Forian's Big Trick
From The Seven Cities
~Myth: Forian's Big Trick~
--by Aloro--
This is how it is told:
There were, in ancient times, two gods who hated each other fiercely, and who both strove for mastery of the domain of Mortal Magic in our world of Avlis. Andrinor was Lord of the Vortex of Mortal Magic, while Angadar was Lord of Trickery, Deceit, and Arcane Lore. Now Angadar wanted what Andrinor had, and wanted to become the sole deity of magic in Avlis, and so he plotted and schemed, and he struggled and fought, but he could not find a way to win.
One day Angadar was walking along, pondering how he could wrest the Vortex away from his foe, when he heard a loud "Hullo there! Just the deity I was hoping to see."
Angadar looked over and saw Forian sitting by a stream, dipping his toes in the water and waving at Angadar with both hands. Angadar was not very fond of Forian, whom he considered unreliable and strange, and so he frowned at the Lord of Chaos, and huffed, "What is it now?"
Forian smiled cheerily and pulled his feet out of the water, then shook them one at a time and stood up. "Well, I found something out, and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me, you know? It's not really in my area of expertise, being arcane and obscure and all."
"Really?" Angadar sighed and waved one hand dismissively, "I doubt it's anything interesting."
Forian shrugged and replied, "Oh, well, I suppose that depends on how you feel about the Vortex of Mortal Magic, really. I just thought it was curious to see how divine magic interacts with it, and I just didn't expect it, is all, it being so arcane in nature."
Angadar's eyes narrowed slightly, then his face relaxed its scowl by three-tenths of a millimeter. "What happened?" Angadar asked, his tone deceptively neutral.
"That's the interesting thing," Forian said, "because I was poking around inside there, which is to say that I manifested an avatar inside the Vortex, and I noticed that the Vortex was interfering ever so slightly with my divine powers, from the perspective of that avatar, in the context of that spatiotemporal nexus thingy. Anyhow. So I wondered, if the Vortex was interfering with the divine powers of the avatar inside it, I mean inside the Vortex, then maybe MY divine powers, or that avatar’s, or whatever, were interfering with IT. So, what do you think? Would that happen?"
"That is not how the Vortex operates, simpleton," sneered Angadar dismissively.
"Oh, all right," nodded Forian, "but it sure was curious how the Vortex’s internal whoozit-thingy, you know, the one with the long sparkly flashy things, briefly changed color when I fed some power back into the aspect of my divine powers being interfered with. I sent a jolt down the connection, sort of, I’m not really sure what I did exactly, and the flashies changed to solid yellow for a bit, then went back to all bluey-purpley-flashy like before. I didn’t want to get in trouble, so I left.”
Angadar blinked, and his eyes grew distant as he pondered the implications; if there was a way to directly interact with the Vortex from within, then perhaps he could use that to gain some advantage over Andrinor. Gathering his face back into a scowl, Angadar shook his head at Forian and said, “Stay away from the Vortex. It is not meant for the likes of you to tamper with.” Turning away, Angadar strode off quickly, as Forian nodded amicably and wandered off without a word.
Sometime later, Andrinor was wandering around his home, making some changes here and there as he was wont to do, when a knock at his door signaled a visitor. The Lord of Mortal Magic looked up and was pleased to see Forian, whom he admired for his openness to change and his flexible attitudes. Andrinor grinned and called out “Forian! Come in, old friend, come in. What brings you here, and what kept you away so long?”
Forian shrugged and smiled enigmatically and replied, “I thought I should warn you about Angadar. I was just talking to him and he’s been thinking of a way to steal the Vortex from you.”
Andrinor looked mildly curious and waited for Forian to continue.
Forian paused, and said slowly and pensively, as if testing each word before uttering it, “What would happen if Angadar manifested an avatar inside the Vortex, and then tried using his divine powers to interfere with it? Would it be possible for him to cause any sort of fluctuation of the power matrices, or any of that technical mumbo-jumbo you talk about?”
Andrinor did not like that idea much at all, and the more he thought about it, the more alarmed he became. Perhaps there was a way Angadar could threaten him using this approach. Perhaps, indeed, there was a vulnerability here he’d never considered; for who would be foolish enough manifest an avatar inside the very Vortex, where its immense energies might destabilize the avatar itself?
Who indeed.
As Andrinor pondered, growing more concerned by the minute, Forian entertained himself by growing two long antennae out of his forehead. Waving his antennae around comically, he deepened his voice to a buzzing bass growl, and asked, “So... it’s not a problem, is it?” Andrinor sighed and chewed on his thumb briefly before shrugging and admitting, “It might be. I’d better put up some sort of protections to prevent that.”
“I’ll come along in case you need any help,” said Forian, as he shrunk his antennae back into his forehead, and off they went together.
