When Magic Ran Wild
Magic wasn't always as stable as it is now. This force we rely upon to heal us, protect us from danger, and strike down our enemies has undergone many changes over the years. It is now far more stable than it has been in many years. However, one must realize what things were once like.
Magic existed as it had since before the known races walked the face of Tyrra. Elven history goes back for millennia, but even it does not reach back to the epic First Elemental War. This legendary battle between cosmic forces created magic as we know it. Magic existed in an unstable, but generally usable form for countless centuries like this.
The Second Great Celestial Change came in 590 E.R. This great shift in magic echoed a similar change in magic that happened in 14 E.R, commonly called the First Great Celestial Change by humans. I can tell you that those of us who have seen magic for longer than man, the elves, know that this was not the first change in magic. There was a change every 576 years, where magic reformed in the world. Each time magic became more predictable, more controllable, and more stable. Millennia ago magic could be worked by mortals that could allow for acts that would be unthinkable now, and even recently, before the Second Great Celestial Change there were spells that let a magi polymorph people into harmless objects or creatures, Obliterate people with but a simple incantation instead of a ritual, or compel others to speak the truth.
Sages tell us that these changes were a natural cleaning process of the cosmos. The Void that lies beyond all reality had been seeping into magic since before any of the known races had walked Tyrra. The Void corrupted magic, making it uncontrollable, imbalancing, and dangerously overpowered for mortal life. Each Great Change removed more of the Corruption from magic, sealing the tears in the elemental planes that let the Corruption in from beyond known reality, and after the last Great Change, there is only a small trace of the Void in magic remaining, as magic began to truly settle into a stable form. The side effects of these changes took years to show in some cases.
During the Second Great Celestial Change the Biata race transformed. Always had the people been antithetical to Celestial Magic, but until the Second Change they looked at least superficially human. They had an affinity for the Gryphon Totem Spirit followed by the Gryphon Tribe of barbarians (which was composed largely if not entirely of Biata). Many believe that they were descended of a barbarian people, deeply tied to the Gryphon Spirit and Earth Magic, who had developed a more advanced and orderly culture. Something great happened at the Second Change which ravaged the Biata people. I have heard rumors that the Second Change destroyed some great relic of the Biata people, but I have no confirmation of this, but at the same time they lost access to truly awesome mental abilities. Now their abilities are akin to the "Mindwalking" or "Mind Linking" of Stone Elves. Their bodies quickly began to mutate as they grew claws and feathery brows reminiscent of their totem.
Magic had finally generally settled down by the fall of 599. Formal Magics had been known as dangerous and largely random for countless centuries, but a combination of the settling and purification of magic combined with the extraordinary efforts of wizards throughout Tyrra to chart and document what was known lead to a bold new era in formal magic. By the end of 598 E.R. power had faded from many dangerous rituals, never again would Store Ability, Spirit Store, Transfer Enchantment or Race Reaver among other rituals, work again in a recognizable form. In the fall of 599 E.R. power had faded from many other rituals, and other ritual effects had become standard. People could no longer Spirit Forge every weekend, being a mighty warrior one day and a powerful Wizard the next simply so they could make their own magical items from ritual scrolls and components they earned by their own blade.
Magic became safer and more reliable at that time. Before this time any ritual had a chance of outright failure, and even routine castings could fail, or even horribly backlash. Theoretically any Wizard could cast any ritual in any circle, with ever increasing odds of failure, flaw or backlash. Now Wizards could only reliably channel a certain amount of Ritual Magic in a day, just like they could only cast a certain number of Spells, and they could attempt to perform more Rituals but only at the chance of great error. In some places strange local effects prevented rituals from functioning at all, or made bizarre flaws of backlashes happen that affected entire towns. However, this stability also came at a price. Never again would magical enchantments reliably become permanent. Most enchantments lasted only one year, with "permanent" circles and some few items lasting for two years before they would have to be renewed. Magical weapons could only be, at most 3/5 as powerful as they were before, and enchanted talismans and blades could only store five magical effects. In many places people can only use five magical items at any given time. Some artifacts tied intrinsically to the local Ley Lines of an area may be permanent or last many years or centuries, but the capacity to controllably make an item that could never have it's power "pop" was lost.
In this time some magic long lost resurfaced. The powers of Harmonic Magic and Cantrip Magic were rediscovered. Cantrip Magic is an alternate form of Formal Magic, allowing a Wizard to perform supremely powerful spells that consume Ritual Components. Cantrips and Harmonic magics are very popular in the lands where they work, and they work in most (by not all) lands.
Cantrips themselves have changed somewhat since their rediscovery, at first they allowed the casting of spells without calling up a magical aura, or for a Wizard to re-shape a Circle of Power into other shapes, or enter a Protected State akin to Imprison but more powerful, but these powers have faded. Cantrips can perform feats like perform Resurrections in the field without need for a circle, create a Storm (akin to the Magic Storm spell) of Harm or Boon Undead spells or of raw Elemental Energy, or even call up immense pools of raw elemental power, chaos energy, or healing magic.
Harmonics is the magic of music. Harmonics is another form of magic that does not work everywhere, but it works in most places. Harmonics is nearly useless in battle, since it must be sung to be cast and the singing takes far longer than normal Earth or Celestial spells. However, Harmonic Magic is very useful in a support role, since it excels at defending one place or providing large numbers of protective effects from a place the Harmonicist is attuned to, which is called a "Hearth" in Harmonic terms. Harmonic Magic has no known Formal Magic rituals or powers associated with it, since it cannot create a Circle of Power.
In this time common spells changed as well. Spells only found in a few lands were the first to fail. Nature Magic practiced in Dragonreach and Stonegate is fading fast, the channels that allow the drawing of power from nature directly from Tyrra were sealed in the Second Great Celestial Change and the power used for Nature Magic is running out quickly. Many spells used in Stonegate, such as Detect Necromancy, Fear and Bloodlust, have already failed, as they drew heavily on routes of power that were sealed or weakened greatly in the Celestial Change and it's aftereffects. Other lands had spells that were lost as well, the popular Doom spell used in Dragonreach and other lands also failed.
There are signs of yet another change happening far earlier than the 576 year cycle which has come before. It is only 13 years into the current Cycle but casting of the rituals Dreamvision, Create High Horoscope and Sands of Time by the Evendarrian Royal Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences, the Black Tower in Quentari and the Royal University of Neridia have all shown that a Third Great Change is coming in the next few years. It could come in months, or as long as a decade, but it will be a change as monumental as any before. This change is believed to be the final purging of Corruption from the known planes of existence, and will lead to a final, permanent form of all magic on Tyrra.
And thus was the story of the days when magic ran wild.