[ChewyGranola]

So, I know about elven spike babies, and the fluff occasionally mentions rumors of magic before 2011. Is there anything concrete out there about this? Like magic that worked before then, maybe vampires or dragons popping up?

[DeathStrobe]

The Spirit of Denver set up shop in Denver during the Gold Rush.

[Mirikon]

Of course, the Immortal Elves were still around to have fun. Buttercup was apparently summoned long ago. And there was the Fourth World stuff, as well. One of the books (Dragons of the Sixth World, maybe?) also suggests that some reports of dragons might just be actual dragons that got up for a snack while hibernating. While magic wasn't possible for normal metahumans, for beings of sufficient power, it could be possible. The down side of the cycle didn't mean that there was no magic, but that mana levels had sunk below levels where all but the very most powerful could express it. The tide is rising now, which means more and more things are being affected.

[Crimsondude]

There are also references to mini-Awakenings and other small, localized spikes.

The novel Worlds Without End depicts an IE using magic in the downcycle, and the short answer to that is that any non-innate magic use was difficult even for her because of the lack of mana to manipulate.

[CanRay]

Tunguska was apparently Pre-Awakening Magic that almost woke up Orange Queen. 

[Longshot23]

Ha! Fraggin' Ha! 

[Mirikon]

The novel Worlds Without End depicts an IE using magic in the downcycle, and the short answer to that is that any non-innate magic use was difficult even for her because of the lack of mana to manipulate.

Exactly. If a mana void is essentially a -12 background count, then if someone had a 13 magic, they could still perform some basic magic. The same idea applies for the downtime, as well. Do do even a minor spell would mean pushing things to the point that even an initiate who had a magic score well into the double digits would be forced to overcast just to get SOME kind of effect. And Aina wasn't exactly a slouch when it came to magic.

[Cranstonvm]

Not sure where I saw this but Harlequin did MAJOR magic and removed his negative emotions and created a nasty spirit in the 5th age.

[Crimsondude]

It wasn't that major, but it fits with the other things that have happened.

And of course it also came back to bite him in the ass.

[Bruce]

I remember reading somewhere that at the ebb tide of magic in the 5th World, there was a -10 penalty to all magic tests (casting, rituals, resisting drain, etc.).  This was in earlier editions, but the concept (that a powerful enough magician could still use magic) should still hold true.