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[✓] [World Lore] The Canon Energies

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 14:51:06 +0000

FOREWORD

This piece is explicitly intended to serve as an objective, infallible and exhaustive record of the nine root power sources for magic in Lord of the Craft: the Canon Energies. An OOC resource.

Primarily it is a spoiler heavy, pseudo-scientific and ultimately demystifying resource intended to inform players (not, by any stretch of the imagination, characters) of the building blocks of magic in our universe without esoteric fluff, that must be consistently referenced and drawn from in the submission of new magics, and when rewriting of old pieces.

I would advise players with no interest in submitting magic lore of their own to avoid this piece.

Especially those whose sense immersion hinges on a blur between their characters' and their personal, mystified understandings of the world. The last thing I want is to deprive anyone of their sense of whimsy, curiosity and - above all else fun - when it comes to roleplay involving the weird and wonderful magics of LoTC.

In the same vein, I cannot stress enough that no character should hold a comprehensive understanding of what is written below.

Whilst there are certainly aspects of the unerring explanations given below that many characters can and in some cases should have deep understands of (e.g. a necromancer understanding the nature of lifeforce), to artificially inject anything close to a complete explanation of this catalogue into roleplay would be tasteless, unrealistic and above all else metagaming.

Secondarily this piece is also meant as a reference guide for Story Team members themselves, intended to supersede any conflicting opinions/ headcanon of individual team members to form a cohesive, infallible shared understanding of how magic works in our shared narrative. I highlight this so that it is understood for future submissions to our wealth of magic and world lore we might strive to curate and maintain a consistent logic to this ever expanding roleplay universe.

Anima

Otherwise known as ‘soul essence’, anima is the raw, unfiltered energy of the soul when separated from its host consciousness. Whilst on its own an unthinking and unfeeling form of energy, anima can be enchanted in abundant quantities to be given a new mind (or one composed of its former hosts’ memories). This never occurs without a magical prompt.

Spoiler

The main ‘purpose’ of anima in mortals and deities is to facilitate mana production. There is a direct correlation between how much anima a soul has and its magical potency.

Mortal souls are ‘born’ with a set amount of anima that can never be expanded beyond its predetermined threshold without fraying its boundaries in undeath or outright evolving into a deific soul. Anima continually replenishes in life if ever stripped, though once dead and disembodied a mortal loses the ability to recover lost anima. ‘Greater souls’ as those found in descendants are as such due to higher quantities of anima. ‘Lesser souls’ as those found in the likes of wonks on musin are as such due to lower quantities of anima.

Anima is not found in soulless creatures like voidal horrors or animii.

Deific souls are able to harvest anima to supplement their own by adding dead and disembodied souls to their respective plane. This allows deities that gather large quantities to gradually become stronger. When one deity consumes another their anima may be inherited by the host.

Custody of each new soul, regardless of how it is treated, always equates to a modicum more power added to a deity’s own swathes of Anima. Such collection does not necessarily equal absorption, merely ownership; a clay put to different uses by different divines. Iblees, for instance, has in the past tainted the souls of his servants (and their victims) to be hoarded in his Nexus. The Aspects enact similar marking on their followers, but by contrast allow the souls they gather to maintain their autonomy and freely roam the Fae Realm.

In living worlds, anima has no physical manifestations unless coaxed out with magic. In the soulstream and deific worlds, anima flows as freely as the deity commanding said plane wishes.

There is a finite amount of anima in the Veil, though it exists in such abundance between spread across the soulstream and various planes of existence that its supply is effectively endless. More anima cannot be created, nor can it easily be destroyed outside of being ejected into the Void itself. Such is only transferred between hosts, either naturally via the soulstream or at accelerated rates from direct influence.

Examples of contemporary uses for anima:
Sorvians are given life by enchanting a clay form with anima.
Mystics are able to gather and apply anima in lesser measures called ‘soul fragments’.
Soulbound golems’ runes are fueled by anima.
Draconic beings are capable of utilising their anima in the production of dragonsflame, in the place of mana in the cases of nephilim and drakes whilst alongside mana in the cases of dragaar and drakaar.

Maleus

Magic spawned from Daemon of Ruin’s runaway realm - Moz Strimoza - is capable of irreparably corrupting anima into maleus. These feral powers run wild beyond even Iblees’ direct control, serving to warp greater mortal souls into an odd lesser mimicry of deific souls: Inferi, or 'demons'. These are detached from the soulstream to instead cycle through an apparatus known as ‘the Infernal Climb’.

Spoiler

In the High Hells large quantities of maleus take thinking, feeling fleshy physical forms known as inferi. Such transformation can be prompted in other realms by the magics of Moz Strimoza. Maleus is consumed by inferi either via physically eating other inferi or beings with greater souls, or by scorching other inferi or beings with greater souls with their malflame.

