Weave

The Weave, also known as “The First Script”, Arcti’s Gift, or The Weave of Magic, is a magical force created by and maintained by Arcti. The Weave is an omnipresent force that permeates the multiverse and is the sole force that allows for the continued existence of magic in Lorone.

Origins of the Weave (The Weave War)
According to Arctist scripture, the Weave is often described as an ever-expanding weave of words and is perhaps the first words ever written in all of creation. Penned by Arcti themselves, the God spends eternity writing and formulating this ever-expanding scripture to suit the needs of the multiverse, forming a complex series of esoteric glyphs that is incomprehensible to all but the Gods. Though, even the Gods (aside from Arcti) are often not privy to even reading this scripture; a decision that their rival God, Gali, holds to heart.

The Weave is always described as a gift given by Arcti to mortals throughout the multiverse, granting them the gift of magic. With this gift, every creature in Lorone could cast spells and learn magic, regardless of natural disposition or inclination, allowing creatures to unify themselves with a single trait they would all be able to share in.

However, Arctist scripture cite that Gali in a power-hungry move attempted to tear the manuscript from Arcti’s hands. Galist scripts declare that Arcti’s attempt to unify all creatures with magic was a ploy to subjugate all creatures and form them into a collective religion that required homage to Arcti, as all creatures that wielded magic would need to draw from Arctist teachings. Regardless of reason, a great battle ensued between the two deities and their followers, known as the Weave War.

In the end, the nature of magic was changed forever as Arcti declared that mortals were not truly prepared to wield magic and see His vision to the very end. As such, the rate at which creatures could wield and learn magic varied dramatically between individuals, and their connection to the Weave is determined randomly at birth. Where some would be born monumentally talented, others would only be able to learn basic spells after years of study. This would be known as Arcti’s Trial, as many Arctists saw this event as a test from their God upon mortals, seeing it as ignorant mortal creatures needing to learn to respect magic and wield it responsibly, eventually seeing Arcti’s vision for a unified community of peoples drawn together by magic.

Theory of Conspiracy
Some secretive sages believe that while both stories are perfectly accurate for both Gods, it is possible that both interpretations are only partially true. These scholars believe the Gods’ negative opinions of one another was started by the Shadowbound, disguising themselves and stoking the suspicion of the other until it culminated in the events of the Weave War.

Nature of the Weave
The Weave is the medium through which magical effects occur, reacting to manipulation like a living, sentient creature. The most common way to explain the fundamental of spellcasting is to treat spells as instructions given to another individual.

When a wizard casts a spell, the Weave reacts according to the syllables and gestures of their incantation. A spell can call fire to bloom in a specific location because of the wizard’s specific words and gestures informing the Weave to product that specific magical effect in that specific location.

Why Components Matter
Weaker spellcasters are often so because they lack the ability to understand this principle. An apprentice wizard mispronouncing a syllable can cause their spell to fail or backfire, creating the wrong effect or misdirecting it, like giving an incorrect instruction to another person. The Weave never attempts to correct mistakes, instead interpreting them as literal.

Connection to the Weave
Even the most learned of spellcasters fail to become stronger or go mad in their pursuit of power because of how symbiotic the Weave is to the nature of magic. One can perfectly pronounce or supply somatic components to their spells, but ultimately their connection to the Weave is not unlike a social relationship, one that is often a connection at birth (a hereditary trait) or nurtured over years of practice and interaction with magic.

This relationship is vital to casting spells of greater power. A scholar can spend lifetimes studying magic in solitude but may only be able to produce magical effects that may otherwise be mundane. Spellcasters of legend always have a deep connection to the Weave.

A classic example of this relationship is that of a public speaker and a crowd. A public speaker can converse and convey information to others in a detailed manner, but if the speaker does not convey proper meaning through body language and form a social connection then meaning or efficiency of the discussion can be lost. But with multiple conversations the speaker can grow to become more confident and change how they speak to better enthrall people they speak to, supplying better meaning and capturing greater attention.

A popular way to build this connection is often brought about by adventuring, building up a working relationship with the Weave in a hands-on setting requires the spellcaster to become adept or suffer injury or death. This often results in the spellcaster becoming more comfortable when interacting with the Weave, allowing them to cast more powerful spells over time.

Anomalies
Magic is a powerful force of nature that is often manipulated by those with little understanding of how their actions can have consequences in their applications. The Weave can be damaged or corrupted in response to the reckless use of powerful magic, the death of magical beings, or the destruction of powerful magical artifacts.

With these, it can cause magic to unravel, creating strange occurrences to occur in areas surrounding these damages to the Weave.

Wild Magic Zones
Wild magic is the force of chaos made manifest through magic, often manifesting in creatures or objects causing miscellaneous magical effects to occur in isolation to the manifester. Wild magic zones are similar and occur when the Weave is damaged in some way, most commonly when a powerful magical creature – such as a dragon, elemental, fey, or monstrosity – is slain and the ambient magic of its lair is suddenly disrupted.

When a creature attempts to cast a spell within that area, it causes a surge of wild magic, such as dramatically increasing the power of a spell, or causing it to product a totally random effect.

The Weave (or Arcti themselves) naturally heals these zones of damaged magic. Wild Magic Zones remain for longer depending on how powerful the creature was, as that often determines the level of damage done to the Weave in the surrounding area.

Spellcasters can detect these areas using a detect magic spell and can also attempt to heal these zones temporarily with a dispel magic spell cast from outside the zone. Permanent dismissal of a wild magic zone can be performed either through continued use of the dispel magic spell every day for a year, or by using the legendary wish spell once.

Dead Magic Zones
Dead magic zones were simultaneously the mythical and dreaded of all magical anomalies. Arcti worshippers see them as a sign of grave sin or a sign of a great cataclysm to come. They are a result of the total eradication of the Weave in an area and are usually the result of the death of many powerful magical creatures or the destruction of a magical artifact.

Dead magic zones never appear for any more than an hour at a time, though exceptions are believed to have existed at some point in ancient history (such as the aftermath of the Weave War).

Only Arcti is believed to be capable of truly repairing a dead magic zone. Though it is also believed that other Gods are also able to aid in the restoration of the Weave in these areas. The wish spell can only restore a 30-foot area of these magicless locations at a time.