The Meridian System

Welcome child, to the basis of every cretures magics in Cathrea, the Meridian System. This is way too important of a lesson for a mere writer to conduct. I, Ravyrio, the Oracle of Time and Space, will personally guide you through this article. May the Magicules be with you.

— Ravyrio, Oracle of Time and Space

Magical Structure

The Meridian System is an essential part to any creature in Cathrea. Even you, my child, have one. You can think of them as eight different magical veins running through your entire body. These individual veins connect at a center point located on the forehead. Additionally, each vein has four primary and eight secondary Meridian Points, adding up to 96. Each node, if you want to call them that, has an element assigned to it.

The Immortal Blessing

The Meridians have been bestowed upon us by the gods. This system allows us to manipulate and wield magic in the first place, and it is essential to know how it functions:

We know that every creature on Cathrea is different. Depending on the Meridians development over time, the body will generally gravitate towards one element, making that person, what we call "elementally compatible", to that specific type of magic. However, almost sixty percent of Cathreas population develop almost, or entirely no "strong vein", thus rendering them incapable of magical use.

The Gifted

A very small percentage of the population, often heroic, noble or religious figures, will grow two or in extremely rare occasions, three dominant veins. These people are regarded as "The Gifted" and hold high status throughout the known realms. They can effectively train their arts in more than one primary category.

Elemental Dive

If you know the things up to this point, you are pretty much set to understand Cathreas magical world. However, to get an even better grasp of the world, you have to understand subelements, or the Secondary Meridian Points.

Use of Subelements

As explained in my brief guide to Magicules, subelements are more specialized fields of magic of a primary element. I will show you based on an example:

An Attributed Artificers Meridian System

We have, what we call, Attributed Artificers, who have progressed towards a stage of basic understanding in the Artificer field. The difference between a normal and an attributed artificer is their magical capability. While a non-magical artisan will not be able to progress towards a more divine craftsmanship, an attributed one can reveal his elemental strengths and train their work with the assistance of magic.

Once the Attributed Artificer has become proficient in their primary elemental craft, they will go on a search for their specialty. This is where they explore the subelements of their strong vein and refine their skills in that domain.

The Personal Attribute

I know this is a lot, but stay with me child. Next up, we will talk about Personal Attributes.

The Personal Attribute is a magical ability, only unlocked when training their Meridian System to a certain point, we call the "Golden Rank". You can find more about the ranks in a document a good friend of mine created: Universal Magicule Rankings.

The Golden Rank

When reaching the golden rank, the last 97th Meridian Point, activates. This "Pure Meridian" is elementless up to this point. From the second one ascends towards the golden rank however, the Pure Meridian evolves and takes in the dominant element(s), aswell as a piece of the soul. The result of this fusion is the Personal Attribute, an ability that is individual and unique to every creature on Cathrea.

I have written a seperate scripture for a more detailled explanation of the Personal Attribute. If you happen to be curious, do not hesitate to take a look.: Personal Attribute

Elemental Diagram

I prepared an image for you. This is a very popular illustration of the First Derivation of Elements and shows every relation between two elements. Scholars and other academical professions study these kinds of diagrams to get a better grasp of the Meridian System

Elemental Relations by ecl1psed

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane

Manipulating Strong Veins

In an ideal world, where we as a population evenly train our Meridian Points, giving not one element more care than another, an eventual strong vein would still emerge. This process in unoptimised and beyond slow. People have discovered different ways to, firstly quicken the growth of the veins in general, and secondly nurture a specific vein.

The Artisan Way

Crafters, Magicsmiths, Artificers or even Alchemists refine their Meridian Points by infusing Magicules into their products. Swords that produce winds, chains that spit flames or amulets that heal wounds all not only help people, but help the producer to strengthen their Meridians.

The Academic Way

Scholars, Researchers, Inscriptionists and all professions earning their coin by uncovering the theoretical wonders of the worlds strengthen their Meridian System by writing. They use items like the Phönix Feather to convert their written intellect into Magicules that travel throughout their body and grow the Meridians. Depending on what was written, different veins will grow.

The Religious Way

Paladins, Clerics and other professions like Priests or Bishops all receive their Meridian Strength from the divine being they devote their live to. Depending on the deity, these people have to accomplish certain tasks to receive the gift of growth.

The Royal Way

Though uncommon to see, some royal families have ancient heirlooms or divine artifacts awarded to them that enhance primary veins on their own. This method is a highly sought after way to gain strength since it needs the least effort and shows the greatest results, at least in the short term. There is a reason why heroes are almost always superior in strength than royals. These artifacts generally only support one until the "Fated Rank", one category higher than the golden one. Beyond that, effort worth a dozenfold is required to grow in strength, due to poor basic knowledge.

The Heroic Way

All professions that venture out and complete quests, also get Meridian Growth through their experience. This is the fastest way to improve ones veins, but is also the most dangerous. Different professions named in the previous categories are also able to improve on journeys. For that reason, it is not uncommon to see traders, artisans, religious figures or anyone else embarking on quests.

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Wizards Placeholder by nnie

The Gifted Fusion

The gited ones are those that dominate more than a single primary vein. When a gifted creature reaches the golden rank, they will receive a Personal Attribute that, in some way, combines the two elements.