Maleus can only be harvested from beings with anima.

Inferi are capable of replenishing lost maleus akin to living mortals replenishing lost anima. When an inferi loses all of their anima (at the hands of a naztherak or another inferi) they are undone, redistributed through the Infernal Climb.

As a variant form of anima, there is a finite amount of maleus which can never truly be destroyed, though more can be ‘made’ by perverting anima into the infernal climb.

Examples of contemporary uses for maleus:
Rakir is maleus coagulated into liquid form, which has alchemic applications as well as serving as a spellcasting tool for non-inferi wanting to mimic infernal magic (naztherak). Rakir is in many ways the demonic equivalent to mortal blood and can alternatively be processed for its value in genus rather than maleus.
Maleus is consumed by inferi to aid in their evolution up the infernal climb. At the top of this ladder sits the Red Prince, a being in possession of vast measures of maleus rivalling the abundant anima many deities are composed of.

Mana

The root source of all magic, deific or mortal, mana is the fuel that underpins all forms of spellcasting. All living beings with sufficient anima or maleus possess mana, though the amounts vary depending on the nature of said being as well as how honed their mana pool is. That is to say, living beings are capable of exercising their mana akin to a muscle, allowing it to expand.

Spoiler

In descendants, the production of mana is facilitated by the anima in their souls. However, such is not a universal requirement for mana production. Voidal horrors for instance are known to possess vast quantities of mana without the need for a soul, due to their abundant supply of voidal energy. The same may also be said of atronachs.

Dead and disembodied souls usually lose their mana pools or at least have them heavily diminished by the hammer of death, rendering magic out of the reach of most in the soulstream and many other afterlives. Typically some sort of substitute or reinvigorating force is required to attain magical potency again, such as a wealth of ectoplasm or the support of divine energies (as is the case for wizardly demons in Moz Strimoza). This often lingers amongst souls that have been resurrected without sufficient anima or souls that have had their anima repurposed. It is for this reason magic is seldom practised in the afterlife.

The mana of mortals alone is seldom potent enough to achieve much in the way of spellcasting, and typically serves more as a tool with which to manipulate other energy sources rather than as the sole resource behind spellcasting. Where one’s hands might operate tools and tire from their labour, one’s mana is capable of purposing the canon energies to create magic.

Mana is by nature entropic, and will destroy itself - dissipating into the air - if not presently held within a manapool or attached to some form of spell or enchantment. In theory there is an eventual threshold of how much mana can at once exist within the Veil, though no single being since the Creator has had sufficient anima to put such to the test.

Examples of contemporary uses for mana:
Without the aid of other energy sources, mana’s raw applications are found in the miscellaneous arts such as Housemagery and Bardmancy.
Mana can be congealed into a liquid form, which can fuel spells alongside other alchemic applications.

Deific Mana

As a gaudy, emboldened variant of the same core force, the applications of mortal mana typically pale in comparison to that of the Veil’s gods. Due to their vastly superior reserves of anima, the mana of deities is far more potent and capable of enacting great feats without the aid of another resource. Such is why many lend their power to mortals, who in turn need only spend their own mana in anchoring their deity’s magic and channelling such through themselves in the form of spells.

Spoiler

The mana pool of a deity is intrinsically linked to the wealth of anima in their plane. Some deities are on their own stronger than others, though through the harvesting of additional anima (as explained earlier) a deity’s mana pool can be bloated, in realistic terms, indefinitely.

When lent to their followers a mortal’s mana is spent not only in forming an anchor for it to breach their plane (in a much simpler fashion to voidal mages drawing from the arcana of the Void) but from the shear strain of wielding but a morsel of deific mana in spells.

Examples of contemporary uses for deific mana:
Druids, Templars and Paladins all source their spells from the deific mana pools of their respective Aenguls.
The likes of Seers of Vaasek wield many of their spells through an intermediary entity known as an observer, which acts as a vessel for deific mana on their Daemon’s behalf.

Arcana

Otherwise known as voidal energy, arcana is a potent and malleable form of energy, and the only resource found beyond the boundaries of the Veil. Whilst it is an incredibly common misnomer for arcana to be mislabelled as “mana” by characters, factually speaking it is a distinct and separate force in the universe.

Spoiler

Filling all corners of the endless Void, voidal energy is a shapeless and immeasurable clay that can be evoked to mimic matter or intangibly purposed as forces in the hands of mages.

Whilst arcana is for all intents and purposes infinite, the act of inviting it into the Veil is strenuous and requires a consistent anchor of mana to keep stable. Such is the usual defined limit of spellcasting; where there is no more mana to maintain the bridge between the site of a spell and the Void, arcana will diminish and spells will end.

