Sagwort

A SURVEY OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF MAGIC 7th of Snow’s Maiden, 1663 By Ambros METAPHYSICS OF MAGIC The metaphysical study of magic seeks to understand the physical mechanism by which mages manipulate or summon entities. That is to say, it questions what the source of magical power is and upon what this power is being inflicted. PRIMORDIALISM Mayhap the earliest metaphysical theory of magic, primordialism was developed by the Mages Guild of Aegis as a model to understand the various energies and manipulations of magical forces. The primordialists proposed that all magic could be reduced to the four elements of fire, water, earth and air. In the present day, alchemy remains heavily inspired by primordialism, granted, few would suggest that reality is literally composed of the four elements. The remnants of such a philosophy can also be seen in the magic of elemental evocation which was created as a direct result of this theory. Primordialism lost much of its appeal in late Asulon when other, more intricate magics came into light such as conjuration, telekinesis, and electrical evocation, which had no obvious connection to the four elements. Granted, one might propose that the four elements served as meer symbols and the elements, or some mixition of the elements, could be tied to more modern magic in a metaphorical sense. VOIDALISM Voidalism emerged soon after the demise of primordialism with a greater understanding of the nixian plane. While primordialists proposed that magic could be viewed as a manipulation of the concrete presence and mixition of elements, voidists proposed that magic was not a manipulation of physical reality but, rather, abstract potential. Such abstract potential could be manifested within the voidal plane and then brought into reality through the medium of one’s mind. As an understanding of magic’s source, voidalism remains the dominant theory in the present day. MAGICAL EPISTEMOLOGY The epistemological study of magic seeks to understand the mental mechanism by which one practices magic. Or rather, how a magi come to know the entity they wish to manipulate or summon. DIANOSTISM The overwhelmingly dominant view of epistemological magic philosophy is that of dianostism. It was created not long after the philosophy of voidalism came to prominence. Dianistists suggest that the only way to reliably manipulate and summon entities is to visualize the entity within the mind with critical understanding. Empirical observation is paramount to the dianistic view of magic as well as a profound understanding of physical reality. As a result, many dianistic magi will spend a great deal of their time simply studying an object and its manyfold properties. ACCORDISM Accordism emerged as a result of primordialist views of magic in early Mages Guild training practices. Accordist practices revolved around “attuning” oneself to an entity, in the primordial accordist’s case this entity would be an element. Only upon proper subjective experience and understanding of an entity can one hope to manipulate it on any substantial level. Accordists emphasized subjective experience and aesthetic over the dianistic view of objective observation and empirical understanding. In this way, accordists were more akin to druids and shamans in their understanding of magic opposed to the mentally rigorous magi of Anthos and onwards. Old accordists practices might involve long periods of meditation in the presence of an entity, or rigorous mental and physical excursion to prepare one’s mind to understand the entity, developing an intuition surrounding the entity in question. While, in the present day, few magi are pure accordists, many still borrow concepts of accordism to further their training. Meditation is still utilized by voidists to aid in a understanding of their void. In this way, many magi may view the void accordistically but view physical entities diagnostically, since a more subjective and experiential understanding of the void is necessary to properly utilize it. One might call these individuals Dianistic Accordists. ALLEGORISM A relatively fringe philosophy which has only recently caught the interest of magi, but has been prominent in more pragmatic forms of magic for centuries. Allegorists remove the concept of physical or subjective understanding altogether and propose magic can be understood through allegory or indirect representation. Rune smithing are the most noteworthy result of this philosophy, and most recently arithmancy. Allegorism suggests that little understanding of the entity in question is necessary, but rather, an understanding of the allegorical patterns associated with the entity and/or the manipulation itself. Most allegorists are necessarily magical instrumentalists, as their casting mechanisms simply serves as an instrument rather than a truth of reality. PHILOSOPHY OF METAMAGIC The philosophy of metamagic asks fundamental questions regarding magic as a construct and institution. Such questions as how magic ought to be organized and approached. This differs from epistemological magic in that it removes itself from the practice of magic to consider magic in its entirety. MODUMISM Modumism was developed in tandem with voidalism and in opposition to primordialism and genism. The philosophy is a view on how magic ought to be categorized, subdivided, and thusly, approached based upon the mechanism by which a magic is practiced. For instance, whether or not an object is being summoned or manipulated, imbued or physically warped. This is the most widely accepted way of categorizing and training in magic and resulted in the subtypes of magic known most commonly today. GENISM Genism was the philosophy of categorizing magic developed by the primordialists of the Aegis Mages Guild. It viewed the original concept behind an entity as a suitable way of subdividing magic. For instance, primordialists divided magic based upon the four elements, the four elements being the essential concepts of the magic rather than the effect it had. Primordial genists may have divided telekinesis based upon its manipulation of the elements opposed to the mechanism by which it moved the elements. The ability to move stone would be considered an earthen form of magic while being able to move liquid would be considered an aquatic form of magic. Furthering this concept, enchanting an object with heat would be considered fire magic, while being able to mold stone using transfiguration would be considered an earthen magic. Thus, in modern terms, an earth mage would be able to evoke, move, transfigure, enchant, etc… entities with theoretical essences of earth opposed to all abilities being separate schools of magic. Thus, magi would train in a particular elemental magic rather than in evocation or transfiguration. As one can see, the way in which one subdivides magical systems can have lasting effects upon the development of magic as a whole. MAGICAL REALISM Magical realism has long been the prevailing philosophy on magical progress and paradigms. It submits that magical paradigms and theories are both true and factual, or at least partially true and factual. That is to say, potentially unseeable entities within magic are present if not directly observable. For instance, according to a magical realist, the voidal plane and mana would be taken literally. Active connections to the unobservable plane and the drawing of unobservable energies result in the magic one can observe. Thus, magical realists believe that the ultimate goal of magical study is to seek a higher truth, and that magic naturally and inevitably progresses towards this more complete truth. MAGICAL INSTRUMENTALISM Magical instrumentalists, or magical relativists, serve as a counter to the more widely accepted realist philosophy. Instrumentalists suggest that unobservable paradigms within magic are not necessarily knowable and one can never have a complete truth or fact of these unobservable, unknowable concepts such as the voidal plane. Instead, theories ought to be formulated which best describe the phenomena and aid with the casting of magic for the mortal mind, but do not necessarily describe universal facts or truths about magic. An instrumentalist would reckon that whether or not the voidal plane or mana exists is irrelevant to the practice of magic, but the theory of the void or mana is a sufficient enough paradigm for describing what one would call “magic” and, thus, is adequate for studying and practicing it. In this way, numerous “instruments” of describing magic may exist, whether it is through a theoretical and unobservable higher deity or through the unobservable void. So long as the desired and observable end result is achieved, the paradigm is a relevant way of describing magic. Granted, the best instruments are those which describe the concepts most completely, though not necessarily accurately.

