A New Age of Magic

Conspectus In the year of our Defilement 44,211 we awoke to find that man and fae had merged once more. Magic blossomed in new flesh all across the lifeplain. The strangling Veil that has choked our voices and soaked our blood for thousands of years was undone in an instant. The Jailors, Bookburners, Grailbearers, and even the simple Feds crumbled beneath the rising tide. Shadows can never survive in the sun. At least one in three Humani are now blessed by the Blue, and what a blessing it is! Only the greatest Thaumaturgy of the Illuminati or Sorceries of the Sons of Salem can compare to the raw, lascivious nectar that now fills our veins. Magic now rivals the godlings themselves, and every day more souls are reborn in cleansing light. And yet, the source of this miracle is a mystery.

Illustration An illustration taken from the Seventh Book of Apocryphal Visions that is believed to depict current or future events regarding this awakening. The painting's context and the identity of the depicted figure are unknown.

Knowledge Traits: The magical renaissance that has prompted our current global situation has 3 commonalities in every affected individual. The first is the growth and presence of luminescent blue organs within the body. The extent of the manifestation varies widely, and all possess a seemingly inviolable thaumic warding. Their purpose is the constant and seemingly source-less provision of massive amounts of raw Aetherial energy. In terms of raw output, a single blue-blessed can produce more energy than previous estimates for the abilities of the High Priest of the Worm, the Wandering Jew, or the Black Queen, who had previously been assumed to be the strongest living human magic users. The individuals' bodies react strangely to the influx of magic, producing the second commonality: psychothaumic mutation. Though an ever-present danger to reckless mages, psychothaumic mutation has previously been a relatively rare phenomenon usually caused by rituals gone awry. Overexposure to magical energies alone has never been observed to bring about the changes seen in the blue-blessed. Most curiously, attempting to discern the Aetherial matrix of either the organs or their sap does not provide us with a normal result. There are no paths of magic, no alchemical formulae, no soulbound anguish or pleasure. It is, without fail, a single word. THRIVE. Nature: The nature of the awakening, the blue-blessed, and the source of the magic provided is all unknown at present. Constant debate is present in our community over the truth of the matter. All blue-blessed are linked together in a locus reminiscent of the depleted Leylines, albeit far denser than even the height of that ancient network. The epicenter of the network appears to be in the Western United States, in an area controlled by the remnants of the Jailors. Whether this is the source of the new age or merely a geographic focus is unknown. This magic's nature is of THRIVE. It is a command rather than an existing domain, and it should not be possible under current magical theory. Rather than summoning magic from a source and commanding it to a task, this magic acts as a command that generates its own domain and source in a reversal of fundamental magiphysics. Is it possible this could be done for other concepts? Or has this domain always existed, a paradox that defies itself? History & Associated Parties: No certain history is known about this phenomenon, though speculation lies below. Neither the Hand, nor any other travelers of the Library are known to have caused this. Foundation control of the possible locus epicenter is the only known association we have. Approach: You don't approach it, it will approach you. If you're wondering how to approach the blue-blessed, that's a different story. They're people, the same humans they were before. Some saints, some devils, most just trying to get by. But now they're dangerous beyond belief. Then again, chances are that you are too.

Observations & Stories YOU WILL WAKE WITHIN THE CHRYSALIS AND SEE THE SELF THAT IS WRITTEN BEYOND THE LIDS OF THE EYE. THE SERPENT SHALL SHED ITS SCALES AND SPREAD ITS ROOTS. WHEN BLUE STARS SHINE IN THE LIGHT OF FATHER THE MEANING OF LIFE WILL BE KNOWN. THE SPAWN OF DAUGHTER WILL BE MADE TO THRIVE. -Excerpt from the Seventh Book of Apocryphal Visions While hundreds, if not thousands, of hypotheses as to the nature of the Blue exist, there are three primary theories that have developed over the past two years: Nälkä practitioners believe the new age was brought about by the victory of Grand Karcist Ion over the Demiurge Yaldabaoth. Traditional Nälkän groups have long believed that Ion was not killed or imprisoned, as is maintained by the Neo-Nälkäns and Broken Church respectively, but instead ascended beyond the plane of creation to battle Yaldabaoth on Humanity's behalf. Adherents of this theory believe that Ion has now defeated the Demiurge over millenia of battle and consumed his divine flesh. The Blue is a blessing from the new god to his chosen people, designed to foster long term utopian existence. The violent reaction between the blue organs and the bodies of Neo-Nälkän Karcists, who had come to serve the Demiurge and his Archons, may support this theory. Global Nälkän worship is at an all time high thanks to these developments. Foundation and GOC defectors maintain that the New Age was caused by an anomaly responsible for the original creation of life. The interaction of life and reality has long produced unlikely and scientifically implausible scenarios that suggest we are not natural beings. Mathematical odds and The Great Filter aside, Humanity is singularly strange. Gods can be born out of simple human belief, small portions of the population can bend reality, and non-magical anomalies are commonplace. The awakening of thaumic powers comparable to reality-bending seems a natural evolution of this trend. This theory overlaps with traditional ideas of Panspermia and or Pleromic creation. Adherents are divided on whether the anomaly can be identified with YHVH or other creator deities. Other groups, notably the Broken Church and elements of the elder Serpent's Hand, have accepted the benefits of the blessing while still believing it to be the result of a non-benevolent force. They point to the global instability the blue-blessed have wrought as proof that an unknown force may be preparing to conquer or enslave a newly divided and empowered humanity. Beliefs about the identity of this potential aggressor vary.