The World Part Two - How Does Magic Work?

How does magic work? I do not think everyone should have access to magic. Some may have an innate talent to understand it and harness it, but it is unknown how and why people have this ability. I think magic is largely not known to exist by common folk. There are some who can have divine granted ability as well, though who/how granted may “flavor” how the magic is used or how it manifests itself.
As described in my article on the What is Ring World? article, I think that all magic--no matter its inspiration--must be harnessed through the consumption of a magical energy that is a natural resource only found within the rings where they intersect into the atmosphere. Without this resource, magic is unavailable to any user.
This magical resource is also subject to the status of the ecosystem of the planet below. If the “balance” of things is swayed. I am thinking along the lines of divine manner such as along a good-to-evil alignment scale. Kind of like the Tao, Yin and Yang type stuff. Too much evil in the world and the magic energy created as a product of the rings and the atmosphere bonding together is tainted in that direction and has an impact on magic cast using the resource.
If the balance of things is tipped beyond a certain point, the planet “self-cleanses” as the magic resource of the rings radiating into the atmosphere causes life-threatening conditions on the planet. As life dies off, the balance is restored, the magic resource is purified, and life can begin anew. Similarly, as this magic resource is pushed to the outer limits of balance, the user may experience adverse effects to their health and well-being as they use the resource to cast their spells or are around whatever talisman or object is containing the magic resource.
Extremely rare fragments of the rocks containing the magical resource may be found on the surface as the product of cosmic collisions (think meteorites that strike the earth’s surface). They are extremely rare but can be found and harnessed and with additional “potency” but are usually of such a small size the it limits how much can be obtained.
Magic resources that were captured and not used could possibly also retain the properties of what the divine balance was at the time it was captured, thus creating the possibility for extremely pure or extremely evil sources to exist from previous incarnations of the planet (from past cleansings) unbeknownst to the current inhabitants.
Travel to the rings could possibly occur via climbing certain mountains from the surface that come close enough to the rings that those with the ability for magical use are swept up in a magical current that transports them to the ring’s surfaces. Like an attractive force that tries to bring the magical resource together in a single location--the rings. (Think Star Trek DS9 and The Founders and the Great Link). It is not natural for the resource to be on the planet surface but is inevitably taken there by inhabitants and their actions.
Submitted by maliciouscode