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ratcatchersBased on events leading up to an including the last game, the following is the theory Max has formed regarding how humans use magic.
"Neurological control of thaumatological energy"
Recently I and Dr. Wright discovered the existence of a neurological structure using fMRI scans. This structure is located in region v7. Previously the function of this region was unknown; however, it is known to display strong attentional response. The node, referred to here as the DW or Dalton-Wright node, is now known to be activated during subject-directed thaumatological activity.
I believe the node operates in the following manner: imagine thaumatological energy as a constant background radiation, much like an invisible fog. The DW-node gathers and focusing that energy so that it can be employed for any task limited only by the patterns laid down in the DW node, and by the number of neurons available to channel this energy. In effect, the node becomes a conduit through which thaumatological energy is directed. In general, the larger the node the more thaumatological energy the individual should be capable of to focusing.
Based on recent events in Newfoundland, I believe that this node is not only present and functional in people who have demonstrated an ability to perform "magic". It appears that this node may be present in most of the human population. In most individuals, the DW node is almost vestigal. Attempts by individuals to use this node would, after considerable training, result in bare detectible results. As a result, most of the population is unaware that they have the capability to manipulate magic, albeit at a level which has no immediate practical benefit.
Some individuals are able to form a "link" to others, allowing them to use one or more people to draw thaumatological energy from the environment and channeling it to themselves. The most visible examples are Princes, but others have been able to establish short-term links. Typically these links consist of a form of "fealty", possible similar to the psychological forces that bind pack animals to an alpha. It was believed that only those with demonstrable thaumatological skills could be used as a source; however, D'Ange's use of non-gifted individuals demonstrated that this was possible. Moreover, she demonstrated that the receiver was primarily in control of the rate at which thaumatological could be drawn. She was able to force individual nodes to channel far more energy than they were capable of handling resulting in significant neurological trauma.
Discussions with the Deputy Director have lead me to believe that by employing a group of individuals "linked" to a single individual who acts as a focus for the group, a significant amount of thaumatological energy may be stored as a standing wave within the group. This would allow the focus individual to channel far more energy in a controlled fashion than they would be able to if they were simply drawing it from the environment. This may be because, rather than accumulating and focussing diffuse energy, they may be able to devote more neural resources to simply focusing an already-accumulated energy mass.
Recently, experiments were performed on an individual to determine the extent of neurological activity while they manipulated thaumatological energy. Of significance is the discovery that some individuals have extensive neural structures for drawing thaumatological energy from the environment. The following fMRI scans highlight the effect.
Scans 105, 106 and 109 show typical DW-node activity while manipulating thaumatological energy. Scan 106 was taken while the individual formed a standing force field. Scan 108 shows the neurological effect of the individual draining the energy from the force field. The pattern of activity matches neurological trauma observed in the subject L. Jacobs who recently underwent an autopsy following a confrontation with Dr. D'Ange. Both the test subject and L. Jacobs share a common ancestry originating in Ireland. Further studies are required to determine if this neurological effect is present in the other subjects with similar ancestry, and to determine whether it is present in other population groups such as fey.
During the course of investigations into D'Ange have indicated that she may be allied with fey or fey-like beings, referred to as "gods", from Ireland. If they share a genetic link with those of similar ancestory to L. Jacobs, they may feature as extensive or more extensive neurological modifications for manipulating thaumatological fields. Comments by L. Jacobs prior to his death lead me to suspect that they have considerable ability to draw and focus thaumatological energy.
This leads to a theory regarding how D'Ange was able to draw such a large amount of energy. She may have employed a core group of collectors, including one or more "gods" who have the neural resources to draw significant amount of thaumatological energy from the environment. In this case, a secondary group of collectors was employed: the citizens of Nowhere. Using a procedure we have yet to discover, they would have used a large population (up to 500 individuals), many whom had undeveloped DW-nodes. Although each individual could only gather as small amount of energy before their neural structures were overloaded, the cumulative effect would be to generate a massive standing wave of thaumatological energy. From the pattern of neurological damage to L. Jacobs, he was attempting to draw energy from her but his neural structures were overloaded, resulting is widespread neural trauma. It is doubtful he survived more than a few seconds, and even then in only a vegetative state.
The possiblilities opened up by this event are staggering. If D'Ange has developed a way to use non-trained, non-magical humans as collectors, the only question is the upper limit of the number of collectors she can access. We do no know the means by which a link was established to these individuals so can only speculate about whether it can be employed in a larger scale. She is known to have established some connection to a bishop, although whether it is a Catholic or Anglican bishop is unknown. A truely frightening prospect would be if she could access the combined followers of a major religion through their spritual advisors. This would require not only forming a secondary link between the core group and non-magical individuals, but exploiting their position as an authority figure to access their followers. There is no proof that this is even possible; however, the idea cannot be discarded. Already we have had our tradition views of thaumatology severly challenged, and D'Ange has shown herself to be a brilliant, if dangerously unbalanced, thaumatological researcher.
What is required now is to perform research into the ability of linked groups to draw thaumatological energy. First, we need to compare the energy expenditure of a single individual to that generated when linked to one or more other people. A variety of link structures need to be examined to determine which result in a significant increase in energy expenditure. Experiments must then be performed in "layering" collector groups, as well as using a combination of mogically gifted and non-gifted individuals. Until we can understand the mechanism behind inter-personal thaumatological energy transfer, we will be unable to counter D'Ange's activities.
