The Divide

by The Digital Mage

I close my eyes, the blackness surrounds me -envelopes me. I find it easier to concentrate in the darkness. I reach out with my thoughts, the facets of the mind not of the physical or the spiritual -but somewhere inbetween. I project outwards with my notions, my wants, my desires, let them get taken by the storm which is the everflowing currents of the astral realm. And my musings take flight, like a kite caught in a sudden gust of wind I feel the pull as the magical energies take hold.

Two years ago, when I first began my studies, this would be the time when the astral winds would rip the thought from me like a hurricane would the kite's string from a young child's hand. But now I have learned, my grip is stronger and the imaginings remain firm in my mind, held down by a web of formulae and charts.

And I see it now, in my own mind's eye, the tendril snaking its way up to the heavens, where the roiling sea of red and purple clouds crackle with the latent power of supernatural forces. I watch enthralled as this fifth limb of mine rears up, only a few metres from the clouds. Small sparks begin leaping from the clouds towards my tentacle of thought, and I remember how my mentor described it; 'Like raising a metal pole in a thunder storm'. And then there is contact.

I spasm as I feel the energy surge along my train of thought, it moves too fast. I'm unable to get the timing right. When do I try? When? I worry that I will be too late, that the energy will pass across the divide too far, and finding no release given to it, it will continue on into my mind rending my thoughts, tearing at my conscious state. I remember tales that if you tap into energies too strong and fail to control them, to mold them with your will, that the astral forces will not stop with your mind; instead they will ravage your body as well.

A fear overtakes me, my imagination overwhelmed with the idea of my physical form being ripped apart. Panic. I scramble for control, but I am lost in the terror. I push with my will, in a frenzy I grasp out at the energy, I feel it slither between my fingers like an eel. But the dread will not let me lose my hold and I begin to twist the energies to my desire, and redirect them away from myself.

The complex pattern stretches out before me, a pattern of creation, of forces, and of containment. I see it expand and the astral energies mutate, take on the form I have studied so many times before. My eyes open and the sudden brightness of the room blinds me momentarily, however I do not let it distract me, I focus upon the fireplace, and the wood which sits within the hearth. And I release the magical forces.

I watch.

Nothing happens, the dry wood does not burst into flame. I do not see even a spark.

And then I scream.

An agonising pain shoots through my mind. I feel like I am on fire. Oh God, such exquisite suffering. I try to focus, to centre myself, but the pain continues. A pressure around my skull. Oh God. I'm cold, numb. I feel as if my head will implode. A sensation paralleled by nothing on earth.

And then it is over.

I fall to the floor gasping for breath. My vision is blurred and I find my thoughts are caught up in a swirling confusion. I look up as I see the distorted figure of a man loom over me.

"You failed. You panicked, and out of a coward's fear you attempted to cast the spell too soon, your will began to try to mold the energies before they had flowed into your aura. Without your aura to enact the desires of your mind -to filter the energies, to mold them- the spell could not be given form, or final direction to cross the remainder of the Divide into our physical plane."

I listen mutely as my mentor scolds me.

"And that energy which you summoned but did not capture, did not transform according to the dictates of the spell's formula, slid past you and tore into that small mind of yours. I hope it hurts, maybe it will teach you a lesson I seemingly can't. You can never give in to emotion, be it anger or fear. When you do, your logic is undermined. And when you forget the formulae and charts you're left solely with your own instincts, leave that drek to the shamans."

I hold my head low. I failed and I know it. In future I must allow the energies to travel through me, and to be directed towards the target and finally into the physical dimension, across the divide. But it is so difficult, so, so difficult.

INTRODUCTION

The Divide is the boundary between the physical realm of our own existence and the higher etheric plane, known as the astral realm. The Divide cannot be directly viewed, instead the magician imposes a symbology upon it so to better comprehend it. In the story, the apprentice mage used the image of a thunder storm, with the earth being our physical dimension and the clouds above being the astral plane, the Divide manifests as the sky inbetween. Other magicians use other imagery, in Harlequin's Back the Divide is given the form of a great chasm with the realm of earth being where the player characters stood, and the astral realms were the other side. As stated above not just the astral energies used to form spells find their home across the divide, so too do spirits and other 'things', in the case of HB it was the Enemy/Horrors.

