In all likelihood, no one's going to confront this massive, towering wall of text. But I spent so much time developing a system of magic for my Skyler stories that I felt like organising the ideas into an essay of sorts.
So if anyone's remotely interested in what I came up with, feel free to peruse through it.
I'll likely be adding more, as I want to cover the nature of sigils, for instance.
But in the meantime, here's a lesson on Thaumatodynamics, Skyler-style! Huzzah?!
THAUMATODYNAMICS: THE MAGIC OF MAION
The Origin of Magic
Following the mysterious times of the Purges, and throughout all of Ancientry, magic has thrived across Maion. There is little known of its historical origin, and even littler of the fundamental reasons for its existence, yet it has become intimately entwined with the people of Maion in matters cultural, religious, economic, and political. It drove the tides of the Sweeping Wars and the rise and fall of dynasties.
The philosopher-mage Ishmol the Apostate gleaned many secrets behind the nature of magic, the most important of which was his positing the existence of the Chaotic Background. What he didn't initially realise was that his work was an implicit indication that the universe was not alone, but one of a great plurality known as the Manifold. The Manifold could be described as an efferverscent sea teeming with bubble universes bouncing, glancing, merging with, and separating from one another. A universe could be viewed as both a particle and a wave both locally and nonlocally interacting with the rest of the Manifold. To protect it from eroding away and diffusing altogether in all of this frenetic activity is a natural defence, a selectively permeable membrane that pervades it, known as the cosmic plenum or "reality filter". The cosmic plenum prevents the universe from borrowing elements of other universes, which would consequently break down its physical laws and effect a chaotic state. The Chaotic Background, in these terms, is the universe's excitation level in its interactions with others, similar to the way heat excites an atom and can cause phase transitions in matter.
The Maionian universe is an exceedingly rare specimen in that it exists in a transitional phase between a Cosmic state (i.e. a universe with a negligible Chaotic Background) and a Chaotic state (i.e. a universe with a maximal Chaotic Background). The overwhelming majority of universes that become chaotically excited experience a runaway Chaotic Background effect that inexorably leads to Chaos. However, the struggles between the Skylers and Daolers on Maion have secured its peculiar place in limbo between these two dichotomic phases. As a result, the phenomenon of magic has perdured long enough to be integrated and even codified into a particular system.
Magic is potentially a boundless, godlike power that can transcend any system of rules, restrained only by the elastic limit of the cosmic plenum itself, but curiously, it is by nature subservient to the collective thoughts of all conscious beings, a global noosphere known as the Mana Immanent. Because it takes the form of what people believe it to be, it exists in a number of systematised paradigms across various cultures. However, the paradigm of Shiridan, or purportedly the "One True Way", is by far the most popular and hegemonic for it is intimately interrelated with the widespread religion, Magism. It was codified first by Queen Basalii Rode and later appended upon by the Magist Ecclesia and its consistories. All paradigms alternative to Shiridan are execrated by the Ecclesia as mere bastardisations that lure mages from the right path. It is also considered the most powerful magical paradigm, if used properly.
The following is an explanation of Shiridan and its primary concepts:
The Aura
According to the doctrines of Magism, each conscious being, or wight, is divided into two components: the body and the aura. The body is a crude construct produced by the aura as a reflection of the Elemental Forms interacting with each other and the world around them. The body, albeit crude, is very important to the stability of the wight because it is composed of hyle, which is matter that is substantial, i.e. it can exist independent of magic. Without it, the aura is not sufficiently anchored to the secular plane (the Porlo Kana) and will eventually diffuse into the plane of the Elemental Forms (the Porlo Suete) through a process known as dissolution. Magic, in turn, is viewed as a communication from the plane of Elemental Forms to the secular plane with the aura as its conduit.
For those who are astute enough to observe it, the aura appears as a roughly spherical emanation set at about a body's length away from the abdomen in all directions. Its surface is a subtle nebulous mixture of colour that rotates on a central axis perpendicular to the body's height and jets off occasional prominences. The direction of rotation with the front pole as the reference point is counterclockwise (or withershins) for those who have faith in the One True Way, and clockwise (or deasil) for those who have chosen to stray from the path. This orientation is known as the mage's chirality. The magnitude or brightness of the aura is affected by one's willpower to realise a particular goal and their level of concentration, and is rumoured to flare extremely brightly during moments of epiphany. The aura also pulses at a certain frequency, likened to a heartbeat, which increases while a mage is casting a spell that is strenuous to him or is currently empowered (or bound, in mage's parlance). The colouration of the aura can be affected by their emotional and psychological state, but remains primarily the colour of their elemental affinity. However, the colouration can be drastically changed while casting magic, and even more so when boosting.
True telepaths and augurs do not exist on Maion. Instead there are aura-seers who can make general assessments and interpretations when examining a person's aura, with a fair degree of accuracy if they have much experience doing so. And the aura permits a vague foresight in the form of a sixth sense as it can pick up on even the most minute perturbations in the elemental composition of its immediate environment, known as one's elemental field. Likewise, a mage cannot outright possess another person to do his bidding, but he can peruse their aura for opportunities to exploit them. For example, one can intentionally provoke another's wrath by influencing the Fire Aspect of their aura.