The sole exception to the above is found in breaches between the borders of the Veil and the Void where voidal energy can spill into a plane and become self-sustaining, and oft runs the risk of spreading exponentially. As the antithesis of Creation itself (the ‘nothing’ from which came the ‘something’), arcana is inherently corrosive and in abundance can warp forces and matter in a disorderly, often explosive fashion.

Due to its ‘otherworldly’ nature, voidal energy is ever fleeting if not maintained by a mana anchor or ‘set loose’ in chaotic abundance. There are endless reserves of such beyond the Veil, though due to the aforementioned such is out of reach to most.

Examples of contemporary uses for arcana:
Arcana is a fundamental necessity for all voidal magic.
In sites where the boundaries between Veil and Void have thinned, such as Voidal Tears, arcana becomes unstable and runs the risk of obliterating parts of Creation.

Genus

A volatile, formidable form of mana. Genus is the bloodborne energy found in the veins of beings with greater mortal and deific souls as well as fleshy beings of supernatural power (such as Voidal Horrors). Its red nature is that of volatility, wrath and above all else power. Like mana and many other energies it is sympathetic and can join with others to augment and/or warp them. Predominantly this is done with divine energies to create unique spells, usually shifting the emotional intent of a patron’s power to create enraged mimicries in the hands of crimson sorcerers.

Spoiler

Genus is invisible and esoteric to most, including the vast majority of deities. A hidden aspect of Creation that requires one to be ‘enlightened’ to its presence through a ritual process known as Awakening.

When used by an awakened individual to scrawl the Material Alphabet in blood, sufficient quantities of genus have the potency to fold and reshape Creation itself. Such has the potential to form bridges between planes, sculpt the tangible and metaphysical to suit a sorcerer’s whims or even preserve one’s anima and physique perpetually.

Genus is only found in the blood of the living or freshly dead, and corrodes steadily from the moment it is removed from these conditions. As a rule, genus is solely present in beings with mana and flesh, and varies in quantity depending on the magical potency of the individual.

Examples of contemporary uses for genus:
All applications of blood magic hinge on the expenditure of genus.
In order to maintain themselves, vampiric creatures like siliti and corcitori are reliant on the consumption of genus-rich blood.

Lifeforce

Made manifest in organic material or unfurled as dense black smoke, lifeforce is the raw power underpinning the cycles of life and death amongst all fauna and flora within the Veil. Constantly rotating unseen through food chains and reproductive processes, lifeforce is typically locked inside of biomass. Its black nature is that of entropy, stagnation and depression when forced out of its host matter and made a vulnerable, festering vapour.

Spoiler

Like electricity to metal, aurum is conductive of lifeforce and disrupts its flow when pulled from its natural rhythms. Such is why golden weaponry is capable of harming all undead creatures, despite their usual lack of other sensations.

When left to stagnate outside of natural processes, lifeforce typically spreads thin enough to remain unseen. When found in excess, though, such as in the Abyss - what was once the continent of Aegis before flooded by the abundant lifeforce unlocked from deep within the world by Iblees and Aeriel’s cataclysmic battle - lifeforce will remain as a thick mist that tries to penetrate any organic material it comes across. Most potent in flesh, this can cause cancerous growths in living creatures if allowed to seep unchecked, whilst corpses will find themselves re-animated irrespective of their will, pulling back to live as corporeal undead creatures.

Lifeforce is only found in the material plane, where it exists in abundance; there is more lifeforce than there is flesh or plant matter capable of hosting it, initially stored in underground pockets called ‘the Banks’ that have since spilled out to flood the Nether and what remains of Aegis.

Only works of organic flora and fauna native to the living world have lifeforce. Flesh is more abundant than plant matter, and where there is abundant anima, mana and sentience, there tends to then be more lifeforce in a host. That is to say a descendant’s lifeforce would immeasurably exceed that of a tree. Such is essential for their continued existence, unless otherwise preserved by another energy source which removes them from the natural cycles. It is not found in deities, nor in any other plane within the Veil. Lifeforce is also not inherently tied to souls, though can trigger a soul to return to its body if raised from the dead.

Whilst abundant, there is still a finite amount of lifeforce, however. Lifeforce cannot be destroyed or created, merely moved around through natural cycles or magic.

Examples of contemporary uses for lifeforce:
Necromancy allows for the forceful extraction of lifeforce from fauna and flora, as well as the revival of dead bodies that would have otherwise lacked sufficient lifeforce to animate themselves.
Druids are the inverse of necromancers and use their patrons' divine energy to manipulate mana / "passive soul essence" present instead of lifeforce. Lifeforce is usually reset to a natural balance or indirectly bolstered by their magic but it does not actually use it as an energy.

Ectoplasm

Lifeforce and mana in equal parts which have been enchanted to linger outside of a host body, forming a sludgy plasma that is typically ethereal though through magic can be made tangible. Ectoplasm is contingent on death, oftentimes spawned by wild magic where anima is unfurled at the end of a mortal life. Its pale nature is that of grief, sorrow, defeat and inevitable numbness commonly affiliated with water, and conducted by mundane rock into which it usually settles.

