Eyre Magick - Disciplines of Magick

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Includes: Alteration (and Transfer-Alteration), Soul-Command, Ritual, Soul-Leech, and Abysmal-Craft.

Brief Introduction

There are two categories of Disciplines of Magick: Special Magick and Regular Magick (often just Magick). Regular Magick is a category of disciplines that are dependent on Soul-Focus and Willpower, whereas Special Magick is a category of disciplines that do not. Soul-Focus is the user's ability to control, direct, and use their own Mana. Willpower is the user's ability to control, direct, and use the Mana of other's. Special Magick depends on factors other than Soul-Focus and/or Willpower.

Alteration Magick

Mana is adaptive, and likewise, has it's own discipline dedicated to it's adaptivity. More often than not, Alteration Magick happens by accident rather than it's practiced. There are however, collections of people that actively research and practice Alteration Magick. Due to mana having it's adaptive nature, Alteration Magick affects both Soul-Mana, and Elemental-Matter and Elemental-Ore. The key factors involved in the adaptation of mana are how often certain events are repeated, and how large the impact of these events are. The more the events are repeated, the more the mana becomes conditioned to said events, and thus adapts to favor the events. The impact of the event, when large enough, can create a major change in how the mana interacts with the world, thus providing the mana a small window to adapt to this change. Events can be anything from a bandit leader slaughtering many innocent people, to a blacksmith working with many magical weapons, to large wars and death occuring at the site of surface-ore. In terms of Soul-Mana, the desires and needs of the affected living entity play heavily into the adaptation of the mana. The adaptation of mana will be quite different between a bandit leader who kills many innocent people for loot and someone captured by bandits who is forced to kill innocent people. Even though both kill innocent people, they do it for different reasons. The mana adapts to favor the desires and needs of the individual in response to the event. The bandit leader's mana may change, allowing the bandit leader to give off an aura that strikes fear into the hearts of others, whereas the individual forced to kill may either adapt a way to kill people painlessly, or a way to defend against the forceful hand of the bandits. In either situation though, the mana itself adapts to favor the desires and needs of the individual in response to the event. The more often an event is repeated, and the greater the impact of the event, the more chance a change will occur in the mana.

Alteration Magick in Elemental-Matter operates in a similar way to Soul-Mana, but rather than the determining factor depending on desires and needs, it depends on the function of the matter. The function is determined primarily by how the matter interacts with the Non-Living Entities in it's environment and the Living Entities. For example, a magical water-wheel that interacts with water is an example of Elemental-Matter interacting with a Non-Living Entity in it's environment. The adaptation that may occur would be to benefit the function it's currently serving. On the other hand, a blade wielded by an evil tyrant may adapt to suit the function that the evil tyrant is using it for. Alteration Magick in Elemental-Ore occurs passively rather than actively. Due to the ore's passive and static state, it has no primary function. As a result, the alteration of mana within ores will be completely dependent on it's environment. This may include Surface-Ore that is present during a large battle, where the mana of the ore alters to favor the bloodlust of the battle. Such an ore could invoke bloodlust when used in items. The alteration of Elemental-Ore is rare, due to most of the ore being isolated deep underground in the abyss. Surface-Ore is usually the only ore that's affected, but when it is, it can make for some interesting and new effects. For more on Elemental-Ore and it's uses in Magick, read Abysmal-Craft Magick.

Transfer-Alteration Magick

Transfer-Alteration Magick is a small sub-discipline of Alteration Magick. Transfer-Alteration Magick occurs strictly between the interaction of Elemental-Matter and Soul-Mana in the presence of death. When a living entity dies in the presence of Elemental-Matter, the Soul-Mana has a chance of transferring to the Elemental-Matter. This may occur with an evil tyrant using a magical blade to slay enemies, and when killed, the soul of the evil tyrant transfers into the blade and becomes imbued within it. This may also occur when a living entity is killed by some form or Elemental-Matter, allowing the possibility of the mana to transfer to the matter, or if the matter itself is present during a time of death (such as a magical item being present at a battlefield).

Soul Command Magick

Soul-Command requires a very high Soul-Focus, but allows for a low Willpower. Soul Command Magick is the art of focusing the user's soul and directing it into various sources of energy, such as casting fireballs, creating cloaks of invisibility, and so forth. This discipline takes years and years of practice to become skilled in, and those who use this form of Magick require a great deal of focus. Most who practice it start off practicing in areas of low-stimuli, then slowly work up to areas of higher-stimuli as a way of deepening their focus. Due to this form of Magick using the mana of the user, it will often drain the user and weaken them substantially. Over-casting can cause the user to become very weak and ill, sometimes resulting in death. As the user practices this form of Magick, their soul will become conditioned to the energy output and grow in force (see Alteration Magick), allowing them to cast longer and more powerful Magick. An important balance between pushing one's abilities and not pushing too far is vital for improving one's Soul Command Magick ability.