When they arrived, the Vortex was humming and shaking wildly, and streams of vermillion light burst out periodically. Andrinor took one look and shouted, ‘He’s here already!” He quickly prepared himself for combat, and dove into the Vortex after Angadar.
Forian strolled over to the Vortex, from whence came the sounds of a terrible struggle. Occasional bursts of devastating energy shot out, and Forian calmly ducked out of their way. Humming to himself, he wove a net of energy around the entire Vortex; calling upon all his skill and power as a Major God of Avlis, he sealed the Vortex up with both deities still fighting inside. The phenomenal energies of the Vortex, bolstered by the energies released in the wild divine combat, built up quickly, as Forian expected. Within seconds there was a flash and a soundless explosion, and the Vortex of Mortal Magic imploded into a small whirling ball of energy.
Forian reached out gently and took the glowing ball of energy, and held it up to his face. “Hello?” he called, shaking it slightly. “Anyone there?”
A small atonal voice replied, “Hello?” Smiling happily, Forian placed the tiny ball of energy on the ground, and plopped himself down next to it.
“Hi!” said Forian, “I’m Forian. Who are you?”
The voice paused a while before replying, “I am the Vortex. I...” It seemed almost about to say more, but then stopped.
Forian nodded gently, “That’s what I was hoping. Well, this is probably all pretty confusing to you, but you’re a god. You were formed from the essences of two other gods, who merged into the Vortex of Mortal Magic. You control all magic of all sorts on a world called Avlis.”
“Is this... correct?” the voice asked. “I feel the arcane power flowing through me, and I can sense the divine power you are feeding to your followers, but I do not control it.”
“Well, see, that’s the problem,” replied Forian, looking very serious as he placed a pair of pince-nez glasses on his nose and peered down through them. “Divine magic is all in a shambles because nobody controls it. It’s important that it be available to all the gods to use, but there’s no way to make certain this happens. Not unless we change things, and fix this.”
“I do not comprehend the problem to which you refer. Could you offer more illumination?” asked the glowing ball of light.
“Sure,” said Forian amiably. “But first, I can’t just call you ‘hey you’. Well, I could of course, but it’s not very convenient over time. Why don’t I call you Vortex?”
And so he did.
“So anyhow, Vortex, here’s my idea. See, if you just grabbed control of ALL divine magic flowing into and out of Avlis, the same way you already control all arcane magic, then you could make sure those channels remain clear. Only you have the ability to do this, to make certain that all magic remains available for use. Nobody else can do this.” Forian assumed an avuncular air and looked down at Vortex, saying, “You want magic to be available, don’t you?”
Vortex pulsed briefly with light, and replied, “The free flow of magic does appeal to my nature, yes. Your plan has merit. I lack however the knowledge of how to proceed with this process. Can you provide guidance?”
Forian smiled widely, “Of course I can! You just need to let me help out... give me control and I’ll show you how to do it.” Vortex assented, and Forian quickly reached into the new god’s essence and grabbed its immense power. It took only a few moments, then Forian stepped back and released his hold on Vortex’ powers. “All done,” said the Lord of Change, “now divine magic will be freely available to all the deities and their worshippers, and nobody will be able to close those channels except you. Oh, and I, um, sorted out a few minor inconsistencies while I was at it. Nothing major, just some housekeeping.”
Vortex hummed to itself, and paused to check the status of its powers and influence. “All seems well,” Vortex reported, “although I have a strange feeling something important just happened.”
“Nothing to worry about, chum,” winked Forian, and Vortex believed him.
And so it was that Forian seized the power of the newborn deity Vortex, and extended that power to include all divine magics in Avlis. And for a scant few seconds, Forian held all arcane and all divine power in Avlis... a few seconds only, but they sufficed for his purposes.
In those few seconds of ultimate power, Forian sealed off the plane on which Avlis resides from all other Prime Material Planes. Deities from far-off worlds called Earth, and Faerun, and other strange names, were suddenly and permanently sealed off from Avlis. Their names and memories faded in time from Avlis: Titania, Corellon Larethian, Gruumsh, Ptah... all were forgotten, as new deities took their places. Planar travelers from other Prime Material Planes could no longer reach Avlis, and those already in Avlis had no way to return home.
In those same few seconds, Forian appeared simultaneously to every deity remaining in Avlis, and spoke with them briefly. He asked each deity what things were most important to them and why, and he nodded with interest as each deity replied in detail... more detail than they themselves expected or in some cases intended. And as he listened, he considered the function each deity served, and how they served, and he made adjustments, and changed every deity; some very slightly, some more dramatically.
In those same few seconds, Forian altered the entire pantheon of Avlis. Deities disappeared, others were born, and many that remained were changed and found new or refined focus and intent.
And Forian, God of Change, looked upon Avlis, and he was content. Then, putting his hands in his pockets and humming a jaunty tune, he wandered off to find something else to do.
So is the story told.