Character Analysis & Writing Compelling Dialogue Forward This guide is being written as a more refined version of a roleplay guide I wrote several years ago which was sheer chaos and entirely too long (I’m not even going to link it). This distills the concepts in that guide with a few additions. Ideally, this guide is used to improve upon current characters and understand their psyche so roleplay becomes more deliberate and rich. That being said, this is best suited for experienced roleplayers who are familiar with their characters and comfortable writing. Note that not all of these ideas are necessarily mine. Many of them are altered writing concepts that I found on various writing blogs and guides. Granted, I’ve always had the belief that roleplay is much like collaborative, real time writing with story that unfold before those involved. Of course, those involved still need to put in the effort to unfold a decent story. Since we, as players, can only interact with this story via singular characters, it would seem most appropriate to start there. Character Analysis Mayhaps the most provocative aspect of roleplay is the creation of characters. Personas upon which we as players can project our fantasies and fears. However, I find that many character creation guides only explore surface level concepts such as ineffectual physical traits and humdrum quirks. No one cares what your character has in their left pocket or that they hate the taste of nuts. The only “traits” you should be concerned about are those which reveal something about your character’s inner psyche. An excellent motto to develop characters by is: “Everything should communicate something.” That might seem quite Freudian, but for the purposes of developing compelling and unforgettable characters, it is crucial. Now, in my last guide I talked about six pillars of character which were: secrets, fears, desires, quirks, flaws, and strengths. While useful, they tend to be too situational in their application. The goal of this new system is understand one’s character so thoroughly that they can react to any situation believably and consistently whilst in character. Too often people revert to their own reactions when facing roleplay circumstances opposed to how the character they are attempting to cultivate would react. Lose yourself in your character, don’t lose your character in yourself. Of course, to even attempt this one must understand their character on a level far deeper than simple personality traits. Lose the concepts of strengths and weaknesses. While useful starting points, they will forever leave your character feeling one-dimensional and unbelievable. People are more than a list of traits, afterall. Below are the five dimensions of character which explain the psyche and persona of one’s character. Presence Your character’s presence is how they present themselves to the exterior world. It includes three major concepts: energy, attention, and movement. Note; however, that none of these should be superficial. Remember, everything should communicate something. What does your character’s default posture reveal about them? What about their walk? Their eyes? If your character walked into a job interview, what would one’s first impression be? The presence should be an outward manifestation of their personality. Below are a few questions to get you started on understanding your character’s presence. Avoid recreating cliches or character tropes which often arise from questionnaires such as these. Think about your character as an individual and how their experiences have uniquely shaped them. Furthermore, these questions should be answered as though you were someone else describing your character’s presence. What mannerisms does your character have? How does your character move? Does your character seem present or detached? Is your character lively or still? Is your character expressive or stoic? Is your character forward or reserved? Is your character tense or relaxed? Is your character confident or reluctant? Is your character sensitive or resilient? How intense is your character’s stare and how much eye contact do they make? What is your character’s habitual posture? Do your character’s movements seem cultivated or natural? Interaction It is said that our relationships define us. This is quite true in our case. How your character interacts and communicates with others should reveal something about their psyche. One should ask themselves how quickly their character opens up to others. Are they naturally suspicious or perhaps a bit too trusting? Motivation Motivation is what prompts your character to react. It explains the catalyst behind reactions and emotions. So far as we are concerned, the only motivation is fear. Or, more specifically, insecurity. For our characters, every motivation is prompted first by a fear. The desire to travel comes from a fear of mundanity. A desire to find love comes from a fear of loneliness. One seeks a profession because they fear a meaningless life. So, when looking for a motivation start with fear. What does your character fear on a subconscious level? Motivations can be used to dictate a character’s presence and interactions. One should ask why their character behaves the way they do. Mayhaps they have intense eye contact because they crave fulfilling relationships. Maybe they walk fast because they fear wasting time. Method A character’s method is the approach they take to solving problems, or more broadly, their motivations. Indirectly, it should reveal how your character thinks. When faced with adversity do they prefer a familiar procedure or do they prefer to experiment? Do they face their dilemmas alone or actively seek help? Are they methodical or do they rely on intuition? Are they proactive or do they run from their fears? Method is directly tied to motivation in that it explains how your character intends to achieve their goals or how they react to their fears. Underpinning When all personas and agendas are stripped away the underpinning of one’s character is left. It is the seat of their personality, the subconscious core of their existence. This dimension is difficult to explain due to its inherently abstract connotations. The most efficient way to find a character’s underpinning is to explore their backstory, early childhood would be most effective. Based upon these foundational memories one can then determine how they might affect their character’s development. Remember that one’s underpinning is subconscious. While the creator should be aware of it, the character should not. However, their underpinning should still leak through their methods, motivations, interactions and presence. Here I have laid out a rough procedure one can take when analyzing their character: Developing Compelling Dialogue While a proper character analysis is all well and good, poor utilization of the analysis makes the process useless. We have discussed how physical interactions can reveal a great deal about a character’s psyche. However, particularly in LotC, dialogue is the most used form of communication. With dialogue we continue to live by the motto “everything should communicate something.” Most writing advice pertaining to dialogue typically advises using plot to advance the plot, raise stakes, etc… Unfortunately, this only works when the author has a direction they are heading. The intriguing aspect of roleplay is that we do not always have a direction. However, this often leads to mindless, meandering conversations that quickly become boring. This becomes such an issue that most people don’t even want to start a conversation unless they have an obvious reason to. Truly excellent dialogue should not only be interesting to partake in, but also observe. A bystander should be fascinated by your conversations and draw them in. This does not mean fabricating elaborate stories or speaking in melodramatic ways. If we allow every aspect of our dialogue to communicate something beyond the words being uttered, we produce captivating dialogue. In summary, the secret ingredient is subtext. Reveal Character This sort of dialogue ties directly to what we discussed in the character analysis section. Note that dialogue should not just reveal character. It should be subtle subtext to your dialogue which would otherwise be a mundane conversation or a high stakes argument. Much like a character’s presence, a character’s dialogue can expose their inner psyche through word choice, pacing, tone, and of course, presence. Examples of what dialogue can reveal are as follows: Show what your character is thinking. Show how your character thinks. Suggest conversational styles and skills. Reveal relationship dynamics. Hint at backstory. Suggest worldview, perspective and morals. Imply emotion and attitude. Divulge goals, passions and dreams. Again, subtlety is key. Avoid simply stating any of the above points. The age old writer’s advice of “show don’t tell” applies here. Furthermore, don’t use emotive words as a crutch either. It is often said that a writer should never need to use any other word besides said following speech. As in, he said, she said, they said, etc… This is because using such things as, he chided, or he said sarcastically simply tells the reader how the character sounds opposed to showing it through tone and subtext. If you do use emotes, show tone through body movement and facial expressions (i.e. presence) Here is a bad example: Opposed to: Which one is more compelling? I would say the second one. We did not change a single thing about the dialogue but communicated a great deal by showing nervousness and insecurity opposed to simply stating he was nervous. We have also revealed deeper aspects of the character’s presence, interactions, and even motivations. He fidgets when nervous, a form of presence. He is also clearly uncomfortable sharing his feelings, suggesting he is probably insecure about such things, likely due to a fear of rejection. That one line of dialogue has revealed a boat load of information without stating a single thing. Here is an example more focused on the speech itself: Opposed to: The first example is a classic infodump. Stating information as though it were in a list with no subtext. The second one proves to be more subtle, however. For instance, the use of the word mother opposed to mom suggests their relationship was professional, at best. Furthermore, the fact that he pauses before describing her suggests a certain amount of uneasiness on the topic. This person does not think about his mother often since he is forced to almost recall her by looking off into distance. It dusty memory was just shaken out of him. Furthermore, he says “I never liked her”. This suggests that others had different opinions. Now both of these bits of dialogue reveal the same amount of information. However, one does it through infodumping and one does it through subtext. If I were listening into this conversation I would find the second example twice and interesting as the first. How will the other person react? How will this conversation continue? Pace Control When writing dialogue we must also consider the entire interaction opposed to a few lines of text. Real conversations are not he said, and then he said, and then he said, and then he said. No, there are pauses, awkward silences, moments for information to sink in, etc… An endless rambling of dialogue becomes boring quickly. To avoid this we can inject pacing into the conversation. Pacing is momentum. It should be perpetually fluctuating, speeding up and slowing down like a compelling story. This momentum can be monitored by injecting emotional cues via emotes or slightly longer strings of speech. For example: This is a bit of an exaggerated example, but you can see a variation in pacing and momentum. There are a few lines of quick back-and-forth followed by a few longer lines which slows the conversation down considerably. Even more, these few lines of text tell us about the characters themselves as well as the sort of relationship they have. The boy is clearly quite reserved and finds it difficult to portray whatever emotion he is experiencing here. The girl; however, is more forward, if a bit crass. Yet, she seems endearing and cares for the boy. The last few lines suggest that this kind of interaction is common between them. There is also something else here, even more subtle yet adds considerably to the interaction. That is… microtension. Microtension Perhaps the most difficult aspect of dialogue is microtension, a subtle dissonance between two characters when they interact. In a single conversation this tension can increase or decrease depending on the subtext and pacing of the dialogue. For instance, in the last example the dialogue begins with fairly little tension. It comes across as a mundane interaction. However, within three lines the interaction becomes considerably more tense. There is dissonance there, emotional conflict between what the girl wants and what the boy wants. The boy is reserved, probably wants to be left alone whereas the girl wants him to open up, she wants to help him. Conversations don’t need to be weighty and melodramatic to achieve this tension, however. Something as simple as asking for a glass of water can have tension. Through tone, emotes and word choice, the asker can reveal what they think about the askee. Do they look down on them? Do they consider them an equal? A superior? Is there tension between a past interaction which may be strained their relationship? Have they recently healed their relationship and are still nervous about setting the other person off? Remember, subtext, subtext, subtext. Do not expect to become a dialogue guru overnight. This sort of thing takes practice and a deep understanding of your character. You shouldn’t need to write a book report on every line of dialogue you write. You should know your character so thoroughly that these lines of subtext and microtension flow from your character instinctively.

