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[LuckyKobold]

KI'Tork begins to instruct his Followers how to use the new magic system.

[Andres]

(When I thought I could teleport all the parasites away it was a bit late. The very first thing I thought when I woke up was "How did I possibly think I could teleport millions of zombies without Essence?" Then I wake up and see that they're actually giant bugs and I realise I had no chance of getting them all.)

color=navy]What in the name of the council are you showing these people, Malakath!?[/color]

"How to feel magic inside themselves and cantrips. This shouldn't be happening or else we'd have heard about such dangers of magic long ago. Another god is interfering."

"She's probably showing them blood magic."

"Beginner blood magic basically amounts to breathing exercises. I highly doubt that's enough to dismember people. Besides, that's not what's being taught."

Malakath's tutorials have received showings of countless people of various backgrounds. A substantial portion seem unable to use even the simplest of magic at all during the tutorials. There is a surprisingly high rate of assorted injuries ranging from minor cuts and bruises to loss of limbs or senses or even death even for near-trivial spells in those who attended.

I revive those who've died and haven't reincarnated/gone to not-Heaven and return the limbs and senses to those who've lost them. The Sanatores are sent in to heal everyone else. "Attention, everyone. Another god is attempting to prevent the education of safe magic-use. For this reason, no more lessons will be held in my temples. Instead, those who are willing may learn magic in the Plane of Battle where all injuries and deaths are non-permanent."
I take a closer look at their souls while they're using magic. What's going wrong, exactly? Do they somehow have less magic than those gifted with it before the proposal passed? Are they attempting to use too-high-level spells? What exactly is causing the dismemberment? Magic overuse's symptoms basically amount to different degrees of unconsciousness and death rather than physical injuries. Are they Void worshippers?

Some people who used to make Void pacts for mundane things continue to do so.

I ask them why they would continue making Void pacts when they can do mundane things on their own (accidents not-withstanding). Do these pacts still work?

Fusil's method, whatever it is, seems to be very successful but seems to be as unwieldy as having a band of traveling musicians moving from town to town. Much monster death occurs with minimal structural damage, and the streets end up mostly dry and easily cleaned. Perhaps the legends of The Janitor are true?

I go to the Library and ask its guardians about a book on "The Janitor". Asking the guardians is probably much more efficient than simply looking for them. I read up on as many useful books on the Void as I can.

Those that attempt to inhabit space around Keshan seem to die quickly.

I close my eyes and concentrate. Using my godly intuition/sixth sense/whatever, I determine why they're dying near Keshan. Regardless of if that works or not, I ask those who died about what exactly happened. I made them so they'd almost certainly have worshipped me as their prime deity and as such would've gone to Heaven.

Do the parasites bleed?

[hector13]

You are very quick to assume that another god is involved in these catastrophic failures, Malakath, god of Magic.

Perhaps lifting the limitations on magic use so quickly was yet another of your foolish ideas? Perhaps not all mortals have the capacity to deal with magic use, suggested by the range of injuries they seem to be experiencing?

Whatever the reason, I would hope that you're willing to back-track on your revelation to the mortals, and your baseless blanket accusation that another god is behind this, should your investigation prove fruitless.

[Andres]

You are very quick to assume that another god is involved in these catastrophic failures, Malakath, god of Magic.

"It's common knowledge that most bad things happen because a God is secretly trying to make another god's day worse."

Perhaps not all mortals have the capacity to deal with magic use, suggested by the range of injuries they seem to be experiencing?

"These injuries are inconsistent with the usual effects of magic overuse. The absolute - and I mean absolute - worst thing that could occur from a beginner trying a cantrip is unconsciousness. Most of the time it's just headaches from concentrating on the spells over and over again."

Whatever the reason, I would hope that you're willing to back-track on your revelation to the mortals, and your baseless blanket accusation that another god is behind this, should your investigation prove fruitless.

"Considering the universe's history with Gods harming innocent people to get at another God I highly doubt that my initial assessment is incorrect. I've made some enemies among the Gods, the injuries are inconsistent and too extreme for what's causing them, and most bad things are the fault of a God. The monsters, the Stone Men, the parasites, the plagues...all of it was the fault of a God. It is far from a baseless accusation."

