In pursuit of enlightenment, all knowledge exacts a price and Old World knowledge is priceless. Despite the Old World’s many wonders and monuments that survive to modern day, the one thing that remains lost are its collected knowledge. According to artificers, most information was kept within machines powered by trapped lightning and while capable of storing thousands of libraries worth of data, none of it survived the collapse.
What does remain waiting to be found are the few physical records written on preserved paper. These texts often detail valuable knowledge and insight into Old World culture and technology. However, they are inexplicably tied to a curse. Attempting to decode Old World texts without a special sanitization process carries a risk of being afflicted with Wild Magic.
Once afflicted, the reader is at constant risk of a surge at anytime, often resulting in their explosive deaths. This curse is incredibly hard to cleanse and even affects any text written close to Foundational day. This fear of Wild Magic has increased in the past decades and has contributed to declining literacy rates as urban myths claim reading any text carries a risk of a surge.
