The Darkening Wood

To catalog the biology and morphology within an area of heavy magical fallout due to the sudden collapse of a magic-based power plant resulting in spectacular but singular wildlife and ecology.

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Diagram: The Cuckoo Theory considers the well-known manifestation ‘Headless Hob’ (shown in this period news clipping) as it’s manner and bearing proved too resilient to scrutiny to dismiss as chance. Current thinking no longer ascribes gender to this entity.

Anima Hypothesis #3 – The Cuckoo Theory: Where The Mundane Inheritance Theory ascribes no greater intention than pure chance and the Simulacra Theory gives intent and will but no meaning, the Cuckoo Theory ascribes emotional intelligence, thought, and even malice to magical manifestation. The most recent postulation of the three, this theory has gained ground in wake of various modern tragedy and the human desire to see tragedy as ‘story shaped’ rather than pure happenstance. This is not to deny the theory outright, certainly the personal nature of individual incidences makes some reason or intent feel like an aspect of certain beings.

Specificity, location intrinsic knowledge, and cultural awareness (or at least something that approaches as much) lend credence to this theory and it’s application. Manifestations that reflect more than simply the artifice of mankind but emotion and memory make us consider more than simple chance or mimicry. Of course, as difficult as it is to quantify emotion and concertize memory, so too is it difficult to point to an exact plague of thought – one may layer on their own multifaceted experience in the world to something that simply exists of it’s own accord. Untangling human presumption from natural being is critical when assessing manifest entities, whether or not we consider this theory. However, it’s application has startling implications – that magic can intentionally shape itself with knowledge that may exist beyond surface perception.

Certainly illusionists and mentalists of the past would feel at home with this theory, but peeling the charlatan from the genuine article remains difficult to this day. There are a handful of incidences in more recent history that lend credence to the Cuckoo Theory, but documentation of events that are not based entirely in tragedy or specific magical demonstration is limited.

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Diagram: The Simulacra Theory applied to four different naturally observed specimens from three different incidences all seemingly in imitation of a lamp post.

Anima Hypothesis #2 – The Simulacra Theory: If the Mundane Hypothesis Theory posits that randomness dictates form in tangible magical materials, then the Simulacra Theory is it’s antithesis, pointing to magic as deliberate (if incorrect) imitation of mundane forms. While this theory deliberately does not point to a specific hand or guidance, it states that magic made manifest in our world will seek to take form of mundane things deliberately and with intention to root itself within our understood world. The mechanism that drives corporeal manifestation takes on shades of the familiar as it works in imitation with limited perception and understanding. There is not comprehension, but there is a desire for forms to take shapes that will be understood.

That ‘desire’ is not an emotion, rather a driving physical force. Water vapor becomes liquid water when it desires (is acted upon by outside force) to – in this way the simulacra theory says that magic, when acted upon by outside force, including human led, it will take forms with mundane analogies. This theory gives anthropomorphism to natural phenomena, but also, magic’s unique tenancies to manifest in ways that defy human experience and the natural order begs for description and intent.

Why should the forms look so similar in many ways to us, including everything from animals to plants to man-made structures? If we take the Simulacra Theory to be true, it is because magic shapes itself to us, our understanding, and our edifice to make itself understood, seen, and known. One cannot ascribe morality simply in the desire to be seen, and the Simulacra Theory does not aim to give anything more than physical intent to magical manifestation – but it does give intent, even if not mindful at least purposeful. Natural wellsprings of magic energy and manifestation are rare, and finding magic that is not touched by human influence is all but impossible in the modern era. Intertwined as such, the Simulacra Theory views the history of magic and it’s usage in it’s whole statement – an interplay between worlds that has left magical creatures simply compelled into mundane shades.

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Diagram: The Mundane Inheritance Theory applied to Garsom’s Tesserae, a shortly-lived manifestation produced under laboratory parameters, via direct real-world comparisons to it’s physiology.

Anima Hypothesis #1 – The Mundane Inheritance Theory: Occam's razor posits that the simplest explanation is true, and at present the Mundane Inheritance Theory posits the simplest answer to this question: magic simply takes recognizable form in the world it occupies. This is not out of convenience for the human experience, but simply a product of human observation and physical reality. If we assume this theory to be true we agree in it’s core philosophy that there is no intent in the shape magic takes. Certainly there are instances where there is seemingly no rhyme or reason to the ways in which magic takes a form in our world – things roil in and out of existence with shapes both familiar and alien. In this theory we can ascribe more alien aspects to poor translation or interpretation as things manifest. Because only mundane aspects, not mundane logic, need apply to these manifestations, in becoming perceptible and tangible, forms, color, shape, density must become ‘real’ and with the only template being that which exists in the known world, magic shapes itself around these forms at random birthing individuals or even what we can vaguely describe as species.

