Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
But if that ain't enough,
Just go on; add double!
— Shakespeare's MacBeath, with Tsu the Tea-Witch's additions
Magic can be a tricky thing and to ease its use, witches and warlocks have turned to reagents - objects infused with a spark of magic, ready to be extracted. As much as most people think about the snippets of wild herbs and plants, reagents can take almost any shape, from mundane to morbid. In the shadow of
Gates or in places where
the Beyond casts its shadow into the world, power seeps through to create the reagents.
Infused With Magic
Scales of a dragon - where the fuck am I supposed to find scales of a dragon?!
Reagents are useful because of the magic inherent to them. It isn't always predictable - the Beyond never is, and when it interacts with either
the Prime or
the Shadow even less so. The nature of the object mingles with the magic touching it, changing both into something new. Even reagents cut from the same core being, whether it be the eye of newt or mandrake root, can be vastly different depending on circumstances. In places where the
Faelands touch the world, living things are more colorful, more elaborate, more whimsical. Every part of the Beyond has its own intrinsic essence that it imbues into the reagents.
Some reagents are so changed that they've been mistaken for whole new species of plant, a misunderstanding then cemented by the Veil to keep its secrets.
by Unsplash (Elena Mozvilo)
For this reason, many reagents spring up around
Gates. There, the wall between worlds is already thin and every time it swings open, magic bleeds through from the Beyond. Depending on the gate in question, this can lead to irregular blooms of reagents, to a steady trickle every time it opens.
Reagents come in any number of shapes, from the classics to decidedly unconventional. Though not as elegant as belladonna or sage, rats and cockroaches can bloat and grow twisted in areas where reagents would thrive, becoming just as useful. Not all reagents are living things; in mines and caverns, mineral ore and crystal can absorb the same energies are plants and vermin. There's even a junkyard where gremlins twist discarded trinkets of particular emotional value into new, strange shapes and imbue them with enough whimsy to become reagents.
In the Beyond, there are places where magic pools and gather, and here Magi can find reagents of great power... If they can get them, and get back out.
Reagents come in three grades, based on their proximity to the Beyond. Those closest, or from, the source of magic hold their a spark more potent and vibrant, but tend to be much more difficult to get. The more powerful they are, the greater aid they provide, and the greater a price they are. Even so, reagents can't be used without care and thought; the energies that make them what they are can also work against a wizard. For the best result, the reagent has a spirit that matches that of the ritual or spell. If they clash, then the reagent can reduce rather than enhance the effect, or even cause it to violently backfire.
Using more isn't always an option; if the magic that fed them are of vastly different places, then they might clash, resulting in anything from a ruined ritual to massive explosions.
Focus
Most reagents are destroyed when used, the spark wrenched out of them to power whatever it is the magi is trying to do. But some are made of sterner stuff. A focus (or focii) are reagents that can be used again and again, working less as an ingredient and more like a lens through which a wizard might cast his spell. These focii are almost always refined and crafted, the raw material enhanced many times over by a skilled artificer. They are worth their weight in gold, and many wizards would rather part with an arm than their favored focii.
Some magical arts even require these focii to function at all, mixing the power channeled from the Beyond with human ingenuity.
Nothing much to add on this, the article is quite complete, detailed and the formating/art is always nice to read on. I particularly like the gremlins junkyard part. I think it could make a nice article on it's own if you plan to do so. Happy Summercamp !
Thank you :D
Creator of Araea, Megacorpolis, and many others.