Eyre Magick - Introduction
An introduction to the key ideas to the sources of Magick in the Eyre System. Includes an overview of Elemental-Mana and Soul-Mana, along with the various types within each.
Eyre Magick - Introduction
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.
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? Responses (7)
I'm just starting to read this, and will re-read and re-comment again, but in the meantime, I'm fascinated with the ores and the overall voice here! Welcome to the Citadel, clyde.
Oooh, there you are Murometz.
Thank you for taking the time to read through this, and as for the ores and such, I'll be writing up a more detailed account on them, as well as a number of the various types. Thank you for the warm welcome too, I appreciate it.
The write-up is clear and to-the-point. I also like how this system of magic relates to genes and ores in real life.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I'm glad you like the idea.
With this, I wanted to create a back-bone explanation for how magic comes about in a way that came across as being a little more scientific, as I think it creates some depth and realism to the system itself. The magic that resembles genes was my way of doing that. As for the ores, I implemented that in as to create contrast between above-ground dwellers (such as more elven or human-like civilization) and below-ground dwellers (such as dwarven civilizations), as well as to tie in the forging of magical items in a consistent manner with more than imbuing or similar methods. Lastly, I believe the gene-related magic and ore-related magic will make for some interestingly diverse sub-cultures that vary from place to place.
Oh boy, I am liking this idea...A LOT. Mana, yeah, OK but this ore thing is a fascinating idea. When you hit surface-ore I physically moved closer to the monitor.
Can't wait to see how it is used in the world! I think the concepts will become much clearer and make this make more sense. Now, I am intrigued and want more and will almost immediately go to your next sub I noticed.
(PS. My inner hope is that every bold word/phrase will eventually be linked to another sub. :) )
Thank you very much Strolen, ahah. I'm really glad you like the ideas and concepts I'm working with. The very next thing I'll be working on is the various Disciplines in Magick, as in the broad categories in which various creatures or races make use of these two main sources of Magick available. After that, it'll be broken down into areas of those Disciplines, such as the practices. This will include destructive type magick, restorative, and so forth, each tailored to the Discipline itself, with a few common themes throughout, and a few only specific to each discipline.
Oh yes, the concepts will become clear as more information comes out. I'm glad you're interested.
The bold words were actually to primarily highlight each topic within the text, making it easier to find where certain information is. That being said, they are topics that are to be gone over, so these topics will be gone further into detail with.
An interesting take on magic, souls - even metaphysics.