THE NUCLEUS OF THE SPHERES: THE UNOPENED FILE
By Bruce A. Heard and the Mystara Mailing List
Okay, here are a few answers I hope will help a little.
Here come the questions:
#1 Now that the Nucleus drains power from Entropy, how does the Immortal-making spell from Glantri Gazetteer work?
#2 Also the spells boosted with Nucleus are influenced with Entropy, sometimes causing hideous sideeffects to both the caster and the target. Also the possibility to get the ghastly Sickness of Radiance seems to have increased [...]
#3 Now that it drains from Entropy, wouldn’t it allow powerful Entropy magic (defiler-ish?) and make Entropic Immortals while making the overall world less entropic?
#4 Since the opposite of entropy is order, maybe with use the Nucleus would cause Mystara to become more stagnant and less likely to change, similar to the hollow world.
#5 I’ve always liked the way that Dark Sun presented magic. On Athas magic is visibly drained from the surrounding land. I think that this idea would work fine on Mystara - it just usually isn’t noticed because there is just so much life energy on Mystara that the little bit drained wouldn’t be missed.
#6 Sure, the immortals from Entropy will not like it draining away their influence, but they will be thrilled about the new influx of immortals they could get from this new source. As for the immortals of other spheres, the exact opposite would be true.
#7 Fortunately, knowledge of the Radiance and its powers is very limited, and it is extremely difficult to actually use it to become an Immortal. To date, only three known Immortals have used the Radiance, or something like it, to attain Immortality: Rad, Rafiel, and Benekander.
#8 The Sphere of Energy that it drains magic from isn’t a place; Spheres are a concept, an ideal. They don’t actually exist as locations. We need to better define Spheres.
#9 According to the Gold set, anyone can choose to change his allegiances to the Spheres once he becomes Immortal; they don’t have to stick with the Sphere they quested for Immortality in.
#10 Taking this, I’d say the Radiance allows potential for Immortality, and once it’s attained, the user can choose whatever Sphere he wants. The reason it’s biased towards Energy, is because they are the caretakers of the Radiance, and so are the first to nab new Immortals from the Radiance. Now there might be a bias towards Entropy, since they should be more of the caretakers of the Radiance; they might fight with Energy over the prospect of first pick.
In the same order:
#1) Yes. Except that in a large part what used to be relevant to Immortals of Energy is now more relevant to Immortals of Entropy. The Nucleus has become an entropic machine. It helps boost the powers of entropic creatures, but in the long run, it should limit their numbers and reduce their overall power.
Theoretically, this is impossible... You just can’t *kill* death! A universe without entropy is a myth - nothing would ever die or change. It is pointless and, from the point of view of Immortals, absolute oblivion nevertheless! Can’t happen.
This whole thing is an aberration -- a weird glitch affecting the Nucleus for the time being. If not dealt with, Entropy may end up suffering no ill effect at all, AND still boost its influence at the expense of all the others. A universe with lots more entropy, however, is always possible. Because of the implications, the Immortals will have to get together and deal
with this issue and find a consensus that makes more sense; i.e. the Nucleus will have to be modified one more time to settle things properly.
#2) Yes. Unfortunately, decaying effects due to the Radiance on users of the Nucleus would make it even harder to become an Immortal. Most would turn into a pile of rotting flesh faster than they could reach lichdom, much less Immortality.
#3) Yes and no. The allusion to defiler style magic is a very good one. It is logical to think that in the long run the Nucleus would lessen entropic grip on Mystara. But, as I explained earlier, that’s not likely to happen. *Entropy* (such as it is) may become immune to the Nucleus’s ill-effects, thus eventually allowing the latter to snap back to its former self, and even swing further ahead as a reaction. That’s when the Immortals - and the whole of Mystara - face another crisis, kind of like a world quake.
#4) As explained earlier - this is a VERY definite risk for Mystara.
#5) Correct.
#6) Yes.
#7) Aah, yes. The decade long, ongoing goof... Yes, the spheres are NOT actual places. It’s not logical that anything be physically sent to or drawn from these *intellectual* areas of interest. How’s this instead: the Nucleus pumps its magical energy (or entropic stuff) directly from *planet* Mystara. In the event that Mystara is completely bled dry by the Nucleus, the artifact would then try to reach what it seeks that may be lying further away (woops, there goes the skyshield - nice knowin’ ya!). This means places nearby later become affected too, first the moons, later other worlds. Eventually, it might spill over into areas of other planes that lie close to Mystara. We already know there is such a spot
in Ylaruam which is close to the Plane of Fire (which explains its weird weather pattern).
The thing eventually gets even hungrier when it starts affecting Immortal magic/entropy as well. Of course, this implies that whatever the Nucleus is, it has ties to the Old Ones. This thing may eventually gobble up the Immortals because at some point they become the biggest source of power the Nucleus can detect. Why should it be so? That’s really up to these mysterious Old Ones. Perhaps they are using the artifact to keep the Immortals talking to each other (gotta teach ‘em some good manners). If the Immortals behave properly, then the nucleus’s awful powers are kept at bay... at least for a few decades or centuries. Keeps everyone on their toes, doesn’t it?
#8) Right.
#9) Technically yes, but that’s a bit risky. The way WoI material was developed makes the switching of allegiances less likely, although still theoretically possible. Most Immortals remain at least somewhat jealous about their allegiances with lesser Immortals. It may be a really bad idea picking a different "sphere" after an Immortal sponsored someone to immortality. It’s kind of a slap across the face really. Switching allegiances is probably more likely later in the life of an established Immortal.