THE SKEPTICAL ALCHYMIST -o- By Dr. Ambros & Dr. Lorolith Ilra of the Imperial Society 5th of Sun’s Smile, 1624 PREMABLE There are those, some would call “scholars”, who suggest the world is of a purely mystical and enigmatic nature and would rather spend their days dealing in trade crafts or reading tomes of pre established knowledge and practices than exploring the fundamental workings behind these arts to a civilizing degree. For certain these arts are necessary, but any naturalist or philosopher ought to look further than mere craft. Archaic explanations of the physical and material plane leave much to the imagination and were perfunctory at best, which, despite their romance, is troublesome for any true advancement of physical and material arts. Thus, the Imperial Society of the Holy Orenian Empire hath written down a cumulative collection of empirical observation and forthwith explained these observations using the novel elemental & corpuscular theory of matter which hopes to fully explain all phenomena which takes place within the physical plane in a, ideally, elegant manner. Of course, purely aengudaemonic occurrences may lay well beyond mortal comprehension and are, thusly, left out of this particular theory. Furthermore, the Society recognizes the existence of “supernatural matter” which will not be covered in this thesis. Such materials as thanhium, mage gold, holy fires, divine lights, etc… require a more specific form of study. Our thesis claims only to cover the familiar material world in any detail. Although it would be our firm belief that these workings happen in conjunction with those more mystical workings in a consistent way, even if so nuanced as to be beyond us. Take note that a cursory glance of this literature is apt to lead to confusion and, thus, a fractured understanding of the theory. Even the most competent of alchemists ought to read this with some tact and allow time for meditation on the topics listed herein. ARGUMENTS FOR THE INDIVISIBLE CORPUSCLE Now, it would seem that the existence of what we call ‘corpuscles’ is certainly intuitive. These corpuscles are the indivisible, discrete unit of all matter in the physical world. The very literal building blocks of all material. That which is infinitely divisible simply doesn't tickle rational intuition in the same way. This, as we have identified, comes from a very simple logical axiom. From the impossibility of ‘infinite regress’. Or the idea that no proposition can be supported ad infinitum by other propositions to explain their existence. In this way, it seems logically necessary that there be some initial form of matter from which a greater structured matter can be composed. Since, in a similar way, it seems logically repugnant to be able to follow the fundamental compositions of all material backwards forever. Although this kind of argumentation may be satisfactory to many, it does play strongly off of the idea of logical ‘intuition’. We members of the Imperial society were first spurred on to the idea of ‘corpuscularism’ by some simple natural phenomenon that can be best explained by the existence of the corpuscle. And perhaps can only be explained by the existence of the corpuscle. The main identified (although many other natural phenomena will be explained using this theory later on, as an attempt to strengthen it) are found in the properties of fluids. It would seem, given an analysis of phenomena like the buoyancy principle and analysis of the behaviour of compressed fluids that, at all times, they are exerting some kind of outwards force. That outwards force is what keeps objects afloat when it surpasses the object’s weight. And it causes those thinner gases to spread out naturally, when not confined. We assert that, at any time, there is motion being imposed on fluids from some outside source. Since it is near impossible to imagine all corpuscles in a material to be still given their proposed scale and sensitivity to impulse. This motion, we assert, is the result of that force which allows objects to float and causes fluids to spread naturally. The corpuscles of solids, being bound tighter by some undescribed force, do not display this ‘spreading’ behaviour as they would never be as sensitive to the influence of external forces. This kind of phenomena cannot be explained by any continuous theory of matter. A continuous theory of matter could not truly explain how the compression of fluids is possible and why this outwards force becomes more extreme as it resists more compression. Since matter would simply occupy its space, without the individual motion of parts or space in between them. Although this document will go on to explain the behaviour and conceptual structure and geometry of the corpuscles, it should be noted that our model allows the corpuscles of fluids free movement, hence their malleability, allowing them to display this kind of behaviour as a logical consequence. We can also extrapolate to argue that those solids we come into contact with are also structured from corpuscles, since they share an existence with their fluid and gas counterparts. Water, ice and steam, for example. Only when the fluid that cannot be compressed or does not resist compression can be found can this argument for their structure be called into question. ON THE DIVISION OF SUBSTANCES All substances within the physical plane can most clearly be divided into two categories. Now, with evidence of the corpuscle, all substances may be considered corpuscles or quintessences. That is, indivisible material particles making up the physical plane and aetheric energies necessary for existence and life. This thesis is most concerned with the former, though a separation between these substances is necessary for a proper consideration of the physical plane as well as an admittance of our ignorance of the true nature of these quintessence substances. The undeniable existence of the quintessences suggest the universe is not a mechanical instrument, composed of clockwork parts. Rather, the universe is an organic and fluid reality with differing substances, forces and energies. If the corpuscles are the body of the physical plane, then the quintessences are its soul. ON THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY QUALITIES OF MATERIAL SUBSTANCES When considering the physical plane, there are certain sensations which we mortals must consider in regards to reality. By convention, there are sweet and bitter, hot and cold, color, fragrance, and so on; but in truth there are only corpuscles and empty space. These sensations are no more than mere names we assign to mortal sensation, and they reside only in the consciousness. Hence, if the living creatures were removed, all these qualities would be wiped away. These qualities, the qualities which are, by their nature, prone to subjective judgment and independent to the observer, do not provide objective facts about the universe, only perceptions and experience. These are the secondary qualities of things and do not show the true nature of materials. What, then, does define a material substance? These defining qualities are known as primary qualities. They exist within the object regardless of the subjective judgments of a perceiver, they exist independent of an observer, such as solidity, size, motion, number and shape. These qualities are objective in nature and factual, and thus, can be determined with some amount of certainty. These qualities exist within corpuscles as they are the most real of things within the physical plane. Corpuscles have only motion, size, shape, etc… not smell or color. In fact, it is the interacting of corpuscles which produces these illusory sensations within the larger substances they compose, though do not exist within the corpuscles themselves. ON THE GEOMETRY AND ELEMENTAL NATURE OF CORPUSCLES When surveying known alchemical knowledge one must take into consideration the four elemental symbols of flora, that is, fire, water, earth, and air. It would seem as though these four essences are inseparable from alchemical theory and material doctrine. In like manner, the corpuscular theory of matter takes is composed of four geometric shapes, or array of shapes, which all corpuscles can be categorized into. These shapes, as far as we can tell, describe the individual properties of the elements as divided by the convention of alchemical theory. At least on a very conceptual level. Each classical element can be related to the properties of one of our categories of corpuscle and can therefore be related to the individual properties of these geometric shapes. These four arrays of geometric corpuscles compose all material things on the physical plane in varying ratios. While they are indivisible, it is possible for the corpuscles to shrink and grow as a result of heat. It is this alteration in size which results in the melting or freezing of materials. It's important to note that we aren’t proposing that earth is literally composed totally of brunus corpuscles. Or that water of cerulis, air of Albus or fire of Rubis. Only that we have described them as to fit with the properties of and categorization of classical alchemical theory. It would be, perhaps, impossible to know exactly the nature of these corpuscles, if not impossible to know of their existence. It is, however, easy to see that our descriptions of these objects are reasonable as they coincide with the properties of materials we are describing. We also think, in considering these kinds of descriptions, if we are right about our characteristics of materials, mineral substances, other than those organic substances may well serve to be used in alchemy. ON PHYSICAL STATES OF MATERIAL SUBSTANCES All material substances have a grounded or natural state in which they prefer to be. For instance, many metals are most commonly found in a solid state while water is most commonly found in a liquid state. The natural state of things provides insight into what corpuscles they are most likely composed of. Since metals prefer to be solid, they are likely composed of mostly brunus corpuscles due to their naturally stackable and stable shape while water is likely composed of mostly cerulis corpuscles due cerulis corpuscles being capable of easily rolling over each other, though not necessarily sliding past actively resulting in liquid qualities. When material substances change their physical state, that is to say they melt, freeze or evaporate, the corpuscles they are composed of do not change. Rather, the corpuscles they are composed of shrink and expand. When heat is applied to a material the corpuscles it is composed of begin to shrink in response and grow when heat is actively removed from the material. For instance, naturally liquid water is composed of predominantly cerulis corpuscles. When heat is applied to this substance the cerulis corpuscles begin to shrink. If enough heat is applied to the water the corpuscles will shrink to such a degree that the space between them begins making it easy for the cerulis corpuscles to glide past each other and the substance begins to behave like a gas or water vapor. When heat is removed from the substance the cerulis corpuscles begin to grow. They grow so large that it becomes near impossible for the corpuscles to continue moving past each other and the substance begins behaving like a solid or ice. If the water vapor or ice is left undisturbed with no continued outside forces it would naturally return to its grounded liquid state as this is what is easiest for the cerulis corpuscle to behave as. Take note that due to the cerulis corpuscle sitting in a between state or shape of the cubic brunus and the spherical albus corpuscles it does not require a great deal of outside activity to make the cerulis corpuscles behave like either. However, for a metal, which is composed of predominantly brunus corpuscles, it takes significantly more effort to make the brunus corpuscles behave like a cerulis or albus corpuscle. A great deal of heat is required to shrink the brunus corpuscles to such a degree that they begin moving past each other like cerulis corpuscles and a near impossible amount of heat to make brunus corpuscles behave like albus corpuscles. It is this difference in the spacing of corpuscles that allows compression in fluids and not in solids and the motion in the spaces thereof that allows for the aforementioned resistive forces to compression. ON THE STUDY OF PHLOGISTOLOGY & HEAT Phlogistology, or the study of phlogiston and heat, formed naturally from the study of material substances. One need not be an alchemist or scholar to see that some materials are far more prone to burning than others. For instance, wood burns far easier than stone. Further, dried wood burns far easier than living wood. Using the corpuscular theory, it would seem as though a substance, the Society has deemed phlogiston, is present in all things in varying amounts. Phlogiston is that substance which burns. The more phlogiston present in a material in comparison to other corpuscles present determines how well the material will burn and combust. This substance can most clearly be defined as heat and fire. Wherever there is palpable heat or fire there is phlogiston. The reason other corpuscles, such as brunus, do not turn to gas along with the phlogiston is because phlogiston is composed of, as stated earlier, albus and rubis corpuscles. Albus corpuscles have a tendency to become gaseous in their grounded or natural state. Thus, when heat is applied, these (along with the rubis corpuscles) are the first to become gaseous. The sharp edges of the rubis corpuscles carried along with the albus corpuscles cause the sensations of burning and heat. They can easily break down and tear apart materials as a result, penetrating the spaces between brunus corpuscles. Thus, materials which burn are both broken apart from the phlogiston and shrunken due to the escaping phlogiston. A living leaf has a large amount of phlogiston present (as do all flora materials), however, it has a larger amount of other corpuscles present such as cerulis which contribute to its vitality and flexibility through water. However, when gentle prolonged heat is applied to the leaf or the leaf falls and dies and is vulnerable to the heat of the sun, the water, and thus, the cerulis corpuscles shrink and begin to evaporate into the air as water vapor leaving the leaf composed of only brunus and phlogiston. Now the leaf has a far larger amount of phlogiston present than any other arrangement of corpuscles making the leaf burn quite easily. The leaf would still burn with cerulis corpuscles present while alive, granted, would not burn as quickly or easily. Phlogiston is likely composed of a mixture of albus and rubis corpuscles, with the albus corpuscles contributing to the “gaseous” nature of fire and heat and the rubis corpuscles contributing to the penetrating, consuming nature of fire. Avoid the temptation to consider phlogiston ONLY composed of rubis corpuscles as this is likely incorrect due to the composition of light which will be elaborated on later. When a material is burned with a high degree of phlogiston present within, the phlogiston escapes into the air. First as heat or smoke, which is small amounts of phlogiston leaving the material. If further or more intense burning occurs the material begins to release phlogiston in larger amounts which takes the form of fire. When all the phlogiston in the material has been burned away all that remains is brunus corpuscles which takes the form of ash. One will note that if ash is burned long enough it will cease to burn at all, leaving behind a white ash or salt. This ash has lost all phlogiston and, thus, can no longer burn. This process is alchemically known as calcination. As the phlogiston escapes into the air it eventually dissipates and spreads out in the atmosphere. One can witness this process occurring after a fire when the air is, at first, very hot. When the fire burns out the air will remain warm for a period before cooling again, this is the phlogiston dispeling in the air. The reason the air does not simply combust, since it naturally contains phlogiston, is because it is in such diluted amounts, it has not noticeable effects. However, one will see that if phlogiston was concentrated in the air it can in fact combust. If a candle is lit and then extinguished, a match can be held over the smoking wick and be spontaneously ignited. This is because the air around the wick has concentrated amounts of phlogiston present which has yet to dissipate. A naturally combustible material, such as a match, can be ignited using this highly concentrated phlogiston around the smoking wick. The Society conducted a rather curious experiment where a candle was placed within a glass bell jar. The candle burned for a few minutes before extinguishing before the wick was fully used. This can only be explained through the conclusion that a finite volume of air can only hold a finite amount of phlogiston. Since the bell jar was sealed, no air or phlogiston could escape the jar. Thus, as the phlogiston in the wick burned and escaped into the air, it could not dissipate. Once the entire bell jar filled with phlogiston the phlogiston in the wick could no longer burn and was extinguished. This same principle explains why one can douse a fire with a blanket or a quick splash of water. The phlogiston can no longer escape from the material and is extinguished. One might, understandably, be concerned about this phlogiston substance in the air. Surely, after centuries of burning, all the air around the physical plane would become quite concentrated with phlogiston from campfires, forges, etc… It is of the Society’s belief that, in comparison to the entire atmosphere of the physical plane, the amount of phlogiston dissipated into it, due to mortal or natural activity, is minimal and even negligible. Even so, the highly gaseous phlogiston may also be escaping into the cosmos, or plants naturally absorb the phlogiston. This would explain why plant material tends to have such a high degree of phlogiston present and is quite easy to burn. The dissipation of phlogiston may take place in several ways. One is simply through the dilution of the phlogiston in the air. Another is from the fire itself. The fire’s high energy propels the rubis