Unstable Arcana and its connections with the source of Magic, the Weave, on the subject and member of the Weave Initiative, Murphy Law (See Sidebar for More Information), there were observations made that baffled even those two, the greatest magic scholars of their time:

"The subject does not realize everything they can do. With Unstable Arcana, they have the power to even challenge Gods, Demon Lords, or some of the strongest Devils out there. These are divine abilities... if someone could reach this through simply the repression of their power, one can only imagine what could be done if the upper limits of mortal power were truly pushed willingly. Perhaps the only barrier between Mortal and Deity is willpower, and Unstable Arcana itself defies the will enough to break that boundary."

— Orlayas Ojeux

The major discovery was the power Unstable Arcana had to go against the wishes of even Gods, Demon Lords, or Devils. With his Unstable Arcana, Murphy Law could (unwillingly for both parties involved) summon a Demon Lord into his body, transport himself into a Heaven that he would otherwise be locked out of, or cause some of the strongest Devils to appear from Hell in front of him.
To the best of their knowledge, there was no other power that could break past that of a deity, though it was said that the strongest mage to ever live, the first Grand Wizard Kilprax Ildial was able to do so.
Kilprax, however, had a thousand years of study. Murphy had nineteen years of repression under his father's boot.
The ultimate conclusion of the research was that Unstable Arcana itself was able to break past the limits due to the will of the user. Magic has an inherent desire, almost a will of its own, though in truth this will is always the will of whomever wields it. Therefore, the will of Unstable Arcana is often one who seeks to, deep down, use their magic, but cannot.

Thus, Unstable Arcana will push past the will of those keeping back magic itself, breaking past those in power and granting power so that, perhaps, its user will not have to hide anymore and may finally be able to use their power and be themselves.

Blessing

Unstable Arcana, thus, is considered to be less a curse, despite its sometimes negative repercussions and its general perception in society as a monstrous curse that can turn even the nicest of people into unwilling, unwitting monsters. Instead, it is a blessing.
This was reinforced when Murphy Law himself confronted his mother, Briffault Law, who was also once the Head Priest of Athena. She told Murphy that she was aware of his Unstable Arcana, how Barlow was repressing Murphy's magic, and that she and Athena made sure to bless Murphy so they could be sure no harm ever came to him from his Unstable Arcana. All the negatives that had come as a result were only due to Murphy himself, not the magic.
This shows two powers of Unstable Arcana: its inherent divine roots, and that through the will of the user it can break even divine will, as a Goddess blessed it to not harm its user, and yet through the will of the user, it harmed him anyway.
Unstable Arcana is still an anomaly in many ways, and it is believed there may never be an exact explanation for what it is. But it is known that the will of the user can control it if they learn to understand themselves and what it is that they truly want of themselves and their power will simply follow along with that.

Murphy Law's Unstable Arcana

No Unstable Arcana has been as carefully studied as Murphy Law's, with Salasar Feaphed and Orlayas Ojeux using the Weave Initiative as a chance to study what Unstable Arcana can produce through the member known as Murphy Law, the Head Priest of the Church of Athena.

Unstable Effects

These are the observed effects of Murphy Law's Unstable Arcana:

1. Something truly terrible happens.


2. The subject will critically fail their next action.


3. The subject teleports to a random spot with 500 feet.


4. The subject says all their thoughts out loud for a short period of time.


5. A twisted illusion appears only to the subject, and causes psychic damage.


6. For one minute the subject enters the Heavenly Realm of a random God.


7. The subject transforms into an identical copy of the closest intelligent creature, but with their own mind for up to 10 hours.


8. The subject transforms into a random animal.


9. For a period of 5 minutes, anything the subject touches (aside from clothing, weapons, and armor) will catch on fire.


10. For 10 seconds the subject becomes fully possessed by a Demon Lord, who is very surprised to be in their body.


11. The effect of this is observed to be completely random.


12. Manifesting around the subject is a restaurant. A fast food restaurant. It is McDales.


13. The subject suddenly teleports 5 minutes into the future.


14. The subject grows or shrinks up to an entire foot in height.


15. A Devilish Stock Trader from Ba'al Street appears.


16. The subject sees a vision of things to come.


17. Something absurd, and ultimately unimportant happens.


18. The subject gains access to a random magical affinity for three turns.


19. The subject will critically succeed their next action.


20. Something truly miraculous happens.