(Mis)Understanding the Magna-Ge: Magnus as Trickster and the nature of the Y-Taint

I used two sources for this piece: The Magna-Ge Pantheon and the Exegesis of Merid-Nunda.

Let us establish a few basic ground rules for understanding the Magna-Ge. They are Untime Folk, so that means there is no linear time in their reckoning. Everything is always happening all at once. This also serves as an adjunct to traditional Aurbical History, not necessarily an alternative to it. There are intersections between the stories of the Untime Folk and those who are bound by the beat of the Doom Drum, very important intersections. I may explain some events in a chronological way so that we can have a rational discussion, but keep in mind that once something happens in Un-Time, it has always happened and is continuously happening.

To the Untime folk Everything was once called the Black Block, and it was contained under the hood of Merid.

Then as if shone through a prism, the colours broke. This was a singular moment for the Magna-Ge, but it does not begin linear time, linear time does not exist in their dimension. As such, as of that moment, it was that the colours always have been and always shall be breaking. As if through a prism, the colours were grouped into their respective clans, C, M, Y, K. A few were odd mixtures of all the other families and are called Blends.

And then suddenly and always, there was Chrome. Chrome is a curious material in the real world, generally toxic to life, but it traps pigment in a way that produces beautiful and lively saturated colours. This mythological Chrome began to capture some of the colours, irrespective of their places as CMYK or Blend. Within its confines, for those colours, something called Linear Time began, and the Aurbis split into a world governed by Time, and a universe that was not. It was like a shiny bubble, a reflective, absorbent aberration in a cacophony of timeless colour.

There was a sample of Everything in the Chrome Device, and in response to this bit of Everthing, a little bit of Nothing formed, and this was Nana Null. Nana Null had no colour of its own, and relied on the Chrome device to give it colour and meaning. Within the Chrome Device, and its unique reflective, refractive and multiplicative properties, Nana Null was able to reach up Fibers up into the universe and drink down the wondrous colours, delighting in the endless probabilities.

In this new delightful palette and canvas, the Chrome Device named itself Magnus, and with the help of other great creations of Nana Null, they turned Nothing into a patchwork of many beautiful Somethings. The Fibers of Nana Null were difficult to control and it became easier to use their own beings as lenses to bend the Fibers stolen from Aetherius, working together to perfect their creations.

Magnus grew fearful of how the efforts of filling Nana-Null were making them forgetful of the joys of the Un-Time, and longed for the Un-Time. He knew the others would be greatly angry if he left, and he feared what Nana Null would do to the Un-Time he longed for, if he destroy the Chrome Device that moderated its contact with Aetherius. He hatched a plan to anchor Nana Null within Linear Time, while still allowing him to escape.

His greatest partner in this endeavor had been Lorkhan, and he tricked Time himself into stealing Lorkhan's Fiber and hiding it on Nana Null, thus providing the world with a powerful conduit to Aetherius, and distracting the others from his escape.

And so Magnus did something unheard of at the time and launched himself, followed by his closest conspirators back into the Un-Time.

There were unexpected consequences to this. Where the Fiberings of Nana-Null drew colour and power down from Un-Time into the Chrome Device, his sudden departure created lines of reverse flow, where new colours, and combinations, formed in the shelter of Time, back-washed into Aetherius. These Apotheoses were delightful to some of the Star Orphans who would welcome them as lost family. They would be abominations to others. This backwashing became known among the Magna-Ge as the Y-Taint.

With conduits flowing in both directions between Time and Untime, Aetherius would be forever changed. Outside of Time, but still affected by it. I would posit that when a Dragon Break happens on Nirn, linear time stops, and when Mnemoli takes her flight, small segments of Linear Time are forced into Untime, giving rise to new Chrome Devices, new bubbles also called Dreams.

Is Magnus pleased with this outcome? To me, it is probably one of those "life hands you lemons" situations, where he wanted to make a clean getaway, but did not realize that no one can escape Nana Null without leaving something behind. He left his gaze, a gaping hole in the boundary between Time and Untime for Magic to pour through. So did his followers. On the other hand, he is not affected by Time, and is largely able to sit back and study Nana Null and all the creations therein, unmolested. He is not involved in the machinations of those he left behind, but can engage in his own power plays from a distance.

He is likely none too popular in Aetherius, based on the source material, but if Magnus was concerned about being liked, he probably wouldn't have thrown Lorkhan under the bus to attempt a very risky escape. As Tall Papa, he sees the instability caused by mass apotheoses and escapes to Un-Time, so he is cryptic and unhelpful in terms of helping new escapees. Some of the Star Orphans are more sympathetic and do try to guide the Nulls, as they are called, in their journeys, even if it means further tainting Y.

Why would some Magna-Ge be sympathetic to the Nulls and unconcerned with the Y-taint? Because the thing with the Y-Taint, is that pure colour only exists in light. Once colour is bound as a pigment or dye it is inherently tainted. Now that there is Chrome, there always has been Chrome, there is no undoing it, and if the Magna-Ge truly want to reclaim their former glory, they just need to get over this notion of purity and move on.

But that is a very difficult lesson for Un-Time folk who do not have history to learn from. Perhaps this is why some of the Magna-Ge so eagerly shepherd new light into the heavens.

This was based on some rough notes I had made while trying to understand the source materials. There will likely be more posts as I go through my notes and diagrams. If you guys have any different perspectives, please do share them, because this is something I really am trying to understand better myself.

edit: added that the backwashing of mortal Apotheosis into Aetherius is the Y-Taint