Mithis¶
"They are NOT made of Mithis. They OWN the Mithis." — of the pieces of the Heartstone (S132)
Mithis is the magical particle that gave the mortal races their magic. It was once an Astral Shard, moved from the heavens to the Material Plane to wall the Abyss away from the living world; bound and governed as the Worldstone, it was shattered, and its dust settled into the earth, the ores and the blood of Terrun. For an age any mortal with the gift could draw on it. Then it was tainted by an archdemon, grew Hollows wherever it concentrated, and at last was taken out of the world altogether. What remains of it lies in the Rift. This page follows the particle; the barrier it made is the Mithis Plane, the metals and gems it bonded with are Magic's, and the magic worked with it is Arcane Magic.
Also called Mithius (S384, S498) and Mithium (S384). The Mithis-tainted substance of the Hollowing Period is Malum, Irathus or Wrathis (S132).
Origin¶
"Mithis is a crucial magical particle found only the material plane. Scholars surmise that is was once an Astral Demesne, moved to the Material Plane to form the Abscission (the barrier between the Abyss and Material). When the gods moved/created it, it was called the Worldstone and was bound to all life on the Material Plane" (S419). The Terrun Cosmology tells it the same way: "The Mithis energy plane was formed when an Astral Shard was moved from the Astral Plane to the Material. It was brought to insulate the Material Plane from the Abyssal Planes" (S421). The Worldstone, the Anthu'Mithis, "bound the Mithium together into a uniform field around Terrun" (S384), and its magic "originally prevented Demonic corruption, by automatically banishing demonic spirits to the Abyss" (S519, cited on the Mithis Plane).
The stone changed hands twice before it broke. "It was initially controlled exclusively by the High Elves of Anthu'Mithis during the period known as the Elven Ascension/Pax Lothim Anthu. After the fall of the High Elves of Anthu'Mithis, the Worldstone fell under the control of the Twilight Dragons during the Draconian Ascension/Pax Draconia. After a long reign and under unclear circumstances, the Worldstone was destroyed, throwing the entire planet into apocalyptic chaos (see the Shattering)" (S419). Those ascendancies are History's, under the Age of Dragons.
The Shattering¶
In the Shattering the shard itself was destroyed "and the Mithis energy spread across the Material. It retains much of its former power, but it is spread in a distributed fashion (making it only possible to use a small fraction of it at any given time). Any sense of Astral ownership is now impossible. Mages have learned to tap into this free energy source" (S421). "Scholars believe when the Worldstone was destroyed, parts of it travelled across the planet in the forms of pure Mithis dust and shards. For a reason not entirely understood, the Mithis Particle binds itself easily to material with high elemental energy. In this way it has been absorbed in part into every part of the earth. It is believed deposits of mithis ores were created by large worldstone shards landing near rich metal deposits" (S419). The uniform field "vanished and the Mithium became a free agent, though still purposed at maintaining the Abscission. As it settled, it concentrates into living cells, crystals and metals. It is most difficult to extract from living cells, and easiest from metals" (S384).
The 2020 history counts three effects of the Shattering: the cataclysm itself, the collapse of the power of the Primal Dragons and Arch-wizards who had used the stone "both as a focus and power source", and "that the dust from the explosion now made magic possible for many mortals through the use of Mithis magic as an energy source. The dust settled across the planet. The barrier between the Material plane and the Abyss remained mostly intact, though weak enough that small holes could now be punched in it (Demonic Summoning)" (S386). Mithis is therefore ownerless: "Mithis is a destroyed Astral Shard whose particles are claimed by proximity" (S208); "Mithis is actually a destroyed Astral Shard with no owner (binding is Relational and Transitive and claimed by proximity and skill)" (S304). The oldest compendium gives the Age of Magic its calendar from this event, MA, "Mithius Ante" (S384).
Particle and energy¶
"Mithis is a particle which continuously radiates Mithis energy and passes easily through most materials. A spell caster is able to form spells by drawing on the ambient radiated Mithis Energy surrounding him/her. Having a higher concentration of Mithis Energy around him can potentially increase the power of his casting ability. A Mithis Particle can be excited to radiate or conduct more energy, but this leads to depletion where the Mithis Particle will have to rest and regain its internal storage of Mithis Energy before radiating again" (S419). Arcane casters "gather and control Mithis Energy with equations and algorithms. They generally have a readily available supply of energy which can be easily augmented with magical items and artifacts composed of Mithis-concentrated materials (most commonly metals and crystals)" (S208). Mithis energy "is only available to casters when on the Material Plane (they cannot rest to regain energy anywhere but the Material Plane)", though what is cast or enchanted with it "will function anywhere that Astral Magic functions" (S205). Where Mithis sits among the other energies of magic is told under Nature of Magic.
