영계 속 자연의 법칙

영계 안에서는 자연의 법칙이 적용되지 않는다고 단언하기 쉽다. 그러나 영계 내부를 탐험하는 일은, 종종 혼란스러울지언정 형언하기 어려울 만큼 혼돈으로 차 있는 것은 아니다. 꼭 무작위로 배치된 것만 같은 물건들은 사실 보통의 현실 세계와 유사하게 작동한다. 책 속은 비록 비어 있거나 헛소리가 쓰여 있을지라도 종이 쪽으로 이루어져 있고, 펜이 스스로 움직이며 잉크 통은 잉크가 마르지 않는다 해도 그것으로 충분히 글자를 쓸 수 있다. 공중을 떠다니는 물건들은 마치 아래를 받쳐주는 존재가 있는 것처럼, 실제 현실에서 자리해 있을 만한 높이 근처를 떠다닌다. 예시로 촛불은 꼭 보이지 않는 촛대에 얹힌 양 공중에 고정되어 있다.

어떻게 창조주의 법칙이 왜곡되었음에도 완전히 파괴되지 않을 수 있을까? 책이 용으로 변하거나, 조각상이 무수한 에너지 조각들로 폭발하지는 않는 이유는 무엇일까? 그 답은, 영계에서 관찰할 수 있는 사물 대부분이 바로 인류가 만들어낸 물건이라는 사실에서 찾을 수 있을 것이다. 조각상은 필멸자의 손이 만들고 목적을 빚어 준, 창조된 물건이다. 조각상은 자신이 만들어진 의의를 알고 있다. 자연의 법칙에 반하여 변형된 물체는 모순적이게도 본래의 모습과 가까운 것이다. 하늘에 떠 있는 저 거석에는 필멸자의 손길도, 목적도 담겨 있지 않다.

모를 일이지만, 만약 드워프가 꿈을 꿀 수 있어 그들의 인식대로 영계를 형성했다면, 돌은 공중에 뜨지 않았을 것이다.

— 마도사 에피니아스 아세라탄 저, 영계의 형태에서 발췌

 

The Laws of Nature in the Fade

It is simple to say that the laws of nature do not apply in the Fade, but while traveling in the Fade is often confusing for mages, it is rarely so chaotic as to defy description. In fact, while the placement of items may seem random, those items usually operate as we would expect them to in the real world. A book opens to show pages, although the pages may be blank or lined with gibberish. A pen and inkwell let a user write, though the pen may write on its own, and the inkwell never runs dry. Those items that float usually hover at the relative height where they would have sat had the objects meant to support them existed—candles suspended in the air as though held by a phantom candlestick, for example.

Why are the laws of the Maker bent but not fully broken? Why does a book not turn into a dragon, or a statue explode into countless shards of energy? The answer, I believe, lies in the fact that the items we see in the Fade were most often made by the hands of men. A statue is a created thing. The mortal hands that shaped it gave it purpose, and it knows what it is meant to do. The objects that strain against the laws of nature are ironically those that are more natural themselves. Great stones, for example, hang in the sky. No hand has ever touched them, no mortal mind shaped them to purpose.

I suspect, though we may never know, that if dwarves dreamt and shaped the Fade with their own perceptions, the rocks would not float.

—From The Shape of the Fade by Enchanter Ephineas Aserathan