Category: Magic

The Giant’s Hand

The Giant’s Hand is a rock formation consisting of a large island-like structure in the middle of a former lake, as well as several floating rocks above small ponds in its interior. It is some distance from civilization, and is the only documented area with floating rock formations.

Local legends say a great giant or god fell here. He wrenched his hand free, pulling the earth up and forming mountains. Floating rocks were formed when some of the mountains were pulled up so far that they came free of the ground. The space beneath them was then filled in by water over the years of rainfall.

There is no evidence that gods are real or visited this site, thus necessitating a scientific explanation. Floating rocks have been theorized as the result of magnetic repulsion, detailed here. The formation itself happens to look like a large handprint, but was most likely just a mountainous formation that happened to occur in the midst of a prehistoric lake.

The existence of the lake and the odd way the water moves around the mountains suggests that there is a network of underground rivers beneath or around the mountains. While some claim this supports the theory that the range was formed by a god, it is more likely that earthquakes, wear from the water itself, and other stressors created underground rivers that change the way water moves around the mountains.

One theory, found in an ancient human textbook from long before humans had interacted with the other races, suggests that mountains are formed by internal stressors in the ground, possibly the same stressors that created the underground waterways. This theory says that the ground is formed in plates of rock that sometimes collide or slide against each other, forming mountains.

Most inhabitants of the Giant’s Hand live on the floating rocks. They are typically Vuzodep, and spread the legends and histories of the area verbally. Notably, their history does not mention ever residing in the country Vuzode, from which the Vuzodep people get their name. While ponds, rivers, and lakes provide ample fresh water, growing food can be a struggle as the locals must find ways to grow food atop their floating rocks or must travel to the surface to gather.

Floating Rocks

As in many fantastical stories, Ferella is home to floating rocks. While these may seem to be magical defiances of reality, it is entirely possible that these rare formations are natural. Only one formation, on the Giant’s Hand island, has been documented. While the mythos of its creation may suggest otherwise, it is unlikely that magic formed this phenomenon. Instead, many of our scientists theorize that magnetic forces may be forcing rocks away from the ground and suspending them. This theory comes from ancient texts that describe the planet Eurth’s rotation. Ancient humans believed that their home planet rotated, thus causing a magnetic pull of some sort. In some places, magnetic rocks could theoretically be repelled by such forces.

This is such a rare phenomena that further speculation would be as properly supported as theories about magic. Thus, we will refrain from further elaboration in this report. The rest of this report will instead focus on the cultural study of those who live near the floating rocks.

It is not uncommon for locals to make their homes atop rocks in the Giant’s Hand, and rumors circulate of buildings built on such rocks elsewhere. Those who choose these locations have cited a variety of reason, including but not limited to the lack of sovereignty over these rock chunks. Others believe that the magic that causes the rocks to float is beneficial to health, and more still claim that it assists them with their own studies or magical research.

Everyday life on these rocks presents a challenge for locals since the rocks do not support their own ecosystems. Instead, people living there must descend on a near-daily basis to collect water and hunt. Crops seem to sustain themselves there, particularly those common in mountain areas. Locals have had to travel far to transplant hardy species of crops, herbs, flowers, and trees from mountainous regions for cultivation on their rocks. For this reason, plant life is valued heavily. Sometimes ground-dwellers in the region will make special trips to visit the rocks and see the plants that are so different from the ones local to the area.

One family claims that their home became unlivable for a short while, and they commissioned a druid to save their ancestral home. The druid determined that the air had “fled” from the location, but was unable to do anything permanent to help the family. The druid referred them to a wizard from our facility, who then brought the region to our attention. With our permission, the wizard performed some experimental magic borrowed from our space travel experiments and used the spell to encase the rock in a magical bubble to keep the air in. She also recommended that the family grow trees within the bubble to help produce oxygen, and they planted their “Mother Tree” in the home’s living room. The tree and the family thrive at the time of this report.

Image by muhumure ben from Pixabay

Signed, Eldi Deer-Threader, cultural anthropologist

Domestic Cats

Domestic cats are a curiosity, as there is no evidence that their descendants ever lived in the wild. Some theorize that they were a construct of magic while others believe that they were a scientific experiment like the Pas Todoans. It is interesting to note that older entries refer to them as “domestic cats,” implying that a wild cat did in fact exist. This could simply mean that feral cats were common at that time, rather than true “wild” cats. It could also be an indicator that Ferellan wildcats ceased to exist long ago.

It is important to note that while there are felines in the Ferellan wilds, they are not in fact related genetically to domestic cats. This, along with their physical similarities, would support the theory that they were genetically altered so that their DNA no longer resembles that of wild cats on Ferella.

