NOTES ON MAGIC

How does magic work in the world…
1. There was no magic prior to the advent of Mt. Celene’s arrival.
2. Part of the colonization process involves the venting and seeding of the world with Eret’Sinu, roughly translated as “the living air.” Since the “gods” of Celene require this seeded air in order to utilize the majority of their technology, this (long) stage is a necessity prior to disembarking from the colony ship.
3. Magic is handled through several components.
a. The first being the mastery of equivalents required to utilize the Eret’Sinu. What this means is that the intelligent “elements” in the air are extremely literal in how they interpret the wishes of those who seek to command them. Thus, a teaching of the Art is required before any “spell” can be cast.
b. The “literal” material components are substitutions and equivalents that happen to convey the desired effect to the Eret’Sinu. Examples would be a lit match as a substitution for a blazing ball of fire. Shattered glass as a substitute for the shattering effect of a Shatter spell.
c. The Eret’Sinu itself. Harnessed through training.
d. The catalyst “spark” which fuels the spell. This is a blood sacrifice of sorts. The default being from the caster’s own body. It manifests as an aging of sorts, something that takes years off the caster’s life. It’s not entirely predictable, and thus sometimes manifests in different ways, such as ailments, aging, direct damage (bleeding from the orifices) and even the deadening and necrotic corruption of the extremities (this depends upon the “power” of the spell cast and it’s overall rage and effect).
e. Some magicians have learned to transfer the violating effects of the casting process to others or other living things. For low powered spells, this could be something as simple as killing a small patch of vegetation. For spells of the greatest consumption, this could mean death to a sentient being. The usage of others towards this end is one of the causes for the clan schisms between the various groups of Ulta, including those represented on the Celene.
4. Preservers are part of an order called “The Benevolence.”
5. Defilers are part of an order called “The Mortiferous” or “The Mortis” or “The Takers” “The Enjoyment.”

6. DIVINE MAGIC
a. Still sourced from the Eret’Sinu, however guided not by learning handed down via Gothen instructors, but rather through “divine inspiration” which is “granted” to the followers of a particular deity. Divine casters do not defile themselves or the land, and as such were considered the most benign casters prior to the loss of the gods. The Ulta provided them with the “spark” via the energy reserves of Celene, in exchange for the minute amount of energy reciprocated and transferred to them from their followers. The faithful did not even notice the slight drain upon their life-force, and it was a volumetric game that the gods were playing. More followers = less each had to be vampiricly taxed.

7. Arcane Magic interpreted through the eyes of the native Gothen mage states that the element of the human Will is as material as steam, or really any other physical matter in the universe. This is part of the Three Fundamental Laws of Magic…
a. Human will is a material force
b. The existence of the “astral light,” an ether-like substance or medium, from which one can access “all that has ever happened or all that will ever happen.”
c. There is correspondence between the macrocosm, the universe, the microcosm and man (the soul of the individual). The soul of man is “the mirror of the universe.” Anything present in the universe is present in the person and can be accessed via the proper knowledge and rites. Demons, deities and spirits are personifications of cosmic forces.

MAGIC IS ALIVE…
The Eret Si’Nu is comprised of what some would call “souls.” In fact, it’s synonymous with the souls of the dead, in flux between death and rebirth. These souls retain some degree of their old sentience, and can be communicated with providing one knows the proper language. The language of magic.
There are lesser and greater souls, with the lesser coming from base animals and the greater from humanoids and similar beings.
Magic can be tamed, or at least trained. This is the nature of spells. It’s like running a script. The Eret Si’Nu is paid/rewarded with life force (blood, energy). It is the equivalent of an equal and opposite reaction.
The Eret S’Nu, transferred from Celene into the atmosphere of Gothenya, “awoke” the dormant native souls permeating the air, showing them what was possible if they only communed with the living (man). It spread far and wide, waiting for someone or many someones to speak with it. It is both singular and plural. One and many. The boundaries between souls is amorphous and permeable.
Magic has a will and an ego of its own.