Resonance is the arcane pulse flowing through Etheria—a phenomenon neither entirely magic nor wholly natural, yet inseparable from both. It is born from the immense scales left behind by Irion during The Collapse, and it continues to emanate from them even ARC's later. These colossal plates, embedded across the land, emit steady magical pulses that ripple across the surface of the world. These pulses, echoing outward in ever-shifting waves, are what scholars have come to call resonance.
It is not spellwork. It is not divine. It is not even consistent. It is a living rhythm—a flowing undercurrent of magical force that bends the land, and reacts to the presence and intent of those who inhabit it. The people of Etheria do not simply follow resonance; they shape it. It responds not to their wishes, but to their presence, their movement, their choices. Perhaps it even could be the oblique concord who knows.
To understand resonance, one must think of a river—an ancient stream too wide to see in full, too deep to measure, and too forceful to stop. It flows across Etheria from the embedded scales, shifting its speed and depth depending on the surrounding land, inhabitants, and arcane activity. In places where it pools, entire forests might grow unnaturally fast or warp into unfamiliar forms. In regions where it runs dry, magic becomes difficult, even dangerous, to summon.
Over generations, the flow of resonance has carved literal marks into the terrain. Valleys have collapsed where pulses gathered too densely. Hills have lifted where resonance pushed upward with unseen pressure. Some deserts in Etheria exist only because the pulse was drawn away, like a diverted riverbed. Forests that once teemed with life now sway in sync to a quiet, invisible beat, growing tall and strange under its influence.
The world moves along with the resonance.
When resonance is channeled deliberately, it becomes Arcane Resonance—the foundation of all refined magical practice. What most scholars call "magic" is actually the shaping of resonance into a structured effect, much like controlling a fire by building a hearth around it. Mages trained in manipulating resonance are not merely wielders of power; they are readers of rhythm, sculptors of flow.
Cities like the City of Or and Mohinders rely on stable resonance flows to maintain their advanced metallurgy and transport systems. Without resonance to guide the core magic, their tools would stutter, spells would fracture, and devices would lose power entirely.
But raw resonance, when left to its own natural currents, is neither safe nor wild—it is simply there. It needs no intention. It exists.
The passage of time in Etheria is not tracked by planetary revolutions or celestial bodies alone, but by the ongoing waves of resonance emitted from the scales and mirrored by the world itself. This phenomenon is known as the Aurorhythmic Resonance Cycle, or ARC.
Each ARC marks a global phase in Etheria’s resonance flow—an era during which the harmonic tone of the world remains relatively stable. When the resonance shifts significantly, a new ARC begins. These changes are felt long before they are measured: the pulse of the land grows tense, spells behave oddly, and ancient structures hum with renewed intensity.
The first recorded cycle began the moment Irion's body struck the planet, marking ARC 0. Everything that came after is measured from that moment forward.
No deity can exist apart from resonance. Their presence, power, and very identity depend upon the attunement of resonance within a scale to their domain. Without such alignment, divine manifestations flicker and fail—gods cannot speak, act, or even be unless the resonance allows it. Followers of Irion, for example, center their worship around Batès Lamina, the smallest scale, which emits a calming pulse said to align perfectly with Irion’s lingering will.
A scale can only house deific presence if the resonance within it has reached a state of attunement. This attunement is not imposed by the gods—it is shaped by those who dwell around the scale. Only through enduring presence, ritual, and harmony between belief and scale can divine power settle into the land.
Resonance is not worshipped. It is not controlled. It is lived with, like weather, like time, like breath.
Those who ignore it find themselves struggling against the grain of the world. But those who learn to feel its movement, to understand its tides and bends, gain not only magical control, but deeper insight into the shape of Etheria itself.
Resonance is not simply a tool or a resource. It is the tempo of existence—the slow, steady rhythm in which all life moves, and into which all life, eventually, returns.