The Rumor Mill - Week 48

Since the College takes up a sizable portion of the city, we look at theories of magic for week 48 of The Rumor Mill. Where does magic come from? How do spells lock a specific physical effect into a repeatable pattern of sound, motion, and materials, and why does it seem so primitive? Will magic ever run out, or do its reserves and potential truly stretch infinitely far? Does divine magic have an entirely different source from arcane magic? Nobody has found limits on magical power yet, but will casting powerful spells over and over cause dead spaces or drain everyone's magical potential?

Let's get theoretical in the magical sphere, exploring the edges of what people think they know about how magic works.

1d8	Rumor	True?
1	Repeated ritual castings of a spell can drain an area of ambient life.	Yes1
2	Since all magic calls power from other planes, Conjuration is the One True school.	Maybe2
3	Every casting of fireball shrinks the elemental plane of fire a tiny bit.	No3
4	Human spellcasters die young. Even their beards go long and grey by age 30.	Maybe4
5	Like magnetism, repeated exposure to magic eventually creates permanent effects.	Yes5
6	Fellport has so many extradimensional spaces, it'll disappear into the ether soon.	Maybe6
7	All gods hunger for followers and power, as their clerics' spells diminish them.	No7
8	Anyone can cast cantrips and simple spells, given enough time and training.	Yes8

1 - If a spell doesn't use a spell slot, that energy needs to come from somewhere. Ritual drain usually lasts about 24 hours.
2 - Scholars endlessly debate the nature of magic. Some even say spells limit creativity by locking an effect to a specific ritual.
3 - Planes are infinite, so even if spells work this way, infinity will never reach zero no matter how many times you cast.
4 - It's not that using magic ages you, but almost everyone who cast spells becomes an adventurer, a risky career at best.
5 - This theory lets spellcasters permanently enchant items or places, as with teleportation circle or guards and wards.
6 - Some fear the concentration of extradimensional pockets in Fellport weakens the fabric of reality, whatever that means.
7 - The clerics factor into that equation as well, and most gods have an infinite domain that provides power for their followers.
8 - If they can take the Magic Initiate feat, anyone can cast two cantrips and a spell. It really is that easy to start casting magic.

Part of T.W.Wombat's Lore 24 project, detailing the world around Fellport.
For all city posts, see the Fellport Index. For posts about the wider world, see the Beneterra Index.