A Vortex Viribus is a magical location that serves as a source of immense power which can be used to amplify an aspect of a witch or magical being. These vortexes have been known to appear in certain locations when destined events are about to transpire. In 2019, one of these appeared beneath Vera Manor and was meant for Fiona Callahan, most likely due to her role as the Keeper of the Sacred Flame. It has presumably now disappeared after her death, as it moves around from place to place.[1]
History[]
In "Touched by a Demon", one of these vortexes appeared underneath Vera Manor and was discovered by Maggie Vera and Parker Caine who accidentally phase-shifted in while having sex. Somehow, Fiona Callahan felt that they had found this place and a rune had lit up on her forehead.
While showing Harry Greenwood and Charity Callahan the vortex in "Switches & Stones", Maggie and Macy Vaughn both touched a rune, causing Macy's inner demon to manifest a new power, while Maggie's empathy temporarily advanced to the point where she and Mel Vera accidentally switched bodies.
In "Memento Mori", after Macy's memories of her mother and Elder Priyanka Bari's death and the entire previous night returned through the use of her evil sight, Charity knocked her out and abducted her. Macy woke up in the Vortex Viribus under the house, where Charity was recharging her powers using a rune in the wall. Macy tried to put up a fight by telekinetically strangling Charity, but she was no match for the amped up Elder. Mel, Maggie, Harry arrived just as Charity was about to unleash her powers on Macy. Before Charity could say anything, Macy revealed that Charity was the one who killed their mom. Mel wasted no time kicking Charity in the face while Maggie rushed to Macy. Charity knocked Harry out of the way using her binding whip before turning on the sisters, battling both Mel and Maggie before the Vera-Vaughn Charmed Ones each grabbed a rune in the walls of the Vortex instinctively and used the Power of Three on the evil Elder. When they were through with her, Charity's powers were gone.
Fiona would later use the Vortex Viribus as a means of restoring Harry's Whitelighter powers in "Surrender", after they had been stripped by the Elders, as well as to amplify her own, in order to locate the Origin Dagger from the depths of Harry's mind. It is revealed in "Source Material" during her massacre of the Sarcana that by tapping into the vortex's power, Fiona had acquired the ability to mirror the powers of others.
Harry and Charity came to the Vortex Viribus in "Red Rain" in order to use its power to finish accelerating a plant's growth cycle to complete an Akkadian Smokescreen for Charity. However, Fiona sensed that they were there, and portaled in to kill her sister so that the prophecy of the Apocalypse could be completed.
Effects[]
- Power Augmentation: A Vortex Viribus is capable of increasing the power of a magical being.
- Power Stripping: The Vortex Viribus under the Vera Manor is shown when controlled by the Charmed Ones that it can strip a being of their magical powers.
- Power Granting: The Vortex under the manor is shown when controlled by Fiona that it can grant/restore some magical abilities to its user.
Trivia[]
- The word "viribus" is the dative or ablative case in plural of the Latin word "vīs" ("force, power"). In this case, it is in the ablative, as it is used to denote the source/material out of which the "Vortex" is made. Based on that, the phrase "Vortex Viribus" would roughly mean "Vortex of Power".
- While the Latin word "vortex" translates to whirl, whirlpool or whirlwind, which means the spinning motion of a fluid or gas, it can also be used figuratively. While it is unclear why the specific word is used, in this case, as the Vortex is made out of power, it could indicate the concentration of magical energies in this area, which are capable of "supercharging" the power of a magical being or object.
- The Vortex Viribus is similar to the Nexus in the original show: a location of concentrated power that amplifies anyone's magical abilities.
- It is unclear how the Vera-Vaughn Charmed Ones were somehow able to instinctively utilize the Vortex Viribus in "Memento Mori" to strip Charity of her powers, despite the sisters knowing next to nothing about the functions of the magical location and having already accidentally misused its power shortly beforehand.
- It is unclear why the Vortex Viribus appeared beneath Vera Manor if it was meant for Fiona Callahan. It would have made more sense for the mystical location to appear somewhere connected to Fiona rather than beneath the home of the Charmed Ones.
- Harry Greenwood was somehow able to utilize the Vortex Viribus to continue the acceleration of the growth cycle of the plant needed for the Akkadian Smokescreen which had been started by Mel Vera in "Red Rain". This creates an error, as Mel was not present in the Vortex Viribus at the time and neither Harry or Charity had time powers for the Vortex to be augmenting in order to grow the plant. It's unclear how Harry was able to access Mel's power through the mystical location.
- It is possible that he may have channeled energy from the Vortex in order to tap into remnant temporal forces from Mel's power, however that was left unclear.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Empathic Surges BoS (2).jpg (164 KB)")
References[]
- ↑ Joey Falco's Twitter Broken link: In the fall of 2023, Joey Falco deleted his Twitter account through which he provided information about the show.