Spoiler

Ectoplasm can only be produced by disembodied dead souls, typically in the form of phantoms. As a resource, it is best utilised as a material that mimics the capabilities of flesh along with solids and liquids and commonly serves to anchor souls.

No living mortal or deity is capable of producing ectoplasm in hand; such always a requires soul that has been abruptly halted or returned to the Elysian Wastes - a veil between the living world and the soulstream - to naturally and instinctively form a ‘body’ for a soul without one.

When manifested in abundance ectoplasm can instead cling to material, thinning the boundaries between it and the soulstream as it becomes ‘hindered’. In such places the line separating ‘living’ and ‘dead’ is blurred, and disembodied souls are given tangibility.

Reliant on pre-existing lifeforce and mana to produce, ectoplasm is a finite resource. The union between these energies is easily unfurled by lifeforce or mana disrupting materials like aurum or thanhium.

Examples of contemporary uses for ectoplasm:
The bodies of phantoms are naturally formed of ectoplasm, which can in turn sink into other materials to puppeteer them.
By hosting geists within their still living bodies, mystics are capable of producing ectoplasm by proxy to then apply though a myriad of spells.

Resonance

Not inherently an ‘energy’ in its own right, resonance is a name given to unseen oscillations caused by the use of other energies in the material plane. Like ripples on a pond where a stone has been cast, resonance is the byproduct of magical and mundane forces.

Spoiler

Quantified as oscillations which radiate from the aforementioned energies, resonance can be recycled into mana or redirected through metaphysics into actions of equal or lesser force.

Examples of contemporary uses for resonance:
Practitioners of kani are capable of sensing and redirecting resonance through physical feats.
Mana-sensitive materials like thanhium are often made volatile by abundant resonance, causing it to heat up or even explode.

[✓] The Aura of Mana

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 03:48:21 +0000

"Female Wizard" By TikTikAwalCreative

While many magics known to mortal-kind possess their own curious effects, between the tells of a cast and the aura of the magic which dwells within, the aura of mana is present but less-so seen. In recent decades, with the discovery of magics enacted only through the natural manipulation of mana has brought with it the auras of mana into a more prominent light.

With this, there was more to see and study. Unique to every mage, an aura which they themselves could not choose but rather buds from their very soul blueprint, this tell of casting is like a signifier. A symbol of the person, which they would come to know on their own with time.

An aura of mana is the unique tell of any mage who casts using their own mana, even with magics that create their own auras with their abilities, the aura of mana is the basis upon which they may build, as long as mana is used. Each person's aura is almost never like another. The aura can extend from the mage's body in an almost limitless amount of ways, but there are some constants that studious individuals have been able to identify among them. The aura will always be shown, regardless of what the mage may be wearing, as it seems impervious to layers of cloth, leather or metal alike. The aura displays only vague shapes, geometric in design, or a simplistic take on some sort of image. Alongside this, the aura can be a shape in and of itself as it reveals itself from the body during casting.

Auras can be multiples of color, or shifting shades of that same color, but even through extensive surveying it seems that no mage has ever been found to possess an aura which shifts between more than two to three completely different colors. While an aura can be a signifier of the mage's very personage, it does not always seem to be so visually. There have been accounts of mages whose personality did not at all coincide with the visage that their aura gave off, in the eyes of society. Though it is theorized by scholars that the aura does still stem from some form of personality brought up from the soul blueprint, as there have been isolated cases of mages whose aura changed after undergoing extreme lifechanging events.

These mages who at some point in their lives, had in fact witnessed their aura change in shape, color or form after these events. The one constant was that they had all undergone something so emotionally intense or bizarre that their very personality or even morals had shifted. An absolute life changing event, that led them down a completely new path, which they would have never crossed beforehand on their own. Even then, the changes weren't terribly drastic. Many believe this phenomena seems to be connected to deeply rooted, fresh traumas, tragedies or arcs of redemption. It is these cases that have led those who study auras to believe that it is somehow connected to ones personality, even if the aura itself does not appear to match the mage's outward personality.

"Archmage Ultimate" by Benjamin Goutte

Redlines

- Auras remain as simply an aesthetic, and cannot be used to aid in either combat or rescue in any capacity.

- While auras can appear to give off light, they do not give off enough light to see your surroundings in even pitch black darkness. You can just barely see the aura itself in total darkness, but that light will touch nothing else.

- An aura can showcase an almost limitless array of simple shapes and designs within its form, however, there are some limitations. The aura cannot form fully complex shapes, but rather simplified versions. No patronus auras, which means no depictions of animals or creatues, and no dynamic movement of those shapes such as shadowy dancing figures or flowers that wiggle.

