Swirlings

It started quiet like. At first we thought the local mage was just a little off his rocker when he started to say that something was coming. Then a few of his enchantments to protect the town started to act strange, spitting colors. One even erupted a little when Jemma's boy got a little too close. On the third or fourth day though, the Illtide found us...

- Villager in Gli

Swirlings are arcane made manifest, the echoes from the creation of the world. They start small and some stay small. Though when one manifests it can grow into a truly powerful mana storm. These magical storms can cause untold ruin, and members of the Reliquary know not how to thwart them. When a Swirling passes, often times the area will be devoid of magic depending on how strong the storm was. The last Swirling took place over Gli. By the end of it, the mana storm had destroyed nearly half the town and magic would not work within its limits for just over a year. There has been a member of the Reliquary stationed in Gli on and off for the last several years trying to study the effects of the Swirling on magic in the area, and the towns folk. So far, they have realized that individuals that were born during the week long storm have an innate connection to the magic of Elturia.

Manifestation

Often Swirlings will start with incredibly small lights appearing at random in an area. Locals will often mistake these for fireflies, that is until fire starts to move erratically. If there are local enchantments within the region, strange magical phenomena will occur around them. Such as sightings of extraplanar creatures, explosions, plants becoming animated for a time, as well as other effects. If a mage were to cast a spell, their magic is also often erratic, causing many of the same afformentioned affects.

When the Swirling gains in strength, deep blue clouds start to coalesce over the sight as arcane lightning begins to strike the area. At this stage in the storm, the random properties of magic are less, but its power is increased tenfold. Mages in the past have been seen in the center of one of these Swirlings attempting to harness its power for some great or terrible ritual.

Localization

The exact reason of Swirlings is currently unknown. The only trend that the Reliquary has seemed to be able to find is that they almost always occur around towns and villages. Reliquary mages guess that it has something to do with the innate magical capability of the locations inhabitants, or that the gathering of souls has something to do with it. If this is the case though, why has Aldhon not been struck by a Swirling? Mages are frightened at the thought...

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane