Flare

A flare is a rare condition in which two forms of an individual's magic can unintentionally combine to trigger each other, or to create an unwanted third effect. Any overlap between schools of magic is dangerous. The most common form of a flare is when an individual's effort magic (magic that they obtained by working very hard in a field until they gained supernatural mastery over it) and their Court gift (a magic they obtained through loyalty to a leader) overlap and can strengthen each other. However, in the practice of Warlocking, (borrowing magic from an Angel or Demon) flares are extremely common; Warlock flares are only kept rare in the general population because Warlocks themselves are so rare.

Flares are one of the only times someone's magic is out of their own control, and can injure or even kill both its caster and those around them. It is considered in-universe to be both very preventable and quite embarrassing to have as a condition, somewhere between going to the hospital because you fell off the roof trying to do a cool stunt and going to the hospital because you got something weird stuck inside you. However, the effects of flares themselves are often tragic.

As always, examples are useful to illustrate.


 * An orc who was a dedicated follower of the Prince of Empathy had as their court gift the ability to pour emotions into others using their speech. However, as a passionate beekeeper, they also developed one day a magic that allowed them to control and guide their bees from any distance. They developed a flare when one day, in a fit of grief at the death of their partner, they unintentionally communicated their painful emotion directly to their hive, which began swarming the surrounding area in a rage. Many of the delicate insects died expending all of their energy in frantic and helpless attempts to follow the order they did not understand.