[Quartz_Mace]

"Okay Darruth. Last chance for you to take your army and leave. If you don't make them leave, their blood is on your hands."

[Rolepgeek]

...

Nothing's there. Seriously. Maybe there's my archangel body if it didn't disappear, but everything else left, and it wasn't an army in the first place. So, I don't know what you're talking about. If there's an army there, it's not mine.

[hector13]

You are very quick to assume that another god is involved in these catastrophic failures, Malakath, god of Magic.

"It's common knowledge that most bad things happen because a God is secretly trying to make another god's day worse."

Perhaps not all mortals have the capacity to deal with magic use, suggested by the range of injuries they seem to be experiencing?

"These injuries are inconsistent with the usual effects of magic overuse. The absolute - and I mean absolute - worst thing that could occur from a beginner trying a cantrip is unconsciousness. Most of the time it's just headaches from concentrating on the spells over and over again."

Whatever the reason, I would hope that you're willing to back-track on your revelation to the mortals, and your baseless blanket accusation that another god is behind this, should your investigation prove fruitless.

"Considering the universe's history with Gods harming innocent people to get at another God I highly doubt that my initial assessment is incorrect. I've made some enemies among the Gods, the injuries are inconsistent and too extreme for what's causing them, and most bad things are the fault of a God. The monsters, the Stone Men, the parasites, the plagues...all of it was the fault of a God. It is far from a baseless accusation."

You seem to be forgetting a fairly critical change between your previous experience with magic and now: there are no restrictions on magic anymore.

Ergo, the argument that "it was never like this before" is invalid, because it's no longer what it was like.

Consider the restrictions on magic like a dam. If you remove the dam completely, instantaneously, the water that it was holding back is now rushing forward, destroying everything in its path. This is what I think is happening with magic at the moment.

Also, your argument, which I'm paraphrasing, that "gods have been bastards before, so they'll probably be bastards again" is a bit foolish. It may well be that they will continue to be bastards, but you need some proof that that it's a god being a bastard in this instance, otherwise you just sound like you're making excuses. I'm not saying that it isn't someone being a bastard, but you should at least explore other avenues before coming to that conclusion, sans evidence.

((Excuse the excessive swearing, I'm tired so I can't come up with a more eloquent way of saying it ))

[Andres]

You seem to be forgetting a fairly critical change between your previous experience with magic and now: there are no restrictions on magic anymore.

Ergo, the argument that "it was never like this before" is invalid, because it's no longer what it was like.

Consider the restrictions on magic like a dam. If you remove the dam completely, instantaneously, the water that it was holding back is now rushing forward, destroying everything in its path. This is what I think is happening with magic at the moment.

"That is not at all what's going on. A more apt analogy is this: there is a gate barring access to a river. Some people are allowed to pass through the gate and drink water - mages. Most people, though, aren't allowed to pass through the gate - non-mages. Suddenly, everyone was given a pass and they decided to drink water from the river. Unfortunately, someone decided to poison the river and now everyone who's drinking from it is dying. This analogy is even better when you consider that previously, the only danger the river posed is accidentally falling in and drowning - overusing magic and burning out your soul. You can still do that now but you're more likely to die by the poison - suddenly bleeding and getting injured for no reason."

Also, your argument, which I'm paraphrasing, that "gods have been bastards before, so they'll probably be bastards again" is a bit foolish. It may well be that they will continue to be bastards, but you need some proof that that it's a god being a bastard in this instance, otherwise you just sound like you're making excuses. I'm not saying that it isn't someone being a bastard, but you should at least explore other avenues before coming to that conclusion, sans evidence.

((Excuse the excessive swearing, I'm tired so I can't come up with a more eloquent way of saying it ))

"The idea that a god is responsible is the most likely theory. The only other credible theory is the one where simply using magic is resulting in these injuries, which evidence is actively proving against based on the types of injury. As for exploring other avenues, that's what I'm doing right now. Maybe you want to help?"

EDIT: "If your dam theory was correct, we'd see a great many people burning their souls out rather than getting physically injured."

[hector13]

You seem to be forgetting a fairly critical change between your previous experience with magic and now: there are no restrictions on magic anymore.

