OK okokok... gonna put this 'I just woke up' thought out there because this is tumblr and what else is it for? Someone has probably already said this and I haven't seen it, but whatever. I will throw it out anyway.

SO... Gale. We've all seen the posts where people quote the Gale lines about being naturally gifted with magic as a baby, a prodigy etc. and then point out that this is sorcerer behaviour.

BUT, what if... you're all right and it is sorcerer behaviour. BUT the orb feeds on weave/magic right? And sorcerers are born with innate magic... so what if he was born a sorcerer, then trained as a wizard, but the orb consumed his sorcerous magic. And that's why he's not as powerful as he once was, because, unbeknownst to him, all this time, he's been using that natural sorcerous connection to make accessing the weave easier. And now that's gone. Eaten up. Destroyed forever by the Netherese void.

And that's part of what's causing him pain. Because an instrinsic part of himself has been taken away. And he feels it like a phantom limb. Maybe he thinks it was actually connected to his relationship with Mystra, rather than a part of him, and that adds to his sense of loss from that relationship.

What if the first magic item Gale fed to the orb was himself and he doesn't even realise it?