corpuscles present in the escaping phlogiston in uniform beams which we perceive a light. This will be explained fully in the next section. ON THE STUDY OF OPTICS & THE CORPUSCULAR THEORY OF LIGHT Parallel to the study of fire and heat is the study of light. It is a most puzzling of substances, and rightfully so. Ancient texts suggest that the first substance to come into existence from the chaotic Void was a bright, white light, and from this light all things find origin. We took great reverence in studying such a venerable topic, though, much of it remains a higher mystery to our mortal minds. Using corpuscular theory, it would seem most likely that light is composed of uniform “beams” or rubis corpuscles which move through the air at a high velocity. The extremely light and near massless rubis corpuscles, and at such high velocities, move in straight lines for great distances. Granted, over extreme distances one will find that light appears to fade. This is due to the rubis corpuscles scattering and eventually dissipating into the air much like phlogiston. Of course, highly concentrated sources of light may have beams of rubis corpuscles travel for thousands of miles. We believe light to be composed of these ‘rubis’ corpuscles because of how well light conforms to behaviour similar to any other physical object in the process of reflecting or refracting. Like any solid object bounding off of a surface in reflection, the angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection. The force of the light corpuscles on the surface results in this ‘bounce’ and their inertia parallel to the surface carries them in that direction. Light behaving in a way that can be described as having inertia points towards some kind of mass and, therefore, some kind of corpuscular composition. Similarly, in refraction, we can see that a more ‘dense’ material would cause light corpuscles to travel slower through it do to more resistance to their motion from the corpuscles of the material. This is what causes light, even in transparent materials such as glass, to dissipate and spread if a concentrated beam moves through for too long. This, it would seem, is also the key to understanding why refraction happens. If we assert that these beams are composed of many corpuscles (unlike the diagrams above which show them to only be one or two in width) and that these beams wish to stay ‘together’ in some way, meaning there is some attractive force between them like in normal matter, this phenomena makes sense. Upon meeting the boundary of a denser material, one side of the beam moves faster as it meets this denser material later, bending the light. Just as a wheeled cart would change direction when moving from stone path to wet mud at an angle as one wheel enters the wet mud first, resisting the motion on one side before the other. Light finds origin in light sources, which come in a variety of forums. Most commonly, light comes from fire which already contains rubis corpuscles. The high energy of the flame propels beams of rubis corpuscles outwards, giving off light. Thusly, in order for an object to give off natural light, it must have rubis corpuscles present. From this, we can conclude that no natural forms of light are truly eternal. Once the substance has lost all rubis corpuscles, it ceases to give off light. This, of course, does not include supernatural sources of light, such as auras or aengudaemonic light. One might argue that corpuscles would collide if two beams of light crossed. While theoretically possible, the size of the corpuscles and the space between them is so finite that it becomes nearly impossible for light corpuscles to collide. Light corpuscles that do collide are minimal and are not visually noticeable to the mortal observer. Further evidence that light is composed of rubis corpuscles may be seen through a simple experiment using a magnifying lense. When held at a proper angle in relation to the sun or another source of powerful light, one can direct the rubis corpuscles into a highly concentrated beam which can cause things to heat and eventually burn, releasing the phlogiston within. This is done through the sharp rubis corpuscles tearing apart the corpuscles composing whatever burnable material the lense is directed at, and releasing the phlogiston within. The other mystifying property of light is its ability to display a wide array of colors, most clearly observed through a rainbow or white light refracted through a glass prism. The glass prism demonstration quite clearly shows that white light, the greatest of lights, is composed of an array of other colors. The perceived color of these lights is due to the size of the corpuscles themselves. An experiment was conducted with an enchanted glass rod that would change color when exposed to varying temperatures. The Society is calling it a phlogistometer. When the phlogistometer was placed under violet light it indicated a higher temperature, when placed under a red light it indicated a cooler temperature. Using conclusions made through phlogistology, it would seem that violet light is composed of warmer corpuscles and, thus, the corpuscles must be smaller since corpuscles shrink when exposed to heat, and red light is composed of larger corpuscles since corpuscles expand when heat is removed. A conundrum remains, however. While we have adequately explained the nature of color and light, WHY different objects appear as different colored remains a mystery. Of course, color is a secondary quality, and only exists because a perceiver is present to observe the color. Some mechanism must exist within the mind or the eye that allows the consciousness to differentiate between different sized light corpuscles and, as a result, perceive color. Further research is required in this area. ON OTHER NATURAL AND ALCHEMICAL PHENOMENA Other, more specific, observations can be found through alchemical and physical experimentation which will be explained using the corpuscular theory thusly. Some solid materials are far more brittle and prone to breaking than others, such as dried leaves, glass, ceramic, etc… compared to more dense materials such as solid wood, heavy metals, and stone. Furthermore, some solid materials are more malleable such as pure gold which can be dented with one’s teeth. These material properties are likely due to the arrangement and composition of corpuscles within the material. For instance, brittle materials have a great deal of space between their brunus corpuscles and they form more “strands” of brunus corpuscles which can easily be shattered while more solid materials, such as stone, have more dense and efficiently arranged brunus corpuscles which are much more solidly laced together. The malleability of materials can be explained by the corpuscular composition of the material. For instance, gold likely has cerulis present within it, giving it its malleable properties, since the cerulis corpuscles allow for a slightly more “fluid” material. More cerulis corpuscles would inevitably result in an even more malleable material until it becomes a highly viscous liquid, such as tree sap or honey. This malleability and viscosity phenomenon could also be explained with the size of the corpuscles. A solid material with slightly smaller brunus corpuscles would be more malleable than a solid material composed of larger brunus corpuscles, naturally. Another unavoidable alchemical properties of substance is its acidity or corrosiveness. Some liquids are capable of corroding other materials, seemingly consuming it like liquid fire. This comparison to fire, of course, has some truth within it. An acid’s ability to consume or break apart other materials can be explained with the presence of rubis corpuscles present in the substance. The sharp edges of the rubis corpuscles can break apart brunus or cerulis corpuscles quite easily in high concentrations. Thus, the more rubis corpuscles present within an acid, the more acidic it becomes. It should be noted that some materials are more resistant to acidic corrosion than others. For instance, the most noble of metals, gold, does not grow a layer of “rust” or tarnish as most all other metals do. It is also resistant to near all acids. This is most easily explained with its superior composition. That is, most likely, a mixture of brunus and cerulis corpuscles in a perfected ratio which makes it highly unreactive, and thus, never rusts. Furthermore, earth and water are known as the “passive” elements and are, naturally, stable in nature. An ideal arrangement and ratio of these corpuscles would inevitably result in a highly, alchemically stable material. The exact composition and nature of gold remains distorted. On the topic of lightning, it would seem, in some way, related to fire and light. Thus, lightning no doubt has rubis corpuscles present, mayhap even phlogiston in some degree. Granted, the exact origin and cause of these bright streaks of destructive energy remain a mystery, further study is required. ON THE CORPUSCULAR THEORY OF MAGIC Stemming naturally from the corpuscular theory of matter comes the corpuscular theory of arcane magic. For centuries the extent of a magi’s knowledge of the material world stopped at simple observations and measurements leaving the scholar to question what “exactly” they were evoking from the chaos. A great many of the arcanic disciplines may be explained, quite simply, with the corpuscular theory. The art of evocation is the summoning of corpuscles from the void in varying sizes and geometries to produce the four elements. The fire evoker summons phlogiston (albus and rubis corpuscles). The water evoker summons cerulis corpuscles in either liquid form or a solid, frozen form. Earth evocation, which seems to be the most intricate of disciplines. Many stones and crystals are not composed of brunus alone, but many different corpuscular shapes which contribute to their appearance and properties. The actual arrangement of these corpuscles further complicates the discipline of earth evocation. Unlike the fire, water, and air evokers, the earth evoker must study an array of minerals and metals to fully understand them. It would seem that an understanding of corpuscular theory would most benefit the earth evoker, above all else. The exact nature of air evocation may not apply directly to corpuscular theory, as air evocation does not deal with the evoking of substance, but rather, physical energy, causing wind and changes in pressure. The evokers may then manipulate the amount, concentration, etc… of corpuscles they summon resulting in the vast array of effects an evoker may produce. Conjurationists, however, may not benefit from corpuscular theory. While all material things can be reduced to corpuscles, that does not mean it is efficient to visualize all things as corpuscles. Living organisms are highly complex creations, to envision every corpuscular component of an entire bird or tree would become highly inefficient to the conjurer. While certain phenomena in the body may be explained with corpuscules, such as blood, the entire body ought to be considered in its totality, and not in its micro-corpuscular parts. Granted, the apothecary or the doctor should still concern themselves with corpuscules, as the creation of medicines would benefit greatly from corpuscular study. The disciplines of transfiguration, and more specifically, transmutation seem to deal considerably with the manipulation of matter. Thus, the study of corpuscular theory would greatly benefit the transmutationist. The transmutation simply manipulates the size, composition, and arrangement of existing materials to alter their properties and material states. All disciplines of illusion remain an enigma, and cannot be adequately explained with corpuscular theory as illusion inherently deals with the immaterial. While one might suggest that illusion, light illusion in particular, is simply the summoning of light corpuscles, this explanation is wholly unsatisfactory. Illusionists are capable of altering the senses of individuals suggesting these illusion take place in the mind alone, not the physical world. The mind, soul and consciousness are beyond the scope of corpuscular theory as these are gifts from the Creator, and thus, are divine, or at least, supernatural in nature in comparison to the material world. ON THE FOUR KINGDOMS OF NATURE & THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF THINGS All naturally occurring, material things can most easily be divided into four kingdoms. Those are, vegetable, animal, mineral, and metallic. With vegetable being all plants, fungi, etcetera; metallic being all metal substances; mineral being all mineral substances, and so on. All naturally occurring things, then, of the four kingdoms may then be reduced individually. That is to say, all minerals and metals may be reduced to their three principles, and all plants and animals may be reduced in like manner. These three principles are salt, spirit, and oil. Salt is the corporeal vessel of all things, typically composed of near pure brunus corpuscles. It gives the material structure and, thus, serves as a holder of the spirit and oil. The salt ties the volatile and passive substances to the physical plane in a symbolic sense. Salt is most easily gathered through the calcination of the material. This is simply placing a solid substance, plant, stone, metal, or animal matter, into a slow burning, though steady, heat. The substance is allowed to burn for several hours as the cerulis corpuscles are driven out followed by phlogiston corpuscles in the form of simple heat or smoke, though not necessarily fire. The resulting “ash” is known as the salt of the substance and impervious to further burning since all phlogiston has been driven out. Typically, all that remains is brunus corpuscles. Note that one ought to gather the evaporating phlogiston and cerulis corpuscles for further alchemical operations. Salts can also be obtained through crystallization. When a material, which has been dissolved into a liquid substance, is evaporated or distilled to dryness, crystals will remain in the alembic or retort. These crystals, which did not evaporate, are the salt of the dissolved substance. More purified salt can be produced by dissolving the ash into water, or another solvent, and heated gently once again. The remaining ash, or crystals, are more pure. This can be performed several times to maximize purity. Spirit is the volatile substance found within all things, typically combustible. Thus, the spirit holds a great deal of phlogiston. Thus, to extract the spirit of a substance is to extract the phlogiston. Spirits need not only be combustible, however, as stated above, acid is much like a liquid fire. Many minerals and metals do not have combustible components, however, through the extraction of their spirits, highly potent acids may be produced. Put simply, spirit is the phlogiston of plants and animals or the acids of minerals and metals. Spirits may be extracted from a substance in a number of ways. First most, through fermentation or maceration, and then through distillation. Fermentation is the process by which organic substances are allowed to become alcohol for several months. This process can be observed by any brewer or wine maker. While the spirit of the substance is within this “brew”, it is not purified. To purify the spirit one must then distill it using an alembic or retort which are simply vessels placed over a source of heat with the “brew” contained within. The vapors of the spirit will evaporate and condense while passing through a long neck where it will proceed to perspire back into liquid spirit. In this way, the Spirit of Wine is simply the distilled alcohol of wine. Mineral and metallic spirits can be produced in a similar fashion, though one may need to simply distill the solid material, or first, dissolve it in another acid before performing a distillation. Granted, much higher temperatures are required to produce “vapor” from the solid, mostly brunus, minerals and metals. The vapor would likely sublimate back into a solid, crystal or powder like form which could then be dissolved into another substance to produce a diluted mineral or metallic spirit. The resulting spirits may most accurately be called acids. Take note that, when performing these distillation, the one should not distill to dryness quite yet. Spirits ought to be distilled several times in order to maximize the purity of the spirit. Oil is the passive substance found within all things, in contrast to the volatile spirit. Granted, many oils are still highly flammable, and thus, contain a great deal of phlogiston. In plant and animal matter, oils are known as the “essential oils” of the substance, which are unique to the substance and quite often fragrant. Mineral and metallic oils are more complex and difficult to produce. Oils are the materials which remain after the spirit has been distilled and separated from the substance as spirits are more volatile than oils, and thus, will evaporate faster. Higher temperatures are required to distill the oil, which need not be done. In this way, spirits contain mostly albus and rubis corpuscles which oils contain more cerulis corpuscles. Granted, still a fair amount of phlogiston since many oils are still combustible. The Oil of Wine may be produced by distilling wine several times. The clear substance which is produced through the distillation is the Spirit of Wine. The thick, viscous, yellow substance which remains in the alembic or retort is the Oil of Wine. When wine is distilled several times, each distillation, the spirit is purified and more oil is left in the retort. A similar process may be carried out for animal, mineral, and metallic matter. To summarize, if a material is placed into a retort and heat is applied, the clear substance which evaporates first is the spirit of the substance, the more viscous colored substance which remains is the oil and the salt. If another distillation is performed at higher temperatures, the oil can then be distilled off in a more purified form. This distillation is performed to dryness. The remaining ash or crystals is the salt of the substance. The Salt, spirit, and oil of substances can be mixed with other substances in various ways to produce any number of alchemical concoctions.

