The Grey Road is twilight, ambiguity, transition, change, uncertainty, sleep and dreams, and the in-between. On its other side, the Grey Road encompasses impartiality, balance and justice in the sense of all things dealt with according to their own balance and circumstances. Grey is also associated with mysteries, a concept it shares with, but approaches differently than, the Blue Road. Some believe that the physical world we know was born from the White Road and that the Grey Road encircles it, forming a no-man’s land between the manifest world and the primordial void, represented by the Black Road.
Grey Mages are masters of transformative magic, on themselves, on others and on their environment. They have powers of passage and transportation as well as spells that confuse and bewilder. Grey magic also includes spells of balance and equalization, and the ability to confound and counter extremes. Although Grey Magic does not create illusions as Orange does, it can blur the lines between a persons dreams and reality as well as command ambiguous, disorienting natural forces such as fog and mist. They can sap a person’s strength and clarity with fatigue, afflict them with fear, or simply send them into magical slumber.
In some aspects, the philosophies of the Grey Road are anti-philosophies as one of the major tenets of this Road is that one should always keep an open mind and not deal in certainties and absolutes. Contrarianism, the belief that change is the only constant in existence, the concept of confusion as a natural state to be embraced (and even inflicted on others) and the idea that one should try to see everything from all perspectives are all integral parts of Grey. The Grey Road teaches that in a battle of dichotomies, truth most likely lies in the middle ground between the two. The pursuit of balance, and the idea of justice achieved by seeking balance and evaluating all things individually and impartially are common tenets of the other paths of the Grey Road. Grey also emphasizes the importance of dreams and the power of in-between states and things; twilight, doorways, and the mists that lie between this life and the next existence.
Grey Road mages are various, ranging from tricksters to judges, from dream-reading mystics to cruel transfigurists rendered bitter by their scorn of constancy. Some are renowned for their clearheaded ability to see a thing from all angles, while others wander in a confused cloud of indecision and uncertainty.
Objects, substances and creatures associated with Grey Magic include fog, mist, ash, cypress and willow trees, nightingales, lotus flowers and opals.