Ergo, the argument that "it was never like this before" is invalid, because it's no longer what it was like.

Consider the restrictions on magic like a dam. If you remove the dam completely, instantaneously, the water that it was holding back is now rushing forward, destroying everything in its path. This is what I think is happening with magic at the moment.

"That is not at all what's going on. A more apt analogy is this: there is a gate barring access to a river. Some people are allowed to pass through the gate and drink water - mages. Most people, though, aren't allowed to pass through the gate - non-mages. Suddenly, everyone was given a pass and they decided to drink water from the river. Unfortunately, someone decided to poison the river and now everyone who's drinking from it is dying. This analogy is even better when you consider that previously, the only danger the river posed is accidentally falling in and drowning - overusing magic and burning out your soul. You can still do that now but you're more likely to die by the poison - suddenly bleeding and getting injured for no reason."

That's assuming that magic comes solely ((hoho)) from the soul. I would find it hard to believe that Void-worshipers are selling their soul in order to help clean the dishes. I would hope that the mortals are a little more intelligent than that.

The constellations of both worlds also influence magic to some degree, else why would they be there?

In the council rules, even: 03.06.1: Make magical constellations that influence magic on the worlds. You could infer from this that there is also some degree of natural magic, given that this happened quite early in creating things.

Now, I will add to this that I don't know to what degree the restriction on magic actually restricted magic. But if it was a big enough restriction, then it would stand to reason that a mortal suddenly finding they can use magic could actually hurt themselves quite significantly because they're body just can't bear the power. What we find happening only strengthens this opinion, for me.

Also, your argument, which I'm paraphrasing, that "gods have been bastards before, so they'll probably be bastards again" is a bit foolish. It may well be that they will continue to be bastards, but you need some proof that that it's a god being a bastard in this instance, otherwise you just sound like you're making excuses. I'm not saying that it isn't someone being a bastard, but you should at least explore other avenues before coming to that conclusion, sans evidence.

((Excuse the excessive swearing, I'm tired so I can't come up with a more eloquent way of saying it ))

"The idea that a god is responsible is the most likely theory. The only other credible theory is the one where simply using magic is resulting in these injuries, which evidence is actively proving against based on the types of injury. As for exploring other avenues, that's what I'm doing right now. Maybe you want to help?"

EDIT: "If your dam theory was correct, we'd see a great many people burning their souls out rather than getting physically injured."

You seem to have a habit of assuming something is one way, and then refusing to shift from that position. I'm telling you that the rules of magic have changed, because there is now no restriction on its use. You can no longer say that what you know about magic is correct, because the rules are different now.

I appreciate that I'm making assumptions of myself here, but I'm basing it on what's actually happening now. We changed the rules on magic by lifting restrictions, and now people are getting hurt. It may not be cause and effect, but there is definitely a correlation between the two.

Further, this is a mess, of your creation, whether or not you believe as much. Why would I want to help? You announced yourself as the god of Magic, so basically any help I give you is only going to benefit you through more worship. I would literally gain nothing from helping you pro bono, whereas you get a significant long-term gain: every mortal can now use magic, so potentially every mortal is going to be interested in worshiping you because of this. That is a massive potential in Essence, all of which would goes to you.

Thus, I won't help without significant compensation. This does not include a "oh hey, Fortuna helped me fix the magic problem, go say thanks!" because, of the two of us, the fact you can influence magic is going to be much more appealing to potential worshipers.

[Quartz_Mace]

...

Nothing's there. Seriously. Maybe there's my archangel body if it didn't disappear, but everything else left, and it wasn't an army in the first place. So, I don't know what you're talking about. If there's an army there, it's not mine.

"Oh, my mistake. I may have a Void army/illusion to deal with then... My apologies."

[IcyTea31]

Cim reads the energy signature on one of the injured students of magic.

"Your argument, Fortuna and Malakath, is missing a hefty dose of empiricism. Allow me."

[Stirk]

Cim reads the energy signature on one of the injured students of magic.

"Your argument, Fortuna and Malakath, is missing a hefty dose of empiricism. Allow me."