Alright, I took a screenshots of each section and organized them into spoilers for easy reading.

It's done, unfortunately, due to formatting issues many of the diagrams and all of the equations could not be brought in. If you are concerned about us "altering" the lore... the most relevant information is within the text itself and won't be changed.

This lore has no direct impact on day to day roleplay. Really, it was made for people who wish to study astronomy in-game. Oocly, I suppose it might, down the line, provide guidance for people who want to add more lore pertaining to the cosmology of lotc whether that be deific or magic or whatever. Or, allow the event team to make more consistent astronomical events such as eclipses (which is another topic entirely, our system does not allow for eclipses even though one has occurred in-game before leading us to conclude that eclipses must be supernatural in nature) or something similar to that. Put simply, it adds depth to our world but is really only relevant to people who are rply interested in astronomy. As stated in the post, we presented it as an rp thesis because we wanted it to be accessible for everyone rply. We also provided only information one would be able to conclude by viewing these astral phenomena from the surface of the physical plane. So in that sense, this is all able to be learned through in-character means. Whether that be through observation or by reading this as though you found it in a library. Edit: areas of more... "lore" interest that we might go into more detail later, or someone else can, include the exact nature of these celestial bodies, what they like, etc... I have heard people say that they are the realms of Aenguls and Daemons which is of some major debate since theese realms are supposed to be immaterial. We purposefully did not go into much detail on that topic for that reason. I suppose they might be simple projections of the actual realms from the point of view of the physical plane, or maybe they're all gaseous, or maybe they're portals to the realm only accessible to the Aenguls and Daemons, idk but a lot of potential.