- Auras can showcase up to a limit of 3 different colors. Meaning, a mage's aura could shift between colors such as red, yellow and orange, or white gold and blue. Shifting between multiple shades of the same color [like pinks & reds, or dark forest green & mint] is generally considered 1 color.

- No rainbow auras

- A mage's aura can only change in small ways if the character goes through an extreme, personality or moral shifting happening. Think of it like a change of alignment in D&D. Going from their aura showcasing a crown of flowers around their head and wrists, to what looks like thorny vines instead. Or perhaps an aura which appears as dripping water to frozen mists.

- Auras can come from the entire body or specific parts, but it must always be something that is easily visible, and cannot be able to be hidden underneath clothing, armor, or any sort of covering. Auras can't be flat against the skin, as this would be coverable, and would require change in order to be visible when wearing clothing, it must be able to be seen at any time, covered or not.

- While auras do correlate with the characters personality, there is no rhyme or reason to what is actually displayed. Your average evil human overlord bent on destruction could still have an aura of flower petals and pink glitter, for instance, but if he undergoes a great change in his life the aura will change as his personality does.

Some examples of Auras and their accompanying text descriptions:

Spoiler

[] An aura that forms over the casting hand[s] palm. A dynamic flow of glittering gold flakes that behave like a very fine dust, flying away at slight movements.

The Mage lifts their hand, their aura of glittering gold flakes spilling upward from their palm and flowing through their fingers like a fine dust. As they cast, as though a breeze shifted the flakes which caught the light, they shifted upwards and briefly encircled the mage before fading away when the spell was finished.

[] An aura which forms over the casting hand[s] and weaves a crown around the head made out of glowing pink flowers which twist and rotate gently, fading in and out as each lasted only a few seconds alone, constantly being replaced anew by another.

The Mage focused for a few short moments, as they did so, pink light began to encircle the crown of their head. Weaving outward from the light were a multitude of ethereal petals which danced lightly in small rotating movements as they came together to form many flowers. The flowers encircled the mage's head like a flower crown, short lived individually, as they faded away one by one but were replaced by a new weaving set of petals which formed the crown. When the mage finished casting their spell, the petals drifted off as though gently blown away by a spot of wind.

[] The aura forms above the shoulders like a set of pauldrons, as well as the casting hand[s] if needed. Around the shoulders, bubbles slowly form out of the skin of the caster before detaching and floating upwards. The bubbles float upwards about a foot or so before popping, forming a blueish mist like aura that drifts and hangs in the air around the caster's shoulders.

The mage rolled their shoulders, as their mana collected together while they began to chant a light spell to cast. In this preparation, thin and opaque bubbles began to squeeze out of the mage's shoulders. They jiggled gently as they detached, floating upwards as their color slowly shifted from bright aqua blue to a dark sea blue. They floated upward for a mere few seconds, before they would pop, leaving a drifting mist which would hang lazily in the air around the mage's shoulders for a moment before slowly dissipating. When the spell was complete, all of the bubbles suddenly popped, with no new ones forming, and the hazy mist briefly covered the mage's shoulders before slowly fading away.

[] This aura forms from the biceps to the shoulder and around the back of the mage, creating a sort of collar or shoulder-mane of seafoam green misty flame. The flame shifts between sea green and bright blues as it moves in slow motion flickers, lapping at the air almost tiredly. It can also form in the caster's hand.

The mage lifts a hand towards an object across the room, gathering their mana as they did so. As the mana gathered and converted to active mana, small tongues of seafoam green flame began to form from their shoulders. After only a short moment, the small piece spread from the mage's right bicep up towards the shoulder, growing in size as it then reached across the mage's back and onto the other arm, forming an almost cape-like shape of the slow moving, licking flames. The same heatless flame formed in the palm of their hand, reaching upward between their fingers. It lapped at the air lazily, and as the mage's spell was complete, the flame slowly died out as though suffocated or deprived of fuel.

As you can see, you can get quite creative with the style of your aura, even within the listed restrictions in the redlines.

"Wizard" by Quberon

Credits:
[ TaiwanNotChina for the original page ]

[ OhDeerLord & Sora for aura ideas ]

Self Teaching

Tue, 05 May 2020 19:53:38 +0000

Self teaching, defined, is in some aspect learning magic autonomously. This can be with, or without a teacher, and it takes on both forms in this system. Direct teaching and representation may not be 100%, but may exist within regardless. Here are the two systems.

“Book Teaching”
Book Teaching is what truly may come to mind with “Self Teaching”. In this sense, a person seeking to learn a magic would find a book at an Altar, a story-made and supervised area with a book or text that begins the inklings to start grasping how to do magic. This is true “Self Teaching”, where the player learns to do magic on their own; with of course, the creation of an MA following the format as outlined in the application available here.

