Balance magic is a magical technique learned by Khoradyn from a man he met during an expedition. His training involved extensive meditation, and he stopped aging from that time. Khoradyn still remembered the training long afterward, although he could no longer place when it had happened.
Balance magic can break the connections within Essence, allowing a mage to unmake a target. Hrzai calls the reversal of divine healing unhealing: instead of joining a target's threads, she disconnects them. Her demonstrations use golden strands and rapid hand gestures.
Cassian inherited his ability to destroy gods from Hrzai. Thalena mastered other aspects of divine magic while remaining unable to disconnect Essence threads.
Isaac the Unmaker could dismantle magical defenses and attacks. During the invasion of Thalassai, he broke Thalena's golden shield and turned his power on her black hole. The spell detonated, forcing the other mages to protect the survivors with barriers.
Khoradyn learned balance magic from a man he met on an expedition. His training involved extensive meditation, and he stopped aging from that time.
Balance magic is a branch of divine magic that breaks and reshapes Essence connections. Its destructive use can unmake spells, living bodies, and gods. Isandriel also used it to stabilize Thea's erratic Essence, bringing her power under control.
Practice
Hrzai calls the reversal of healing unhealing. She demonstrates it with golden strands and rapid hand gestures that disconnect a target's Essence threads. Her son Cassian inherited the capability and used it to destroy gods. Thalena mastered other aspects of divine magic while remaining unable to disconnect Essence threads.
Khoradyn learned balance magic from Isandriel, then known as Isaac, during their travels before the defense of Hengzhou. His training involved extensive meditation, and he stopped aging from that time.
Capabilities and Limits
Isandriel's unmaking required him to reach his opponent. He destroyed Uriandel by holding his chest and shard palm, reducing the guardian to dust. He withdrew from confronting Jorhan when the atraxi held both spiral shards, recognizing that he could not apply his power from a distance.
He could also dismantle magical defenses and attacks. During the invasion of Thalassai, he broke Thalena's golden shield and turned his power on her black hole. The spell detonated, forcing the other mages to protect the survivors with barriers.
Purpose
Isandriel and Tal'Massar were created to hold Malverand's guardians accountable if the empire fell beyond their control. Michael revealed this purpose to Isandriel as the guardians' wars spread. Isandriel then used his power against them during the Fall of Malverand, becoming known as the Unmaker.
Balance magic is a branch of divine magic that breaks and reshapes Essence connections. Its destructive use, known as unmaking or unhealing, can dismantle spells, living bodies, and gods. Isandriel also used it to stabilize Thea's erratic Essence, bringing her power under control.
Principles and Practice
Hrzai teaches unhealing as the reversal of healing: the mage disconnects the threads that would otherwise be joined to restore a target. Her demonstrations use golden strands and rapid hand gestures. Unmaking can distort the surrounding world and drain its colors as the target disintegrates.
In theory, any divine mage can learn unmaking. Hrzai learned it independently and passed the capability to her son Cassian, who used it to destroy gods. The technique is difficult to control. Thalena mastered other aspects of divine magic while remaining unable to disconnect Essence threads.
Isandriel spent decades mastering his power and accidentally disintegrated objects while growing up. During his expedition into the Plains of Eternity, he practiced away from his companions because misfired spells destroyed whatever they touched. Even Thamrielle kept clear of him.
Khoradyn learned balance magic from Isandriel, then known as Isaac, during their travels before the defense of Hengzhou. His training involved extensive meditation, and he stopped aging from that time.
Limits
Isandriel's unmaking required him to reach his opponent. When he destroyed Thamrielle's arm, she severed it before he could reach her shard, preserving Kharvos. Her Malverand heart allowed her to recover from the damage. Water was another limitation: he could strip its Essence properties, but the liquid remained.
Dense Essence could resist instant unmaking. When Isandriel intercepted tendrils from the source, they exploded on contact and threw him and his companions back. He kept attacking Thamrielle because pausing to unmake her would have allowed her to heal and retaliate.
Destroying a spell could also produce a dangerous release of force. During the invasion of Thalassai, Isandriel dismantled Thalena's golden shield and turned his unmaking on her black hole. The spell detonated, forcing the other mages to protect the survivors with barriers.