Although the imagery given to the Divide may seem to indicate a single distance between all the astral realms, this is not actually the case and different astral planes are seperated by different sizes of Divides, thus the metaplanes are harder to reach as the divide is greater (to cross it the power of an initiate is necessary). Thus for some beings (eg The Enemy) and some energies (eg those utilised by Harlequin & co's magicks) a much higher level of mana is needed to bridge the divide enough so that they can crossover _easily_. Of course various rituals and the talents of certain immortal elves have the power to stretch further over the Divide and bring over the beings and energies _now_. (Heaven help us if an immortal elf decided to 'conjure' a Horror!!!)

SPELLCASTING

For a magician to cast a spell he must be able to draw the raw astral energies into his own aura, where they are molded into a spell, this spell is then redirected towards the target. If the target exists solely on the physical plane then these energies must be drawn across the Divide between the etheric realm and the physical plane.

When a magician casts a spell, a number of sequential operations must be carried out, these are:

1) OPEN A CHANNEL
The first thing a mage must do to cast a spell is open up a channel between the astral realm and his own aura. If the magician is not currently astrally active then this channel in effect makes him so, thus the channel also becomes a channel between the etheric planes and physical space.

This channel is designed to attract the astral energies and direct them into the mage's aura, this is likened by the apprentice in the story as "erecting a metal pole in a thunder storm". The astral energies are attracted to the channel, like lightning is to metal, and then conducted down into the aura.

2) PERCIEVE THE TARGET
As the channel to the astral plane is opened the magician simultaneously opens his senses to the astral plane for a fraction of a second (and thus not sufficient to ground a spell through). However this _is_ sufficient time for the magician to synchronise his aura with that of the target. By this act the magician mimics the physical/aura sympathetic nature of the target, this "information" is then used in the next stage. The sympathetic nature is what allows the effects of an action against one aspect of a person (either the aura or the physical body) to be reflected in the other -e.g. an astral mage's astral wounds are reflected by cuts opening upon the physical body; or the physical effects of a drug are reflected in the image of the aura.

3) CONSTRUCT THE SPELL
At this point the astral energies rush into the magician's aura. The magician then begins to mold these energies -through contortions of his aura- into the spell he wishes to cast. He also transfers the "sympathetic relationship" information into the spell, thus callibrating it to bridge the Divide between the physical and astral _via_ the target's aura.

4) DIRECT THE SPELL
Having created the spell, the magician now directs it towards its target. The spell bridges the distance in astral space, and upon reaching the target it "grounds out" _through_ (not into) the target's aura.

5) TAKE DRAIN
Having cast the spell the magician closes the "flood gates" of the channel between his aura and the astral plane, and the waves of astral energy which were initially overwhelming and engulfing are reduced to a trickle. But the initial flood of astral energy and the process of molding this energy within the magician's aura can do the magician harm. Making contact with and contorting raw astral energies of this magnitude is dangerous and harms the mage's mind, if the energies are too powerful for the aura of the magician then this can result in actual physical harm.

However a mage can reduce these damaging effects through force of will, and if he is skilled enough the exposure of the aura to the energies is minimised in the first place, again reducing the damage.

6) SUSTAIN THE SPELL
If the spell is sustainable then the magician must concentrate upon it, whilst it is being sustained. Although the spell has been constructed, to continue to operate it must be fed a continous amount of astral energy - though not nearly enough as was needed to create it. The channel to the astral plane is reduced in size so only enough energy is kept flowing through it, however this channel still needs to be controlled by the magician, hence the +2 TN for sustaining a spell.

However a focus, i.e. a spell-lock, can also be used to control the spell's energy channel, and when the focus is deactivated it "remembers" the channel's pattern. The spell itself is held in the physical component of teh lock, much in the same way that spirits were bound into mundane objects in old myths and legends. Thus when deactivated the spell cannot operate, but it is also not vulnerable to astral barriers -allowing that mage to pass through the ward. When the foci is reactivated it releases the spell and creates the energy channel to once more feed it teh necessary energies.

