Mikal the Mage

“It is within us all, like the promise of Life and the promise of Death. Our ability to create change in the world is as real as the words on a page and an image in one’s own mind. Magic is not something exclusive to some, but a door open to all races and all beings no matter how holy or how lowly.”
These are the words written by Late Era of Order writer, Mikra the Mage, a Tortle scholar from the Kingdom of Tantivire in Midvail. The Tortle who lived his entire life in Tantivire is known for his revolutionary works on the properties of magic and his distinction of Natural, Material, and Sourced magic is still considered the Law of the Arcane. Ironically, Mikra never was able to use magic, but his love and fascination for it pushed him and inspired him.
Before Mikra’s work, magic was more mystery than anything, with Mages respected and feared more as mystical beings than simply scholars. How Warlocks, Druids, and Sorcerers received their powers was a common mystery and Wizards were viewed by many religions as heretics who played in the realms of the gods rather than individuals who simply understood how to modify reality to bend to their wills. Mikra saw this fear, ignorance, and confusion and simply wanted to know what made magic work and if races such as the Goblins and Orc of the southern Clansplains truly were unable to harness the abilities of the arcane.

Mikra’s fascination with magic spanned throughout his entire life and produced tens of different books; each hundreds of pages long that are referred to by scholars and civilians alike all across Dioya. Mikra was wealthy, having inherited his parents vast wealth from dealing in furs with collectors from the Devic Order. Such wealth allowed Mikra to live without ever really getting a job other than a writer and finding someone to publish and distribute his works was not very difficult for the Tortle who could pay whatever was needed.

Mikra’s first book, “The Harmony of the World” was an in-depth analysis on magic as a whole, breaking down the physical and mental components of how spells worked, equating them to mathematical problems. He elaborated that while Sorcerers and some races had to rely more on their mental and physical health to cast spells other magic users like Wizards relied on magic to be pulled from the fabric of reality with complex symbols from a spellbook. This distinction lead Mikra to focus his attention on the exact science of where magic is sourced from.

Mikra’s second through 8th books were a series of analyses on the different mages of Dioya called “The Different Shades of the Magi.” To write these volumes, Mikra would invite a mage from a different part of Dioya to stay with him for a year and test their powers, write about their training, and attempt to summarize exactly what made their magic special and why. Some volumes include one on a Halfling Warlock, a Genasi Druid from the Triton colony of Nimphia, and even a Deva of the Devic Order who remained anonymous, but provided the first accessible record of the exact limits of a Deva’s magical abilities. Mikra’s works were celebrated and anticipated by readers worldwide. Not only did he write in an easy to understand tone, Mikra’s love for magic dripped from every page. But Mikra’s success had not reached it’s peak. Mikra believed that he would rise until he finally cracked the code to how magic worked. This theory, he would call Mikra’s Theory.

It was not until his 15th book, that Mikra’ Theory was formed. In Mikra’s 15th book, titled “Arcana Unearthed” Mikra culminated all of the subjects and sources he gathered through his previous books and created a comprehensive and convincing argument that 3 different types of magic existed in Dioya.

Natural Magic: Magic that comes from the body. Races such as Genasi, Elves, and Aasimar have the natural ability to will magic into existence purely from their physicality. Sorcerers of all races are generators of Natural Magic.
Material Magic: Material magic comes from modifying and influencing reality with the usage of equations that create spells. Wizards and Bards use Material Magic, weaving words and symbols that result in a desired outcome. Material Magic is the foundation of enchantment magic, with enchantments imbued in wands, Golems, and other objects generated by complex inscriptions and equations that generate magic.

Sourced Magic: Sourced Magic is what fuels Druids, Paladins, Clerics, Warlocks, and all others. All sourced magic is, is when a being or force that generates Natural Magic, allows another being to utilize portions of their Natural Magic.


Mikal passed at the age of 55 alone in his home, but his influence is still felt in every hall of scholars and in the words of storytellers of the arcane. As of the Era of Change, Mikal’s theories were considered definitive fact, with even the Devic Order lacking any sort of effort to refute the writings of a Beastial Race.

Ethnicity

Tortle

Circumstances of Death

Unknown Sickness

Eyes

Black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale Grey