Potions and things (Afina)

[Anastasia]

"I did," Sage Vul'lath says, "For something far better than this foolishness. Afina, here," Sage Vul'lath passes you a scroll, "Here is the information we have, as well as a rough map of the outer ring of defenses."

[Ebiris]

"Thanks," Afina takes the scroll but doesn't unfurl it yet as she looks to Tepen and then back at Vul'lath. "So what risks were you talking about?"

[Anastasia]

"Tepen's talking about a way to channel positive energy directly, but with a cutoff that prevents it going over the limit for anyone. Stupidity, as the slightest mistake can be fatal." Sage Vul'lath grunts.

"The benefits cannot be denied," Elder Magi Tepen counters. "If it can be tamed."

[Ebiris]

"Excuse my ignorance, but how is that any different than conjuring positive energy as with any healing spell?" Afina asks.

[Anastasia]

"Well, " Elder Magi Tepen clears his throat, "It's actually quite complicated. Are you aware of the Third Law of Positive Energy Transference? Succinctly, this states that while positive energy is infinite, the ability of magic and the body to hold it or transfer it is invariably limited. When faced with that, we must either conclude that the several theories regarding the nature of the Weave may be essentially impossible to prove beyond a theoretical level, or that we must instead affirm that creatures adapted to positive energy have instead reached a zenith where they have overcome this and managed infinite transference and storage."

A pause to clear his throat. "Ahem. Now my theories lean towards the latter, insofar that if we can both produce a font of positive energy with sufficient throughput as well as solving and mimicking the properties of natives of the Positive Energy Plane, we can overcome the inherent limits of spell workings and manage a much more direct and potent form of healing. Of course, both practicality and various realities with fine spellwork and the difficulties of every creature having differing resistances and capacity for positive energy immensely complicates this, as it may be that the solution has to be individualized rather than generalized."

At this point Tepen pauses and takes a sip from a nearby glass of water. "Now to obtain such a precise and yet adaptive spell work on an individual level calls into question various theories of the soul and how that interacts with the body, for the soul is the seat of individuality, even if we are dealing with the body for our aim. Indeed, the soul's very immunity to positive energy is both a boon and a bane, because while it cannot be harmed but it, it cannot help or be helped by it. So the utility of the soul in this matter is limited-"

"Ahem," Sage Vul'lath cuts in. "Suffice to say that it is complicated. There is a reason that temporary and false life, such as from a false life spell, is a rare branch of magic."

[Ebiris]

"The devils are quite creative when it comes to finding ways of inflicting hurt that normal spells can't mend," Afina comments. "Risky or not, finding a panacea to their worst efforts does sound a valuable effort, if it could be generalised. If you have to spend a lot of effort customising it for every individual casting then it's not much better than having to get all the other specific remedies we usually have to rely on. The soul contamination inflicted by the likes of Auril and Lixer is the real sticking point, but like you said the soul is immune to positive energy, so we can't find a solution there, can we?"

[Anastasia]

"If," Elder Magi Tepen agrees. "Are you familiar with Arcanist's Grimoire, edition Firanza or the works of Legan the Mad?"

[Ebiris]

Rolling arcana?
[17:55] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+39 Afina's pretty well read
[17:55] <Serith> Ebiris roll for Serith < 46 > [d20=7]

[Anastasia]

Afina recalls the Arcanist's Grimoire is a fairly well known and foundational guide to magical theory. It's popular on the planes and less known on the primes. Various editions have editing and changes by the author in question. You haven't read edition Firanza, but you recall it's authored by an eladrin.

The works of Legan the Mad are in the library. You tried them once in passing, but it's a madman's screed. There's certainly knowledge of many things in there, but you found it not worth the effort to read.

[Ebiris]

"I tried reading Legan's work, but it was worse than conversing with 27 when he first joined us," Afina shakes her head. "If you found any wisdom in them you've greater insight than I."

[Anastasia]

Sage Vul'lath laughs sourly. "The three of us - Myself, Tepen and Sylvie - spend a quiet week detangling it with solid effort and magic. If that damned fool hadn't lost his mind probing into the nature of life and death, he'd have been one of its greatest scholars. His insights, at least when they don't veer into madness, are remarkable."

[Ebiris]

"It does seem to be an unfortunate trend that so much great wisdom is locked behind the incomprehensible, whether the ravings of madmen or the obtuse puzzles of prophets," Afina agrees. "The Arcanist's Grimoire is a straightforward enough read, but it's also basic, no great mysteries revealed beyond fundamentals obvious to any mage with a bit of experience."

[Anastasia]

"There's a reason I've studied codebreaking," Elder Magi Tepen says with a smile. "Often, wisdom must be clutched from the jaws of a great mystery, only yielding to those that can fight. Many minds are not strong enough to withstand the mysteries of Creation, even if they are smart enough to unravel some of them.""

[Ebiris]

"Well keep your own mind strong," Afina bids. "No great secret is worth losing you over, Tepen."

[Anastasia]

"My sanity is intact," Tepen matches that with a smile, "None of us have gone mad from secrets yet, though perhaps Aurora has been fortunate. Then again, the immortal mind seems far better equipped for this."