Introduction to Magic

You don't have to pay the price for your actions. Others do. That's not magic. That's murder.

— Fallis Valadian

Magic in Estya is a complex force that shapes and drives everything it touches, and can almost seem sentient at times in its mannerisms. Whether it be from natural, divine, synthetic, or material sources, magic in Estya (with few exceptions) operated under a strict set of rules and restrictions that govern its use and its penalties.

Universal Rules

All magic, even artificially created or divine-given, must abide by a few basic rules, though the exact parameters of it may vary significantly.

A Price to Pay

"All magic comes with a price" is the first rule of magic that students are taught across Estya. The price of magic can vary wildly between the feats a spellcaster is attempting to accomplish and what branch of magic they are utilizing. What magic the caster is using can also affect who will pay this price for their magical use.
Some branches of magic, such as Light Magic, demands that the spellcaster themselves pay the price of their magic, however they only have to expend their own energy and stamina to use these magicks, and this resevoir can easily be replenished with rest.
On the opposite end, Dark Magic has no such requirement. Powerful dark sorcerers are capable of redirecting the price of the spell onto unsuspecting strangers. Negative magic operates under the "equal and opposite" principle where the price to be paid is both equal in power and opposite in purpose. For example, in order to light a fire with dark magic, a dark sorcerer only needs to click their fingers, though if untrained, they will initially feel a chill themselves as the fire ignites. The larger the fire, the greater the cold, and as such, the spellcaster needs to be aware of potential hypothermia.

Ever-Present

While magic in Estya does exist in a spectrum from dark to light, with most Estyans falling somewhere between -20 and +20 (see Blood Number), it is impossible for an Estyan to be completely powerless. Even with a Blood Number of -1 or +1, an Estyan is still capable of using magic, even if their power is limited to lighting candles and spurring the growth of a plant by an hour.
Estyans with weaker magic often regard it as a convenient part of their daily life, as opposed to something of raw power. Many will never see a powerful sorcerer (numbers greater than +/- 40) in their lifetime, and are unaware of such power in anything but legends.
With powerless Estyans being non-existent, so are Estyans with limitless magic. While it is certainly possible for a sorcerer to possess a Well of Magic so powerful and deep that is can appear endless, but every sorcerer has a limit, and more powerful spells deplete the well of magic faster. For example, the most powerful sorcerer in Estyan history, Valan Eromin, was capable of leveling entire armies with a snap of their fingers and providing the most bountiful harvests in history, but they could only do these things once before she was forced to rest. (The exhaustion from such feats would later contribute to their death in the Battle of Yna soon after.)

Structure

• Introduction to Magic
  • Blood Number
    • Well of Magic
    • Alhari Test

  • Types of Magic

    Magic comes in all forms, each with their unique styles.

    • Blood Magic

      Magic dictated by your Blood Number, on a spectrum from Light to Dark.
      • Light Magic
        • Lightspinning
      • Dark Magic
        • Necromancy
      • Harmony Magic

    • Synthetic Magic

      Artificially created magic. Wild, unstable, dangerous, and barred from use in the Scholia Solii.
      • Life Magic
      • Entropy Magic

    • Divine Magic

      Magic gifted from Gods beyond our beloved Mothers of Magic
      • Disciple Magic

• Spellcasting

  • Material Magic

    Magic sometimes requires objects to be cast, and can be embedding into everyday items with enough skill.
    • Spellcrafting
      • Mastercrafting
    • Inscription
    • Enchanting

  • Gestural

    Magic cast through the use of gestures

  • Verbal

    Magic cast through spoken words.

Limitations

All magic has its limits, though where the line is drawn is largely determined by the power of the sorcerer and type of magic they are using, there are a feat limitations to Estyan magic that even Valan themself couldn't defy.

Resurrection

While Immortality and Necromancy certainly exist within the world of Estya, neither operate as their name implies. Immortals are destined to die, and the dead must return to Gehenna.
Fixing a broken Anchor cannot be achieved by even the gods themselves. If goddesses such as the Mothers of Magic wish for an Estyan to be spared from Gehenna, they must intervene before the Estyan's death, as once their anchor breaks, it cannot be mended by any means. However, one such workaround that has been used in the past is mending the body of a dying Estyan and fusing their anchor shut, rendering them Immortal.

Crossing Planes

Estyan magic also renders it impossible to cross the barriers between the realms of Gehenna, Estya, and Arcadia. While Gehennan and divine magic do not possess these limitations, this level of power has never been obtained by an Estyan.
There were supposedly explorers who discovered the entrance to Gehenna and spoke to the Queen directly, but their accounts cannot be confirmed, and most that believe the legends believe the Queen deliberately led them to Gehenna as a form of trickery.

• Universal Rules
• A Price to Pay
• Ever-Present

• Structure
• Limitations
• Resurrection
• Crossing Planes