Humans and the Cycle of Magic
The Humans are confused.
This is their normal state of being. Their lives are so short, they never have time to think things through. I know this is a gross over-simplification, that there have been many brilliant Human scholars throughout the ages. Even the Da Vincis and the Einsteins, while brilliant enough to see a glimpse of the larger pattern, and imaginative enough to visualize a complex and interconnected world, still did not have the time to analyze their own thoughts. In my conversations with Da Vinci, I saw the glint of perception in his eyes but he never could express or believe what he had visualized. It takes years, sometimes hundreds of years, to get the correct perspective on ideas, even your own ideas. Humans just do not have the luxury of that time. They are also limited by their devout belief in not believing. Since the earliest recorded Human history they have had stories of magic, great unexplained ancient civilizations, and other mysteries. The Humans chose not to believe these and thus, when the mother returned the magic to us, they became disoriented and confused, their normal state of being.
What I am about to tell you must remain an elven secret. I know that the Humans will eventually discover it, but it should be delayed as long as possible.
All things that the great mother gives us, she also takes away. Nature, as the Humans call it, moves in cycles: the rising and setting of the sun, the seasons of the year, the flowing of the tide, it is always a cycle. Magic also runs in a cycle, it comes and goes from the earth, as does the warmth of the summer sun. Its cycle is measured not in hours, as the sun’s is, but in thousands of years.
From a scientific viewpoint, magic, when charted, is a semi-regular wave form moving through the history of the earth. There are slight fluctuations throughout the wave, and the wave itself is not completely uniform.
The point in the cycle at which the world becomes magically alive or magic falls dormant is called the Threshold Level. Every magical race and, in some cases, each individual within a race, has its own specific magical trigger point for metamorphosis to occur, thus the transformation of the world takes place over a period of time. Traditionally, the Threshold Level has been set as the date of the awakening of the first Great Dragon on the upswing and the hibernation of the last Great Dragon on the downswing. The average time between Threshold Levels is approximately 5,200 years.
As the last age of magic came to a close, Atlantis was readying itself for disaster. The Atlantean culture was a Human/Elven hybrid that had achieved both scientific and magical wonders, but in its later years, it turned against itself by fighting nature to maintain the island. As the end came near, a migration of technology and culture spread from the isle to the rest of the world. This is the reason mankind’s ancient calendars all start within 100 years of each other. The Hebrew, Egyptian, Chinese, and most importantly, Mayan calendars all show the direct influence of Atlantean culture.
The Mayan calendar is the most amazing, as it contains a complete description of the magic cycles, including this current crossing of the Threshold. The Mayans described the cycles as « worlds », and stated that only certain life forms made the transition from one world to the next. The calendar, written over 5,000 years ago, predicted the exact day the Threshold Level would be passed. Converting the Mayan dates to the current Christian calendar, it correctly states that the Threshold would be passed on December 24, 2011. On that day, the first Great Dragon was seen in Japan. The precision is amazing. When I advised The Pharaoh in creating the Egyptian calendar, I thought I had been as precise as possible, yet my calendar missed the Threshold date by over two years.
Atlantis sank on August 12, 3113 BC, thus marking the end of the Fourth World and the beginning of the Fifth. The Sixth World has begun, and will end, according to the Mayan calendar, on April 4, 7137 AD.
We have the intervening time to enjoy what the Great Mother gives us. We must use both the energy of nature and the power of technology to try to fix the damage done by our short-lived relatives.
Speech given by Keynote speaker, Ehran « The Scribe » at the YET (Young Elven Technologists) dinner in the 2050.
C’est de ce discours dont on fait parfois mention dans plusieurs sourcebook de Shadowrun, qui aurait été piraté lors de cette soirée puis diffusé sur Shadowland. C’est ce texte qui est à l’origine de la connaissance des cycles de mana et du 6e Monde dans l’univers des Ombres et de la rue. À noter que la campagne Harlequin montre que les YET font aussi du vol informatique et du détournement de fonds, en utilisant Sylvan Information Corporation, un petit éditeur de livres de Seattle qui se trouve être celui d’Ehran.
Il est intéressant que de voir que suite à ce texte de nombreuses personnes estiment qu’Ehran a des tendances racistes, voire des désirs de domination des mortels en particulier les non elfiques. Basiquement, depuis 12 ans, beaucoup de joueurs le prennent pour un salaud. Et encore une fois, comme souvent pour les personnages non-joueurs (en particulier les immortels) la vérité est nettement plus complexe : lisez le texte d’Ehran au monde à propos de la SURGE (GRIME en français) dans le supplément l’Année de la Comète, c’est intelligent, révélateur, anti-discriminatoire, et il tranche avec celui-ci.
Ni l’un ni l’autre ne reflètent l’entière vérité de qui est Ehran, de la même manière que quelques lignes ne pourraient définir votre personnalité ou la mienne.
Voir aussi la traduction en français publiée sur ce site.
Document créé à l'origine par Jordan Weisman et publié sur shadowrun.fr le mercredi 20 avril 2005 par Jérémie Bouillon.
Article mis à disposition sous licence Copyright FASA.
L'article est déclaré comme officiel et canon, cela veut dire qu'il a été écrit, validé et généralement publié par un auteur et l'éditeur officiel de Shadowrun. Attention toutefois, si il est traduit, la traduction en elle-même n'est pas forcément officielle.