- You may have one book-teaching app across all personas at any given time.

- Usage of a book requires an /sreq in game to confirm access to the book.

- In the case of rare alchemical recipes, no addition app or sreq is required.

- Books that teach you something which requires an app (Housemagery, Alchemy, Etc.) require ST Signature upon the item and the lectern it may be placed upon, if applicable.

“Event Injection”
Event Injection is the final, and somewhat common method of magics or feats with little to no activity. When a magic is suffering from gatekeeping, inactive teachers, or simply not enough teachers, at ST Management discretion magics, feats, CAs, etc. may be injected into the community through a variety of methods. These are all unique in nature and conform to no single system; simply written here for posterity.

- Please do not contact ST management to request a magic, creature, or feat application.

- If you are concerned (As a magic/creature/feat Grandfather) upon the activity of your magic or your TA(s), contact ST management.

What magics are Self Teachable?

Self Teaching with a TA
You can teach any voidal (or otherwise explicitly redlined) magic you have a TA, but not an MA in, to yourself on the TA-possessing character at halved (rounding down) pace. You do not need to perform lessons when teaching one's self.

(Example of rounding: from 7 days Tier 1 -> Tier 2, rather than "3.5", the player would instead simply do 3 days.).

Book Teaching
You can self teach Alchemy, Housemagery, Bardmancy, and Further Alchemy recipes under Book Teaching as permitted by the magic write.

True Self Teaching
You can true-self-teach magics where applicable within their lore. This currently applies to The Voidal Feats (Arcane Scions, Voidstalking, Voidal Artificery, Veil Watchers, and Voidal Eminence) and to the Sycophants of Boletius.

Feats, magics, and creatures not mentioned upon this list may not be self taught.

How do I know if I am learning the magic on my own right?

There is a guide for every Evocation submitted and accepted, and it is heavily expected of a person self teaching, regardless if book or teacher teaching, to be consistently reading over the guide and magic. This is to properly get a grip on how things work, and to minimalize margin for mistakes. Guides are entirely there to help a player understand how to do the magic, and offer examples which they may use or take inspiration from in practice. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask the ST in The Story Discord or in game via Sreq.

What does this mean for me as a teacher?

As a teacher, you have the potential to allow Teacher-Self teaching to your students. It is completely up to you, and in no way or means swayed by how a student will or may want it. As a teacher doing this method, you are entirely expected to keep up with your students and verify their teachings, as they act as an extension to you. If the student does not keep communication with you, they may be dropped at any whim without room for self teaching onward. Keep in mind that this will still take up one of your TA slots as normally teaching someone would. This also goes without saying that your character must be alive and must still hold a TA to allow another player to self-teach!

I'm writing a magic, creature, or feat, Can I add it to this list?

Absolutely! Include somewhere upon the post (Or notify an ST Manager/Admin) that you would like to have your magic, creature, or feat eligible to be gained by one of the above methods. Event Injection applies across all magics, creatures, and feats, and thus cannot be requested as it is automatic.

Any further elaboration, addition, or editing needed may and will be applied to this announcement which acts as a formals service to this system.

[✓] The States of Mana

Sun, 02 Oct 2016 20:46:36 +0000

The States of Mana

--+--==[-]==--+--

Passive:

This is found everywhere, in everything. Souls produce passive mana, too (every sort of soul, including those of dogs, liches and every other soul-holder). Souls can only directly manipulate passive mana produced by themselves. If passive mana is produced by a soul, that soul can convert it into active mana. Thusly, a ‘mana pool’ is how much passive mana a soul has produced. Typically, a soul never uses its passive mana pool, and the excess passive mana seeps away as aura. Passive mana is not found on one’s physical person, and is instead found around their soul. When passive mana is produced by a soul, it is specific to that soul, and thus when it seeps to become aura or is converted to active mana and burned, it has a specific aura colour. All soul-bearing individuals require passive mana to survive, and thus converting all of one’s passive mana into active mana results in death (the death occurs due to being unable to do anything, be it breath, think or move). Passive mana is capable of being manipulated or changed, though this is an ability that only magics can do. Shade magic, for example, may convert passive mana into Amber, whilst alteration may manipulate passive mana and alter the properties of objects.

Active:

This is passive mana that has been given a task, and is thus active. All magics use active mana, and active mana is used to fuel all sorts of magical actions. Thanhium produces active mana when converting heat into mana, explaining why it is so useful. Active mana may not be reverted to passive mana, and burns away (instead of seeping away, like passive mana does) into aura when used or when in excess. Active mana may be stored in gems, which prevent it from burning away as quickly, effectively powering enchantments. Active mana gems, however, may run out, though this would take many centuries to occur. Anti-magic works by tearing active mana away from spells and other forms of magic and disposing it into the void, effectively nullifying the spells. Wards work and abjurations in a similar way, though one must understand exactly how the active mana is applied in order to ward a spell. The active mana is then redirected away from the purpose of fueling the spell, thus causing the spell to vanish.

