The Universal Law of Compensation

The Law of Compensation is the fundamental force of the universe that strives to maintain the balance of energy in the world. Maintaining this balance usually results in the source of imbalance being removed from the world or in taking something from the source. It is difficult to predict what might be taken as compensation, but most people never have to worry about it. Very few people experience any form of it. Fewer still are subject to anything that might be considered extreme.

In "The Magic of Threads" I mention wild mages, people born with multiple mage threads. They are the most well-known source of imbalance in the world. The high concentration of energy within them often leads to extreme forms of compensation. Historically, this took the form of parts of the their body. The most famous case is from a few decades ago, where a wild mage matured and lost their heart.

Because the nature of the universe is complex and vague, it appears random to humans. This has made the Law of Compensation a difficult phenomenon to study. Unless one is exposed to more extreme situations, like the tragedy of wild mages, they are inclined to simply write the law off as one of the whims of the universe.

The unique case of Miles Teagan

The case of Miles is a rather interesting one. His current state violates one of the laws of the universe: all living things must die. He came back from death, so the universe compensates by killing him again. However, he is unable to properly die. So, the universe tries again. In essence, he is stuck in an endless loop of death because the universe cannot properly compensate for his revival.

While restoring Miles's connection to death would resolve this loop, that is something that's easier said than done...