From the Summary of “Utilizing Magimorphosis to induce health benefits”, a research project from Ithular Academy
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Magimorphosis is a biological process undergone by all living creatures as an automatic response to exposure to magical energies. While some creatures (most notably trolls and elves) are particularly prone to experience magimorphic changes even from environmental exposure, most creatures need to be active practitioners of sorcery to experience even the faintest of changes. It is this latter form of creature which this research project concerned itself with, as elves’ semiconscious control over their own bodies causes excessive interference with any experiments, and trolls’ eternal regeneration renders it functionally impossible to measure any appreciable improvements to health. For more details, see Page 21.
Magimorphosis is almost always entirely harmless. Other than in the most extreme cases of exposure to an element actively harmful to the body (such as necromancy) will there be any notable negative impact to biological performance.
Furthermore, a sufficiently skilled and properly trained practitioner is able to suspend magimorphosis progression upon themselves, and can suppress more supernatural manifestations. However, without the aid of a healer, magimorphosis is rarely reversible without a corresponding change in magical proficiency. Doing so is usually described as annoying, and few mages will do so without good reason.
A more complete list may of types of magic and their corresponding magimorphic symptoms may be found in Appendix A, but magimorphosis can be broadly categorized into four stages:
The first stage of magimorphosis is very light, but almost always ocular (hence the colloquial term of ‘Mage Eyes’); the eye changes color, or reflections in it begin to grow more complex and less connected to reality. This usually begins after a few years of dedicated practice in a particular style of magic, often corresponding to a notable shift in the individual’s personal mana. Alternatively, living close to a magical nexus or on a powerful ley line convergence with a majority type may trigger this stage.
Stage 2 of magimorphosis is only ever seen in a dedicated mage, and while subtle, is usually readily obvious to any observers. Hair color may change, eyes shift in obviously non-natural ways, and minor magical manifestations may appear in close proximity to the mage.
Stage 3 is mostly seen in archsorcerers and their intense pursuit of a single form of magic, as it requires excessive exposure to magic. At this stage, there is rarely any doubt that the affected individual is a mage, and changes usually affect the entire body. Spontaneous magical effects- such as those which usually accompany general spellcasting- are very common at this point, though they are rarely particularly powerful.
Stage 4 is exceptionally rare and thus not all elements have adequate documentation as to their normal effects. At this point, the affected individual gains some level of firmly magical ability with a moderate to high usefulness. Some do not consider Stage 4 to be a proper display of magimorphosis, as it usually requires deliberate action on the part of the mage, but as it is a mostly-unstructured expression of mana exposure to biology, it is pertinent for this paper.
Of particular interest to this research project is the magimorphic changes which accompany Life sorcerers, reproduced here for convenience:
Stage 1: Minor blemishes on the skin vanish and the subject rarely looks tired or exhausted. Eyes begin to gain a slight sheen and appear mostly flawless, but do not change color.
Stage 2: The subject appears to be in excellent biological health, their body rarely suffers from drowsiness after waking up (assuming adequate sleep), and minor physical blemishes are fixed (such as faulty vision, but not full blindness). Negative effects from age are diminished sharply.
Stage 3: The subject gains a physique similar to that of trained athletes with even minor physical stimulation, and the amount of sleep required for full function is reduced by approximately one-third. Low-grade poisons, including most alcohols and drugs, become quite ineffective on the subject.
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Stage 4: The subject becomes biologically immortal, and becomes swiftly able to heal from most injuries. Sleep requirements are reduced to one-half normal. Poisons and diseases are strictly curtailed as well, as the body is effectively bathed in a constant low-grade healing spell. This is not full regeneration, and is usually limited to that which Lesser Wound Recovery is capable of fixing.
The draws for these effects should be self-evident, particularly given that replicating their effects via ritual tends to be very dangerous. Unfortunately, given that to obtain these magimorphic effects via natural effects requires excessive study and practice in life magic above all other disciplines, this is not something accessible to the common mage.
This research project is attempting to replicate the effects of life magimorphosis either in place of or in addition to other magimorphic manifestations, ideally in such a way even a non-mage might be able to benefit from the work.
Notable extracts from attempted methods:
Thousand-years-root extract was tried but rejected due to overexposure causing excessive aggression and an inflated sense of self-worth, but it provided immediate benefits to the subject as any high life-affinity substance is wont to. No permanent benefits were observed in any of the test subjects during the course of the study.
Full exposure in healing magics was also attempted, the subjects being given multiple high-powered continuous regeneration talismans to be worn on their person and then immersed in a rank 6 mana convergence point for 24 continuous hours. Initial results were promising, with symptoms up to Stage 2 manifesting in as little as 12 hours post-exposure. However, these symptoms predominantly faded over the next month, and repeated exposure was substantially less effective.
Total immersion in healing potion for 24 hours, under the effects of water breathing did serve to instigate Stage 1 symptoms on the tests, but only in nonmagical subjects. 1 week of immersion resulted in persistent Stage 2 symptoms, but necessitated daily changing of the healing potions. While no severe side effects have yet been observed, the expense of sufficient healing potions leaves this method impractical for any creatures larger than a rat, and does not function with awakened creatures besides.
Ultimately, it was found that Elven medicine traditionally utilized for treating long-term wounds or birth defects was the best for inducing magimorphic-like changes with minimal side effects, as it increased the body’s weight in the body-soul form feedback loop. With further research, this was found to be a refined variant of Radiant Anise serving as the primary active ingredient.
While the full process is detailed later in this report, and is currently in-process of being published separately, a decent overview is as follows:
Radiant Anise is crushed, then mixed with its nectar to create a thin syrup. This is then distilled, dried, cured, and ground into a powder, which is in turn added to a binder and formed into a medicine.
With regular consumption of the medicine and a treatment program including a daily course of healing potions with a directed healing assist, sapient subjects began experiencing Stage 1 symptoms within 4-6 weeks of beginning.
Results were substantially more promising in mages. Via utilization of a healing focus, Year 6 students were capable of guiding life mana through their body during meditation, achieving Stage 1 symptoms in as little as 2 weeks. However, at that rate, this process too quickly leads to the standard necrosis and charring of tissue common to overexposure to raw mana.
Nonetheless, with additional training and access to higher-grade potions, there was a single subject who began to demonstrate low Stage 2 symptoms within the 12 weeks allotted for this project.
Unsurprisingly, the influence of the Radiant Anise medicine led practicing elemental specialists to begin to display light magimorphic changes in accordance with their primary magic. Surprisingly, this did not seem to hinder the manifestation of life-type magimorphic effects as is normally the case when a generalist uses multiple forms of magic. While further testing is required, this indicates it may be possible for multiple magimorphic effects to be bestowed upon the individual simultaneously, broadening the potential use of this research dramatically.
This process had the curious if unsurprising side effect of awakening a light magical gift in all non-mages who participated in it. While not a true Spark, it nonetheless increased the aptitude to life magic of those affected by a fair margin both with mundane rituals, and those later bestowed a Spark were more likely to be life-attuned.
Future research will involve reducing the level of mana manipulation required for the technique to work, finding suitable replacements for the Radiant Anise for making the soul more malleable, and finding more effective methods of exposing the subjects to life magics. In addition, further projects are required to see what effects might arise from multiple distinct forms of magic manifesting magimorphic changes simultaneously.
Supplementary research which would be useful includes improving the methods used for growing and refining Radiant Anise and investigating to see if awakened life sorcerers might be able to use their own energies for inducing magimorphic changes in themselves and in others.