The Mundane Inheritance theory assumes no emotional or intelligent reaction in shape, much as we see in the natural state of evolution, but without the ‘fitness’ for it’s environment that evolution dictates in a living thing. ‘Fitness’ may exist within this theory, but only as a shape to become manifest, something that is simply able to exist, rather than one that fills a niche. There are dramatic examples of things born out of lumetic radiation failing to exist, but their lives have been so brief it is difficult to describe them in detail. Whether their briefness is a failure to adapt to the mundane world and take a precise shape from which further individuals can be derived remains unknown. Still, once manifest and stable, we may begin to see more natural orders of evolution and environmental adaptation. Magic moves into the mundane and must begin to abide by physical laws to maintain itself.

When we consider this theory along with the Anders-Baal Threat Scale we can see no malice intentional harm in appearance. Things become dangerous simply by their shape and their random combination of characteristics, rather than with any guided intent. Of course, this theory also only describes form, not necessarily behavior, so we may still independently consider the intention and thought of magic-based beings once manifest as simple or intelligent, begin or malicious, etc.

Singular summons present the best case for this theory, but when we observe an entire biome so affected by magic as the Darkening Wood, it becomes difficult to see only randomness with the vast majority of individuals sharing similar characteristics, however, as their genesis point remains the same, there may still be a case made for the theory, despite its decreasing favor in contemporary thought. Replicability is the bane of this theory, as exact duplication should be impossible without the same set parameters, but it does not deny set parameters beyond current measure, and thus we must not exclude it outright.

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The Three Anima Hypotheses

At present, there are three major theories to describe the existence of the creatures we see in the Darkening Wood and in all areas of magical fallout and activity. These are The Mundane Inheritance Theory, The Simulacra Theory, and The Cuckoo Theory.

At present, each theory is considered separately of the rest, however, none yet offers a comprehensive view of why magic-based entities take on sometimes familiar and sometimes alien forms. Each theory offers insight into certain beings, while excluding others. We do not yet know from what unseen space the severing of the lumice brings forth it’s lumetic energy – if this space is something even comprehensible with human faculties. Whether this source is an alternate reality, an unseen half of the mundane world, or some far more complex planar involvement, we can assume nothing of consistent form or manner of magical manifestation. However, despite this, magic-based creatures (and at times even objects, and phenomena) do take forms that are familiar to us. In fact, the capacity for these things to take on appearances so familiar to us as to even at times appear to have the hallmarks of the man-made raises the question of how and why this mimicry occurs.

These three theories have been presented through the ages, and remain our best postulations. Many words have been written on all, however here we describe each in brief in the ways it may give more insight into our findings in the Darkening Wood.

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In the archives of our office we have found a historical collection of public safety handouts.  Containing many copies of fliers, pamphlets, and booklets, this trove of information is a unexpected find amongst our materials, and must have been a forgotten piece of memorabilia from one of the previous staff at this institution (though why so many copies have been kept is a reasonable question, but we can only assume eccentricity).  While this information is no longer current, this very much is the history of the Darkening Wood itself.  This material dates from approximately the time of the Magical Disaster at Volsalburg, and this information gives a good insight to the feelings and attitudes toward magic (and its dangers) at the time.

This information includes the six-page booklet “Dealing with Magical Fallout“, a brochure “Safe Places During Magical Fallout“, and a small pocket checklist “Household List for Magical Disaster Preparedness“.  All of this information comes from the International Department of Magic Regulation and Support.

We, of course, do warn that this material is no longer considered current.

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Size comparisons of the currently known species of the Darkening wood. The largest sizes are conjectural from limited sightings.

The first chart includes all tiny and small sized creatures, from approximately 30 cm (roughly 1 foot) and below (excluding the Velvet Mud which is comprised of microscopic individuals).

The second chart includes all medium sized creatures, from approximately 30 cm (roughly 1 foot) to 2 m (roughly 6 feet).

The third chart includes all large sized creatures from approximately 2 m (roughly six feet) and above.

While undoubtedly there are many discoveries yet to be found in the Darkening Wood, our survey has a revealed an astounding array of diversity in these beings born out of magical fallout.

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???

