“Oh, our deserved punishment from the gods! ”
The Ripple is the name given to the frequent storm of wild magic afflicting the Beizai Empire, coined by Archmage Kai of Aëvon. Roiling multicolored clouds fill the sky for sometimes days at a time, a sight as beautiful as it is terrifying to behold. Much as an overload of voltage brings down thunder and lightning, so too does an overload of magic bring down… well, just about anything. During a swell of the Ripple, those braving the outdoors flee to safety as bubble-esque glowing nodules of wild magic fall gently from the sky. When they pop… who knows what could happen? All we know is that the more magic in a bubble, the more powerful the effect.
The Ripple seems to appear and disappear randomly, difficult to predict but hours in advance as the magical energy begins to pool in the atmosphere, seemingly growing out of nowhere. However, people are concerned; it’s been slow, but over the years, The Ripple has begun appearing more and more frequently and with increasing power…
Magic in the age of The Ripple
The Ripple’s storms interferes with magic. Individual mages of various kinds find themselves able to cast their spells as normal, but runes, rituals, magical constructs, and magical connections across distance are interfered with by the storms, requiring advanced levels of skill to cast and more effort to maintain. This has especially affected Aëvon, but it has outsized effects on the world because teleportation (as a ritual and magical connection across the storm) has become even somewhat dangerous without the presence and input of multiple skilled magic wielders (at least, during storms).
Prediction of The Ripple’s Appearances
In the last few years, the mages of Aëvon and the druids of Lúzidon have developed some ability to tell when the storm is about to happen, using magic-detecting items at high altitude (Aëvon mostly collaborating with Keppon to place wards on weather balloons, and Lúzidon mostly collaborating with Drailon to bring magic-reactive plants and feed to their flying monsters–). During the hours leading up to an occurrence of a Ripple Storm, wild magical energy begins to pool high in the clouds before it begins to spill down over the world beneath it.