Magic

Magic is a quintessential part of life on Zuth. Magic flows through every living being and intermingled into very the soul of every individual. Yet it is by its very nature unknowable and is the source of the greatest mystery in the world. There are several methodologies used by many races to understand and utilize magic. While some of these methods are more destructive then others, they all involve either the manipulation of outside magic or the uses of magic produced from within the host body.
Humans have divided magic into several school which would see the dividing specialization in study. This form of study was popularized by Fanzanimer nearly 500 years after the separation of the Testial Empire and the Elven Imperium. This field became the foundation of the human understanding of magic and is call the Fantasmal Method. This method saw the manipulation of different magic forces outside of the magics present within the practitioners body.
This Study was in direct contrast of the elven methodology which did not see any separation of magical forces but instead saw all magic as an aspect of a greater whole. As such magic has to be studied in a wholistic spectra in order to fully understand. This led Elves to revere magic and instead of the manipulation and the “perversion cause by human magic” would only guide magical forces to an outcome. The Elves called this Natural Mage Arts.
The Dragons call magic Trasfulthrum use complex magical manipulation within themselves to warp the world around them. This magic is extremely dangerous for beings not totally entuned with their own soul. Dragons are among the only beings that can utilize their own magical energies to such an extreme extent. However, beings that are made of living magical forces such as the Djinns are considered the authority on magical ascension.

The Fantasmal Method

In the Fantasmal Method which is most commonly used and studied by humans, they believe that magic exists to be subservient to humans. It is a gift from the creator to ease the burdens of life and as such to show appreciation to the High God Telemundo, who is the creator of magic, they seek to understand it in all of its facets. The study of magic is divided into schools with many skills overlapping between them.
The Fantasmal Method was developed along side other rival methodologies and practices during the dawning of the Testial Empire. The most common magic methodology amongst the humans at the time was the Natural Mage Arts taught to them by the Elves. However, the strict nature, study and discipline along with the long and unnecessary rituals made much of this form of magic impractical in direct combat.
The First few hundred years of the Empire was riddled in constant wars for territory against sand orcs and lizard-men. This required a more combat focused use of magic than that which was used by the elves. The first iteration of this was the creation of a pseudo-destruction school called Devesali Sutonime which is Ailfer (the elven language) for “forsaken tongue”.
The Forsaken Tongue practitioners took a lot of its inspiration from the elven book of the same name. The story is a cautionary tale of a boy that played with magic to create fire and ice but due to him disobeying the Gods he was swallowed up by a raven but not before he learned to shoot lightning. This story was of special fascination to Fanzanimer who believed this to be possible.

Fanzanimer would teach his acolytes to study specific aspects of magic and meditate on a desired effect rather than the greater magic flow. This method came into scrutiny as many believed this removed the spiritual reverence to the gods. In the time following this many of Fanzanimer’s acolytes began challenging the Empire’s greatest combat mages to duals to prove the effective and efficient nature of the Forsaken Tongue.
After years of disproving the effectiveness of many of their contemporaries the Forsaken Tongue gained so many practisioners that it could no longer be ignored by Player One Televondii. He was a practisioner of Natural Mage Arts and sought to discredit the method. Fanzanimer changed the name of his philosophy and school to the Fantasmal Method and Destruction School respectively. Fanzanimer was challenged to a dual by Player One himself with Salifi as the officiator of the match.
After the match Salifi declared Fanzanimer the winner and she declared that his style was closer to her own. Even with this decisive victory, Player One Televondii would continue to antagonize the Fantasmal Method for the rest of Fanzanimer’s life. It would be nearly 47 years after the death of Fanzanimer that a new Player One would spend nearly twenty years to standardize the study of magic. The new foundation for magic being based on his own understanding of the Fantasmal Method.