Concentrations, channels and nodes¶
"Mithis naturally gravitates towards places on the material place with High Elemental energy. The most predictable of these are with Rare Ores, some Crystals, Volcanically active areas, Titan and Faerie remains and Elemental Nexuses" (S419). It organises itself: "Mithis is apparently self organizing and over time is has gravitated toward creating energy channels of mithis (which are detectable by a slight Mithis concentration increase). Places where multiple channels intersect and where concentrations are notably higher are known as Mithis Nodes. These are sometimes used as places of power for spellcasters. Large Mithis Ore deposits are by definition a Mithis Node. Elemental Nexus and Mithis Node are nearly synonymous, though separate concepts and rarely one without the other" (S419).
A Mithis Element is one "where a Mithis particle has bonded itself to the element, in practice forming a new element with many new properties"; the number of particles an element can take is its Mithis Saturation (S419). The isotopes, Adamantium, Argentium, Aurumite, Kalamite and the rest, their ores, saturations and the dangerous business of bleeding and smelting them, are Magic's.1
The regions where Mithis has run out are dead. The Withering, "Earthblight, Kalar's Bane, The Red Plague", are "areas of the planet that have died and are no longer able to sustain life, of any kind. Many theories exist about how this can happen, the most respected is a complete exhaustion of local Mithius energy. A combination of massive destruction and magic-use can exhaust an area to such a great extent that the Mithius-cycle is broken and Mithius concentrations collapse. Living cells in these areas consume Mithius energy with no way to be replenished. Insects and tiny organisms die within an hour of exposure" (S498). Heavy magic-use thins the barrier too: where it happens "on a very large scale in a specific location, a rift can appear between the Abyss and Material Plane. The Abscission is self-healing in that it naturally moves to redistribute its strength" (S384). The Accursed places and the Demonblight are described with the Mithis Plane.
Mithis in the blood¶
Mithis "concentrates into living cells" (S384), and the gift of using it ran in bloodlines. "The ability to harness Mithis is in bloodlines (a Transitive property). These bloodlines are very rare except in magical races such as Elves and Draconians" (S208). The High Elves, "the original owners and caretakers of the Worldstone", carried it in their blood (S208). It destroyed them in the end: the High and Dark Elves are "Dead. Gone. Extinct. Their blood was infused with Mithis" (S327, cited on Hollows); "Magical races such as High Elves, Dark Elves and some kinds of Draconians which had high concentrations of Mithis in their blood became pawns of the Devils ... or were destroyed outright" (S208).
Mithi'Nulias¶
Mithis has a negative state. "Annulment spells manipulate Mithis into a negative state (Mithi'Nulias) which results in complete destruction on contact with normally charged Mithis particles. This leads to the permanent depletion of Mithis energy. A Spellbreaker can use these negative properties of Mithis to create Anti-magic fields, barriers and other magic disruption and destroying effects. Originally employed during the Spell Wars, they have since been outlawed by every magical order. Only the Dwarves and Dark Elves are known to train them" (S208; the 2017 draft calls these casters Vacators and names only the Dark Elves, S304). The archive's metallurgy knows two "Anti-Mithis" isotopes, Koboltar of cobalt and Nicktaranite of nickel (S419), and the Sancturi holy substance Witchbane was "formerly known as anti-Mithis" (S146). Spellbreaking is Magic's; the order of mage-hunters that took the name Mithi'Nulias is Factions'.
Malum, Irathus and the Taint¶
During the Hollowing the particle itself was corrupted. "All Mithis has been tainted by Daemiveus. The name 'Mithis' has been lost along with the death of Arcane Magic as it was once known. Now know as 'Malum' it taints anything it comes into contact with and spreads like a disease. When is has sufficiently permeated an area, it will form a Hollow. Old magical objects are known as 'Malum Daemdicta' (Tainted Demonic Curse)" (S132). The same notes give the archdemon's name for it: Asmodeus "has taken complete control of the Mithis Plane and warped it creating The Hollow ... The Hollow exists around objects and places which have high concentrations of Irathus (renamed Mithis). Irathite and Irathic are other common adjectives used to describe the materials. Demons frequently wield objects made from it as it strengthens their connection to the Abyss, increasing their strength, regeneration and magic" (S132). Wrathis is a third name (S132).
