With all the recent commotion over the instability of the Twilight Peak, many of the new faces around the Barony had turned the area surrounding the public message board into a meeting place for people who were concerned about their safety yet had no knowledge of what the Peak actually was. Small clusters of would-be scholars spent their time here contemplating possible reasons. Other less stable individuals became doomsayers, running around town spouting verses of the end-times. On the other side of town, Baron Gemma's laws against magic had spurred many into forming a rebellion. Left unchecked, the civil unrest would soon turn to outright anarchy.
Jack "the Scholar" Spud, a researcher and teacher of interdimensional arts and extraplanar travel at the barony's magic academy, had plenty of free time due to his classes being limited to two days a week by law. He watched from his study as the barony searched desperately for answers that even the Baron himself did not have. Fortuantely, Jack was one of a few people that had prior experience with the Peak on a scholarly level. Convinced to make the most of his time off, Jack grabbed his blackboard and stick of eternal chalk and headed out to the message board.
Within a half-hour of so, he had set up a nice little area where he could 'educate' the masses. As people began to gather round, he started his lecture - using the blackboard to draw images when necessary.
"The Twilight Peak." he started. "What is it, really? Well, we don't know for sure. But I, Jack Spud, have personal experience with the peak that has lead me to certain truths." Jack scribbled a picture on his blackboard.
"The Twilight Peak is the inspiration for the name of our Barony. When the old shire of Mor Tur breathed it's last breath, the Peak erupted from the ground - almost as if signalling of a new era. Called 'Twilight Peak' because of it's blue-purple colouring, it became an inspiration to those who would drag the dying shire from it's grave and breathe new life into it. As the shire began to prosper, the Sheriff at the time dubbed the new town "Twilight Peak" in it's honour."
Jack pointed at the 'underground' portion of his drawing.
"As you can see, excavation teams have determined that the peak extends far underground. We're not sure how but it is deeper than we've been able to dig. The peak is also impossible to dig through. Which brings me to my next point. The peak is virtually indestructable. Nothing we've tried, and we've tried alot, can even scratch it. The only exception is when we used a shard from
another peak to chip off a tiny piece. That tiny piece would go on to become to piercing end of Soulspike - a great weapon of power that was used to destroy the arch-demon Ghur. Some of you may remember those horrible days of fear and fire."
"Now the reason that the tiny piece of the peak was able to kill Ghur was that the entire peak exists not only on our plane of existence, but on all planes of existence. This multiplanar ability let us cut Ghur's astral tether to our world so he could never return"
Some people were immediately confused by this thought of multiple planes.
"Let me explain further" Jack said, trying to keep their attention. "Just like there are many towns in the world, there are many worlds in the universe. Wizards pull their magics from worlds of swirlings fire, torrential waters, rumbling earth and flowing air - these are the elemental planes. Healers beg the higher powers of different worlds for their magics while Druids use the energies present right here in our world."
The crowd seemed to accept that explanation.
"Now all these worlds are connected, that is how our magic-users can access them. But the Peak... the peak is like a bridge that spans all those worlds. The only problem is we cannot cross it. Nothing can. Except magic."
"When magic-users pull energies from the other planes - it must traverse the boundary between our world and it's home world. I'll use fire magic for this example. So if a wizard attempts to create fire, the fire energy, which is invisible to us, leaves the plane of fire, pierces the barrier between worlds and enters ours. This requires alot of power on the part of the wizard and the fire energy - they must essentially work as a team. Although the process may take a matter of seconds, the strain on both is very real."
Jack points to his latest image.
"The top line represents magic energy travelling normally. It goes from point A to point B. The source to the user. The bottom image represents magic and the peak. The Twilight Peak, being a bridge between worlds, makes it easier for magic to enter our world. Since all magic takes the 'path of least resistance' to it's user, naturally all magic near the peak will use it as it's method of entering our world."
