Magic

The Four Elements

All magic falls under the four main elements: fire, water, earth, and air. The elements have different properties and are used for different kinds of spells. Magic-users can use any element, but they tend to be more skilled in one or two specific elements.

Fire

The Catalyst

Fire magic focuses on changing the object of interest, whether it's transfiguring lead into gold or turning a person into a corpse. Most offensive spells are fire spells.

Water

The Lifeblood

Water magic deals with life, whether it is healing others, controlling nature, or raising the dead.

Earth

The Material

Earth magic is most often used to store objects in The Ether, but it can also be used to preserve or revert an object's state.

Air

The Invisible

Air magic tampers with abstract forces, like luck, emotion, and time. It is most often used for creating illusions.

Enchantment

Any nonliving object can be enchanted by any element of magic, but the effectiveness and duration of the enchantment depend on how well the element resonates with the material used (and the prowess of the enchanter). Every element is extremely fickle in what it resonates with; nobody has been able to find a perfect pattern, but most people follow these rough guidelines:

• Fire magic often resonates with fabrics, paper, and other frail objects.
• Water magic tends to work well with jewelry, piercings, makeup, and other cosmetic items.
• Earth magic favors simplicity: the more work it took to create an object, the more difficult to enchant with earth magic.
• Air magic resonates with very few items, but some people have a theory that it is easier to enchant an item with air magic if the enchanter has an emotional connection to it.

There are exceptions to these guidelines, but they generally work. The most common enchanted material is glass; it resonates well with fire magic, but it is also fairly reliable with the other elements.

Blending

Some spells use two or more elements of magic, such as summoning a golem (water + earth) or attacking someone psychically (fire + air). Blending spells, as these are called, can be very powerful, but they can also be dangerous. It is difficult to get the elements to mix properly, so blending spells are more likely to backfire.

Objects can also be enchanted with two or more elements, but like spells, the blending enchantment must be done masterfully or the enchantment will backfire.

Where Magic Comes From

The most widely accepted theory of magic's origin is that all magic comes from the barrier separating all dimensions from each other. Galaxies and systems close to the center of their dimension tend to be dead magic zones.

Magic and Sophonts

All living beings can have magical properties, but only sophonts can fully utilize and master magic. Not all sophonts are able to use magic, however. A sophont has to be born about 100 light-years in range of the Barrier in order to become a magic-user. Magic sophonts won't be able to use magic when they are out of that range, but they will get their powers back if they move back in.

These rules don't apply to Almiposas and reapers. Almiposas get their magic from their own souls, and reapers get their magic form the souls that they consume. This reason is why Almiposa and Reaper magic is green and red, respectively, instead of the usual white.