Due to the existence of auras, mages have a strong tendency to develop a widespread repulsion to each other due to an exaggerated sense of territoriality known as Aura Dread. Many are tentative to trespass into the radius of another's aura unless they are intimate or belligerent with each other. The Magist faith teaches its followers that the auras represent a bond of trust and openness, in an attempt to rid the Magehood of this insecure territoriality, but its success has been marginal save for only the most devout of Magi.
The aura during its cycle occasionally undergoes a phenomenon known as an aura wink, in which it almost completely blinks out for the slightest moment. All magic currently being cast during the aura wink is negated, rendering the caster temporarily susceptible. The aura wink is believed to be the mind's last defence against overloading itself from a continuous cascade of spells. They occur more often when a mage's aural frequency has escalated dramatically. The occurrence of an aura wink has also been found to be connected with the Mage's Insomnia. Once a mage ascends to a certain level of potency, his subconscious can become dangerous, and his dreams run the risk of unwittingly taking form through magic. With a repulsion to sleep that may very well persist for the rest of their lives, aura winks prove to be the only means by which the mind can refresh itself.
The aura is comprised of its quintessential core, which is located in the upper abdomen, and the outer shell, which contains the Elemental Aspects. The Elemental Aspects serve as channels through which an elemental source can translate into magic. As it is a shield which can absorb elemental energy, it serves as a buffer to diminish the power of spells before they reach the body and the core of the aura. Channelling magic at a distance requires the aspect to stretch itself to the target of the spell, thereby spreading itself too thin and opening up a vulnerability to a spell of the same element that is being conjured, as the absorbent property of the aspect has diluted. Many mages do not realise this and assume automatically that one's opponent is always more absorbent of a particular element during the moment when they are casting with it. This susceptibility can be avoided by projecting magic from the aspect's natural location with respect to the body, and then cutting it off into stray spells once they have ventured farther; although this, in turn, opens up yet another weakness, which is the fact that a stray spell is more easily countercast, absorbed, or reflected. It is worthy to note that the Water element is the most easily controlled at a distance as its aspect is pliant while simultaneously being quite secure.
Hence, spells cast at a distance can be executed in three ways:
1.) Leading: to lead a spell is to project one's elemental aspect forward and allow the spell to travel along the prominence. This allows the mage to have more control over the spell, but opens up vulnerability to attack.
2.) Abstracting: to abstract a spell is to send it forth beyond one's elemental aspect. This allows the mage to defend himself more easily, but the spell runs the risk of gadding.
3.) Carrying: to carry a spell is to time the motion of the spell and the elemental aspect so that they follow the same trajectory in synchrony. This is a compromise between leading and abstracting.
Spells cast in close proximity to the target (namely, within the radius of the opponent's aura) are considerably more effective not only because they have less distance to cover, but because they have bypassed most of the buffering effect of the opponent's Elemental Aspects. Tangent or touch spells, in which the mage has physical contact with the opponent, bypass the Elemental Aspects completely and do the maximal damage to the body and aura core. However, in many situations casting at a distance can also be quite effective because it forces the opponent to take measures to defend himself, which exhausts his mana. Tangent spells are attempted more often if the goal is to achieve victory through manoeuvre, whereas ranged spells are the main strategy if one seeks victory through attrition. Of course, most battles are generally a mixture of the two.
The Elements
There are four Elemental Aspects, which correspond with the four elements that, pursuant to Magist doctrine, comprise all of nature. The elements are Water, Fire, Air, and Earth, and they come in two antagonistic pairs: Water opposes Fire, and Air opposes Earth. The secular plane is an admixture of these elemental particulars, which can be filtered into the pure forms only through the Elemental Aspects of the aura. A mage's relationship with the elements, or the mage's covenant, profoundly cultivates his prowess with magic.
1.) Water is related to a mage's control, or Clarity. This is how clearly a mage can see a situation and act accordingly, and how smoothly and accurately he performs his spells.
2.) Fire is related to a mage's strength, or Puissance. This is how well a mage can channel his passion effectively, and thus how powerful his spells can be.
3.) Air is related to a mage's quickness, or Alacrity. This is how quickly a mage can react, and how fast he can cast his spells.
4.) Earth is related to a mage's ballast, or Fortitude. This is how much a mage can endure and how steady he can be in his concentration.
Elements that are antagonistic to each other are inversely proportional in their respective attributes. For example, a mage who casts only fire-magic will become progressively more powerful, but his finesse will suffer accordingly. Thus to maintain a balance, or elemental equilibrium, a mage is encouraged to diversify his spells. If a mage ignores this principle and casts magic frivolously, he can suffer many disastrous repercussions, some of which may prove fatal. Indeed, elemental equilibrium is one of the vital mainstays of the covenant as preached by the Magist Ecclesia.
