Magical corrosion

Table of Contents

Magic Corrosion

And why, no, you will absolutely not be fine if you get exposed to "a little bit" of magic flood.

Magic floods are extremely dangerous, yet if you are not caught by magic manifestations during the event, you might be tempted to think that you have survived it perfectly fine. That is far from the case...

Reminder: The Biology of magic

Us humans, use magic thanks to proteins that can carry it. Half of these magic-carrying proteins in our body are found in the brain where they help us control our magic.
The second half is stored in our heart and is released in our blood stream when we need to cast a spell so that it can go to the desired magic-casting site—generally the hands.

The effects of floods in humans

Immediate
Floods are an enormous wave of magic that suddenly comes over us, completely passing through our body. While doing so, it interacts with our magic-carrying proteins and wreaks the magic in them.
This can have mixed consequences:

A temporary magic super-charging of the magic-carrying proteins, which will empower you.

A temporary full depletion of the magic in the magic-carrying proteins, with optional destruction of all magic-carrying proteins, which that takes months to recover from.

Subtle
After the flood has passed, your magic levels will slowly go back to normal. However, their state will not be exactly as before:

The magic in you magic-carrying proteins will be out of tune with your natural vibrations, making it difficult for you to connect to wards and artefacts.

This out-of-tuneness creates bad vibrations inside the proteins that will slowly degrade them.

This states is contagious and will propagate inside your body, ending with you being unable to control your own magic and it damaging your brain and heart.

Protections and cure

Avoid threats?
All powerful foreign magics going through our body have a similar effect and so is a potential danger:

Fiefs wards. You are attuned to the magic of the fief where you are born, and so its wards cannot damage you. However, staying in another fief for more than a few hours can have bad health consequences, especially for people with weaker magic.

Mages who are a lot more powerful than you, such as lords and ladies. This is why it is not polite to cover other people in your magic. Not everyone is a danger, however; family members attuned to each other over time and are an exception.

Cure
Once someone is affected with magic corrosion, it will only worsened with time. Small corrosion may take decades to become evident, but a strong exposure or constant re-exposure will accelerate symptoms.
There are no miraculous cures, but a treatment that has some positive effect is to become ra-attuned by exposure to the right magic. While nobody has the exact same magic vibrations as you, some people come close enough:

Your lord or lady because they control the wards of the fief where you have grown up

Your family or people with whom you have lived side by side for decades.

The effects of floods in buildings and artefacts

Buildings and artefacts are also affected by magic corrosion. It is generally not their materials themselves that are affected but instead the magic cast over them.

Buildings
If their magic is essential for their structural integrity, it getting damaged can destroy them.
This is why our towers are so prone to damage and need tower wards to protect them—But even those wards get corroded and need regular maintenance.

Magical instruments
They generally have very fine and finicky magic, and strong magic nearby such as a occurs during a fight can even be enough to damage some instruments!
Thus, floods are almost always fatal to them, and so never leave yours behind during a flood evacuation!

Always pay attention to flood forecasts and evacuation orders to avoid the worst!

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Related articles

The City of the Hundred Fiefs

Territories The City of the Hundred Fiefs · Geography (The world's strongest magic hotspot, The cave system under the city) · Fiefs (The Fief of Glass, The Diviner Fief) · Neutral areas (The Council's Palace) Politics Government system (Lords and Ladies of the Fiefs, The Council) · Conflict (The ongoing Elantian civil war, Lord Adélème's fanclub, The Resistance against the New Empire, Water sickness, Previous inhabitants of the Fief of Perfumes) · Lords & ladies (Lord Adélème of Spinner, Lady Olénie) Magic Dangers (Seasonal magic flood, Magical corrosion, Are the magic currents under the city expanding?, Basement kraken) · Technologies (Tower wards, Ward pins, Tasty Treat) · Magic system (Runes, Glass and Magic Lenses) Culture History (The Return of the Empire, Dragonic magic manifestations, The Last Emperor's Experimental Notes, The Ruins of the Ancient city of Elante, Anti-imperial sigil) · Travellers (Trading caravans, Travelling healers, Divination Sessions) · Others (Lord Adélème's Tower, Tower cats, The Worship of the Imperial Family, Election of a Tower Leader, Spying Devices)