Magic was once widely used and accepted on Earth. But this was before Esca Moor performed the coup which effectively removed Slate from Earth orbit. The black moon generated magical energies which radiated out and encompassed Earth within its envelope. The air on Earth is said to have crackled with an energy unknown to science. Magic for humans wasn’t only learned through patient discipline as it is today, it was inherent, sometimes accidental. Refined, it was awesome. This was what made Esca Moor’s feat possible. But Slate was the generator of the energy, and when Slate was gone, so was magic.

When the dragons on Slate discovered a way to open a portal--that is, when they ripped open the time-space continuum--between Slate and Earth, those mystical energies once again flowed across the surface of the planet, once again enabling magic. But those energies do not fully envelope the world as they did when Slate was in its natural orbit, instead they flow, from the north out of the cave of dreams, the location of the Rift, and very near the magnetic north pole, southward, where they disipate into space. These shafts of energy flow like rivers, pouring across the surface of the Earth, creating pockets of reality which are separate from Earth's natural geography. It is within these pockets which form the Wash that magic has the most potential. The farther away from the Wash, the weaker those energies become.

However, though magic is possible on a limited scale outside of the Wash, the supernatural becomes possible inside the Wash in a way that it can't in Earth air, except in certain circumstances (see note below). For instance, if a human is bitten by a wolf in the Wash, that human might transform into a werewolf. There have been accounts of ghosts roaming cemeteries, will-o-the-wisps floating through the air marshlands, bogs and swamps, and harpies have been said to gather in covens in treetops to scream their nightmarish cries.

Note: There have been occasions when werewolves, ghosts, harpies, vampires and other magical creatures have escaped the Wash or found an exit back into Earth air. When this occurs, often the creature will lose its magical powers, but sometimes, when conditions are right, it will retain them, though on a limited scale. For instance, the moon, especially when full, is known to augment the energies of the Wash. It is for this reason that werewolves in Earth air are known to transform only during the full moon. The Auroras which occur at Earth's poles have much the same effect on magic.