This inverse proportionality between anatgonistic elements is easily observed when a mage boosts a particular element. Elemental boosting is a key technique in Shiridan, but must be used with extreme caution. To boost, a mage purposely displaces his elemental aspect so it merges with his body and the profundities of his aura, his aura core. He thus partially transforms into the element boosted. For example, if a mage fire-boosts, it appears that his body has explosively combusted. As a result, Fire's strengths and weaknesses, to an extent, become his own. Fire-boosting in a frigid environment, for instance, can be lethal. In a fire-boosted state his Puissance is magnified, but his Clarity likewise diminishes.
The effect a boost has is dependent only on the degree of the boost. Stronger boosts exhaust considerably more mana. But there is another hazard. Each mage has an elemental limit, which is the maximum he can boost before the effects become harmful and lasting. The elemental limit can be determined by the mage's base elemental affinity, and his prowess. If this threshold is surpassed, they risk tainting their aura, which can severely disturb their temperament and render them psychologically unstable. This is a condition known as acrasy. If the elemental limit is surpassed even further, the mage may die through self-dissolution. The body and aura dissipate into the element.
Indeed, after a heavy use of magic, it is not uncommon for mages to undergo a period of reconcilement, an introspective trance in which the mage makes careful adjustments to their aura to return it to its original configuration. Thus a life of practising magic brings with it a prolonged struggle to maintain the integrity of one's aura. The aura is delicate and can be warped or tainted by the slightest error in judgement.
Just as a mage has attributes affected by the elements, so do the individual spells he casts.
1.) Water affects a spell's Fidelity, which is how easily it can be controlled, and thus how difficult it is to be reflected or stolen by the opponent (surrebounded, in mage's parlance).
2.) Fire affects a spell's Power, which is how effective it will be if it lands successfully.
3.) Air affects a spell's Speed, which is how fast it will be executed.
4.) Earth affects a spell's Constitution, which is its resistance to being destroyed (countercast, in mage's parlance).
There also exists a method of boosting passed down by the nymphs. According to this tradition, each wight can be separated into four distinct elemental avatars: their ondine (or Water avatar), their salamandre (or Fire avatar), their sylph (or Air avatar) and their gobolt (or Earth avatar). While these nymphal boosts alter one's elemental affinity dramatically, they are not as strong as a regular boost at its maximum. They are, however, much less demanding on mana, stabler, and their effect on the aural configuration is negligible. The drawback is that their application will not serve to improve one's Covenant with the elements in any way, as they require a subdued state of consciousness to evoke the nymphal state, which is empowered through a perduring spell of Queen Basalii Rode and the Sigil Ceremonies. The individual mage thus gains no further knowledge of the element boosted, and thus does not better himself as a mage.
The Rodean Code permits a mage to enhance his spells with other elements through the sequential use of chain spells. Hence, one can hasten a fire spell by carrying it with an air spell. This rich assortment of strategies helps to circumvent the inherent weaknesses of the elements by allowing them to complement each other.
Perhaps the most famous standardised way in which this is performed is through the magical operation of the soaji weapon. The soaji has many variations in design, but is essentially a wheel-shaped blade with multiple points. The mage uses air-magic to rapidly spin the blade and occasionally carry it around on currents of wind, but uses earth-magic to stabilise it near his hand. As it is detrimental to conjure two antagonistic elements simultaneously, as well as strictly forbidden by the Code, the soaji must be spun first and then stabilised. It must then be routinely respun to maintain its devastating rotational speed, but only during moments when it cannot be stabilised. Often a mage will lunge the soaji forward on an air current towards the opponent and take that opportunity to respin it. As can be expected, wielding a soaji properly is notorious for requiring a lot of practice.
Only adept mages can conjure magic of antagonistic elements in sequence so smoothly and effortlessly without warping their auras. Many novice mages must rely on employing buffer spells to ease the transition from one element to its antagonist. Extremely callow mages may use them to no effect other than for this purpose, which can be wasteful of precious mana. Buffer spells are of another element altogether. For example, a mage may cast air-magic to ease the transition from a fire-spell to a water-spell.
It is not uncommon for mages to practise detailed choreagraphed patterns of elements in their training so that such sequences can immediately be recalled and executed in the heat of battle. Such structured elemental sequences are known as cadences. While they enhance the ease of such spells and thereby cheapen their mana expenditure with respect to freestyling spells, relying on cadences opens up the weakness of predictability. By far the most basic and popular cadence is Fire > Air > Water > Earth, as Fire serves as the optimal initiator whilst Earth is excellent for settling an attack with minimal residual magic.
It is important to stress that the Rodean Code permits the use of chain spells, because it outright forbids the use of spells in which multiple elemental forms are integrated and combined. This is in defiance to the mete in which the elemental forms must be kept pure. Hence one and only one element must be in mind at any given moment. If the mind is occupied by two or more simultaneously, the aura may become tainted and the Elemental Aspects may begin to merge with each other and become attenuated. So if a mage is in mid-flight through air-magic and wishes to cast a fire-spell, he must for at least that moment stop casting the spell that is keeping him flying.