Ritual Magick

Ritual Magick requires moderate Soul-Focus and moderate Willpower, and is the middle-ground between Soul Command Magick and Soul-Leech Magick. Ritual Magick is the art of withdrawing mana from different sources and directing it into various sources of energy, such as imbuing armor, enchanting devices, or casting curses. Most sources of mana, called ingredients, include most types of vegetation, elemental ores, and recently dead parts to small animals where the soul remains intact. Typically, any mana source that has a low force or is passive is used, though creatures of a much larger scale have been used before. The important factor of the ingredients is the mana variety, not force. Users of this form of magick place the ingredients in a certain order and proximity from one another, withdraw the mana sources and combine them together, then release some of their own mana into it and direct it. This form of Magick drains both willpower and soul-focus, but to a lesser extent than the other two disciplines. Overexertion of soul-focus, though less common, may also lead to weakness, but rarely death. Overexertion of willpower will damage the body rather than weaken it, often causing it to deteriorate. This may cause strain (such as pain in limbs and muscles), or things like internal bleeding. As Ritual Magick is practiced, the user's willpower and soul-focus will improve (see Alteration Magick), but one of the most crucial aspects to Ritual Magick is not just the skill, but the knowledge of ingredients and combinations.

Soul-Leech Magick

Soul-Leech Magick requires high Willpower, but doesn't require any Soul-Focus. Soul-Leech Magick is the pure absorption of Soul-Mana only. The idea behind absorbing Soul-Mana is that the user will acquire the force and properties of the soul they've absorbed. As the user absorbs the souls of others, they will gain the physical, mental, and mana attributes of that source, but they will also have to fight to maintain and overcome all the souls acquired. Souls have the ability to overcome the user that absorbed them, thus gaining control of the user. When the user loses control of multiple souls absorbed, it may often become a very violent inner-battle, causing the user to become impulsive, reckless, and alarming. In some cases, users can become a mere vessel for angry and restless souls. As Soul-Leech Magick is practiced, the user will slowly gain (see Alteration Magick) the strength to effectively manage more souls through an increase in willpower. Overexertion of the willpower involved in Soul-Leeching often causes extreme strain and deterioration on/of the body.

Abysmal-Craft Magick

Abysmal-Craft Magick does not require Soul-Focus or Willpower. Abysmal-Craft Magick is the art of combining various elemental ores and forging or crafting them into magical items. This form of Magick is a very delicate art, with many factors coming into play, the most important of which being careful handling, knowledge of ores, methods of combining the ores, and the different amounts of ore and types that are brought together. As the ores are combined, the mana energy within the ores merge together through the extreme environmental changes (see Alteration Magick). This form of Magick, like the others, also comes with it's own set of risks. If the forging is handled poorly, undesired properties can be acquired by the new matter, or even worse, the forging can release the ore's properties into the atmosphere in a concentrated burst. This can lead to things like mass-explosions, excessive growth, widespread disease, and so forth.

Eyre Magick - Introduction

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Includes: Magick Introduction.

Magical objects, contraptions, locations, spells, people, and creatures, all utilize Mana to function. Mana is the basis of all magic, and acts as a fuel for the aforementioned entities. There are two classes of Mana: Soul-Mana and Elemental-Mana. Soul-Mana exists through the souls of living entities. All living entities (animals, insects, creatures, people, plants, etc.) contain souls. Each soul differs from one another in Magnitude, Force, and Variety. The magnitude of a soul depends on the size of the entity itself, with larger entities having larger souls and smaller entities having smaller souls. The force of a soul depends on it's overall abilities, skills, and power. Abilities may include strength and agility, skills may include weapon-proficiency (combative skill) and crafting-proficiency (non-combative skill), and power, which is the ability to overcome odds and vanquish foes. The variety of a soul is similar to the gene-code passed down from one species to the next. The variety of a soul is differs between genus, then again (but less) between species. The methods of utilizing Soul-Mana will be explained later on, as they differ between discipline.