#10) Probably not as soon as someone attains Immortality, but maybe later, as explained above. This DOES give Energy an "edge" so to speak. It’s kind of silly since the universe relies on a balance of the five spheres anyway. One might "get ahead" for a while, but the pendulum eventually swings back. We’ve had an Age of Energy when the Nucleus was in the hands of the energy munchkins. Now we have an Age of Entropy, where things are likely to get really bad. But then again, after the storm comes the good weather we hope. The question is: whose turn on the barrel will it be then? What if the Nucleus then favors yet another sphere? For how long? And what would be the consequences? This can get pretty weird.
In the long run, we should naturally assume each sphere will have its day of glory! Once the whole cycle goes through, what then? Immortals finally find a way to deal with the Nucleus? They quit competing? They start all over again? Old Ones show up and kick some misbehaving Immortal butts? Some Immortals becomes Old Ones, others mere mortals? All of the above? That’s wide open.
Basically, all spheres are affected the same way. The difference is that there only is one artifact instead of five. I think having only one removes the potential for intrigue and rivalry among the spheres. I think each sphere of Immortals should go through the learning pains of building their own artirfact in order not to fall behind those who have already succeeded. I think that’s better than having the Old Ones just hand the solution to their problems to the Immortals. That’s just not the way Old Ones would do things. Immortals need to learn something through this ordeal.
Where would the Chamber of the Spheres that Rafiel is working on (via the SE) fit into this cosmology? It doesn’t have the negative applications that the NoS has (part of the reason is it hasn’t been finished, but also because no Old Ones or Immortals have tampered with it).
That’s wide open for interpretation. The entropic influence presently affecting the Nucleus could extend to the Chamber of the Stars, although not necessarily, especially if contruction hasn’t yet been completed in your campaign (or was completed AFTER the Nucleus got messed up). It then stands as a separate artifact.
My guess is that at some point, when the whole *cosmic* cycle goes through, the Nucleus desintegrates. Then starts a new cycle, centering on the Chamber and the shadow elves... and more. The other Immortals would also attempt to construct such devices on their own, one for each sphere of activity. The question is... where, when, and by whom?
I’m making a huge assumption here - perhaps the eventual destruction of the Nucleus itself takes place when the Immortals of each sphere manage to create an equivalent device serving their purposes. Each of these new devices robs its powers from the old Glantrian Nucleus. When all devices are up and runing, the Nucleus is empty and finally disintegrates (ouch - effect on Glantri!?). At this point, the Chamber inherits the goal to support the purposes of sphere of Energy. This is artifact is clearly indentifiable now. The others remain to be identified and located on Mystara.
Bruce Heard
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Immortals of Energy do not control the use of magic any more than Immortals of Thought control thinking. It’s not only a philosophy, it an area of study. Immortals of Energy concern themselves more with the magical energies of the world than with time, matter, thought, or entropy. The other Immortals might have passing interests in the subject, but their true "profession", so to speak, lies along different lines.
Khoronous doesn’t control the flow of time any more than Ixion controls the flow of magical energy. Therefore when you ask if Immortals "have any magical abilities... save by drawing on the SoE" it’s a misleading question. There is no "Sphere of Energy". It’s not a place, it’s like a course of study. So Ixion, as heirarch of the SoE, cannot deny another Immortal any magic. He doesn’t have that kind of control. However, he IS infinatly more knowledgeable about magic than anyone else, because he has been heirarch for...I don’t know....how many centuries now? Therefore, although he cannot himself control the flow of energy, he would probably know of some obscure laws of magic that would limit or restrict the flow for awhile.
As for the case of the character that has earned his immortal status using the Nucleus, the reason he’s biased towards Energy, is because that is their course of study - magical energies. Therefore they get together with other Immortals with the same interests (i.e. the "Sphere" of Energy).
Now there might be a bias towards Entropy, since they should be more of the caretakers of the Radiance; they might fight with Energy over the prospect of first pick. The bias might change because the effect of the Nucleus. If it causes more decay and other harmful effects, those mortals studying it would realize this and those who still press forward and learn how to become an Immortal using it would have deadened themselves to the harm they were causing - thus leaning them towards other like-minded Immortals (ie. the "Sphere" of Entropy).
Andrew Theisen
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So what are the long and short term implications for the Principalities then? It seem that since Energy’s "reign" is at an end and since Rad is no more, the powers of Entropy would continue to grow while the dominance of the wizardly nobles continues to decline. And the Radiance users themselves would gain in power according to their ability to more closely align themselves with the Sphere of Entropy (with Brannart, Angus, Morphail in the lead) and perhaps becoming incredibly dominant there (they would also theoretically control the Shepherds of Rad, wouldn’t they? since Rad is gone).
Nick Bambakidis
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I see the Spheres of Power much like the Force in Star Wars.
As Obi Wan Kenobi would have said it:
"The Spheres of Power is what gives an Immortal his powers. It surrounds us, penetrates us, binds the Multiverse together."
In the Multiverse of Mystara, however there are five such forces, not only one. Also not all the spheres are as abstract as the Force. The sphere of Matter appears only in its manifestation; rock, earth etc...
The spheres are the building blocks of reality. They are present at all planes, because everything is the Spheres. Some places are stronger with some spheres. There are i.e. planes of Energy. Also, one can argue that Mountainious areas are stronger with matter.
Creatures are also made up from Spheres. As the Prime material plane is a plane of balance between the spheres, humans and animals are creatures with no specific alegiance to one sphere. Elves and magical monsters are aligned with energy, Dwarves with Matter.
Immortals are masters of the spheres, but can only belong to one sphere at a time. That means they can only drain power from one sphere. It would be a fair assumption IMHO that the Old Ones are masters of all the spheres and can drain power from all of them. If their power does not come from a greater source. Perhaps the Old Ones are sources of power like the Spheres themselves..
Haavard R. Faanes
Email: hoc@nvg.unit.no