This disadvantage stands as the reason why healing is eschewed amongst Magi. As the body is an admixture of elements, to heal an injury requires the elements to mix with each other at fundamental levels. However, the risks involved with mixing elements, albeit real, have been grossly exaggerated by the Magist Ecclesia. In many instances where damage has been incurred, the benefits of healing oneself outweigh the drawbacks. But all of the chastising indoctrination intimidated Magi into bearing their injuries, even fatal ones, unnecessarily. With that said, even for those who are willing to heal themselves or others, the complexities of the process make for an inordinate expenditure of mana. An effective battle strategy is to force an opponent into healing himself or another. What is also noteworthy is the fact that, as more injuries are healed through magic, the more the body will consist of magical ephemera and less of substantial hyle. Were it not for the restorative effects of the Waning,, countless battleworn mages would lose the corporeality of their hyle and their auras would simply waft away and peter out. (It is important to note here that magic can by no means produce hyle, only ephemera, whereas the forces of the Waning can produce hyle and does so on a regular basis. Thaumatologists termed this the Hyle Cycle.)
As magical admixtures of antagonistic elements are in direct violation of the laws of Shiridan, they produce a considerable amount of Chaotic energy, thus contributing to the Chaotic Background even more so than the faithful practice of Shiridan.
With this in mind, a mage's telekinetic abilities should be addressed. The demands to wield a soaji effectively illustrate how a feat of telekinesis must be translated into the languages of the elements in order to work, which necessarily complicates the action. Thus levitating a book, which may be regarded as a simple telekinetic action, can be difficult in Shiridan. As the book is composed primarily of Earth-hyle, earth-magic would be the most directly effective means of manipulating it. However, levitation is an instance of defying gravity, whereas earth-magic produces gravity but cannot outright defy it. Therefore, if the book is resting on a desk and you move it through earth-magic, it would simply slide across the desk, fall to the floor, and slide across the floor towards you. More adept mages, however, can have the book fly towards them by using the attractive properties of earth-magic and specifying it to the book. Such spells are known as point-tolls. But this still does not address the conundrum of having the book levitate in mid-air. To do so, a mage would have to produce a point-toll above the book to perfectly counteract the planet's gravity, which is a very delicate process. Conversely, it is considerably less exhaustive to waft the book with air-magic. By that line of reasoning, although it is possible for a mage to "fly" through a careful use of multiple point-tolls at a distance specific upon him, it is far easier and more frugal to employ air-magic.
But one must then take into consideration that Air, like Fire, is an Ascending Element, and thus by nature is more difficult to control with absolute precision (hence the reason why mages in flight may wobble enough to experience vertigo even when they are stationary). Water and Earth, by contrast, are the Descending Elements, which means they are more easily controlled to precision, but they are more subject to gravity.
Therefore, a mage who uses Shiridan may quite easily level a building with one stroke, but a simple telekinetic feat of levitating a book is a true test in magical precision.
The Classes of Magic
When mages ascend to a certain level, they are able to shift the seat of their consciousness to the aural rather than the corporeal, thus enabling them to support their bodies with their auras. Any injury suffered by the body can be magically reconstructed almost automatically, including severe damage to their heads. The mages are borderline indestructible by any physical means; however, their auras remains susceptible to magic, and of course if they over-exert themselves they can still become victims of the condition of surfeit. Mages of this level are known as bordrages, likened to an entire raiding force more than a single man.
With the mention of bordrages and their invulnerabilities, a particular distinction must then be made between the magical and physical. Saying that the latter consists of hyle whereas the former does not is perhaps too generalistic as it somewhat precludes magic that is solely manipulative, i.e. magic that does not convert hyle into elemental forms, but instead maintains its composition and controls it. A simple example would be using earth-magic to move a stone across the ground. The stone has not been reduced to the elemental form of Earth, and has instead merely been moved. If hyle is conserved in magic, it is said to be conservative magic.
However, one would be hard-pressed to conquer a bordrage through the use of conservative magic alone, as it has little effect on the opponent's aura. Reductive magic, on the other hand, can have an enormous effect on the aura, and it is in reductive magic that the true destructive nature of magic is revealed. Reductive magic is magic that converts hyle into the elemental forms. For an example of the distinction, consider a stone bridge over a river. The river is manipulated through conservative magic to billow and crash against the bridge. This may not do considerable damage to the structure of the bridge if it is particularly sturdy in its design. However, if reductive magic is employed, the river is purefied into the Water element, and now wherever it comes into contact with the bridge, the bridge will be converted into Water as well. So, by that token, a mage may not consider being sprayed with water much of a threat, but being liquefied by Water is another story altogether. This is elemental dissolution.
So magic therefore can come in three varieties:
1.) Conservative magic, in which hyle is conserved. Although perhaps not all that effective against bordrages, it remains useful in many applications. It is also the most inexhaustive magic to cast.
2.) Reductive magic, in which hyle is converted to elemental forms.
3.) Productive magic, in which elemental forms are integrated to construct something complex and usually redolent of an ordinary object of hyle. However, the outcome must perforce consist of ephemera, not of hyle. Examples of productive magic would be healing one's body, constructing or repairing a weapon, etc.
