Transcript on Essence Arcana

The following is the transcript of a lecture given at the Academy of The Order of the Golden Mind ~1000 years ago. Following is a summary synopsis of the transcript.

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> "Hello everybody, and thank you for coming. I am Head Researcher Marna Vayne, of the  Arcana Department. For the last 15 years, I have led a research team in studying Essence Arcana, the very base, and rawest form of magic. It is also accompanied by a measurement system to determine how powerful a magic concentration is. 0-99 is barely magical, 100-149 is faintly magical, 150-199 is moderately magical, 200-249 is strongly magical, 250-299 is overwhelmingly magical, 300-499 is demigod levels of magical, 500-799 is god levels of magical, and 800-1000 is primordial (always been here) levels of magical.
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> The unit of measurement for this system of Essence Arcana is Tantibars, named so after the discoverer of Essence Arcana, Robert Tantibar. Essence Arcana seems to be a latent byproduct of the ley lines that run through Irelroro. Especially powerful is the Tal’Merian Font, right in our backyard, as this is where every single ley line converges. Whenever a spell is cast, a small portion of the Essence Arcana is sapped back by the ley lines, so that they may survive forever more. It is believed that the ley lines may hold a sort of sentience and understanding, enough to where they strive for their own continued survival. Our cyclic partnership with the ley lines is similar to that of our partnership with trees. As we breathe out carbon dioxide, they use it to create more oxygen, which we breathe in and release as carbon dioxide. While with the ley lines, we expel magic that we pull from them to cast spells, which they in turn reabsorbed and imbue once more to release into the air for us to pull from and cast with.
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> The ley lines are suspected to be the life lines of the land, and as such they are heavily protected by The Order of the Stalwart Shield, though that is about all we TRULY know about that secretive Order. It was in Cycle 1550 that Robert Tantibar created the scaling system. About 30 years ago, a student here created the Arcanatector, a device used to read the levels of Essence Arcana within an item, person, or 20 foot radial perimeter. This was created for the purpose of staving off Arcana Poisoning. See, Essence Arcana is so powerful that increased exposure to high levels can have devastating effects. Similar to blightburn (Kn: Nature or Craft: Alchemy DC 15 reveals this to be a radioactive, magic-stifling substance found naturally occurring in caves that causes immediate damage and eventual death through its radioactive properties), it rots the skin, sunders the organs, and melts the eyes and smaller appendages. Those magically gifted, like most of us here, are very resistant to these effects, but not immune. The most resistant out of all of us are spontaneous casters, like Sorcerers and Clerics.
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> If not properly protected, a powerful mage may end up rotting away, until their own internally woven Essence will burst outwards, tearing the body asunder and ascending to become one with the ley lines; this is called Arcanical Ascension. Non-magical people can withstand magical auras up to 249 Tantibars with no effect. Exposure to anything higher may yield disastrous effects after a time, while anything 300 or higher will be fatal. Casters can withstand up to 300 Tantibars before time spent will eventually become lethal. Exposure to 600 Tantibars will be fatal for a low tier caster, but as you grow stronger you can resist more. The highest level of Essence Arcana experienced and survived through was 875 Tantibars, when Maasto of Lunaris fell into the Tal’Merian font. So, that is the end of my presentation, any questions?"
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