Arcanist

Arcanists are individuals who both contain a recognizable quantity of arcana within their bloodstream, and are able to use that chemical to alter certain variables in their environment. All Common men have varying amounts of arcana within their bodies, however certain quantity thresholds must be reached to both sense arcana within the rest of the world, and for an individual to use arcana themselves. Individuals who pass the first threshold but not the second, who can sense arcana in the rest of the world but not use it, are considered slighens.

Currently, there are five 'types' of arcanists, differentiated by the environmental variables they are able to manipulate with their arcana, and arcanic bodily reserve is hereditary. An individual must have one or more parents who are arcanists, and will inherit the arcanist type as well. In the case of parents with two different arcanist types, the individual has a chance of inheriting either one, but cannot inherit both.

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A Sword of Eava is an individual who is said to have been gifted a higher-than-average bodily arcana reserve by the gods. The exact mechanism of this isn't known and this is considered extremely rare.

Genetics

Arcanists are genetically determined through several genes. The amount of arcana an individual has, or is able to hold in bodily reserve, is determined by genes across several chromosomes, however the type of arcanist—the method of chemical manipulation that the individual is able to utilize—is controlled by a single gene with different alleles for each of the different types of arcanists. The hereditary is such that the alleles for arcanists display incomplete dominance and co-dominance. Two parents with the same arcanic typing will have an offspring who's a more powerful arcanist of that same type. However, the offspring of two parents with different arcanic types can only have one arcanic typing, and so although they may carry both alleles, their arcanic typing will then be determined by other factors.

Further, there is a separate gene that basically overrides the arcanic typing and prevents an individual with an arcanic phenotype from manipulating arcana, of which the resulting presentation is a slighen. This gene doesn't affect non-arcanists.

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Type

Magical

Children

• Blood Arcanist
• Spectral Arcanist
• Storm Arcanist
• Vale Arcanist

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Congenital

Rarity

Extremely Rare

Affected Species

• Common