The Waning
It has already been discussed that the difference between substantial hyle and magical ephemera lies in the fact that hyle can exist independently of magic, whereas ephemera rely on magic to exist. However, the implications of this have yet to be touched upon. Ephemera, as the name suggests, are bound to temporality, whereas hyle can exist indefinitely. In other words, spells are channelled with mana, or waxed, and then dissipate, or wane, over time once abandoned. While magic creates puckers in the universe's reality filter, these eccentricities are once again flattened out. This is the effect known as the Waning.
The Waning is, ironically, in and of itself a "magical" force, although it is antipodal to conventional magic in that it converts ephemera back into hyle. One may perceive it as a reactionary effect: magic has violated physical laws, and the Waning must in turn violate physical laws in an effort to return the state to normalcy. A mountain range conjured by magic will thus flatten over time, not by imperceptibly slow geologic processes, but with comparative haste due to the Waning. The stronger the spell's pertubration of the reality filter, the stronger the reactionary effect of the Waning. In fact, an entire civilisation on Maion is known to measure periods of time through the Waning (this system is, however, tenuous as the Waning's power is not static and constant, but rather dynamically fluctuates over space and time).
The only prominent circumvention of the Waning is the Scar Upon The World left by the philosopher-mage, Mallible Quiros, in the form of the enormous Gama Crater. The Chaotic Background was so high in this particular region that the devastation wreaked by Quiros had persisted for centuries hence, changing Gama's climate to a vast arid wasteland.
A spell's intrinsic transience necessitates that it be consistently channelled or waxed in order to persist. To do this with the level of constancy necessary for a smooth maintenance can be very strenuous particularly for callow mages. Mages are also infamous for stacking such perduring spells upon each other over the course of their lives, which creates an accumulative pressure on their mind and mana reserves known as a mage-fardel. If this pressure exceeds their Vital Principle, they run the risk of surfeit and potentially death. Aura winks, as mentioned, exist as a last recourse in an attempt to prevent this, yet they remain disadvantageous in many instances. Fortunately, over time the pressure of the Waning to "correct" the effect of a spell will relent, and hence the mana required for its maintenance will diminish until ultimately spell absolution has been achieved. Spell absolution is an exceptionally long process, so much so that it has only been accounted for in the case of very minor spells.
Mana, the Cost of Magic
I have discussed spells that are generally "exhaustive" or "inexhaustive", which play a key role in battles of attrition between mages. Magic comes with a cost that is paid both externally and internally. The external cost is hyle sufficiently saturated with the element of the spell. Thus, a water-spell may have more than enough water-hyle at its disposal at sea, but not enough in the middle of a torrid desert. But, much like how a gram of matter contains an incredible amount of energy if harnessed with high efficiency, a small amount of the requisite hyle contains a vast supply of elemental energy, provided that the mage is efficient at harvesting it. A mage's environment with respect to the proportional compositions of its elements is known as their elemental field. During a battle, even if the location remains constant, choices of spell sequences can highly influence a mage's elemental field, and a mage must learn to act accordingly.
The internal cost of magic is mana, also known as seither or quintessence. Mana is the energy inherent in conscious beings that allows them to imagine, create, and conceptualise. In xenodynamics, it is called it the zero-point resonance as it represents the lowest excitation level of the Chaotic Background in order for consciousness to be possible in the universe. Mana is seen as the demiurgical power inherent in all wights, but in typical quotidian activity it is seldom exhausted to any noticeable extent. Yet, in magehood the limitations of its supply become increasingly conspicuous.
Is mana actually finite? It has been discussed as finite but regenerative at a rate dependent on one's Vital Principle. However, it is questionable as to whether it regenerates endlessly or reaches a limit. This longevity may be dependent on the mage, but it is commonly presumed to be infinite. This may be because mages who have exhausted it usually die from surfeit before there is any chance of regeneration. It is therefore assumed that had they not suffered such a fate, their mana would have returned to them over time. Yet there have been a very select few incidents in which mages have expended their mana to its bare minimum, and without experiencing any regeneration. They were mages who became boics, ordinary people incapable of magic.
This is because mana expenditure may be restorative in the short-term, but has a long-term accumulative effect. This is similar to the hyle cycle, in which hyle regenerates itself through the Waning, and thus may be recyclable short-term, but in the long-term it has an accumulative effect: a gradual increase of the Chaotic Background. The long-term accumulative effect of mana expenditure, in turn, is quintessential dissonance.
The quintessence is empowered by a union (often entirely unwitting and subconscious) of many wights across the Manifold of alternate realities, a sort of secret mage's pact. When a mage expends a sizable amount of mana, others in the union, known as their mana-patrons, will unconsciously surrender theirs to compensate for the loss. This unfortunately results in a net loss of mana throughout the union or "nexus" which would ultimately result in mana stagnation. All mages are dependent on their respective nexi for mana, unless their universe has been liberated through Chaos, in which case mana becomes unnecessary to conjure magic as there is no longer any pressure from the cosmic plenum acting upon it. In such a state, magic essentially becomes "free".
