BECMI Chapter 284 – Radiant Happenings

“We have deduced that discovering the nature of the Radiance and mastering the spells known for it are a form of Immortal test,” Brittabelle went on, Treespeaker Crysallana pausing only a moment before nodding her understanding of that. “It appears that the highest power of the Radiance can actually forge a mortal wizard into an Immortal, without need for an Immortal sponsor. Doing so… created the Day of No Magic.”The Treespeaker hissed, her eyes going wide. “That… is horrifying!” she breathed out.

“It is another Immortal test,” I interjected, earning her disbelieving stare. “Knowing that, will wizards give up the possible means to advance to Immortality, or will they stay the course and exploit the magic as it is?”

“And one look around Zanzyr answers that question rather fully,” Brittabelle nodded grimly. “Which should be unsurprising. We are almost certain Thaum is the Immortal who used the method to Ascend.”

She stared at the two of us, looking back and forth between us. “This, this is very dangerous knowledge…” she whispered to us.

“And if you tell the Tree, Corellin will learn of it. He will inform His friends and Immortal allies, and there will war over the matter… using us as proxies for the fight, since this is a matter of the mortal world,” I said coldly. “Kindly do not so inform Him, and let Him find out on His own schedule. We are already addressing the problem.”

“I do not care to suddenly be a pawn in a war between Immortals, mother. It is best if we find our own solution.” And then Belle smiled, and waved to the Pyramid behind us. “La!”

The Treespeaker actually turned to look back up to the splendidly carved stone white jade altar she had just invoked a Ritual from, then back at me in amazement. “You… said this edifice taps into the Radiance?” she asked slowly, disbelieving I could actually do such a thing.

“When you use magic to tap the Radiance, you are actually burning and destroying the mana, sacrificing it to invoke the higher power the Radiance connects to. The magic used to make an Immortal is effectively using the Radiance as a stepping stone to the even higher sphere of pure Immortal Power. The Radiance burns, and mana is the fuel that must supply the power to do that. It eats a tremendous amount of the mana of the world, then bestows that power on that new Immortal. Both methods permanently weaken the manasphere as a result. One is slow and insidious, one quick and disastrous.”

I flicked a finger at my creation as she digested that. “The White Pyramid does the opposite. It Burns the Radiance, and converts it back down into magic, instead of the reverse. The only limit is how much Radiance we Burn, because doing so is going to attract Immortals interested in how we did so.

“I am disguising it as a redirection and amplification of the ley lines running through the land, and so the Lumina Tree is benefiting. The truth of the matter will only be seen if someone tries to Cast a spell of the Radiance in the lands protected by the Pyramid’s Domain.

“The spell will backfire miserably and fail utterly, literally blowing up in their face and likely scarring them miserably as it does so. It will manifest as a rejection of the Radiance from the Domain, rather than a conversion and ignition of it, further misdirecting observers as to what is going on.”

She blinked at me, and I could tell she was thinking I really was a coldly cunning and ruthless person. “But… that merely means its power cannot be used in Erendyl. Some would say that is hampering us…” she trailed off as both Belle and I smiled, although admittedly mine looked more like I was getting ready to eat something.

“Oh, those poor foolish elves don’t know what they’ve done, cutting themselves off from the Radiance entirely with their silly edifice of stone, just so they can grow more trees!” Brittabelle singsang in an excellent Fuireze accent, shaking her head and clucking her tongue.

“Indeed! Let them have their trees, while we plumb the secrets reserved once for the gods, and let them eat leaves while we soar to the heavens!” I added in a very posh Aendyr accent, which did haughty superiority so very well.

The Treespeaker could not help a sparkle of amusement coming into her eyes. “Clever,” she admitted with a small smile. “But how does this help the greater problem?”

“It doesn’t… unless I can build two more within Zanzyr.” My eyes probably lit up bright red, judging by the way she flinched.

“Ah! What, ah, would that do?” the Treespeaker asked carefully.

“A trifecta of Pyramids would restrict and restrain all effects of the Radiance to Zanzyr itself. In short, practicing the arts of the Radiance will rapidly deplete the mana within Zanzyr itself, while not affecting the greater world. If someone is foolish enough to attempt Immortality using it, it will instantly turn the interior of Zanzyr into a dead magic zone, the Pyramids will consume the Radiance so generated, revert it back into mana and channel it back into the ley lines out of the country, and the attempt will fail spectacularly badly, likely consuming the ingrate’s very soul in an attempt to satisfy requirements the spell can no longer meet.”

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The cold ruthlessness in my voice made her swallow.

“That… sounds like Zanzyr turning into a magical wasteland is almost inevitable,” she said hesitantly.

“Oh, I am absolutely certain the wizards would come together, figure out how much magic must be sacrificed daily by them to stave off the degradation, that wielding the Radiance quickly hastens the depletion, and should be not only banned, but punished actively,” I stated with all sorts of hopeful idiocy in my voice, and was totally and completely unbelievable. Her face showed it, too.