Fantasmal Schools of Magic

Destruction

The oldest and most controversial of the schools of magic. This school is used to produce purely offensive effects. This school of magic envelopes many spells that can be used to inflict immediate damage to a being, environment, or structure on a small or large scale. The effects of destruction spells can range from simple elemental spells like fire and ice to unstable magical energies.

Alteration

The second eldest of the magical schools and the predecessor to the illusion and alchemical Schools. This school is at constant odds with the destruction school over rights to certain spells to be classified under their school despite its destructive nature. The alteration school practices the bending or manipulating of the magical energies present in all of the natural world. This enables them to convert materials from one form to another by manipulating base elements.

Illusion

The illusion school is a highly specialized school that originally was a part of the much larger Alteration school. However, instead of changing the natural world it focuses on altering the metaphysical concepts of things. Practitioners of this school are able to cause other beings to change what they perceive around them even changing their senses.

Necromancy

A highly taboo school only practiced in secret by outcast “crackpot” mages. Little is known about the necromancy school but its most regular practitioners are vampires.

Alchemical / Mutagen

One of the newest schools of magic which split from Alteration 262 years ago. This school was derived from the study of the Druid people which could use a previously unknown magic to alter plant life. The alchemical school has two major forms of study. The first is a fusion of magic principle and scientific analysis. The second is the mutation of life forms through the introduction of mutagen magic.

Divination

This is a school of magic that studies the magical connection of all things in reality. The foundation of this study is that since reality is all held together by magic they can view the guiding stings of magic. This can allow them to predict future events or locate and communicate with people or find objects over vast distances.

Summoning

This magical school is one of the most dangerous as failing to complete the proper ritual or incantation will end in the death of the summoner. This school is only used by the most skilled mages. It bends space and time to pull from realms unseen power most grave and unnatural. Summoners are amongst the most respected and accomplished mages in the known world.

Temporal

The study of temporal magic is still in infancy with the practitioners numbering less than fifteen. The practitioners consider the school to be the most powerful of all schools as in theory it will manipulate localized time. By the greater magic community this is nothing more than a small occult theory since no successful effects have been discovered.

Psykhḗ and Source

This is the study of the dragons magic. While extremely niche the study does show promise although it is little more than theory at this point.

Rune Magic / Enchanting

Rune magic is the bonding of magical effects to symbols that will be able to manifest the effects without the need of a mage, incantation or magic aptitude. These symbols will have to be ‘charged’ with the desired effects. Each school will often have its own skilled enchanting sub-study. Enchanted Items are often powered by either magic ore, magic crystals or the magic from the wielder of the enchanted item.

Magic Ratings, Tiers and Grades

Magic is given a grade based on two forms of measurement. These measurements are magic ratings and magic tiers. Magic grades as used in the Fantasmal Method are as follows going from simplest to most difficult.

1. Learner
2. Apprentice
3. Journeyman
4. Specialist
5. Master
6. Magus
7. Grand Magus
8. Divine

The grade is determined by the average of rating and the tiers out of sixteen a maximum of 8 points being awarded to each. Rating is the level of complexity to cast the magic. Is there a ritual, incantation, time of day or year, are more than one person required, is sacrifice of life or property required, are there multiple spells that must be performed simultaneously? All of these factors play into the rating of the magic. The magic tier is determined by the difficulty to control the magic once cast and the effects one may experience if cast incorrectly. Magic tier is taken from the average mage’s difficulty to cast the magic.
It is important to note that having a high magic rating or tier alone does not mean that the spell will be a high grade. Natural Mage arts for example are notoriously complex and have high ratings however once cast are often controlled easily by the caster(s). Magic spells in the Fantasmal Method are often the opposite; they usually are high tiered but low ratings. This means that the spells require much higher levels of concentration to control once cast.
The average human combat mage in armed forces are trained to cast spells at an apprentice level but these are usually military standardized spells to aid in combat. Those with higher magic abilities usually become war mages which cast journeyman or specialist level magic. Few human mages in history have been able to cast master level magic alone. Master level spells normally will require multiple specialist level mages to cast. A single mage being able to cast Master level spells alone often becomes a legendary once in a generation individual that will attend to national affairs alongside or as part of the Champions of the 10.
Magus level magic is largely considered impossible for humans to achieve without thousands of mages. Some such spells are national defense magics like those on the walls and sky around Dunfal which makes it virtually impossible to lay siege. Grand Magus spell casting are spells cast by Mortal Divines and is the closest to godhood without becoming a god. These spells are considered impossible to cast regardless of numbers unless the individual is a Mortal Divine. Salifi’s control over all water and weather in the Testial Empire places her in this category. She is so powerful that she could return the entire country to a desert without need for incantation or ritual.