"Has that ever been useful? In any case, as the only one smart enough to even think of studying what Magic is, I do not believe that there is any reason for this to cause physical ailments. If it does, we should notice this happening elsewhere as well. Countless other bubbles have magic systems similar to our own, the power of literature. I haven't checked yet, from what I think I know on it right now that shouldn't happen unless it is somehow a quirk of the "Blood Magic".

[Rolepgeek]

So many assumptions about what other gods have or haven't done...and yet I'd wager you have very little idea what Cim has been working on, do you?

[Stirk]

So many assumptions about what other gods have or haven't done...and yet I'd wager you have very little idea what Cim has been working on, do you?

"No clue. Why would I be keeping an eye on someone who I actively hate and who talks with the Void all day? Spying on him would just be silly and I would never do such a thing  "

[Andres]

That's assuming that magic comes solely ((hoho)) from the soul. I would find it hard to believe that Void-worshipers are selling their soul in order to help clean the dishes. I would hope that the mortals are a little more intelligent than that.

The constellations of both worlds also influence magic to some degree, else why would they be there?

In the council rules, even: 03.06.1: Make magical constellations that influence magic on the worlds. You could infer from this that there is also some degree of natural magic, given that this happened quite early in creating things.

Now, I will add to this that I don't know to what degree the restriction on magic actually restricted magic. But if it was a big enough restriction, then it would stand to reason that a mortal suddenly finding they can use magic could actually hurt themselves quite significantly because they're body just can't bear the power. What we find happening only strengthens this opinion, for me.

"That "natural magic" is actually entirely artificial and produced by the gods. Aside from things made magic explicitly by the gods, nothing has magic unless it has a soul. As for the restrictions, that is simply incorrect. The only restriction placed was in preventing most people from using magic. Overusing magic doesn't affect the body at all, normally, it just affects the soul. The problem here is that using magic - ANY magic - is damaging the body. Simply having magic doesn't harm people. If your theory was correct, then at the very least this would be a widespread issue. If you read the report closely, though, you'll see that only those attending the sessions are getting injured. Therefore, simply having magic isn't bad, but using it is."

"Now, I find it highly unlikely that literally everyone who just got magic is visiting my temples. Some will probably just want to use their new abilities at home. These people aren't dropping dead - only those attending my sessions are. This isn't merely the effects of the new rules, it's a deliberate attack against me and against innocent people."

You seem to have a habit of assuming something is one way, and then refusing to shift from that position. I'm telling you that the rules of magic have changed, because there is now no restriction on its use. You can no longer say that what you know about magic is correct, because the rules are different now.

I appreciate that I'm making assumptions of myself here, but I'm basing it on what's actually happening now. We changed the rules on magic by lifting restrictions, and now people are getting hurt. It may not be cause and effect, but there is definitely a correlation between the two.

""No restrictions?" The only restriction - singular, not plural - was the one saying how many people could use magic. What applies to the old mages applies to the new mages."

"Only those practising magic in my sessions are getting injured. Those who practice magic outside of them aren't."

Further, this is a mess, of your creation, whether or not you believe as much. Why would I want to help? You announced yourself as the god of Magic, so basically any help I give you is only going to benefit you through more worship. I would literally gain nothing from helping you pro bono, whereas you get a significant long-term gain: every mortal can now use magic, so potentially every mortal is going to be interested in worshiping you because of this. That is a massive potential in Essence, all of which would goes to you.

Thus, I won't help without significant compensation. This does not include a "oh hey, Fortuna helped me fix the magic problem, go say thanks!" because, of the two of us, the fact you can influence magic is going to be much more appealing to potential worshipers.

"I thought that as a self-proclaimed good person I thoughtyou might be interested in helping innocent people who are dying for no fault of their own. Speaking of which...."

"Darruth! You should know by now about what's going on to the people attending my sessions. Why are you not helping them? Do you think just because they are my followers that it is my responsibility alone? Honestly, I'd expect the god of Good to care about the deaths of innocence regardless of their chosen deity. Besides, many of these people aren't my followers - they're just people who wanted to know how to use magic safely."

Oracle question: Why are people getting physically injured and dying after using magic instead of the usual effects of magic overuse?