Quintessential dissonance, however, can occur long before mana stagnation throughout the nexus. although it remains a very gradual process. A mage who is quintessentially dissonant begins to slowly lose his individual standing as his persona becomes assimilated into the mana-patronage, as would happen naturally upon his death. However, this tends to only occur after a period of time that far exceeds a lifespan, so mages who magically protract their longevities can become increasingly susceptible to this condition. Yet there are occasional instances in which a wight may feel the presence of his mana-patronage very early in his natural life, as in the case of Ishmol the Apostate and his supposed multiple personality disorder as a child. And even rarer are instances in which the nexus becomes more centralised and focuses on the upkeep of one individual, as in the case of the immortal half-nymph, Suratek Kait.
Having spoken of mana and its exhaustibility, it is understandable that its expenditure can have an enormous effect on the outcome of a mage's battle. Indeed, when two opposing mages are approximately on par with each other, the two tenets of achieving victory are parsimony and purchase. Parsimony is a prudent use of one's mana by enacting strategies that allow for cheap yet effective spells, such as using one's elemental field to their advantage. Purchase is gaining an edge over the enemy by bringing circumstances into one's favour, such as choking the enemy's elemental sources. Although mages may choose to focus on either strategy in particular, commonly they keep both in mind throughout the battle. Also, by upholding such tactical tenets it is possible, although rare, that a mage can achieve victory without doing any harm directly upon the enemy.
One could assume that a mage's vital principle, if particularly strong, could recharge their mana so quickly that they need not be parsimonious in their magic. This may even be true at the outset, but it does not necessarily hold true over the course of a battle. This is because, as a mage wears himself out, all of his attributes, including his vital principle, diminish. Therefore the rate of mana regeneration, while maximal at the outset, will diminish to almost nill if the mage is approaching surfeit. Following that, as mana is slowly restored, the vital principle is likewise restored at an ever-increasing pace until it once again returns to its maximum rate.
This attrition effect holds true for the elemental attributes as well. A weary mage will be weaker, slower, less precise, and less hardy, as their Fire, Air, Water, and Earth attributes diminish, respectively. These are restored at a pace proportionate to the restoration of mana.
Assurdan
Magic has hitherto been portrayed as a manipulation of external elemental forces, as is the case in Shiridan. However, the body itself is a mixture of elements as well and is not discrete from nature, which allows it to be enhanced as well, and even altered -- although many examples of the latter, such as healing and shapeshifting, are forbidden by the Rodean Code. The former, however, gives rise to the art of Assurdan or "magic interne", or its perjorative name, "brute magic". Saurians in particular have an innate penchant for Assurdan, as their brood is more physical and sensual by nature, whereas its practice amongst avians is much rarer,
Although Assurdan is essentially magic in its own right, the term "magic" is often used as interchangeable with Shiridan only. Following this, in contrast to magic, any forbidden arts are known as "goety" or "kamcraft".
Due to its elemental roots, Assurdan remains very closely tied with Shiridan. For example, a mage who balances Shiridan and Assurdan and has a strong fire affinity will be powerful with his magic and his body, but as his water affinity suffers he will not show much finesse magically or physically. All the elements have attributes that apply in both magical and physical contexts. Elemental boosting, therefore, raises both the magical and physical attribute that has a relationship with the element boosted.
Assurdan is very common, more so than Shiridan, as the former is widely practised even amongst non-Magi. Indeed, many soldiers throughout the bourns of Moldgarth and Niflern have knowledge in Assurdan but none in Shiridan. Assurdan is simpler to execute and comparatively very mana-inexhaustive, although it can wear a mage out physically. However, much like conservative magic, Assurdan does little to no damage to a mage's aura, and thus a strict reliance on it would make defeating, say, a bordrage-level mage extremely difficult. Indeed, the only conceivable way to achieve that would be to wear the bordrage out entirely, which would require a knowledge of Assurdan that far exceeds the enemy's knowledge of magic.
Thus using Assurdan in combination with Shiridan so they can complement each other is a far more effective strategy. Many mage battles play out with Assurdan being used primarily at the beginning in an attempt to wear the opponent out, with the belligerent mages becoming increasingly reliant on Shiridan as the battle progresses, tapping deeper into their mana reserves. Others may blur the line between the two by practising them in intimate combination.
The Stigmas of Magic
Magic is so commonplace in the Queendom that it is inseparable from it, yet there exist many stigmas about it across other cultures. The power and possibilities of magic are alluring. Magist doctrine goes so far as to consider it the greatest temptation. Greed, lust, and gluttony are minuscule urges compared to the thirst for magic, or "drouth". It is the constant resisting of this temptation through devotion, sophrosyne, and adherence to the Code that defines the Mage's Ordeal. With this in mind, it is not a stretch that some cultures may consider magic sinful or inherently evil. For Magi, the life of a mage is painted as not one of luxury, but of a perpetual struggle to remain on the righteous path and not suffer the Echoes.
