Legend tells of the Wayfarer's Wind, a magical force that moves travelers from one place to another, seemingly at random and always against their will. According to reports, the wind may strike individuals or groups, in different places and at different times of the day. Most often, this only occurs once, but some stories tell of individuals who are cursed by the Wayfarer's Wind, waking each morning to find themselves in a different place. These individuals may trudge through the dunes of Sirison one day only to find themselves in the tundra of Glesmyr the next. Many scholars have posited possible explanations for the wind, but none have ever been proven conclusively.
Theory #1: Chosen of Ivelis
The mistrals of Ivelis ascribe special favor to the Wayfarer's Wind as the will of the Wanderer in the Wind himself. According to them, Ivelis will occasionally send travelers on a journey in order to teach them a lesson or guide them towards their destiny. Those cursed to wake each day in a new place are particularly blessed according to the mistrals, who insist that Ivelis has sent them on a grand journey to accomplish some great deed. Only when they have come to know the journey's purpose and fulfilled it will Ivelis then allow them to settle. Unsurprisingly, those caught up in the Wayfarer's Wind are seldom so optimistic about its effects.
Theory #2: Origin Points
Kessek Lestral, the famed head of the Berylline Syndicate who charted the leylines upon which Orn later shattered, posited the theory of origin points. According to the theory, for every creature, object, and force in existence, there exists an origin point, a discrete location on a discrete realm to which that entity resonates, anchoring it to reality such that, if the entity were removed from its origin point, it would be drawn inexorably back to it.
Ordinarily, the origin point is fixed, moving only with the entity to which is corresponds. Certain spells can be used to shift it across spatial and planar boundaries, dragging the affected entity along with it. Notably, spells of summoning temporarily separate a creature from its origin point. Thus, much like an elastic band drawn taught, a summoned creature will snap back to its origin point when the spell that summoned it has ended.
It is theorized that an origin point can be eradicated entirely. Exactly what might happen to an entity so disjoined is purely speculative. Such a creature may shift chaotically from one location to the next, possibly even between multiple realms. Without any means of tethering itself to reality, an entity so affected could even drift beyond the boundaries of reality into the Beyond, lost forever to the uncharted and alien realms that exist outside our own.
As there have been no recorded incidents of this occurring, however, the body of research to support the theory is minimal. While the effects of an origin point can be effectively or even indefinitely counteracted, actually removing the originating resonance involves tampering with the very fabric of reality. At the very least, it is an impossible feat by current magical standards, and remains little more than an interesting conjecture.
Theory #3: Valqimek, the Hungerer
In the great Beyond, outside the bounds of reality, dwell terrors too great and terrible to fathom, creatures the size of continents with powers to rival the immortals themselves. Most of the time, these beings are unaware or uninterested in our world, caught up as they are in alien motives only the mad can comprehend. Occasionally, however, one of these beings takes notice.
To those who have any knowledge of the Beyond, the name of Valqimek the Hungerer evokes particular dread. An immeasurable mass of gaping, grinding, fang-filled maws and groping tentacles, the Hungerer craves nothing less than to devour all that it perceives. With an insatiable appetite, it stretches forth its tentacles through the veil of reality, grasping for the tastiest morsels it can get ahold of. Thankfully, it cannot manifest itself, or else the whole of reality would be in peril. The force of its hunger, however, is so potent as to draw the objects of its desire towards it.
Only one tale has been recorded of an individual unfortunate enough to become caught in the Valqimek's clutches. Regulus Thuurden, a dwarven architect of some note, was verified to be one of the creature's victims. It is said that, some weeks before his disappearance, he began shifting wildly from place to place. He would wake every morning somewhere else in the world, as if thrashed about by some gigantic force. Toward the end of his life, he spoke of terrible nightmares, of dangling on tentacles over great mouths the size of valleys. Ultimately, though his friends made every effort to save him, Thuurden was ripped from reality body and soul. Those who witnessed his disappearance have difficulty recounting the gastly horror they saw on the other side.