Knowledge is power and power corrupts, they say. I think power just shows people's true color. — Breck
Magic is the power to change a small piece of reality. A lot of it comes down to a person's passion and perseverance.
Users
There are many words used for the people who can do magic (magic user, magician...) but the most common and widely accepted term in Haven is Flamekeeper or only keeper for short.
60% of the people born in Haven will develop a flame in early childhood. Around the age of 5-6, a keeper will start to accidentally set things on fire when experiencing strong feelings.
Some parents will acquire a
Focus for their child as well as start training them in visualization, spell use and spell-craft. The visualization is easy for some children but they will not be able to use any spells. Those who can afford it will send their child off to Breckskeep or a smaller magic school to get trained when they have reached the age of 13.
Other parents will not bother. The flame will die around the age of 14 if the child does not get any aid in figuring out their abilities.
Uses
Magic is used in many professions in Breck's Haven. The most known one is the
Mages. They protect the world from the creatures inhabiting the
The Astral Planes. The mages are the people who know the most about offensive and defensive magic.
Wardens is another well known professions. While the mages protect the Haven from outside forces the Wardens protect the citizens from themselves. The Wardens are the police force while the Mages are the military. The Wardens use runes and other scrying abilites in their profession.
Magic can create true vampires, it can raise people from the dead, heal wounds, transform the shape of a creature, change a person's emotions, create magical items, help a person see the future, and control demons.
There is very little that magic cannot do when humans put their minds to it. However, like with everything else, there are costs and consequences to every choice made.
The humans of Earth can only touch the remenants of real magic. — Breck
Within
everything there is essence. Within each magic user, there lives a passionate flame that can burn out at any moment and a finite amount of essence.
Doing magic
The flame is fed by passion but to do magic the keeper has to burn essence. To burn their own innate essence only knowledge and will is necessary. However, if a keeper burns more essence than they have, they will die or disable their body.
Essence regenerates, but that depends on the amount of essence in the area and how healthy the keeper is. Because the danger of dying or harming themselves is forever present most keepers choose not to burn their own essence.
To burn essence outside of themselves the keeper will need knowledge, will, and the right spells.
If a keeper were to burn the essence of a creature or an item the creature will most likely perish and the item turns to ash. The keeper can not know how much essence is within a specific animal or item, or how much a certain spell might need in a specific moment, they can only guess.
A keeper can choose to burn the essence in the air around them. However, the air will become hard to breathe and if too much is used the air will become toxic and thick layers of ash will litter the ground.
Wizards have constructed
Focuses that can either be filled with essence by the keeper and/or it can gather essence from the world around it. The more expensive the more space it has for essence. These
Focuses can be wands, stones or any kind of items. A favorite or meaningful item can also be customized into a
Focus. A focus works best if the keeper has formed a "connection" with it.
Another way to acquire essence is from the
The Astral Planes and the
Demons aether leaks. This
aether can be turned into essence, either by consuming demons with half material bodies, using a demons body parts while creating a focus or writing a contract with them.
Some say that aether is mental reality while essence is physical reality, Mind and Matter, but not everyone agrees with this.
To burn essance that you don't have within yourself you have to use spells to form your Will outside of yourself. — Breck
Spells
The language used for magical spells is
Breckian, the common language of Breck's Haven. The language is both spoken and signed. This means that many spells used to do magic need both exact hand gestures and spoken words.
To learn a spell you have to train to do it for a long time. Some people believe that the magic is sentient and that you have to make it recognize you. While others say that all spells are a skill that you have to perfect before a spell can be used. A common spell is a lot easier to learn. When a spell is common a lot less essence has to be used to cast the spell but the spell is also a lot weaker.
I wouldn't have split it up like this... — Breck
The 6 types
There are as many spells as there are people that can think of them. Some of the spells though have similar types.
The
necromancers deal with a lot of spells related to life, but also with death, pain, and ways to reduce pain. Those necromancers that do not become
Mages become doctors, nurses, therapists, philosophers, writers and similar.
The
warlocks write contracts with
Demons from the
The Astral Planes. With the magic of the demons warlocks can see the future. The types of spells that they use are usually related to searching and scrying. The warlocks that don't become mages become lawyers, mediators, investigators,
wardens and similar.
The
The druids use nature spells. They can transform into other creatures and do elemental spells. The bards that don't become mages become weather keepers, biologists, farmers, geologists, landscape architects and similar.
The
witches can do almost anything but they mainly fortify themselves or others with the magic that they have taken from the demons. Like the druids they also deal with nature spells and the very few witches that don't become mages become wardens, or any other type of profession that they feel a passion for.
The
bards are musicians and entertainers. With their spells, they can change the feelings of others and fortify them. The druids that don't become mages usually take on any kind of entertainment profession.
The
wizards are artificers, they use their magic and spells to create magical items. They make items for the common people and keepers alike. They don't usually become mages but some of them have gone into that profession.
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