Sphere of Arcane Puzzles

[Shir-Nuzreh]

O*An entry in many books reads as follows:*O
Shir-Nuzreh (shir nəz-rɛ) is what we have dubbed the mysterious sphere. In the new language, it means, "sphere of arcane puzzles." We still do not know much about it. We can only hope and pray that the people of its new land will be able to discover what we could not. That is why I am writing this note, my friends; they should start with what we have found.

Shir-Nuzreh's origin is almost entirely without a clue. We do not know whether it was built, born, or some combination of the two, much less by whom and/or what. The late Doctor David-Abel Raylash, one of the most renowned professors of our time and galaxy for his diligence and intellect, remarked to me that a manuscript from one of his ancestors briefly described an orb that matches Shin-Nuzreh fairly well. He said that the context loosely implied that she, Lenioer, took part in Shin-Nuzreh's formation, but no matter how much he analyzed, the language barrier was too strong for any details, if any were even mentioned.

Its composition is therefore also unknown. No scanning ability that we have, no matter how strong, has failed to explain anything that we can not physically see. We can assume that it will not be readily scanned in its new world, either, but perhaps someone will be able to explain it some day. What we do know is that its composition is not static. It may be a biological being at one moment and become entirely mechanic the next. Do note that it turns an almost unnoticeably brighter shade when it is biological. It apparently shifts at random, but always shifts when one with biological or mechanical control attempts to manipulate it. On multiple occasions, manipulators of both kinds tried to control it, but it simply shifted so many times that no one could consistently focus their powers on it, then it wiped them all out. Speaking of its composition, it never appears to take damage that can be seen on its surface, though it has fallen unconscious many times after a few blows, always to get back up. Its size varies periodically, though it frequents a diameter of what converts to 3.5 meters (7 when extended) in your metric system, so we consider this to be its default size.

This brings us to its will. No one can determine its motivations, grand purpose, or even any individual thought. We do not even know if it has thoughts (by mechanical program or biological process) in this dimension. We have good psychics and technopaths; we tried to check. Even after all of our study, one of the most comprehensive conclusions that we can come to is as follows: It is fickle. It is far more helpful than harmful, but that could just be because it has more supportive than offensive spells. Then again, it usually supports us and offends others, so it is probably mostly good. We like to think so, anyway. We theorize that its will could have been fried during its first transformation, but that is just a guess. Many reports have shown that it is prone to attacking and supporting the same people within seconds of each action, randomly turning on us (typically at inconvenient times), randomly turning back, et cetera. It usually works out well in the end, and it always comes back to hang around with us. It never seems to take an offensive action unless there is an active conflict present, thankfully. Relatedly, it always seems to know the right spell for the situation when acting supportively to us or offensively to enemies, but seems to be more sporadic when deviating.

We do not know much about its magic (We do not even know if it has very many spells, as we have not seen many.), but we have witnessed some good spells from it. We theorize that its magic, which appears to fuel everything that it does, be that levitation, spells, composition reconfiguration, or its sheer existence, comes from its core. This is because all of the observed radii from its spells occur in intervals that can be readily measured by what we call the Grashton system if we measure from its assumed core. Of course, we do not know if its insides even follow spacial properties that we can track, so we have no proof. We have observed the shifting of its runes prior to casting any significant spell, as well as its self-extensions upon casting spells. Therefore, the theory comes to the thought that the magic is channeled from its core at all times, then directed in a sort of symbolic language by its runes before being released outward in conjunction with its bodily extension. It took a lot of cameras to confirm it, but we have seen that it has 255 runes, all different. To be clear, we are not honestly sure if this number is stagnant. Since it does not seem to be limited to 255 different spots to allocate each rune to, we can not even attempt to estimate how many possible combinations there are. This is probably to ensure that it never runs out of space when learning a new spell. It appears to be able to learn spells that strike it. We do not know how or at what frequency, as it does not display every spell that has ever hit it. Its most powerful spell is apparently one in which it releases a great measure of its mana in a great shockwave. We have found that those who are weak to light take extra damage, while those who are strong to light take the same damage as those who take normal light damage, so we assume that it is simply a light-elemental spell that discounts light resistances. It is also capable of elemental offenses, various protections, and various healings. We could never observe consistent changes; its capabilities never seem to end.

We have no more information. My best friend, Doctor Raylash, may have known more, but he was found with a gun in his hand, his brains on the wall, and a note clutched in his other hand, which read as follows:
"THERE IS NO FUCKING PATTERN!"
We tried to warn him that obsessing was not going to get him anywhere good, but he insisted, so he shares no more. We can only pray that you find more than we.

This note will be sent on this rare parchment from our great Iy-Hux tree because it is the only note that we can be sure to resist the dimensional flux of being sent to your land long enough to be found and documented. Some day, we hope to send one of ourselves there, but that is presently impossible as you typically survive on oxygen, while we thrive on neon, to say nothing of our inability to resist the transdimensional flux. Our ability to study what occurs in your land from the safety of our land is limited at best; our only observation thus far of Shir-Nuzreh is that its appearance does not seem to have been altered. We never would have been so inconsiderate as to send it there on our own volition; it simply opened up a portal and flew through to appear on your "Houcm" planet spontaneously. We do not intend to burden you, even if it is not by our own fault, so we will be actively trying to learn about Shir-Nuzreh as long as we can. We pray for knowledge for the sake of your safety.

Best regards,
Doctor Abraham Grashton, Co-Founder of the Lashing Rays scientist team

O*Brezan's Bestiary adds this:*O
For all the study that's been done on this thing for the past four years, it seems that the only things that people can say is that they agree with the theories of the people of its homeland. Finally, Master Xareorne has stated the following on Jan 16th, 4000 A.D.:
"Many of us have observed the mystery orb, Shir-Nuzreh, cast a spell in which its body stays extended and glows teal-blue. For the longest time, we have been unable to distinguish its purpose . . . I have finally advanced my analytical abilities to allow me to scan this spell further upon witnessing it again. It appears to increase the chance that it will learn a spell that is directed at it. Evidently, Shir-Nuzreh knows to use this more frequently when a mage with a good spell repertoire is present, unless it simply uses this more when a mage of high power is present . . . At any rate, if my scans are accurate enough for it, that appears to be the sole purpose of the spell. Please do not take my word as gospel about it; this being is still completely immune to my scans, and its spells are not far behind it. More positively, I intend to improve further upon my scanning abilities, that I may be able to at least estimate the ranges of its spells, unless they are indefinite, via something greater than decades of research."

O*Interdimensional Communication Almanac mentions the following:*O
Since that note that they managed to get through, the scientists of Shir-Nuzreh's homeland have since not contacted us. As to whether this is due to a dimensional timeline conflict, loss of life on their end, loss of access to their Iy-Hux tree, a mechanical failure, or anything else is up to nothing but speculation. We hope that they simply have not yet found anything, but are soon to do so. Investigation into the matter has been nil, since they didn't even give the name of their dimension, nor did they specify whether or not it has a name at all.