"Neurological control of thaumatological energy"
Recently I and Dr. Wright discovered the existence of a neurological structure using fMRI scans. This structure is located in region v7. Previously the function of this region was unknown; however, it is known to display strong attentional response. The node, referred to here as the DW or Dalton-Wright node, is now known to be activated during subject-directed thaumatological activity.
I believe the node operates in the following manner: imagine thaumatological energy as a constant background radiation, much like an invisible fog. The DW-node gathers and focusing that energy so that it can be employed for any task limited only by the patterns laid down in the DW node, and by the number of neurons available to channel this energy. In effect, the node becomes a conduit through which thaumatological energy is directed. In general, the larger the node the more thaumatological energy the individual should be capable of to focusing.
Based on recent events in Newfoundland, I believe that this node is not only present and functional in people who have demonstrated an ability to perform "magic". It appears that this node may be present in most of the human population. In most individuals, the DW node is almost vestigal. Attempts by individuals to use this node would, after considerable training, result in bare detectible results. As a result, most of the population is unaware that they have the capability to manipulate magic, albeit at a level which has no immediate practical benefit.
Some individuals are able to form a "link" to others, allowing them to use one or more people to draw thaumatological energy from the environment and channeling it to themselves. The most visible examples are Princes, but others have been able to establish short-term links. Typically these links consist of a form of "fealty", possible similar to the psychological forces that bind pack animals to an alpha. It was believed that only those with demonstrable thaumatological skills could be used as a source; however, D'Ange's use of non-gifted individuals demonstrated that this was possible. Moreover, she demonstrated that the receiver was primarily in control of the rate at which thaumatological could be drawn. She was able to force individual nodes to channel far more energy than they were capable of handling resulting in significant neurological trauma.
Discussions with the Deputy Director have lead me to believe that by employing a group of individuals "linked" to a single individual who acts as a focus for the group, a significant amount of thaumatological energy may be stored as a standing wave within the group. This would allow the focus individual to channel far more energy in a controlled fashion than they would be able to if they were simply drawing it from the environment. This may be because, rather than accumulating and focussing diffuse energy, they may be able to devote more neural resources to simply focusing an already-accumulated energy mass.
Recently, experiments were performed on an individual to determine the extent of neurological activity while they manipulated thaumatological energy. Of significance is the discovery that some individuals have extensive neural structures for drawing thaumatological energy from the environment. The following fMRI scans highlight the effect.
Scans 105, 106 and 109 show typical DW-node activity while manipulating thaumatological energy. Scan 106 was taken while the individual formed a standing force field. Scan 108 shows the neurological effect of the individual draining the energy from the force field. The pattern of activity matches neurological trauma observed in the subject L. Jacobs who recently underwent an autopsy following a confrontation with Dr. D'Ange. Both the test subject and L. Jacobs share a common ancestry originating in Ireland. Further studies are required to determine if this neurological effect is present in the other subjects with similar ancestry, and to determine whether it is present in other population groups such as fey.
During the course of investigations into D'Ange have indicated that she may be allied with fey or fey-like beings, referred to as "gods", from Ireland. If they share a genetic link with those of similar ancestory to L. Jacobs, they may feature as extensive or more extensive neurological modifications for manipulating thaumatological fields. Comments by L. Jacobs prior to his death lead me to suspect that they have considerable ability to draw and focus thaumatological energy.
This leads to a theory regarding how D'Ange was able to draw such a large amount of energy. She may have employed a core group of collectors, including one or more "gods" who have the neural resources to draw significant amount of thaumatological energy from the environment. In this case, a secondary group of collectors was employed: the citizens of Nowhere. Using a procedure we have yet to discover, they would have used a large population (up to 500 individuals), many whom had undeveloped DW-nodes. Although each individual could only gather as small amount of energy before their neural structures were overloaded, the cumulative effect would be to generate a massive standing wave of thaumatological energy. From the pattern of neurological damage to L. Jacobs, he was attempting to draw energy from her but his neural structures were overloaded, resulting is widespread neural trauma. It is doubtful he survived more than a few seconds, and even then in only a vegetative state.
The possiblilities opened up by this event are staggering. If D'Ange has developed a way to use non-trained, non-magical humans as collectors, the only question is the upper limit of the number of collectors she can access. We do no know the means by which a link was established to these individuals so can only speculate about whether it can be employed in a larger scale. She is known to have established some connection to a bishop, although whether it is a Catholic or Anglican bishop is unknown. A truely frightening prospect would be if she could access the combined followers of a major religion through their spritual advisors. This would require not only forming a secondary link between the core group and non-magical individuals, but exploiting their position as an authority figure to access their followers. There is no proof that this is even possible; however, the idea cannot be discarded. Already we have had our tradition views of thaumatology severly challenged, and D'Ange has shown herself to be a brilliant, if dangerously unbalanced, thaumatological researcher.
What is required now is to perform research into the ability of linked groups to draw thaumatological energy. First, we need to compare the energy expenditure of a single individual to that generated when linked to one or more other people. A variety of link structures need to be examined to determine which result in a significant increase in energy expenditure. Experiments must then be performed in "layering" collector groups, as well as using a combination of mogically gifted and non-gifted individuals. Until we can understand the mechanism behind inter-personal thaumatological energy transfer, we will be unable to counter D'Ange's activities.
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