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Plate 12 - For some reason attracted to a piece of our surveying equipment, an ephemeral Prayer Bug (resembling a Shinto shide despite a lack of practitioners in the area) lingers just long enough to be spotted, before seeming to note our presence and drift off on an other-worldly breeze.

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The comparison you made to nuclear energy has got me wondering. Has Lumetic weaponry ever been researched?

We are not at liberty to discuss this type of application in detail, as per the agreements within our funding, however, the use of magical energy directed into a distinct and destructive force outside of traditional applications is absolutely within the realm of possibility.

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Is there inherent danger to magic/lumice exposure? Or is it only dangerous in instances like the Darkening Wood where it has gone out of control and is rather concentrated?

Danger of exposure does indeed depend highly on both form and concentration (as well as manifestation). The lumice, like the atom, is a singular unit, and is in and of itself value neutral to human life. There are many ways in which it interacts with human use, but in its use as a power source, because of the direct interference with its physical tether to otherworldly force, there is very real danger of events such as the Darkening Wood and other disasters. However, there are many magical power plants across the globe that function safely every day with no harm to their operators when proper safety procedures are followed.

Lumetic power is, in fact, generally even safer than nuclear energy, which, forbearing the small chance of terrible disaster is quite safe and clean energy in and of itself (however, there is always risk of magical hot spots causing various effects as seen with our interactions with Site 9 - unrelated to human interference.) Of course, it's use as power is not the only way in which humans interact with the lumice and magical practice, and the lumice itself can be a unit for alteration, magnification, change, manifestation, transmission, and various other effects which can be used to good or ill effect on a given person or the environment, and which have the capacity to backfire as well. These effects are numerous, and why direct magic practice is best relegated to trained individuals.

There is no residual 'radiation' or similar energy left within the Darkening Wood itself following it's stabilization, and our researchers were quite safe in their expedition. Care was taken due to the unknown nature of what is in the wood, and the known dangers from magical entities themselves on a whole. The ways in which magical energy stabilizes are too complex to expound on here, however they tend to be violent in immediate execution, but lasting in effect.

This is a complex question to answer - one reliant heavily on situation and definition, and ultimately the dangers expressed by magic are best seen as ones more contingent on actions than exposures.

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Plate 11 - A Radial Mimic demonstrates the rather charming character for which it has been named, mimicking the hand gestures of one of our crew members with it’s many eye stalks and body position.  These gestures seem to indicate some form of curiosity or intelligence, though the depth of such actions shouldn’t be anthropomorphized we can use it in consideration of the species as a whole.

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I'm currently looking through your bestiary for the first time and I just reached the Spindlejib. I'm wondering if there were any radio towers within the Darkening Wood area before the incident? The Spindlejib looks very similar to them! Also, somewhat related, are species with such inorganic structure found within other magical areas?

As the Vorsalburg plant and it's surrounding area provided a hub of power production, there were indeed radio towers and other communication artifice within the radius of what has now become the Darkening Wood. As support for the plant included a fair bit of surrounding infrastructure, despite it's remote location, a variety of human construction was consumed by the wood. We will be offering some explanation as to the current thinking in the physical expression of various magic based creatures following the plates.

While the physical expression of creatures within magic-affected areas varies heavily (the colors and structures seen in the Darkening Wood are unique in their spesific forms), strange and sometimes inorganic appearances are frequent occurrences - to the human eye, magic seems rather indiscriminate in the ways it manifests as living beings.

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Plate 10 - A pair of fire starters harass each other with sparks.  The generally fire-resistant nature of the velvet mud coating every surface of the wood means that these displays are generally harmless, however, these creatures go at them with great fervor.

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Plate 9 - Headless Cows placidly “grazing” in their field.  We did not find these animals anywhere outside of the boundary made by this odd, small break in the treeline.  We are unsure what has caused a change in the usual density of the Darkening wood, it is strange to see sunlight this far into the wood, the trees usually remain dense and impenetrable.  Watching these creatures behave as perfectly normal cattle on their stick legs, grazing with their missing heads, and resting to ruminate, put us ill at ease - reminded of the ways in which magic can mimic the mundane.

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Plate 8 - The Harmony surrounds our campsite in ominous vigil on our last night camped near the wood.

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Plate 7 - The massive, yet nearly two-dimensional Whiskered Seraph rises above the wood to it's sonorous gong-like cries. Despite it's massive size, because of the thick canopy it was only observable only from our camp. The creature flew over the horizon after being rousted from it's perch, and we know it only from this singular sighting.

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Plate 6 - A Greek Hound rears up before thunderously striking its head against a nearby tree, an action which we strongly perceive to be a threat gesture.