Aura:

The ‘smoke’ of mana. Passive mana slowly degrades to become aura if it is in excess (such as when it is in a soul that produces lots of passive mana, such as a mage’s soul). Active mana, when used to perform actions, is spent and burned, becoming aura. This is why a mage’s aura is most visible when they perform magic, yet this does not mean it is always visible or that is must be visible when magic is cast. In fact, it is usually invisible, but the use of magic makes it more likely to be in large enough quantities to be visible. Aura can be considered the ‘smoke’ if mana being used is the ‘fire’. If aura forms in vast quantities, the colour it takes is entirely dependent on the Mage producing it, which is dependent on the active mana and thus dependent on the passive mana and finally the soul. This means that the aura colour of an individual is a good representation of their base character. Aura colour does not change under typical circumstances, however, and is a constant throughout one's life unless great change happens to them or their soul (such as becoming a Shade or binding one's soul to a soul tree). The colour of aura can mean many things, where blue could mean anything from a cool, analytical mind to a cruel, heartless one, or red meaning bravery or wrath. It is usually very difficult to be sure of a person's nature solely by their aura. Auras are typically monotone, though magical alterations to one's soul may cause unique effects to appear. This only occurs when a soul has been warped to such a level that it can no longer be considered a descendant soul.

Genus:

Genus is a form of dormant, powerful mana that is found in the blood of all creatures capable of magic. Through forbidden, ancient techniques, Blood Mages have found a way to manipulate this form of mana and use it to empower their magics. When manipulated, it may be used in a similar way to active mana, albeit it is far more powerful. Because it is not naturally under the domain of the Blood Mage’s soul, it is far more difficult to control or manipulate. Genus does not count as active mana; it is merely Genus. Genus does require active mana to manipulate, however.

Amber:

A corrupted form of passive mana that has become an entirely new state of its own, this is produced by the Shade Gem and Daeva and used by Shades to create a great manner of things. It is incredibly versatile, capable of changing temperature, density, state and many other physical and chemical properties whilst still remaining the same substance. Only those with a corrupted, Shade-imbued soul may manipulate it, but even then the process requires active mana. Amber naturally deteriorates into a flaking, black aura, though this can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours.

Ectoplasm:

A mixture of lifeforce and active mana, this substance glows an eerie, deathly colour and is found in all types of ghosts and spectral beings. It is typically manipulated by Mystics and Wights to perform their magic of mysticism. Mixed and made by the unnatural souls of ghosts and the spectral dead, this form of mana is the only one which blends with lifeforce, and thus its presence is largely unnatural and it is almost never found in ordinary life forms. The binding of lifeforce and active mana makes both useless to use, where the lifeforce cannot be manipulated by necromancer sand the active mana may not be used for magic. It is for this reason that, to manipulate ectoplasm, queerly enough, one requires active mana.

Credits:

- Mephistophelian: Writing
- Bokratz/Phil: Feedback

- Swgrclan: Feedback

The Fluctuance Of Magic

Sun, 25 Jan 2015 05:34:24 +0000

Every now and again magic rules change. Something is added, removed, a plugin handles things differently... One of the main problems here is making stuff make retroactive sense. People can't learn mind magic any more? How does that make sense? Fireballs work differently? How do we explain this in lore. New magic type? Why has nobody used it in 1500 years and suddenly can now? So I figured I'd make a brief lore explaining why magic changes IC when it changes OOC and save everyone a load of work. Should help with implementing the magic plugin too.

"The Void is a realm of nothing and everything. Its very nature is an eternal state of flux, and it is said that nothing of it is constant save for its lack of constants.

Thus, it stands to reason that magics derived from the Void also bear a lack of constance. The Wizards of the Yir'Sari acknowledge this and thus have always shied away from the scientific approach to magic favoured by the Mages Guild. While the scientific approach to magic has its merits, the Mages Guild have long known that all knowledge they gather is subject to the Fluctuance Of Magic.

Much like nature, magics is ruled by a series of physical and metaphysical laws. Magic has capabilities and limitations, things it can do and things it cannot. Spells operate in certain ways. A fire mage can only control a blaze they summon and upon losing focus it disappates. Mind mages cannot communicate over very long distances. Summoned water cannot be drunk for it will vanish in the body when the spell expires.