Jack takes out a small prism and holds it up to the sun. The rays of light fracture into a rainbow on the ground beneath it. The crowd "ooos" and "ahhs".
"See how the light enters this prism and is turned into many colours, flying in all directions on the other side? Well that's what happens to magic energies when it passes through the peak. The energy is changed and flies all over. With luck, the majority of the required energy makes it to the wizard and so he can perform his spell. On a bad day, the wizard might never be able to gather enough of that shattered energy to light even a candle."
"Now just imagine what happens when you add more and more magical energies to the peak. They begin to mix together inside the peak and when they come out, not only are they severely changed, but they are spread out even further. It is at this point that magic-users begin to notice extreme side-effects of casting; Bursting into flames while trying to light a torch; levitating an entire house while trying to fly; restoring three arms to a wounding person who only had two; and the list goes on."
The crowd seems to be more scared now than they were before.
"But not to worry, this is why the Baron has put his laws in place. When there is too much magic, everything becomes chaos. If we keep magic limited, we can control it. The Baron believes that if we erect large anti-magic fields we will be able to reduce the impact of magic on the barony. I support this. Anti-magic fields, no matter how large, will help to absorb some of the fractured energies that is causing our magic to go crazy."
A young-adult from the crowd finally speaks up.
"The Baron said the peak was going to explode! What do you know about that?"
Jack sighs and tries to keep a positive attitude.
"It is my belief that the peak can only let so much magical energy through at once. When there is too much energy inside the peak, it lashes out with abnormally chaotic bolts of energy that I have decided to call "Twilightning". This energy is extremely dangerous. At it's weakest, the twilightning causes crystalization of the object struck - either a slow, consuming process or instantaneous petrification. At it's strongest, it can cause instant death as the object is overwhelmed with energies and explodes. It has been noted that crystallized objects can sometimes become animated, acting under a perceived hive-mind that causes them to eliminate sources of magic."
Jack pauses for a moment.
"But that's not the worst part. If the peak cannot vent all of the energy through twilightning, it may simply explode. The resulting shockwave would be enough to reduce this entire barony into nothing but sand. How do I know this? It's happened once before. Not our peak - but another one somewhere in this world. When we were looking for a way to chip the peak to make Soulspike, I stumbled upon trace 'peak' energies. I created a portal to the location and we found a dead civilization, reduced to sand, surrounding by tiny pieces of their own peak - long since de-powered."
The crowd was mortified at this point. Jack began to realized that maybe the truth would only cause more panic.
"I tell you all this now because you deserve to know the truth. We all know that during the fall months, the Twilight Peak is hyper-active and magic is usually discouraged. But the bright side is that during the spring months, the Peak 'opens up' so-to-speak and magic is able to pass through much easier. In fact, during those months the Barony of Twilight Peak has the most efficient magic-casting than any other city in the north!"
The crowd seemed somewhat happier with this news.
"The peak is a blessing and a curse, but with your cooperation we can weather this storm and learn to live with it. Not against it. I am a magic-user myself and yet I choose to live here, in this barony of Twilight Peak. I am educated in the truth behind the peak yet I still remain here. Please understand that you have nothing to worry about as long as we all work together."
Some of the crowd cheered, others merely nodded approval, some showed disgust, others just walked away. Regardless, Jack had said his piece and we would continue doing so over the next month. One by one, spreading his knowledge the only way he knew how.
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In summation:
- The Twilight Peak is multiplanar.
- The Twilight Peak is the most dense thing in existence to date.
- The Twilight Peak is 'the path of least resistance' for magic.
- The Twilight Peak acts like a prism for magic. Fracturing it.
- The Twilight Peak can only let a limited amount of magic through at once.
- The Twilight Peak uses twilightning to vent magic it cannot let through.
- The Twilight Peak can explode if it cannot vent enough energy.
- In the fall, the Twilight Peak has a lower 'pass through' tolerance.
- In the spring, the Twilight Peak has a high 'pass through' tolerance.