“Yes, Thaum will surely reverse his entire position on the matter when he sees the consequences. And not do something more violent, like, say, destroy the Pyramids restricting the Radiance,” Belle added in pretty much the same tone.

Treespeaker Crysallana looked back and forth between us, sensing a greater game at play. “That… is exactly what I expect should happen? If Thaum Himself did not interfere directly…”

“I intend at that time to perhaps with Quarizon and offer both Pyramids to Him or another power as temples in Zanzyr, after explaining what they do.” Or something similar.

She stared at me, her thoughts racing at that rather heretical and definitely traitorous statement… except I wasn’t a citizen of Zanzyr now, was I? Nor, technically was she, not having been born here... “The Council… will not dare to defy the full power of a priesthood as powerful as that of Quarizon,” she said, licking her lips. “Especially if He claims the Pyramids directly. That will crack the prohibition against clerical magic in Zanzyr over the knee and light the splinters on fire. Quarzion isn’t going to abide by such restrictions on the magic of His priests…” she trailed off, staring at me in some amazement for such a bold move.

“Quarizon is also ancient and powerful, and Thaum isn’t going to be able to do a damn thing about the move, either. Doing so also stops the need for a bout between Immortals dead in its tracks.

“Zanzyr can either give up its pursuit of the Radiance and remain a magocracy, or be depleted and its wizards grow weaker and weaker, until those without magic will simply rise up and crush them.”

All we had to do was invite in a very powerful Immortal to break the paradigm, something I technically did NOT want to do. I’d be thinking of alternatives...

The Treespeaker hesitated, thinking over the implications. “I imagine there will be a great many non-spellcasters who would be very happy to live in a land without magic, after seeing some of the excesses wrought by the wizards of Zanzyr,” she winced, making a face. “Those envious of the magic of the elves, or who have faced us in battle and had to deal with our magic, would feel likewise.”

Brittabelle nodded imperiously. “Like the nifloids of the Bleaklands, and the tribes inhabiting the mountain ranges around Zanzyr, and the nomads of the Sind to the west.” She made a circling gesture. “Surrounded by enemies, a perfect homeland for the nifloids, where no magic of enlightened cultures can reach them. This land will call to them like a blessing of the gods if the wizards persist in their foolishness. The humans of the land might long for equality and the return of their martial past and warrior lords, but the fact remains that they’ve lost that martial tradition and the deep store of lore that is required to support such a thing, as tangible and required as any library or testing chamber for magic.

“Without mages, Zanzyr is vulnerable, and it has made itself that way. The idea of not having magic to defend themselves is not part of any military doctrine put forth by Council or Parliament.”

We’d gone looking for such contingency plans. Prince Jaggenfel’s many essays on the topic of war for some reason did not include having no access to magic, as if he simply couldn’t conceive of such a scenario happening to him.

“And this is a possibility that you’ve both been planning for,” the Treespeaker said slowly, Belle’s mother looking between us again. Doubtless some things she’d heard were now finally making sense, particularly the amassing of Healing and other combat-applicable Potions, holy water; alchemical fire, cold, lightning, and acid vials; healing balms, sun rods, and other items that didn’t require true magic to work.

There was even whispers of forbidden technology here and there, lost since Darkmoor far in the past, and waiting in Belle’s possession in case of need. There were disconcerting stories about the Moorian dwarves who were working so readily with Belle’s forces, and some of the humans who had taken up the Ranger Tradition were armed with powerful items that were not magical at all.

And now, now there was this Pyramid sitting here, which could draw magic from the Radiance by Burning it directly.

“This structure can stave off the Day of No Magic,” she said slowly, scarcely able to believe it.

It was the darkest and shortest day of the year, and for good reason. No spells could be Cast, non- spells faded away, the air felt empty and hollow, and combined with the cold of winter it made for a difficult and hostile day.

It was also a day the nifloids loved to attack on, if they could. But usually the winter weather made it too difficult for them, and random magical creatures of any sort did not want to be up and around, and that even included the undead.

The elves not being subject to it because the very thing that had caused it was now staving it back was delightful irony.

“Can you restore what was lost to the Radiance with this?” she had to ask hopefully.

Belle lowered her eyes, knowing the answer I was about to give. “The answer is yes, if no one continues to use the Radiance for their own benefits. The real answer is no: the amount used was absolutely incredible, the manafield is frail, and wizards and priests of Gaebrel continue to use the Radiance for their own benefits. It is much slower and more difficult to crack and Burn the Radiance back into mana than it is to consume mana permanently with a Radiance spell. This Pyramid can barely keep up with idle daily usage by the various forces that can wield the Radiance, and falls behind ever further with any amount of surge casting, such as might come from active conflicts.

“Making more Pyramids might change that paradigm, but as for getting rid of the Day of No Magic… that would take an immense amount of Immortal Power sacrificed to be rid of it, or years of accumulation of the Radiance, with nothing spent to forestall it in the meantime. I consider it highly unlikely, and in any event a good reminder of the cost of greed when dealing with magic,” I replied coolly.