Weirding

When reality fails, and the unfathomable becomes probable.

"... when I awoke, the grass began to ripple outward from unseen droplets of the aether and, with the light from the sun, cycled through every possible colour. I blinked, regaining my senses, and the blades changed in an instant - red, to orange, to purple, to blue. I called to my compatriots, all of whom were witnessing their own conflicting realities. There I saw [my son] attempt to physically grab the contents of his waterskin, which had coalesced above him in a bubble."

— Christopher Kriegsonnr, Human Explorer.

A weirding occurs when magical energies begin to conflict and warp the natural land. The common belief of this occurrence is that they were caused by the death of a Wyld Goblin, though it has since been understood that weirding takes place when there is too much uncontrolled magic essence in one area.
Weirding theory holds cultural and scientific significance for the Majesty Cross. It is used by Krezmanic scholars to debate how to prevent hypothetical apocalyptic-level scenarios, such as how to accurately prepare for the unpredictable shifting of the laws of reality should a weirding take over Oszmorthorn. Weirding theory has also prompted further dedication to researching the lost art of spellweaving, leading to the discovery of siphoning and degrading lingering magical essence.

Manifestation

"An ode to all we hold to be true / 'ere we drink it deeply / 'fore sanity slips undone / caught on the brambles of the weirding."

— Fargogh Amn-okhamer, Ventures of the Urd Seekers.

There are no consistent ways of determining whether a part of the world has been affected by a weirding. When a land has been weirded, the natural laws within the afflicted area change drastically, with seemingly no consequence to the world around it. Flora and fauna caught in a weirding will respond to the phenomena as though it were normal (for example, if a tree were to catch on fire, it may not show signs of fire damage). In such circumstances, if the effect is visible from a considerable distance, then this may be the only way to determine whether the land has been weirded. Due to the random nature of such an event, there are no consistent occurrences observed that match other recorded experiences, and in fact may be different each time it occurs.

Recorded Instances

In the Kriegsonnr Memoirs, Christopher wrote about his experience with what he penned the 'rainbow effect' that gave his men violent headaches. He picked several blades of grass to examine later, all of which began exhibiting different properties when he and his team left the weirded area. The blades of grass he picked were put on exhibit in the occult exhibit of the Hreld Museum in Krezmany and lasted a month before they let out a high pitched ringing and exploded like heated glass.
In the translated Ventures of the Urd Seekers, a series of comedic poems and eddas about the namesake pilgrims in search of the old Dwarven deities, Fargogh tells the story of a band of pilgrims who got lost trying to navigate through a Weirding when they stopped to take a drink of beer. After they had finished their break, each of the pilgrims complained about different ailments, until one explorer let out an enormous belch that turned into fire on contact with the air. They escaped by backtracking to where they came from, but had suffered from fiery burps and farts that their next stop was to another city to replace their clothes.
In the Esfoltor de'os Seilaron (translation: 'Journey of Esfoltor'), Captain Esfoltor recounts how he lost an entire squadron of soldiers when their armour began to melt and scorch their skin, despite the lack of any heat. When the squadron's cleric tried to heal them, his hands exploded when the magic he summoned made contact with the existing essence. Esfoltor was forced to abandon those who could not escape the effects of the weirding in time.

Localization

There are numerous ways for a weirding to occur. During the time when Wyld Goblins were more common among Oszmorthorn, the most likely occurence of a weirding was when a Wyld Goblin starved to death from lack of arcane or emotional energy to feed on. Since then, the theory many scholars agree on is when there is too much magical essence in one area.
This is usually the result of 'stale' essence lingering when a sudden burst of new magical energy is introduced, creating an explosion that ruptures reality in a specific area. The bigger this explosion is, the bigger the radius of the weirding is. Contrary to popular belief, the strength of an explosion does not increase or decrease the intensity of the weirding, as even a tiny explosion can be enough to rupture someone's brain.

Type

Metaphysical, Supernatural