Yeah, Swgrclan mentioned this in the early stages of the lore. However, we wanted all of the information within the lore to be things we could observe from the physical plane... we were not sure how we could conclude that the moon was limbo just by staring at it and math. That being said, our observation that there is a physically dark and light side of the moon may shed some light on that, should this lore be accepted.

In the lore we state that the seasons are caused by the physical plane passing closer to the primary celestial bodies. So, as the physical plane's orbit comes closer to the celestial bodies of Medeis, Lychnus, and Securis the seasons are summer. As the physical plane passes near Virgam the season changes to fall. As the physical plane passes near Hiem and Ceryx the it becomes winter, and as the physical plane passes near Alvus it becomes spring. We initially ran into some problems changing the season because the orbit of the physical plane is uniform and there is no "axis" like there is for irl earth so seasons are not caused by the sun in our lore but by the primary celestial bodies. Also, I'd like to point out that our "names" for the planets need not be canon since we came up with them in rp. Thanks for the support.

On the Heavens By Dr. Ambros & Dr. Lorolith Iira, a thesis from the Imperial Phrontistery 12th of Malin’s Welcome, 1623 Preamble Herein is the cumulative empirical observations of the Imperial Phrontistery concerning the movement and cosmology of the heavens. For many a century has the scholarly pursuits of the realm neglected, or perhaps avoided, the nature of the skies, at least in any substantial amount. By the nature of scholarly inquiry, all conclusions which can be read below are falsifiable and disputable should more inclusive theories arise from different or similar observations. Beyond mundane observation, cultural inspiration has been drawn from older and more mythological sources which will be described aptly. [[HUGE special thanks to Swgrclan for general lore input. Lorolith did all of the math, thanks to him we have proofs!]] READ THIS [[Take note that this is a rather dense piece of literature and was more so written for the furthering of astronomy roleplay and astronomy research type roleplay. It is not necessary for the wellbeing of the server, and will not change anything about how the world or the realm currently works. Consider this document more of an elaboration on what is already known about the world through canonical lore as well as making conclusions based upon what we already know, and using it as proof.]] [[Yes, there is a lot of math, but that is what astronomy is, mostly math. We could have certainly posted this as just a basic roleplay post but we wanted to get it canonized so that more astronomy type roleplay and research could be built off of it since “astronomer” seems to be a fairly neglected job title in the world of LotC. This lore can be read without taking too much consideration of the math, though it is interesting. The math is mostly, again, elaboration for the sake of astronomer roleplay. A very short summary is included in the ‘final structure of the cosmos’ section.]] [[We are presenting this as a roleplay post so that it can be referenced and known in-game since, again, we are making primarily for in-game academic roleplay.]] Concerning the Structure of the Physical Plane Concerning the Sun and the Movement of the Physical Plane Concerning the Moon and its Movement Concerning the Stars and Their Movement Concerning the Primary Celestial Bodies, Their Influence on the Physical Plane, and the Seven Houses Concerning the Lesser Celestial Bodies and Their Movement Final Structure of the Movement [[For the full experience, we suggest you listen to this and read the document as fast as you possibly can.]] [[If you don’t fancy reading or math we have provided a convenient bullet pointed form of the lore to get the main idea across oocly. For more indepth “proofs” of each section read the actual section provided within.]]

Arithmancy The Poetry of Number Lore by Sagwort Credit to Toxzero & Phil for commentary “Mathematics are most necessary in magic, for everything which is done through natural virtue is governed by number, weight, and measure. By mathematics one can produce without any natural virtue, operations which seem natural, statues and figures which move and speak. Pythagoras said that numbers have more reality than natural things, hence the superiority of mathematical magic to natural magic.” -Cornelius Agrippa STOP, READ THIS Forward Arithmancy, the distilled beauty of man’s knowledge of reality. Like the poet composes inspiring verses and prose within the age old rules of rhythm and linguistics, so too does the arithmancer bend the will of nature utilizing the very fabric of its being, that is, the wonders of ratios, numbers, and their relation. While the voidal magi might spend their days observing and recording natural phenomenon in hopes of reproducing it through their nixian magic, the arithmancers busy themselves within some fetid study pouring over charts and equations, distilling the abstract essence of these same natural phenomenon through language and number. In this way, arithmancy is inherently “rational” in its execution while normal voidal magics are empirical. While arithmancy is not technically a distinct magical discipline within its own right, it is a form of magical study, a curiosity for magi and scholars alike. However, arithmancy’s focus on mathematics, pattern identification and symbology links it more closely to alchemy and glyph enchanting than the traditional voidal magic. Concept art from FFXIV arcanist class, which is where this magic was inspired Arithmancy, as a field of study, is a composition of three distinct skill sets which are: gematria, metrica, and formulae writing. Together, these makes up the breadth of arithmancy, all of them required to effectively practice this abstruse magic. The Governing Laws The entirety of arithmancy is built upon two laws: the law of names, and the law of abstract reality. They are described herein. Law of Names The law of names suggests that since all magi have a connection to the void through thought, so too does language, as language is but a translation of thought. Just as the magi might use their own mind to weave spells of the void, language may be utilized by arithmancers in a similar fashion. Of course, being a translation, much of the original thought loses its potency upon utterance so the magi must use arithmancy to strengthen this power of language. Law of Abstract Reality The law of abstract reality states that reality, finding origin in the void, is nothing more than organized and materialized chaos that is the void. This is, to mortal minds, represented through relation, number, measure, space, etc… Giving order to discord. These two laws are used in tandem by the arithmancers. Words have power, and mathematics is the ordering of voidal chaos, thus, by ascribing mathematics to language one is able to bolster these inherent laws of reality and manipulate it to some degree. This is the discipline of arithmancy, manipulating language and mathematics to alter and reorder. These methods are described through Gematria, the assigning of value to words and Metrica, the study of ratio and numerical relations and their meaning to language. Gematria While more commonly known as numerology, Gematria is one of the three primary disciplines of arithmancy and is the study of assigning linguistic meaning and symbolism to numbers. Study of gematria provides arithmancers with foundational knowledge in performing their magic. The Mather’s Table Perhaps the most widely utilized tool of the artihmancer is the Mather’s Table which is is the table of single digit numbers and the letters which they represent. Using this table words or entire phrases may be assigned numeric value. For instance, the letters used in the word fire are 6, 9, 9, and 5. These values can be added together to produce 29. 2 and 9 can then be added together to produce 11. 1 and 1 can be added together to produce 2. This single digit value is the vibrational value of the word fire. This value reveals a certain hidden nature of the word which is what defines the practice of numerology or gematria. There is a more “disputed” practice among arithmancers to attempt to predict future events utilizing this technique and the names of people or certain dates. For instance, the name Billy Bob has the values 2 + 9 + 3 + 3 + 7 + 2 + 6 + 2 = 34. 3 + 4 = 7. Thus, the vibrational value of Billy Bob is 7. Or, the date 2/13/1619 is added to produce 2 + 1 + 3 +1 + 6 + 1 + 9 = 23, 2 + 3 = 5. The vibrational value of the 13th of the Amber Cold, 1619 is 5. These vibrational values can, theoretically, be used to provide insight into a particular person, family, or date. Granted, whether or not vibrational values can be used in divination is up for debate. Metrica Metrica, or arcane geometry, is the fine science of ratios and proportions. While a great deal of useful magic can be produced using basic gematria, by applying metrica more complex and specific magic formulae can be produced, which will be elaborated on later. One of the most integral concepts in metrica is the prime numbers: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, etc... A visualization of prime numbers While any word can be summed to produce any number, in order to have any amount of significant power the word must initially sum to produce a prime number. For instance, fire is 6 + 9 + 9 + 5 = 29. This is a prime number and, thus, the word fire has strong voidal ties. We shall call these prime number words, words of power, in that, prime numbers are only divisible by themselves and the number one which makes them the “fundamental values” of arithmancy. Notice that when summing words, only use vibrational values, that is, never sum values with more than one digit. When producing magical formulae only words of power may be used. This makes producing magical formulae exceedingly tedious and the need to construct lexicons of words of power to easily be pulled from is useful. In this way, spells are not created but discovered. Another fundamental property in metrica is the vibrational sequences or a sequence of numbers which all sum to the same vibrational value. Any number within a vibrational sequence can also represent its vibrational value in a magic square. This allows arithmancer to utilize larger and larger squares for more powerful formulae. This will be explained next. A Brief Lexicon of Words of Power Activating Words These words of power are used in formulae to determine “how” the magic takes place. Summon - 23 Induce - 29 Disperse - 41 Hurl - 23 Ward - 29 Ignite - 37 Energy Descriptor Words These words of power are used in formulae to determine “what” magic takes place. Fire - 29 Aqua - 13 Ice - 17 Wind - 23 Stone - 19 Sand - 11 Burn - 19 Light - 29 Bugs - 13 Avoirdupois - 59 Addle - 17 Weariness - 41 Force - 29 Aegis - 23 Modifier Words These words are used to modify descriptor words. Evocation - 41 Illusory - 41 Orb - 17 Aegis - 23 Shard - 23 Magic Squares The magic square is founded on basic arithmetic concepts where the numbers in any direction on the square add up to the same number. More complex square are considered to produce more powerful formulae. There exists five practiced magical squares, though there is theoretically infinite. The value each row adds up to is known as the magic constant. Generally speaking, the larger the square the more powerful the spell. For this reason, arithmancers use vibrational sequences so they can represent vibrational values as larger numbers and, thus, use larger squares. Essentially each square is a “tier” in magic totalling in five, the progression of use of quite similar to normal magic tier progression, except less subjective. Tier 1 Magic Square All numbers add up to 45, each row adds up to 15 Tier 2 Magic Square All numbers add up to 136, each row adds up to 34 Tier 3 Magic Square All numbers add up to 325, each row adds up to 65 Tier 4 Magic Square All numbers add up to 666, each row adds up to 111 Tier 5 Magic Square All numbers add up to 1225, each row adds up to 175 Magical Formulae Creating magical formulae is the cornerstone technique in practical arithmancy which utilizes all the above techniques. The process can be broken into 4 steps: An arithmancer produces a magical formulae 1. Describing intent At this point, the arithmancer must decide what they want their formulae to depict and produce. For example, we wish to produce a magic formula that will protect against fire evocation. Thus, the arithmancer must determine the most efficient way to produce such instruction clearly and without any potential misinterpretation, exact language is crucial. Remember, only words of power can be used when describing intent. For instance, to produce a magical formula to ward against fire evocations one would use the words of power ward fire evocation. 2. Reducing intent to numeric cipher Once the intent has been clearly described it must then be reduced into its numeric cipher. Note that one should refer to individual letters and their respective vibrational values when reducing. If one were to use the vibrational values or one of the sums of a word in the phrase and then drew the formula, it would be impossible to interpret. First, all vowels are removed from the intent: WRD FR VCTN This becomes the numerical cipher 5-9-4 6-9 4-3-2-5 Stumped by a particularly difficult formula 3. Select magic square Now, the arithmancer must select a magic square to produce the formula upon. The larger the numbers used in the formula the more powerful the formula. Thus, advanced arithmancers use vibrational sequences to increase the values in their formula which then requires the use of larger squares. Notice that words cannot start and/or end on a number which is repeated anywhere else in the cipher. Assuming our arithmancer has full knowledge of all magical squares, he will maximise their spell power by first changing all numbers to their largest possible form. 41-45-49 42-45 49-48-47-41 Then, he will change any repeated numbers at the start or end of words to a lower value within its respective vibrational sequence. 41-45-49 42-36 40-48-47-32 This is the most powerful form of the given magic cipher. 4. Drawing the formula The most intriguing part of magical formulae is the actual drawing of them upon the magic square. Each word is drawn individually, each number connected by a straight line. Each word starts with an open circle (o) and ends with a short perpendicular line (⟂) or arrow. Note that in order for a number to be considered part of the word it must have a point, circle, or sharp curve. A straight line passing through a number does not include the number it passes through. If the line does happen to move straight through a number but that number should be included in the word, it is marked with a bump in the line over the appropriate number. To indicate two of the same number in a row the line is made with with two bumps in it. All good arithmancers carry a compass to measure angles for their formulae If the end of a line and the start of another line are on the same number, a triangle is placed there. Thus, the words ward, fire and evocation respectively using the above cipher is: When layered atop each other they produce the full formula. Example Formulae Induce Weariness | NDC WRNSS | 5-4-3 5-9-5-1-1 | 41-49-48 32-45-23-46-37 Would produce an illusory fatigue to the wearer Ward Fire Evocation | WRD FR VCTN | 5-9-4 6-9 4-3-2-5 Protects wearer/object against fire evocation Ward Aqua/Ice Evocation | WRD Q/C VCTN | 5-9-4 8/3 4-3-2-5 Protects wearer/object against water/ice evocation Ward Stone Evocation | WRD STN VCTN | 5-9-4 1-2-5 4-3-2-5 Protects wearer/object against earth evocation Ward Wind Evocation | WRD WND VCTN | 5-9-4 5-5-4 4-3-2-5 Protects wearer/object against air evocation Induce Burn | NDC BURN | 5-4-3 2-3-9-5 Causes wearer to feel burning sensation, or any who touch object feel burning sensation Ignite | GNT | 7-5-2 Formulae ignites spontaneously Induce Avoirdupois | NDC VRDPS | 5-4-3 4-9-4-7-1 Causes object to feel heavier Summon Light | SMMN LGHT | 1-4-4-5 3-8-7-2 | 46-49-49-41 48-44-43-47 Causes object to glow Summon Aegis Orb | SMMN GS RB | 1-4-4-5 7-1 9-2 Summons a spherical arcanic shield around wearer Summon Aegis Barricade | SMMN GS BRRCD | 1-4-4-5 7-1 2-9-9-3-4 Summons an arcanic shield wall before the wearer On Roleplaying an Arithmancer Arithmancy is, of course, not for everyone and, I believe, would require a very distinct sort of playstyle that goes beyond spell slinging. One might be turned off by the amount of independent work required to perform arithmancy. In fact, the very act of being an arithmancer forces the player to produce a character willing to live a quiet scholarly life pouring of charts, formulas, magic squares, tables, etc… Women can be arithmancers too! One visual goal of the arithmancer image was to produce a magi that, may not, be entirely grounded in reality or even practicality even though an arithmancer might consider themselves above a far more practical and… even “powerful” voidal magi due to arithmancy’s “logical purity”. It is a magic for high society scholars, professors, and academics. Imagine walking around, always with a hefty tome at your character’s side containing all myriad of charts, graphs, formulae, drawings, and, of course, a lexicon of words of power. IDK, maybe he just activated one of his formulae and is now using it