Manifestation

Pure Magic

Magic can take on infinite forms. There are several places on Zuth in which pure magical energies in such high concentration have caused magic to crystalize. This crystalized magic appears as a brilliant light and will dissipate over time as the magic evaporates. These pure magic crystals will appear different colors to different people based on their own magical energies. Every magical user will also produce a different color magic based on a multitude of factors. Though it is generally accepted that pure magic has no color and only through outside effects will magic develop a color.

Magic Crystals

Lesser Magic Crystals

Not to be confused with the far more unstable pure magic crystallization, are artificially created magical batteries. These Crystals are often produced by different magic schools and institutions as a source of income. Lesser Magic Crystals are usually made from Teratrerite which is a semi-rare crystal found in the lake under Dunefal. These crystals are coveted for their innate natural ability to easily store magic for long periods after processing. However, the more magic needed to be stored the larger the crystal needs to be.

Greater Magic Crystals

While made from the same material as lesser magic crystals the refining and imbuing process creates a much purer crystal. These crystals have the capacity to hold up to twice as much magical energies as lesser crystals of the same size. The production of greater magic crystals is a closely guarded secret of the Helbold Magic Academy in Dunefal.

Rubinite

A red or scarlet jewel that is commonly found to the south of the empire. This jewel can hold notably more magic than teratrerite and does not need to be refined. The unique properties of the Rubinite has given them the nickname grand magic crystal.

Hexitontite

Hexitontite also known as Hex Crystals can only be found in the Savage Lands and can hold vast quantities of magic. A single shard of a hex crystal can hold the magical equivalent of 700 mages. For comparison it would take one ton (907.18 kg) of Lesser Magical Crystals to hold the same amount of magical energy. These crystals are only given to individuals by Djinns if they are given something in return.

Simidranti

A jewel that produces low levels of magical energy that often manifest as a soft glow. These jewels are often used in elven wedding bracelets. The color of the jewel will often change depending on the mood of the wearer.

God’s Blood Jewel / Dragon Heart Crystal

This is a classification for special Artifacts of Power that have jewel-like appearance. The most famous is the Jewel of the Undending Spring  and its shards. These artifacts are considered to be part of a divine providence and therefore separate from normal classification.

Localization

There are three major sources of magic which intermingle throughout all of creation set in motion by the High Gods and Demon Gods (Old Deus). The first is the magic which is produced from life or the soul, second is magic which comes from creation (Zuth itself) in the form of lay lines and third magic which radiates from the heavens (Sun, Moon and stars). These forms of magic are understood in the Fantasmal Method as the Primordial Magical Flow. Also following this method all magic originated from the heavens and became trapped in the Zuth were it was altered by the elements and is being released slowly in different forms.

The God of Magic

This is a depiction of High God Telemundo the God of magic after he restored life to the world by introducing the Primordial Magic Flow. Magic didn’t exist until he left from the Celestial Cone bring with him the magical fount. He is also seen as the God of New Beginnings and God and a lesser God of Life.

Dissipation of Magic

The dissipation of a Pure Magic Crystal after formation. Due to the volatile nature of pure magic crystallization areas where they are known to form are off limits to the general public. These “crystals” will sometimes erupt in violent explosions if tampered with making study nearly impossible.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane