Aetheryical Hot-Spot

Magic Radiation

Written by Endrise

What do you mean the wine cellar is a gateway to the Infernal Realm? Have you been drinking again Jonathan?

— Innkeeper

With magic being as common a law as gravity or the passing of time, there are places in Fabulae where it is more prominent. Known as Aetheryical Hot-Spots, these areas radiate arcana, leading to many wild effects on the environment.

How Hot-Spots Work

Magic in the Air

Magic is everywhere, even in places where people don't believe it can reach. It is how many things cast spells, mess with reality, or just function as a regular object.

Due to specific factors like gravity, magic concetrates itself into specific areas. Over time, such concetrations attracts more magic, until an internal collapse bathes it in pure arcana. From then onwards, the place becomes an aetheryical hot-spot.

The Effects of Hot-Spots

Once a hot-spot emerges, its influence can have drastic effects on the environment. As magic has almost endless forms, things can take on drastic different approaches:

• Reality-Warping: Time and space become distorted, making either function differently. The passing of days can slow down or accelerate, spaces stretch beyond what's possible, and even interdimensional gates can open up.
• Magic Amplification: Spells and regular magic gets boosted in Aetheryical Hot-Spots. Sometimes it can be one branch of magic, other times everything at once. The strength of the hot-spot influences how powerful magic becomes as well.
• Magic Ecosystems: Wildlife and plant life surrounding hot-spots become more adept towards magic in several ways. Either this makes them more resilient against spells, or they even gain spell-like abilities.

Consequences of Hot-Spots

Once the third child began casting spells, you know we moved out.

— Dwarven Mother

Whenever a hot-spot emerges, it can have consequences for both current inhabitants and those around it. To no surprise, it lures magical beings towards it, making them common places for Fae to settle. Same goes for arcane scholars, wanting to research the effects of wild magic.

When one emerges in more populated areas, the problems get more obvious. People tend to disappear more often, as do children with magic get born more frequently as well.

While weaker hot-spots might have some people still live in them, concentrated ones end up abandoned in weeks after emerging. Many deem such places too dangerous to live in, either due to what gets attracted by it or the instability it causes to its surroundings.

Manifestation

Fabulae

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane

Artifical Hot-Spots

Some mages create hot-spots on purpose through rituals and powerful spells. The reasons range from controlled spellcasting having easier access to interdimensional travel. Results of such attempts vary, as not all hot-spots go as well as intended.

Sometimes a hot-spot might emerge by accident, often by very powerful magic getting released all at once. Most of the time, they're the death of a powerful magical being or the destruction of an artefact, sometimes both. Such situations are far between, but rarely are they any good when it does happen.

Dissipating such hot-spots is difficult, as many take years, if not decades to phase out. A few even become permanent, as they keep attracting more magic than can dissipate. It is why most mages consider them a bad idea in the first place.