"Hollowing is a magical force that emanates from all tainted Mithis (commonly referred to as 'The Taint'). It is a demonic force that drains ethereal energy from elemental, somatic and spiritual sources" (S146, S325). For a caster, Mithis and corruption became one thing: "Since the death of Kalar and the ascension of Asmodeus over the Mithis plane, demonic corruption and the use of Mithis magic are intertwined. While this has forced the end of the practice of magic in most places, there have been some who have refused and resisted" (S304). The Sancturi disposed of Mithis by melting it into obelisks carved with runes of isolation, the Vigils (S146), and their rituals could "render Mithis inert for a period of time" or, with divine magic, "completely cleanse small amounts of Malum and turn it into Mithis again. The danger is that when this is out in the world it is effortlessly corrupted back into Malum" (S132). The countermeasures are Magic's.
The exception is the Heartstone. The three pieces of the Worldstone Heart "are NOT made of Mithis. They OWN the Mithis. They radiate no magic and only a Divine, a Seer or someone with Ethereal Vision could tell they are special" (S132); one of them "is what has allowed him to take over defacto control of the Mithis Plane and bend it to his will" (S132). The Mithis Heartstone is Artifacts'.
The Fifth Age¶
The treatise The Nature of Magic sums up the present: "After the events of the Dark Sun and the death of Kalar, Mithis became a corrupted substance controlled primarily by the Archdemon Asmodeus. This led to the worldwide abandonment of Mithis as a Focus and Source of Magic for the mortal races" (S208; the treatise calls this age the Sixth, which the designer has ruled wrong: it is the Fifth Age). In the Fifth Age notes "the Mithis Plane is gone, its echo being the Rift and its bridges to Astral Shards (Astral Folds)", and "the mithis metals of bygone ages are now channeling objects, but no longer hold magical energy of their own. Some can be charged with energy and are capable of holding it, but all such energy is transient and will deplete over time or with use" (S014). The runesmiths' Master Rune of Mithis, "once upon a time ... the go to rune for runeforging", became "very rare as it requires an uncorrupted Mithis source" (S246, cited under Nature of Magic).
The newest Fifth Age source ends the story on the Material. The Redemption, "an act of the Divine that destroyed all Hollows and removed Mithis from the world. The Mithis Plane has been fully extracted from the material, making it its own physical place known in common parlance simply as the Rift (an often unstable and shifting place). Scholars call this the Mithis Fracture. Divine Priests call it Perdition. This has also had the effect of removing Mithis as an magic/energy source from the material. Mithis metals and objects can still exist, but must be transplanted from (and energized on) the Mithis Plane" (S112). The plane "is still a bridge between Material and Abyss (but much more distant). Asmodeus still has a lot of control here" (S112). Mithis has not quite left: "the Rift leaks Corrupted Mithis in small bursts which is attracted to weakened souls due to demonic influences", and the monsters that spawn around Rift anomalies "contain Mithis" (S112). The same notes list the Rift's Mithis, as Warlocks' power and as Riftmetals, among the uncommon sources of magic, and name Fel-Corrupted Mithis and Mithis-Storms without describing them (S112). The Rift has its own page.
Earlier accounts¶
The 2014 archive thought of the released power differently. In the oldest compendium "the Worldstone was shattered, releasing Ethereal magic into the world. Before this the only sources of Magic were Elemental (faerie magic) and Astral (Ventari/Rakkari). Ethereal magic was able to be studied and used by most races, using their own spirit connection to the Ethereal plane" (S384); the later sources call that released power Mithis and keep the name Ethereal for the energy of souls. The archive's first magic-user draft describes the Mithis Plane as the medium through which conjurers "create planar tunnels from any plane adjacent to the Mithis plane to the Inner Planes" (S371), and the Terrun Cosmology has it bridge "Material, Astral and Elemental Planes" while forming "a barrier between the Abyss and the Material and Elemental" (S421).
Gap
No source says who destroyed the Worldstone or why; S386 and S419 both leave it unknown. Fel-Corrupted Mithis and Mithis-Storms are named in S112 and nowhere described. The chemistry of Mithis in living cells, and how the Divine's Redemption extracted it, are not explained.