Elemental-Mana is the mana imbued into non-living soulless entities. Elemental-Mana is found in two key places: Elemental-Ore and Elemental-Matter. Elemental-Ore is technically Elemental-Matter, however, it has it's own category because it specifically applies to a very special kind of Elemental-Matter. Elemental-Ore is sedimented mana deep beneath the surface of the world in an area called the Abyss. The Abyss contains massive deposits of sedimented mana, both from sedimentary mana that has formed ages ago, and from newly forming mana sediments. The mana from the Elemental-Ore differs in Concentration, Quality, and Variety. Concentration is similar to magnitude, but rather than mana being tied to one entity, it is instead tied to the density per given area. The higher the density of an ore, the greater the concentration. Quality is similar to force, but instead is dependent on the purity of the ore. Variety is similar to gene-code, in the sense that each type of ore has it's own unique type of mana that sets it apart from other ores. The key difference between Variety in Soul-Mana and Variety in Elemental-Ore is that in the ore, there is no unique strand of mana per ore deposit, only per ore type. There are many kinds of Elemental-Ore that form, but the two main kinds are Runic-Ore and Soul-Ore. Runic-Ore is a broad category of sedimentary mana that is speculated to have formed ages ago before modern civilization came about. Runic-Ore is the most diverse and expansive forms of Elemental-Ore with it's ores possessing an extremely wide range of properties, many of which are still unknown and undiscovered. Soul-Ore is a kind of Elemental-Ore that forms due to the decay of souls. When a living entity becomes deceased, it's soul will cling to it's decaying form for a time being, but will eventually detach and drift down beneath the surface. The soul eventually slows once it reaches the Abyss, and will begin to cluster with souls of a similar variety. The less dense the area where they cluster is, and the greater the magnitude of the souls that cluster within a short period of time, the greater the density the Soul-Ore will be. Souls of a greater force will often sink and cluster deeper in the Abyss than souls of lesser force. Surface-Ore is a special case of Elemental-Ore, both runic and soul, that due to abnormal clustering or geological processes, Elemental-Ore is forced up to the surface. Ores of lesser concentration will be more likely to surface due to their closer proximity. Typically, the clustering of Soul-Ore will have an extremely miniscule impact on the surface landscape, however, when high quantities and magnitudes of souls gather within a short period of time (typically after mass-death, such as wars, genocides, forest fires, and so forth), the mass-clustering will often cause deformations in the landscape, and on the rare occassion, create Surface-Ore. Surface-Ore more commonly is created from natural geological processes though, such as earthquakes and volcanoes, which expose Elemental-Ore already closer to the surface.

Elemental-Matter is all matter (non-living, non-ore) that has retained mana or had mana imbued upon it. Elemental-Matter is classified based on Quality and Variety. In all cases of Elemental-Matter (excluding ores), the matter is either a weapon, piece of equipment, contraption, or other object/device. When this matter retains mana or has mana imbued upon it, it acquires it's own individual identity, unlike it's ore-counterpart which remains static in terms of it's variety. Where Elemental-Ore was measured by concentration, Elemental-Matter is not because it's concentration affects the matter as a whole, thus changing it's variety. Elemental-Matter does not have a static variety either, as the matter itself (based on how it interacts with the world or is interacted with) has the ability to retain mana, have more mana imbued upon it, or have it's current mana altered, thus changing it's variety. More about Mana Alteration will be explained in Eyre Magick - Disciplines of Magick. The Quality of the Elemental-Matter is it's current condition compared to it's original condition. The Variety of the Elemental-Matter is the unique strand of mana and it's properties within the matter that make it distinct.

Eyre Magick - Limitations of Magick

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Includes: Magick Among the Living, Magick Among the Non-Living (Coming Soon)

Heritage is the second factor in determining the inclination towards Magick. As these living entities reproduce, they pass down their variety of mana on to their offspring. As such, those with ancestors which have practiced Magick or excelled in a certain discipline of Magick are more likely to harness Magick in a similar war. Lastly, Alteration is the last factor that can affect an entity's inclination towards Magick. Namely, when an entity experiences new exposure to something, depending on the impact, it can alter their soul in such a way that makes them either more or less inclined to Magick and certain disciplines of Magick. For more of Alteration, view Eyre Magick - Disciplines.

All living things have souls, so Magick is technically attainable by all, however, in most cases Magick remains dormant within the entity. Different races and societies view Magick differently, causing it's dispersal to vary. Some races and societies shun Magick and view it as evil whereas some other's have made Magick an important part of their culture. Most likely though, Magick is semi-common, where most populations are aware of it's existence, yet only few practice it. Much of the practices within Magick have been lost to time, most of which are waiting to be rediscovered. The Disciplines in Magick also differ in how common they are, with some being found more frequently among certain cities or populations and others being home to wilderness creatures. The Disciplines differ between races and societies. Like-wise, sub-cultures also exist within races and societies, such as families who have practiced Magick for centuries and have thus become more adept with each following generation, or secret guilds of magick-users whom are the best of the best in their niche. Some disciplines of Magick have been outlawed by various societies, such as Soul-Leech Magick. Various practices of Magick have also been outlawed in certain societies.

This section is coming soon.