A Red Lense on Magic

[Spencer Elatoris]

Whomever may be reading this research journal,

Contained herein is the collective research conducted by myself, Cade Witherkay, Independent Wizard of Thayvian origin. The Intent of this journal is to provide a running log of encounters, experiments, research, and observations made in progress towards educating those inspired by the beautiful mystery of magic and the arcane arts. To begin this research an initial investigation topic must be identified. The topic is the latent magics on the sword coast in vicinity of Baldur's Gate and the changes caused by these magics.

This journal is written with the assumption that the reader is familiar with the following basics of magic;
- The Schools of Magic: Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, and Transmutation.
- The Sources of Magic: Arcane, the casters will upon the world and; Divine, the will of another conveyed through the caster.
- Raw magic is older than the gods and the 'Weave' are the rules forced upon this realm by Mystra that govern its limit.

My journey has brought me from my home, the Master's tower, in the High Forest to the city of Bauldur's Gate. Upon arrival I met with an old friend. Upon my request he took me to a nearby cave wherein he had found some bandit mages practicing. This is the first point in this journal. The number of mages I found was unusually high. In the few minutes I was there I found over a half dozen mages each competent with the basics, but nothing more than an acid splash or two. These were untrained, disorganized, and secluded individuals that had manage to access the magic. There was evidence of a burn out or two which only moved to indicate the amount of latent magics held within the cave. This rabble had been able to harness magic with no formal training. My investigation has just begun, this will be the first of many logs. More findings to be reported.