Case Study Of The Wand Of Etherealness: Contradictions in the Timeline of Magical History

Research written by: Archmage Merlin of The Stars et al. Date: 05 of Midsummer, 4th Era. (F.f.g: 10 years after King Arthur Pendragon coronation ceremony)

Abstract:

During explorations of the Lowerdark, We unearthed a wand of etherealness that defies the established timeline of magical history. Through a series of rigorous analyses, including magical radiation dating and elemental divination, we have determined that the wand is approximately 12,000 years old, contradicting the gods’ account of magical events. This case study presents our findings, methodologies, and implications for the understanding of magical history.

Introduction:

I, Merlin of The Stars, Archmage and writer of this research, have been studying the history of magic for centuries. During my recent explorations of the Lowerdark, my companions and I discovered a wand of etherealness that challenges the established timeline of magical history. As stated by both the gods and temple records, the god Corellon Larethian, god of magic was reformed by the over-deities 11,000 years ago which resulted in the rewriting of magical laws and the destruction of all existing spells and magic items. This alone would have turned the subject of this research, the wand of etherealness, into a non-magical wand and through the ages it would have been eroded by time. However, the wand is enchanted with the ability to cast the Etherealness spell (Arcanoglyph found in Appendix A) on the attuned person up to once a day and our dating methods have revealed that the wand predates the event of the reform by 1,000 years. The wand was found floating in “The Void”, a circular chasm located at the deepest city in the Underdark, Zenith, exactly 90,4 kilometers below the Lowerdark threshold beneath the Meridian Expanse Sea, 43 kilometers north of the Puntal Peninsula. The objective of this research is to present the means in which we analyzed the wand, the results of our findings, and the implications of this discrepancy on the understanding of magical history.

Literature Review:

To provide context for our research, we reviewed existing knowledge on the age of the universe and magical history as provided by the gods. We also examined previous research on magical artifacts and dating techniques to ensure the validity of our methods. According to the records of the temples of Ioun, the goddess of knowledge and Corellon Larethian, the god of magic, the universe was created 1 billion years ago, in which the gods created all that we consider as reality, including the concept of magic, within 999.9 Million years. After this period, the second great event in the history of magic was during the event known as the Impact, which happened 20 Thousand years ago and lasted a quarter of a second, in which the Over-Deities assigned the true gods their domains and created the Divine Accord, this event is what assigned Corellon Larethian as the god of magic, entrusting him with the task of overseeing the weave The Landscape of magic would not see any changes until the event known as the Reform, 11 thousand years ago lasting 3 days, this event was the response towards the ascention of the Raven Queen and Vecna into godhood. The reform caused the recalling of the gods to outside the Greater Limit, in which Aena and Kryela, the two over-deities, to rewrite the body of Corellon Larethian, changing the fundamental laws of magic, such drastic changes on the behaviour of the weave cause the destruction of any and all spells, enchantments, curses and magical effects. Upon reviewing the literature, we defined that all magic items currently in existence must be no older than the first of the three days of the reform to comply with the gods’ account of magical history. This is the basis for our research and the reason for the discrepancy we have encountered with the wand of etherealness. As for the dating techniques, we have developed a series of methods to analyze the wand, including the identification of the spell, magical radiation dating, legend lore spell, Flow sphere reading, arcane spectrograms and ether dating. All these techniques have been previously tested and validated in controlled enviroments and in field. Research of the methods can be found in the library of Camelot, room 208, bookshelf 7, shelf 3, books 1 through 8 along with evidence of their validity. In more specific terms, these are the books which detail previous usage of the methods:

Spell Identify: The Identification of Magical Properties, by Merlin of The Stars.
Magical Radiation Dating: The Decay of Magic and Properties of Arcane Origin, by Archmage Merlin of The Stars.
Legend Lore Spell: The Secrets of the Past: A look within the correlation beteween arcane consiousness and time, by Archmage Merlin of The Stars.
Flow sphere Reading: The Flow of The Weave and it’s Constant Expansion, by Edali Urmal
Arcane Spectrograms: The Spectrum of Magic: The Space Between Magic and Mundane, by Caelum of Brunhilde
Ether Dating: Ether as An Instrument by Luca Antares Di Campagna