While no mage can break these laws, one thing can warp them: time. The physical laws of magic cannot be broken but they do change: they are not constant. They slowly change over the years and decades, powerful abilities become less effective or even impossible and new avenues of magical spellcasting open up. The changes are very subtle over the lifespan of most descendants with only major ripples or disruptions of the Void being able to create a noticeable change quickly. One example of such a "Voidquake" occured at the death of Aegis, when the difficultly of casting magic decreased significantly and there was an explosion of magical practitioners. A second occured in Anthos with the rise of Setherien: the godlike "Tier Five" spellcasters found their powers diminish to that of skilled but normal magi and the rate at which one could form connections to the Void rapidly increased, leading to much faster learning of magic.

These major disruptions nonwithstanding, the magical knowledge a mage accumulates is unlikely to be completely invalidated during his lifetime. It is with the oldest texts that fluctuance is most apparent, with the principles of many powerful rituals of ancient lore based on magical concepts completely incomprehensible to modern magi.

In this age of turmoil, widespread magic and aengudaemonic intervention runs the risk of further Voidquakes. But should magical fluctuance spike again, the mages of Athera are ready."

[Lore] Spontaneous Combustion

Tue, 23 Dec 2014 01:32:08 +0000

Whispers and rumors would tell tales of people combusting into flame, leaving only remnants of ash and charred bone. Burned asunder by some seemingly magical force, the victim isn't around to tell their tale. What causes this mystery? Why does it occur so rarely? And can an unsuspecting citizen replicate it to their unfortunate demise?

Spontaneous combustion, an anomaly maybe more magical then people would have previously presumed. In fact it's so closely tied to magic, mages and sorcerers alike have been dancing a thin line, narrowly escaping the the dreaded fate of being burnt to a crisp. Within us all, resides the key to our ability to cast magic. Entwined with our soul is our mana pool, the supply which we draw upon to cast brilliant displays of magic. When we deplete this resource it naturally regenerates in time, leaving us tired and weak. However what happens when we use too much, and expend our need for energy further then we should have gone?

The answer is woefully simply, spontaneous combustion. However not easily reached and still quite rare, cases have lead me to believe that a mass exertion of mana is what causes this strange anomaly. Cases and tests show that it's not a regular occurrence, even when one does deplete their mana pool. It's the most extreme and rare cases this spontaneous combustion signals an unfortunate end to a mages life. Perhaps this is even capable with mundane citizens, or Knightly types? Perhaps streams of mana within our world are also to blame, focusing a mass concentration of mana on a single spot, triggering some kind of effect within ones soul?

Alas, this is but the beginning of possible research and study. Something certainly to keep in mind at least, as I don't desire to be turned into soot anytime soon...

- Kalameet Izalith, journal entry: Spontaneous Combustion

((Just felt like writing some Lore in the perspective of Kalameet. This is something I've always thought about after some inspiration from a book I once read.

To be clear, this can't be weaponized and doesn't have to be enforced at all, as it's rare even when one does go past their magical limit. This is just something interesting which I decided to write!))

Thaumburn

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 07:12:23 +0000

Magic is an innately unstable thing. With practice, mages can control magic and work great wonders with it. However, as all mages know, magic is dangerous. Even amongst mages, some things are held to be impossible, not because they cannot be attempted, but because attempting to do so causes Thaumburn.

Thaumburn is a rare phenomenom that occurs when the laws of magic are broken. Most mages are incapable of performing magic beyond their abilties or "above their tier". If they attempt to do the magically impossible (breaking OOC magic rules), perform magic beyond their abilites (powergame) or perform magic above their tier, they will fail. Normally it will backfire, nothing will happen or the mage will collapse from exhaustion.

Very rarely, however, their connection to the void or patron will rupture, with magical energy surging into their mind. The result is a powerful illusion. For the mage, their magic appears to succeed. Then, like the afterimage of a bright light fading, the mage's mind returns to reality. This can take anything from a few seconds to an elven day. Their magic either failed to happen or happened without breaking the laws of magic. The laws of magic are not broken, but the mage is. The mage is likely to be slightly brain-damaged by the magical surge, and Thaumburn can occur.

Imagine the connection as a pipe. A short while after the initial rupturing, magical energy begins to flow out of the holes torn in the connection without reaching the mage: they cannot draw upon magic at all. They still know how, but it is impossible for them to do so. This is called Thaumburn. One's connection to the void is ruptured and burned out, preventing the use of magic.

How long it takes for the Thaumburn to heal depends on how severe the violation of the laws of magic was and thus how severe the rupture of one's magical connection is. For very minor infractions, the damage is very little and the connection heals before the mage loses their ability to use magic. However, their connection is more likely to rupture if they violate the laws of magic again. For severe violations, the Thaumburn can take years to heal, even elven (IRL) months. It is not unheard of for Thaumburn so severe to happen that it will never truly heal and the mage is unlikely ever to be able to perform magic again.

((IC explanation for sudden loss of magic upon MA revoke for breaking magic rules. The third paragraph is an IC explanation for voiding powergamed magic. Can also be used in normal RP if desired.))