Scientifically, the magical properties of Slate cannot be proven. There are more than a few scientific minds in the Order of Pallium, and they almost unanimously agree that there must be an unknown element at work within the stirring, roiling lava core of the moon. This element, interacting with other known elements, must be what causes the phenomenon of magic, on Slate as well as on Earth. Of course this is merely speculation, magic itself being at this point scientifically unexplainable, it could merely be a phenomenon of the universe which will ever be inexplicable, much the same as why a man bitten by a wolf might change into a werewolf under the light of the full moon, or why a dead body might spontaneously reanimate into the form of a zombie.

When Slate was banished by Esca Moor, magic on Earth all but ceased to exist for uncounted millennia. The Moor himself, aged well beyond the natural limits of mankind by his own magics, quickly died soon after the moon was gone. Then, in an incredible feat of ingenuity, the dragons on Slate opened a doorway between Slate and Earth. The doorway exists within the icy confines of the Cave of Dreams, one of the many factors which lead us to believe that this is the actual physical location of the moon, though it is believed that it resides in another reality altogether—physically, it is there—inexplicable yes, although that seems to be the case—it is there, and yet it is not. This is somewhat explained in this way, by Dr. Ikor Mdavl:

“If it was truly there, physically there, then it would be shrunken to the size of a grapefruit. But it is not. We have it on very good authority that Slate is in fact still full-sized as are all its inhabitants. Spatially, it exists in the same location as Earth, but its existence is shifted physically to a shared, nearby realm.”

Once the doorway was opened, a mob of frenzied dragons rushed through, and this action brought about a number of consequences. First, it resulted in the almost-immediate demise of every wasp dragon that came through, because wasps are cold blooded, and cannot survive in arctic temperatures. Only two moth dragons came through that day: one named Hillock, and another named Blair, and these were the only two to survive the cold. Secondly, the opening of the portal allowed a rush of energy from Slate to enter Earth’s atmosphere. This energy flows like a series of rivers, from the outlet of the doorway, and then basically southward (there is a short distance where the Wash flows northward, up to the pole, but from that point everything is south), across the entire planet, where it collects again and leaves the planet somewhere over Antarctica, to disperse into the heavens. The Wash flows, as stated, like a series of rivers, spreading out and converging, touching the Earth in some places, widening into lakes and pools, but always flowing. A trained eye can see the Wash visibly, and indeed it appears like flowing water, but tinted crimson.


Though the Wash covers the globe through its vein-like pattern, it is not something that can ordinarily be happened into. One can walk into and out of the Wash with no effect at all, adverse or otherwise, and the person never having known anything was amiss. As stated, it flows. To enter the Wash, one must do so by way of the many doorways into and out of its depths. Sometimes referred to as exits on the inside, The doorways that serve the Wash appear—again, to the trained eye—as a heat shimmer, or glimmer, in an area where the Wash flows across the surface of the planet. Sometimes the doorways move and disappear. It is entirely possible to enter into a pool of Wash energy and become stuck there forever. If a person were to try to walk out of the Wash without utilizing a doorway, or exit, the experience is disturbing to say the least, and can result in death. Accept this account from Gerald Flinter, a one-time newspaperman from Atlanta who discovered the Wash and on whose accounts the Pallium based much of its knowledge concerning the Wash for many years:

“Once I tried to exit the Wash without using a portlet, just to see what would happen. I walked toward the barrier, like a wall of scarlet water before me, and the closer I got there came a buzzing in my ears, which magnified with every step I took. I walked slowly, trying to really measure its effects, and the buzzing soon wasn’t only in my ears but in my head as well. It felt like my brain was vibrating on the back of a honey bee in flight. I also noted an odd coppery taste in my mouth, and that the saliva in my mouth began to sting me; my eyes began to sting, my ears, already numb from the buzzing noise, began to hurt very badly as the noise intensified over and over as I can closer to the border. Finally I grew so faint I thought I would fall over and then all I really wanted to do was sit down and go to sleep. The buzzing sort of hypnotizes you, makes you think everything is okay, and saps your energy dry. It was only with the greatest effort that I willed my legs to turn and walk the other way. When I finally came far enough away for the buzzing to stop I collapsed, and only then did I realize that I’d been bleeding from my ears and eyes and nose. I fell immediately asleep and lay there like a dead man for I don’t know how long. When I awoke I cleaned off the blood and found there were no other adverse affects.”

Since Gerald’s experiment, numerous corpses found within the Wash have given us more understanding of what happens when one tries to exit without using a doorway. Basically, the mind is lulled to sleep, and then the body mummifies. It dries out, the eyes disappear, and the skin turns brown and leathery for people with pale skin, and dark-skinned people’s flesh turns black.

From the archives of the Pallium.