Methodology:

The wand of etherealness was subjected to a series of analyses using the methods described above. The following is a detailed description of the methods used to analyze the wand:

Identify Spell (Arcanoglyph found in Appendix B)
1. Pilot Test
  1. Description: The pilot test was conducted to determine the properties of a ring of invisibility created by Archmage Merlin of The Stars 5 years before the current research.
  2. Procedure: The spell was cast by Archmage Merlin of The Stars, as a ritual within his laboratory, he used a diamond sold by a merchant in Mjordal with the ring as target.
  3. Results: The spell revealed the ring’s ability to turn the wearer invisible for along with anything they are wearing or carrying. The user remains invisible until the ring is removed, until the user attacks or casts spell, or until the user desires to become visible again.
2. Main Study
  1. Description: The spell identify was cast on the wand to determine its magical properties. The arcanoglyph of the spell is provided in Appendix B.
  2. Procedure: The spell was cast by Archmage Merlin of The Stars, as a ritual within his laboratory, he used a diamond sold by a merchant in Mjordal with the wand as target.
  3. Results: The spell revealed the wand’s ability to cast the Etherealness spell on the attuned person once a day, with the effect lasting 10 minutes. The wand regains it’s ability during dawn. And requires attunement to be used.
Magical Radiation Dating
1. Pilot test
  1. Description: The pilot test was conducted to determine the age of the ring of invisibility created by Archmage Merlin of The Stars 5 years before the current research.
  2. Procedure: The wand was placed in a 2mX2mx2m lead-lined chamber, with a thickness of 5 centimeters in all walls, the radiation was then measured by leaving a crystal lens with a diameter of 30 centimeters and thickness of 2 centimeters in the chamber for 24 hours.
  3. Results: The crystal lens had become completely cloudy indicating high activity of magical radiation, when used as a spell focus, it caused a 1% chance of the spell causing psychic damage, indicating low energy magical radiation. Through this high-acitivity and low-energy radiation profile, the ring was, through the Magical Radiation Dating equation, determined to be 5 years old.
2. Main Study
  1. Description: The wand was subjected to Magical Radiation Dating to determine its age.
  2. Procedure-1: The wand was placed in a 2mX2mx2m lead-lined chamber, with a thickness of 5 centimeters in all walls, the radiation was then measured by leaving a crystal lens with a diameter of 30 centimeters and thickness of 2 centimeters in the chamber for 24 hours.
  3. Results-1: The lens did not return any results, indicating that the wand did not emit any magical radiation within the 24-hour period.
  4. Procedure-2 to 4: The wand was placed again in the same chamber as procedure-1, the radiation was then measured by leaving a new crystal lens with a diameter of 30 centimeters and thickness of 2 centimeters in the chamber for increasing periods of time, from 24 to 96 hours (1 to 4 days).
  5. Results-2 to 4: The lens did not return any results, indicating that the wand did not emit any magical radiation within the any of the periods.
  6. Procedure-5: The wand was placed in the same chamber as procedure-1, the radiation was then measured by leaving a new crystal lens with a diameter of 30 centimeters and thickness of 2 centimeters in the chamber for 120 hours ( days).
  7. Results-5: The lens returned with a single cloudy streak, crossing through it’s center in a diagonal of 12° before leaving the lens, indicating a extremely low activity of magical radiation. When used as a spell focus, the lens caused all spells to gain ethereal qualities, showcasing extremely high energy magical radiation. Through this low-acitivity and high-energy radiation profile, the wand was, through the Magical Radiation Dating equation, determined to be 12,000 years old.