There is also the stigma of its difficulty, which is well-grounded. To learn magic is an extremely onerous task that demands an incredible amount of mental discipline, which the average wight, if raised in a manner that is not conducive to it, is incapable of. Therefore, to pass through the "veil" between boichood and magehood is considered a tremendous feat. As a mage undergoes his edification, magic becomes more intuitive to him, but the initial transition is so taxing that many boics simply give up. Thiat being said, there remain instances in which boics may exhibit magical powers, sporadically and uncontrollably. Such anomalies are known as "unwised mages" as they have not been properly disciplined and therefore pose a threat to themselves and others.
There is a stigma of racism as well. Magic is primarily associated with avian culture as the avians were the ones to codify it into a faith upon which they zealously base their lives. Saurians and therians, therefore, out of racial pride may choose to avoid it and seek alternatives. The therians, for instance, tend to have a proclivity for science, engineering, and industry, and were the first to attempt to explain magic scientifically in the study of thaumatology (which is ardently denounced by the Magist Ecclesia, who believes the essence of magic lies in its mystery).
There is the stigma of its substantiality, and the question of whether or not it is "real". As magic is not hyle, it is ephemeral and subject to the forces of the Waning. A mage could not construct a bridge through magic and simply leave it be, as the Waning would erode it away. Hence there evolved the stigma that anything produced by magic is unreliable and merely a trick.
And perhaps the most influential stigma is that of magic as a weapon. As has been discussed previously on the subject of reductive and productive magic, it is far easier to destroy things with it than to create. Of course, destruction wreaked by magic is ephemeral, but there is one thing the Waning cannot offer any reparation for: an aura that has faded after death. One who has been killed by magic cannot be brought back by the Waning, or any feat of magic, once their aura has diffused. Therefore the stigma arose that the only thing magic is truly useful for is to kill. It is often seen as the "most terrible weapon of all, with which and over which all the great wars have been fought."
Adept mages are dreaded as one-man armies. As their prowess grows, nature becomes their playing field. Mountains and seas may move at their command. It would appear that the only possible means of keeping their power in check is the counteractive forces of the Waning. But Magism teaches of a dangerous upper limit, the Margent, that if crossed, incurs a severe penalty, the Echoes..
The Echoes
There is no afterlife according to Magist doctrine, but the Echoes could be likened to a personal hell for a living mage, in which his magic begins to eat away at his psyche. The mage is said to have lost his grasp of what is real and what is not, and is haunted by terrible visions and nightmares, some of which may be given substance. The suffering mage is rendered helpless and is executed by the Council of Higher Order to end his misery. The doctrines state that a life where one falls off the righteous path and disobeys the Code may also incur the Echoes, but it comes inevitably for those who, wittingly or unwittingly, cross the Margent.
With the Echoes anathema, the Magist Ecclesia had an effective means of keeping mages in check as they could not ascend beyond a certain point in their prowess. It is believed that the only one who was capable of crossing the Margent without incurring the Echoes was the Sacred Mother, Queen Basalii Rode, and through this she achieved the blessed state of mage's nirvana, the Adaiku Rana. All Magi believe that by enduring the Mage's Ordeal, they may also achieve this state. They must cleanse themselves fully of the poison of hubris and balance their minds with sophrosyne. Only then could they follow in the Mother's footsteps. However, few have willingly dared to cross the Margent with the belief that they were fully righteous, and no such attempts were met with success.
Ishmol the Apostate was correct in his belief that the curse of the Echoes was not an absolute verity, but rather a mental spell, unwittingly self-inflicted through blind faith. It had only been actualised through the Mana Immanent - believing in it made it real. With this in mind, and under the protection of a renegade Councillor, he was able to fight the Echoes and cross the Margent. In doing so, he surpassed the Canon of Archimages and became more powerful than any other mage, presumably second only to the Sacred Mother herself.
Magical Prowess
In determining the efficiency of a mage, one must consider two factors: the strength of their covenant with the elements, and their adroitness and tactical thinking. A mage may have a strong Covenant and thereby be able to harness the elements and their respective powers to great levels, but if they cast frivolously and profligately, or do not exploit the benefits of boosting or their elemental fields properly, they can lose to a mage of a weaker Covenant. A mage's overall prowess is thus a combination of their Covenant and their Craft.
The therian-avian hybrid, Zid Acramant, is a prominent example of a mage whose expertise far surpasses his Covenant, therefore allowing him to stand ground with marked success against mages presumably greater than him. This is in large part due to his intense training as a soldier, and his regular drug-induced hallucinations in which he visualises all manner of combat scenarios and strategises accordingly.
Ishmol the Apostate postulated a third factor in addition to Covenant and Craft. He believed that magic was a measure of will. The more ambitious a mage was, the more set he was on achieving a goal, then the greater the magic he would cast. He believed that magic determined what was the right course of action as it was the way one's subconsciousness or "true" self could communicate with the superficies. He developed the custom of purposely casting gadding spells whilst deliberating on a course of action -- since the gadding spells were not controlled directly, he believed the true self would subtly influence them and reveal itself through them. Thus a gadding spell was a sort of compass which would keep a mage on the "right" direction (although it should be noted that Ishmol's interpretation of "right" was synonymous with "being true to oneself"). He subsequently divided this third factor, willpower, into four levels of ideals:
1. Impetus, which is the most basic drive to cast a spell. This may be for the purpose of self-preservation, to exert one's dominance or superiority through ostentation, to sate one's greed, and a variety of other scenarios in which immediate gratification is preferable.