The metamagical discipline of Quickening can also be used to control the energy channel, in much the same way that a spell lock does. However because it lacks a physical component it cannot be deactivated as it has nowhere to "store" the spell.

DAMAGING MANIPULATION SPELLS

A damaging manipulation spell is different form most spells, here the spell is brought directly across the Divide at the caster's physical location and _then_ directed at the target. The magician uses his own sympathetic relationship to callibrate the spell, thus he does not need to see his targets.

However because the mage is using his own aura/physical relationship, damagaing manipulation spells cannot be cast when the magician is astrally projecting as this relationship during this time is not strong enough to callibrate the spell (due to the physical distance between the two); this is the same relationship weakness which causes a mage to die if he does not return to his body within a few hours.

GROUNDING A SPELL FROM THE ASTRAL

Normally an astrally projecting mage cannot cast spells at targets who are purely in the physical realm as the magician cannot attain the aura/physical symmetry, simply because he only has the aura part of his half of the equation. However if a magician targets a spell at a dual natured being (one that is active on both planes) -which _is_ possible as here the magician does not need to callibrate the spell to cross the Divide as the target's dual nature provides the bridge itself- then the spell (if it is an area effect) uses the first target as an anchour. This _anchour_ (the first target) gives the spell the necessary symmetry information so that the spell may then spread out (still in astral space) and then ground out through other targets' auras, even if they themsleves are not dual natured.

GROUNDING THROUGH THE SPELLCASTING CHANNEL

As stated previously a magician casting a spell is _in_effect_ dual natured during casting, as the channel opened bridges the Divide via the casting mage's aura. However this [IN MY HUMBLE OPINION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] is not sufficient for grounding through, for two main reasons:

1. The channel opened up is configured to the spellcasting knowledge of the mage, and _the_formula_of_the_spell_. Therefore this channel in itself begins the transformation of raw astral energies into a spell. Any other spell cast through this channel would either not "fit" through or would be corrupted, and made useless.
2. The channel only remains fully open for a split second, not enough time for another magician (even with the speed imbued by pure astral form) to cast another spell. Even if the spell is sustainable, the channel is made much smaller after casting, the energies necessary to sustain it being much less; this prevents the full energy of a spell travelling through the channel (like trying to drive a tank down a mole tunnel).

END THOUGHTS

I wrote this article as a result of the endless grounding debate which occurred on the SHADOWRN mailing list, rec.games.frp.cyber, and subsequent private email with Stainless Steel Rat (thanks go out to him), it is not meant to restart the debate, but instead it is supposed to show the conclusions I came to which disallow grounding (I personally disallow it on the basis of game balance not what FASA have written) and provide in-game metaphysical reasoning for this which contradicts nothing (as far as I know) that FASA have written (barring the novels of course :).

This summary of what happens when a spell is cast is hoped to give GMs and magic user players an idea of what happens when their mages cast that Force:6 Power Bolt. The story will hopefully allow the roleplaying of learning a spell, rather than simply making a few dice rolls and paying the karma.

The Divide itself is hoped to be the inspiration for future storytelling experiences, for example:

What happens to the astral energies and spells that don't quite make it across the Divide? Are they trapped? Do they build up to cause background count? Do they siphon off into other dimensions? Do they widen the Divide, or shorten it? Is this the cause of mana spikes and nega zones?

What happens if a mage trying to astrally project gets caught in the Divide? Can a mage get caught in the Divide?

Are there beings who exist neither primarily on the physical plane, nor on the astral plane -but who call the abyss that is the Divide, "home"?

What rites affect the Divide? The Great Ghost Dance did, has anything else?

Anyway, hopefully this will not be the spark for another flame war, but instead a spark for setting off creative thought. This article was revised after the grounding debate restarted on ShadowRN mailing list. It was in this discussion taht I was convinced by Stainless Steel Rat that teh channel remains open after casting a sustainable spell - however in order to explain why drain wasn't continually being taken the idea of shrinking the size of the channel was born.