Legend Lore Spell (Arcanoglyph found in Appendix C)
1. Pilot Test
  1. Description: The pilot test was conducted to gain insights into the history of the ring of invisibility created by Archmage Merlin of The Stars 5 years before the current research.
  2. Procedure: The spell was cast by Archmage Merlin of The Stars, he used incense bought at Mjordal, which the spell consumed, and four ivory strips bought at Mjordal.
  3. Results: The spell revealed the ring’s creation by Archmage Merlin of The Stars, and the recent locations the ring has been.
2. Main Study
  1. Description: The Legend Lore spell was cast on the wand to gain insights into its history.
  2. Procedure: The spell was cast by Archmage Merlin of The Stars, he used incense bought at Mjordal, which the spell consumed, and four ivory strips bought at Mjordal.
  3. Results: The spell result revealed the following information:
    - The wand was created 12,000 years ago by a group of wizards
    - The wand was used to fight a war that caused the city of Zenith suffer a great cataclysm
    - After the cataclysm, all the wizards that created the wand died and the wand was lost in the void
Flow sphere Reading
1. Pilot Test
  1. Description: The pilot test was conducted to determine the flows of magic around the ring of invisibility created by Archmage Merlin of The Stars 5 years before the current research.
  2. Procedure: The ring was placed in a chamber with a Flow sphere, a device that measures the flow of magic, the ring was then activated by a spellcaster and the flows were recorded.
  3. Results: The Flow sphere showed a consistent flow of magic around the ring, indicating its recent enchantment.
2. Main Study
  1. Description: The wand was subjected to Flow sphere Reading to determine the magical currents around it.
  2. Procedure: The wand was placed in a chamber with a Flow sphere, a device that measures the flow of magic, the wand was then activated by a spellcaster and the flows were recorded.
  3. Results: The Flow sphere showed a faint, irregular flow of magic around the wand, indicating its ancient and unstable nature.
Arcane Spectrograms
1. Pilot Test
  1. Description: The pilot test was conducted to analyze the magical composition of the ring of invisibility created by Archmage Merlin of The Stars 5 years before the current research.
  2. Procedure: The ring was placed within a sphere of Prismalium and subjected to identify spell, the results were then recorded.
  3. Results: The Arcane Spectrograms showed a high concentration of illusion magic within the ring.
2. Main Study
  1. Description: The wand was subjected to Arcane Spectrograms to analyze its magical composition.
  2. Procedure: The wand was placed within a sphere of Prismalium and subjected to identify spell, the results were then recorded.
  3. Results: The Arcane Spectrograms showed a faint and complex mixture of abjuration, transmutation, and conjuration magic within the wand.
Ether Dating
1. Pilot Test
  1. Description: The pilot test was conducted to determine the age of the ether surrounding the ring of invisibility created by Archmage Merlin of The Stars 5 years before the current research.
  2. Procedure: After traveling into the ethereal plane, Merlin of The Stars cast a Imprisonment (Arcanoglyph found in Appendix D) using a vellum depiction of an ethereal flame and a small circular opal bought at Mjordal as a focus for the spell’s effect. Upon completion the identify spell was cast on opal.
  3. Results: The spell revealed the ether surrounding the ring to be 5 years old.
2. Main Study
  1. Description: The wand was subjected to Ether Dating to determine the age of the ether surrounding it.
  2. Procedure: After traveling into the ethereal plane, Merlin of The Stars cast a Imprisonment using a vellum depiction of an ethereal flame and a small circular opal bought at Mjordal as a focus for the spell’s effect. Upon completion the identify spell was cast on opal.
  3. Results: The spell revealed the ether surrounding the wand to be 12,000 years old.