[!] Within particular circles of scholarship, notices would be distributed. The Philosophical Canon Below one shall find a cumulative list of philosophers of the realm and their bodies of work. This is done in hopes of inspiring more discourse and dialogue regarding the ideas listed therein, and perhaps spur new philosophical dictum in opposition or agreement. However, listing one particular philosopher here does not show any preference to said philosopher and ALL surveyors of philosophical knowledge will be listed (should their body of work be considered substantial enough). Notice that a great many philosophers of influence have gone undocumented here due to the sheer mass of theses, dissertations, critiques, and essays regarding the nature of existence, knowledge, and morality. If one believes a relevant philosopher, and thus, their body of work should be listed below or an already listed philosopher has some of their work lacking do inquire in the following fashion: ~o~ Name: Areas of Writing: Body of Work [Link if available on forums]: ~o~ Notice that more consideration will be given to those who can produce a substantial body of work and/or a smaller number of greatly influential works. The following areas of philosophical thought are considered: Metaphysics (The study of fundamental nature of reality) Cosmology (The study of the structure and origin of the universe) Physics (The study of the material and physical world) Epistemology (The study of knowledge and what constitutes knowledge) Ethics (The study of value theory) Politics (The study of the application of value to society) Aesthetics (The study of the application of value to determining beauty) Theology (The study of the nature of higher deities) Lorolith Ilra Physics, metaphysics, epistemology Publications Farley III Stafyr Epistemology, metaphysics, ethics Publications Archibald Vallero Ethics, metaphysics Publications Jude of Cyriaum Ethics, theology, metaphysics, cosmology Publications Ambros Politics, ethics, metaphysics, physics, epistemology, cosmology Publications March Ash Ethics, politics, metaphysics, theology Publications Bell Sano Ethics, politics

If you can think of another word which means: "Trying to be cooler or more serious than it is" I will gladly replace it. Perhaps... pretentious? It doesn't quite mean the same thing though, does it? I use the words normie and noob sarcastically. That is fairly clear.

I think most people interested in a dynamic sort of system would like this much more, me included (You saw the system I developed for your rp server). However, the way magic is now... "administrated" and the people who administrate it, I would say, enjoy this sort of rpg style magic insta-magic.

You can rp it that way, that does not mean anyone will react to it in like manner. People know how druidism works, so why be impressed? Sure, you can rp your character being impressed but there is something to be said about people being oocly impressed resulting in a more genuine reaction. Also, the fact the magic is already mundane takes away from people who DO roleplay it in the way you just described.

