On the History and State of Magic

Magic has always been a place for opportunity and exploration. Today we understand many of the theories behind why and how, but there are still many mysteries which yet beg for an answer. As such mysteries often do, the discussion of them first requires an understanding of where it all came from. In this document, I will go through the history of magic in the world of E'ath, exploring each of the four traditions of primal, divine, occult, and arcane as they were developed throughout the ages.
In the beginning, when Li'sleith first rose as the third world tree, the elves were quick to tap into the power of the new world tree. They found that channelling this power could lead to miracles and those who adhered more closely to the world tree were able to produce greater miracles. Back then miracles were small compared to the magic they wield today, only as much as lighting fires or making plants grow more quickly, but as they grew older and their mastery over channelling the world tree's powers grew, so did their mastery of magic. Today we know of this branch as primal magic.
They were not alone though and the gods beside them created their type of magic. This was distinct in that they powered it and as their meagre following grew, so did the miracles which they could perform. The gods eager to share this power with their followers created the Celestial Column which allowed them to share this power with their followers despite them not being gods. When it was later destroyed they began looking for other ways to grant magic to their followers. It was only after the creation of the Savage Isles that they finally had enough followers that their followers could channel the power of the gods even without the Celestial Column. Today this is known as divine magic.
As the power of the elves grew and their connection to Li'sleith and magic strengthened, they were able to summon beings from other planes. Despite these beings often subjugating the elves, many of them produced offspring using the elves as well. These offspring often had magical powers due to their heritage, which could appear in all manner of ways. This magic was later proven to be hereditary, although it was generally not possible to strengthen what one was born with. The categorization at this point was vague with some bloodlines showing primal magic, others divine, and yet others something else. When the Savage Isles later experienced a plague it was this "something else" type of magic that was developed on top of to create a cure. Today that branch is known as arcane magic but despite that, there are still some unknown blood magic types which is now classified as occult magic.
After the discovery that arcane magic could be developed on top of, even by short-lived races such as humans, further development and experimentation quickly followed despite the best efforts of The Holy Order of Druids. With these developments came many new discoveries in arcane magic but also new methodologies in primal and divine magic. Many scholars believe that the spell could seal the qlippoth portals were developed by using these advances even though the Holy Order of Druids denies this. More recently the development in magic has been used to scale the Wall of Li'guth and reestablish contacts with the enclave of fey located beyond it.
Despite all these achievements many types of magic are still poorly understood and even those we have developed like flight magic are still in need of refinement before their full potential can be unlocked.

Type

Journal, Scientific

Medium

Paper