Origins
Arcanis created Tal'Massar as a god core, building on the success of Hrzai. The project gave Malverand a way to kill gods and a safeguard against a future wielder losing control of the spiral shard. Barachiel created Isandriel as a newborn and fused the core with him so that he could learn its dangerous power while he still had little Essence. Michael and Raphael raised and taught him.
Isandriel later used his unmaking against the guardians during the Fall of Malverand, becoming known as the Unmaker.
Balance magic is a branch of divine magic that breaks and reshapes Essence connections. Its destructive use, known as unmaking or unhealing, can dismantle spells, living bodies, and gods. Isandriel also used it to stabilize Thea's erratic Essence, bringing her power under control.
Principles
Hrzai teaches unhealing as the reversal of healing: the mage disconnects the threads that would otherwise be joined to restore a target. Her demonstrations use golden strands and rapid hand gestures. Unmaking can distort the surrounding world and drain its colors as the target disintegrates.
Destroying a god requires controlling the connections through which it can escape. Cassian can perceive the veins of Essence joining Valrindor to the God Realm and sever them. When he unmade Khauren, he cut the god's retreat and dismantled his body and shard, but the origin magic within him remained beyond Cassian's reach. Cassian also created a local barrier that prevented Tianlei from seeing Nethira through the realm.
Practice and Limits
In theory, any divine mage can learn unmaking, but the technique is widely unknown and difficult to control. Isandriel spent decades mastering it and accidentally disintegrated objects while growing up. During his expedition into the Plains of Eternity, he practiced away from his companions because misfired spells destroyed whatever they touched. Even Thamrielle kept clear of him. Thalena mastered other aspects of divine magic while remaining unable to disconnect Essence threads.
Khoradyn learned balance magic from Isandriel, then known as Isaac, during their travels before the defense of Hengzhou. His training involved extensive meditation, and he stopped aging from that time.
Isandriel's unmaking required him to reach his opponent. When he destroyed Thamrielle's arm, she severed it before he could reach her shard, preserving Kharvos. Her Malverand heart allowed her to recover from the damage. Water was another limitation: he could strip its Essence properties, but the liquid remained.
Destroying a spell can release dangerous force. During the invasion of Thalassai, Isandriel dismantled Thalena's golden shield and turned his unmaking on her black hole. The spell detonated, forcing the other mages to protect the survivors with barriers.
Dense Essence can overwhelm the caster. Isandriel's attempts to unmake tendrils from the source caused explosions that threw him and his companions back. Cassian could not unmake the immense Essence bombs used against Thalassai quickly enough, and Gabriel's escaping Essence blasted him away when he tried to destroy the god. Cassian also needed more time to use the technique during rapid combat.
Origins
Arcanis created Tal'Massar as a god core, building on the success of Hrzai. The project gave Malverand a way to kill gods and a safeguard against a future wielder losing control of the spiral shard. Barachiel created Isandriel as a newborn and fused the core with him so that he could learn its dangerous power while he still had little Essence. Michael and Raphael raised and taught him.
Isandriel later used his unmaking against the guardians during the Fall of Malverand, becoming known as the Unmaker. Hrzai learned the technique independently and passed the capability to her son Cassian.
Inheritance and Adaptation
Lucilla inherited balance magic from Isandriel. She concealed its strength while training with Nero, pretending to struggle with a single blade of grass. During Nerissa's invasion of Xalmyrra, she waited until her mother had spent much of her Essence, seized her wrists, and unmade her while cutting off her retreat to the God Realm. Garrik, Isandriel's grandson, began applying his knowledge of healing in reverse during the fight against Gabriel, snapping the god's Essence connections.
Eira developed a separate combination of reversed temporal stasis and Hrzai's unmaking. By touch, she made an attacking mage age and crumble into dust. Neither component had been sufficient alone against that opponent.
Azarion developed traces of balance magic through centuries of practice. His incomplete unmaking failed to disconnect Essence fully, causing explosions that amplified his air blasts. He concentrated on their destructive force after finding refinement nearly impossible. Dense Essence still caused violent recoil when he attempted more direct unmaking.