A Meta-Analysis of Magic on LotC Forward So this is just me overanalyzing the state of the LotC magic system. I have attempted to avoid any direct criticism or praise and just look at the system for what it is objectively. Then, of course, I include some of my own insights on why magic ended up this way and where it might be headed, or even how we might direct its progression. Most people on the server will probably have little interest in this, namely the one’s with the power to change anything about magic, but if you’ve ever wanted read words I pulled directly from my ass this is the place to read them. An OOC History of Magic For you ******* noobs out there, allow me to give a brief summary of magic on this **** hole of a server: Basically, during the “Aegis Era” (2011) magic was an extremely niche though desirable community on the server, for the most part. To my knowledge the long gone GM Slayer[Some-Series-of-Random-Numbers] was to be put in charge of the distribution of magic on the server by the infamous administrator Availer. This was back when the fabled Magic Plugin was in the works and was to be released within “a few months”. Once it was released, Slayer was tasked with distributing it. To give an rp explanation for this distribution, Slayer founded the Mages Guild with a few “original Mages Guild members” which included such people as Barnovo, tehlulu, hwalder, etc… (No, I was not one of these original members, let me just clear that up before people criticize me). When the plugin was released the Mages Guild was to be the main proprietor of the magic plugin. Normie players would be allowed access to the magic plugin by joining the Mages Guild (which was to be highly selective). Slayer mentioned that the Guild was to have an official application which would be the primary approach of joining the Guild. At this early stage in “magic lore” it was planned to have the plugin divided based upon race. Dwarves would have their own sort of magic, elves, humans, etc… which more or less aligned with the racial traits and cultures of each. It is for this ooc justification and power that probably had so many players wanting to join the Guild. I mean, if you dig through the archives and find the original Mages Guild post by Slayer you will see mostly comments asking questions on when the app would be out, what qualified someone for joining the guild, etc… The anticipation was akin to a new game being released or something. Now, allow me to comment on other magical guilds at the time: Undead, Druids, Shamans and Ascended. I am not entirely sure if the Druidic Order would play a part in distributing magic, though the way Respiren talked certainly made it seem that way. The Undead and Ascended were in a league of their own and managed their own distribution of magic at this point. For a period of time, magic was more or less nonexistent on the server except for the odd Druid pulling some random druid magic out of their ass. And yes, this is how magic pretty much worked back in the day. Druids would sit in a TS chat and try and come up with some random druid chant to heal someone or summon a tree or something. Beyond this, there were also highly valuable items such as the Staff of Respiren which would spawn a tree wherever it clicked. Mages, on the other hand, were much more restricted in what they were allowed to do rply. Members of the Guild were discouraged from rping magic until the magic plugin came out. I can also tell you that once I became a member of the Guild (pretty much by bribing my way in) in mid-to-late Aegis I was taught nothing about magic lore or how magic worked… mostly because there was no lore. By late Aegis, players were no longer allowed to rp ANY magic except for the Undead and Ascended, which was, again, understandable considering no coherent lore existed on how mage/druid magic worked. Faaaaaaaaaaast forward to Asulon and things are pretty much in the same state. All magic is pretty hand-wavy and done with little explanation. We did, however, start talking about Void Nodes and elemental evocation around this time. Oocly, however, the most groundbreaking event in magic during Asulon was the whisperings of a magic app and… the magic team. In late Aegis it was founded by Mogroka, the team included Blundermore, Grabthar, Jameson (or some other old druid player), another guy who I believe was a friend of Grabthar, dsdevil and I, Sagwort. The original magic team had a surprising number of shamans on it… Tehlulu would also be brought on in early Anthos. Anyhow, our job was to: Develop the magic app Develop the magic system and lore Blundermore (Divine magic) Grabthar/Other guy (shaman magic) Sagwort/dsdevil (Arcane magic) Jameson (Druid magic) Dsdevil (Dark) Develop ideas for a magic plugin following our magic system and lore Develop a system for accepting or denying new types of magic Basically, we were trying to make magic less vague. We had A LOT of meetings and divided magic into two types: Divine and Arcane. Divine was to be power granted by a deity and Arcane magic was to harness its power from the Void. It was later decided that arcane magic was to be divided into four subcategories: Illusion, Evocation, Conjuration and Alteration. So pretty much Elder Scrolls. So this is essentially how we ended up with the system of magic was have today. Minor alterations and explanations for less developed aspects of magic came with later magic teams but we still see essentially the same structure. You can effectively blame me for the boring arcane magic we have now. One can wonder if I had divided arcane magic differently if we might see an entirely different sort of system. In Anthos was saw an exponential increase in magic users thanks to our implementation of “self-teaching” arcane magic. Granted, I do not believe the old way of managing magic was sustainable. By late Asulon people were already beginning to disdain the circle-jerky nature of magic users and thought it to be “unfair” and too exclusive. Inevitably more players would have ended up with magic with or without the magic app. Also, as soon as we gave the option to create new magics Cognitism, Telekinesis, Electrical Evocation, and Mental Magics were the first to be proposed and accepted… it got pretty out of control after that point. Analysis At this point you're probably asking yourself, what does this all mean? Well, we can see that magic was essentially created with heavy inspiration from Elder Scrolls and D&D without much thought on how it might develop or evolve and how dynamic it might be beyond the constraints of: I wanted to shoot fireballs. I’m sure if we could go back to 2012/13 and redevelop the magic system we would have done it much more thought, care and nuance, but edgy teens make edgy magic systems. Demystification of Magic One of the largest complaints one hears about the current magic system is how “nonmystical” it is. It seems as though over the years we have effectively sucked out any and all mystery that was once so endearing about magic in Aegis. Here’s my problem with this view, a role play/MMO/RPG nature of LotC could not support a magic system based upon mystery and, well, “magicalness”. While we look longingly at such systems as LotR and A song of Ice and Fire, we are stuck with a Misborn/Harry Potter system. This is by no means a bad thing but it leads to magic seeming more scientific than supernatural. Players need to know the drawbacks and effects of their magic, if the player didn’t know then how would one rp it? It’s impossible to rp something you have no knowledge of, and I mean it quite literally. You cannot roleplay what you do not know. Roleplay hinges upon ooc knowledge of how the world works. If we had personal Dungeon Masters that could follow us around and tell us what our magic did, then it might be different, but the player is solely responsible for the knowledge of effective magic roleplay. So, players need all the information available on how magic works to avoid powergaming, leading to the scientific system we have today. One suggestion for how we might instill mystery back into magic is make magic more exclusive and rare. Magic would not be mysterious for the players who used magic, but it certainly would be for the rest of the players. However, I already stated above that an exclusive magic community would be unsustainable considering the circle jerky nature exclusive groups have. So there is my insight on how we ended up with a scientific and highly easy to obtain magic system. Exclusivity of Magic Now, despite all these conditions, I think we can all agree that the circle jerkiness of magic has never left. There was a period, I would late Asulon early Anthos, when all magic was available to pretty much everyone who could get an app accepted. Granted, players soon felt a desire to exclude themselves and set themselves apart from the rest of the “normie” magi users on the server. So new magics were developed hinged upon access to certain deities, or were unable to be self-taught by their nature. I’m not suggesting that exclusivity is a bad thing, I believe it is essential to create a goal based community, however, a need to be exclusive played a part in the entirely too broad magic system we have today… with some magics only being used by two or three players. And who can blame them? The desire to be unique is a very western desire which all of lotc is steeped in. Magic As a Tool or Lifestyle In regards to the mass distribution of magic. Back in the day, to become a mage, druid, ascended, or undead meant to become entrenched in that world. Countless hours were logged on roleplaying with just the group of people. A character’s identity transformed into whatever magical group they were learning magic from. Jon the Farmer BECAME Jon the Druid. Magic became a character trait. This is especially the case with the Ascended and Undead. Players who became Undead or Ascended were never viewed in the same way, they were looked up to and generally regarded as the creme de la creme of LotC roleplayers. This is because much of the recruitment hinged upon whether they were viewed as good roleplayers or not. One can argue that the Undead and Ascended of Aegis were far from the best roleplayers… and they would be right, but many still regarded them as celebrity status on the server regardless. Fast forward to the magic app and this view of magic was turned on its head. When everyone could possess magic it became more of a tool, like a sword or skill, rather than a lifestyle or character defining trait. For instance, one can be a farmer and happen to know water evocation. One can be a lich… and also live a fairly normal and mundane life. Whether you regard this is a good thing or, I believe there is an argument for this view of magic contributing to its demystification. People just know magic now, there are no “mages” out there. At least not in the character defining sense of Aegis. Magic is just a skill people pick up as their character grows, like a college degree, not something they must dedicate their entire life to and steep their roleplay in like some taoist monk. Broadness of Magic Adding to our issue of a magic system that is too broad with little to no cohesiveness… I think some time into Athera people began to realize how boring the magic system was… throwing fireballs, telekinesis… illusion the most uninspired cookie cutter magic system one could possible develop. People began talking about reorganizing or rehauling the magic system entirely several times. Of course, this was never done for one reason or another… so I believe some people’s solution was to develop their own unique magic which they believed to be more dynamic or what have you. The result is a dozen different subcategories of magic which don’t relate at all. Any writer or novelist can tell you this is a terrible idea for a coherent narrative. Numerous fantasy writers mention that magic rules need to be established early and remain consistent throughout the entire story. This way people can become attached to those rules, and learn how to manipulate them. Instead, we have a dozens of rules all associated with different kinds of magic which makes it very difficult to determine if someone is rping magic correctly unless we reference dozens of lore posts associated with these dozens of magics. This also leads to magic becoming very droll and even boring. This seems counterintuitive, surely uniqueness can only lead to intrigue? Well no, not necessarily. It just leads to confusion which leads to an unwillingness to learn which leads to boredom. This also contributes to the edgy nature of magic. CONCERNING the edgy nature of magic. It cannot be avoided. Magic is edgy. One can make it less edgy, but one can never escape full edginess. Just look at Game of Thrones… fire sex magic is about as edgy as it gets. In summary: Magic MUST have thought out and coherent rules to be effective in a massive multiplayer roleplay setting. Magic is the way it is now because of early decisions from the first magic team. Exclusive and mysterious magic, while good in some doses, is unsustainable. Magic is inherently edgy. Broad magic systems have various problems. When magic is viewed as a tool and not a character defining trait it becomes mundane. So those are my thoughts… you probably didn’t read all of it but tell me your thoughts.