Image by Ralph from Pixabay

Sailors have a strange theory, a myth that seems to be popular across all the seas of ‘El’. They believe that cats came from somewhere else, having become domesticated in a distant land where wild cats may still roam. This likely came from the fact that cats often travel on ships, visiting all the lands of ‘El’ that way. Sailors may have assumed that they did the same, though there is no reason to believe that another land might have existed before this one.

Dome Spell

It is believed that some spellcasters have the ability to capture any person, place, or even time period in a bubble-like dome of magic. This preserves anything until the spellcaster releases it; however, some believe that the bubble degrades over time and the contents fade or even become corrupted.

Reports indicate that domes have become damaged and spewed their contents out, while some witness accounts suggest that people may be freed from the bubble with a proper counterspell. Accounts are unconfirmed because all witnesses seem to have some mental impairment that may affect memory, possibly as a result of severe trauma. Many claiming to be survivors were neurodivergent, suggesting either an increased suggestibility or an increased resistance to the effects of this spell.

School for Moontouched

The school for moontouched is the only one of its kind I have found. Research indicates that the students are only the most powerful of magic users, wielding a power called komorebi. The history teacher at the time this file was compiled claimed that komorebi was the “magic of the ancients.” The meaning of this phrase is unknown.

Image by Paul from Pixabay

Komorebi appears to be a dangerous power, as medics are made to stand by during practices and students make offhand remarks about being brought back to life there. There are no indications that the students are zombies or any other known form of undead. This may be a slang term for a type of lesson or performance given during komorebi practice, but it is unknown since nobody is allowed inside their enclosed arena except those who are practicing there.

Ice Cream Tree

There are rumors of a tree in the far North, near the town of Towerkuns, that grows ice with the consistency of ice cream. A local druid has grafted several saplings onto it, using powerful magic to allow tropical fruits to grow in subarctic temperatures. The tree now grows ice cream in the flavors of each fruit, including orange, chocolate, and mulberry. The chocolate nuts were rather simple since they typically grow in mountainous regions, but the success of the orange ice cream branches was nothing short of miraculous.

Image by Hans from Pixabay

Maia Running-Candle

It is said that the moontouched can transform into their komorebi, whether that’s water for one and fire for another. Many do not believe such rumors, but the moontouched all know it to be true. They treat these abilities with the greatest reverence and borderline terror.

There is a ghost story amongst the moontouched. It tells of a girl named Maia Running-Candle who came to a school for moontouched to learn how to use her light komorebi. She was one of the most skilled students who had ever come to the school, mastering high-level techniques during her first year and quickly advancing beyond what her peers could do.

Maia’s master was content to let her learn each new ability as she mastered the previous one, but the dean began to worry that she was learning too fast. Many moontouched skills can have dangerous and long-lasting consequences.

Two years into Maia’s studies, her master came before the dean and told him Maia was ready to learn the most advanced and dangerous technique a moontouched could learn. This would be the capstone lesson to make Maia a true master; transforming into her element. While Maia’s studies showed that she had mastered every other ability, the school had strict ethical guidelines. The dean determined that she could not learn the new ability until she had been at the school long enough to understand the dangers and implications of the ability. She would have to complete twelve full years with the college.

The dean generously offered her employment as a teaching assistant, believing that this would give her the chance to see and experience all levels of komorebi and understand why it could be dangerous, but instead, it gave her the chance to gain sympathy among her peers. Less than a year later, her master finally agreed to teach her the capstone ability without the dean’s consent.

Soon after, the pair snuck into the training grounds together. The lesson began with a demonstration in which the light master flawlessly shifted, her form disappearing into a beam of light that zipped around the room. Excited, the apprentice began to mimic her instructor’s movements.

Realizing what her pupil intended to do, the master began to shift back, her form coalescing and becoming more solid as a warning left her lips, “wait-!”

The student’s form dissolved, bright light filling the room as she streaked around it, bouncing haphazardly against the walls. The beam of light struck her master’s incomplete form, causing a bright explosion. The form flickered and dimmed, finally settling into a single humanoid shape made of light.

Photo by vale on Unsplash

Now, that humanoid shape travels the world, roaming at the speed of light. At any point, you may look over your shoulder and see her. She will have something to tell you, but she will be unable to speak.

Nobody is certain whether the event killed the apprentice and left the master stuck in a half-light, half-human form, or whether it merged the two into a single being made of light. To this day, the story is told as a cautionary tale to impatient moontouched and to each new student who prepares to learn this potentially deadly ability.

Magic Snakes

In the Helsinki Forest, also known as the Winter-Runner Forest, contains a rare breed of magical snake. Some believe they have a connection to the famous snake-bonded people who fought in the Second Demonic War. Unlike those snakes, their venom is a powerful healing agent.

Photo by Jan Kopřiva from Pexels