Validation methods using elemental spirits of divination were employed to ensure the accuracy of our findings. The interviews with the elemental spirits can be found in the appendices.

Findings:

The wand of etherealness discovered in the Lowerdark is a unique magical item, the following are the physical characteristics and magical properties of the wand:

Physical Characteristics:

The wand is made of finely carved ivory, adorned with runes of an unknown language. (Copies of the runes are transcribed in dead magic paper and annexed in the end of the research paper).
The handle is wrapped in parchment and leather, with a small cage at the tip of the rod containing a single glowing flame that seems impervious to touch or placement in water.
More detailed illustrations of the wand can be found at the end of the research paper.

Magical Properties:

The wand is capable of casting the Etherealness spell on the attuned person once a day, with the effect lasting 10 minutes. The wand regains its ability during dawn and requires attunement to be used.
The wand emits a faint, irregular flow of magic, indicating its ancient and unstable nature.
When using the wand, the user may experience inconsistencies in its magical properties, such as partial or failed activation. Around 10% of the time, the wand will not activate at all. Around 30% of the time, the wand will activate partially, causing the user to become ethereal for a shorter duration than intended.

With the results of our analyses, we have determined the following:

The wand of etherealness is approximately 12,000 years old, predating the gods’ account of magical history by 1,000 years.
The wand’s magical properties exhibit inconsistencies in usage, likely due to its age and location of discovery.
The runes on the wand belong to an ancient language far removed from any known dialects, suggesting a lost civilization or culture.
The original creators of the wand were a group of wizards who used it in a war that caused the city of Zenith to suffer a great cataclysm.
The cataclysm created the void in which the wand was lost, leading to its discovery in the Lowerdark.
After the cataclysm, the wizards perished.

Discussion:

Our findings present a significant discrepancy in the established timeline of magical history as provided by the gods and temple records. The wand of etherealness, with its age of 12,000 years, challenges the gods’ account of magical events, particularly the Reform that occurred 11,000 years ago. The implications of this discrepancy are profound and raise several questions regarding the nature of magic and the gods’ knowledge.

The main question that arises from our research is the origin of the wand of etherealness and how it survived the Reform that destroyed all existing spells and magic items. Several potential reasons for this discrepancy can be considered:

The wand of etherealness originated from another dimension or timeline. This possibility suggests that the wand was brought to our dimension from another reality, where the laws of magic are different or unaffected by the Reform. This would explain the wand’s age and magical properties, as well as its unknown language and origin. However, this possibility is unlikely, as our dimension is locked by the barrier created by the over-deities, the greater limit, preventing the passage of objects or beings between dimensions. Regarding the timeline possibility, the wand could have been sent back or forward in time, but the Divine Accord prevents the gods from altering the past or future, and if the wand was created and sent to the future before the creation of the divine accord, it would appear older that 12,000 years, which is not the case.
The gods are actively misleading mortals about the true history of magic. This possibility raises questions about the gods’ motivations and the nature of their relationship with mortals. If the gods are intentionally withholding information or providing false accounts of magical history, it calls into question the reliability of their teachings and the extent of their knowledge. Some reasons of why the gods would lie could be:
- To maintain control over mortals by controlling the flow of information.
- To protect mortals from the dangers of ancient magic.
- To prevent the resurgence of ancient powers that could threaten the divine order.
- To maintain the stability of the weave and prevent uncontrolled growth of magic.
- To avoid revealing their own limitations or mistakes.
- To prevent mortals from seeking forbidden knowledge or challenging divine authority. The gods’ motivations for misleading mortals are unclear, but the existence of the wand of etherealness suggests that there may be more to the history of magic than the gods have revealed. Although, this possibility is unlikely as it goes against the nature of some gods, such as Ioun, the goddess of knowledge, who values truth and wisdom above all else.
The gods genuinely believe in the accuracy of their teachings, despite evidence to the contrary. This possibility suggests that the gods are unaware of the true history of magic and are operating under a false understanding, possibly due to the limitations of their divine knowledge or the influence of external forces, possibly the over-deities. This would imply that the gods are not infallible and may be subject to the same errors and misconceptions as mortals. When considered, this possibility seems the most likely, as the gods are still bound by the divine accord and the limitations of their domains, and the over-deities are known to have a greater understanding of the universe than the gods so perhaps they are the ones that can provide the true history of magic.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the wand of etherealness discovered in the Lowerdark presents a significant anomaly in the timeline of magical history. Through a series of rigorous analyses, we have determined that the wand is approximately 12,000 years old, predating the gods’ account of magical events by 1,000 years. This discrepancy raises questions about the nature of magic, the gods’ knowledge, and the origins of the wand. Further research is needed to explore these questions and uncover the truth behind this mysterious artifact. Ramifications of this discovery are far-reaching and may have implications for the broader field of magical studies. The continuous search of older artifacts and the development of new dating techniques may reveal more discrepancies in the established timeline of magical history, leading to a reevaluation of our understanding of magic and its origins. Studies in regards to the nature and knowledge of the gods can also explain better the reasons behind the discrepancy and help understand the true history of magic.

Appendices:

Transcripts of the runes.
Illustrations of the wand.
Arcanoglyphs for the spells used.
Interview transcripts with elemental spirits.
Validation studies of methods in Merlin’s library.

🧭 Aeloria

Explorer

Case Study Of The Staff Of Etherealness