2. Afflatus, which is the drive to cast a spell for expression, such as religious or artistic or philosophical. Afflatus is also related with the simple drive of curiosity or marvel.
3. Entelechy, which is to cast magic with the hope of gaining a greater understanding of one's true self, finding the purpose to one's life in the scheme of the universe, and conducting oneself in accordance with this, even if it is conflict with one's self-preservation or interests. Ishmol believed this ideal to be one of "self-delusion" in an attempt to fill the void left by the fourth and final ideal.
4. Wist, which is an intense feeling of longing, or sehnsucht, for something that in many cases is undefinable. Ishmol believed this to be shared by all wights and represented their wish for a personal paradise or promised land and other vague notions of a "better life" which could presumably never be fulfilled. He interprets Wist as an inherent drive towards Chaos. Ishmol ardently believed every wight truly desired Chaos, and that those who ostensibly did not were merely deceiving themselves.
It was this strong belief that magic measured will which compelled Ishmol to challenge Pico the Skyler, in a fair one-on-one contest of magic. The victor, he believed, would be right, thus enabling him to cast away any vestige of doubt as to whether Chaos should be evoked.
So if anyone's remotely interested in what I came up with, feel free to peruse through it.
I'll likely be adding more, as I want to cover the nature of sigils, for instance.
But in the meantime, here's a lesson on Thaumatodynamics, Skyler-style! Huzzah?!
THAUMATODYNAMICS: THE MAGIC OF MAION
The Origin of Magic
Following the mysterious times of the Purges, and throughout all of Ancientry, magic has thrived across Maion. There is little known of its historical origin, and even littler of the fundamental reasons for its existence, yet it has become intimately entwined with the people of Maion in matters cultural, religious, economic, and political. It drove the tides of the Sweeping Wars and the rise and fall of dynasties.
The philosopher-mage Ishmol the Apostate gleaned many secrets behind the nature of magic, the most important of which was his positing the existence of the Chaotic Background. What he didn't initially realise was that his work was an implicit indication that the universe was not alone, but one of a great plurality known as the Manifold. The Manifold could be described as an efferverscent sea teeming with bubble universes bouncing, glancing, merging with, and separating from one another. A universe could be viewed as both a particle and a wave both locally and nonlocally interacting with the rest of the Manifold. To protect it from eroding away and diffusing altogether in all of this frenetic activity is a natural defence, a selectively permeable membrane that pervades it, known as the cosmic plenum or "reality filter". The cosmic plenum prevents the universe from borrowing elements of other universes, which would consequently break down its physical laws and effect a chaotic state. The Chaotic Background, in these terms, is the universe's excitation level in its interactions with others, similar to the way heat excites an atom and can cause phase transitions in matter.
The Maionian universe is an exceedingly rare specimen in that it exists in a transitional phase between a Cosmic state (i.e. a universe with a negligible Chaotic Background) and a Chaotic state (i.e. a universe with a maximal Chaotic Background). The overwhelming majority of universes that become chaotically excited experience a runaway Chaotic Background effect that inexorably leads to Chaos. However, the struggles between the Skylers and Daolers on Maion have secured its peculiar place in limbo between these two dichotomic phases. As a result, the phenomenon of magic has perdured long enough to be integrated and even codified into a particular system.
Magic is potentially a boundless, godlike power that can transcend any system of rules, restrained only by the elastic limit of the cosmic plenum itself, but curiously, it is by nature subservient to the collective thoughts of all conscious beings, a global noosphere known as the Mana Immanent. Because it takes the form of what people believe it to be, it exists in a number of systematised paradigms across various cultures. However, the paradigm of Shiridan, or purportedly the "One True Way", is by far the most popular and hegemonic for it is intimately interrelated with the widespread religion, Magism. It was codified first by Queen Basalii Rode and later appended upon by the Magist Ecclesia and its consistories. All paradigms alternative to Shiridan are execrated by the Ecclesia as mere bastardisations that lure mages from the right path. It is also considered the most powerful magical paradigm, if used properly.
The following is an explanation of Shiridan and its primary concepts:
The Aura
According to the doctrines of Magism, each conscious being, or wight, is divided into two components: the body and the aura. The body is a crude construct produced by the aura as a reflection of the Elemental Forms interacting with each other and the world around them. The body, albeit crude, is very important to the stability of the wight because it is composed of hyle, which is matter that is substantial, i.e. it can exist independent of magic. Without it, the aura is not sufficiently anchored to the secular plane (the Porlo Kana) and will eventually diffuse into the plane of the Elemental Forms (the Porlo Suete) through a process known as dissolution. Magic, in turn, is viewed as a communication from the plane of Elemental Forms to the secular plane with the aura as its conduit.
For those who are astute enough to observe it, the aura appears as a roughly spherical emanation set at about a body's length away from the abdomen in all directions. Its surface is a subtle nebulous mixture of colour that rotates on a central axis perpendicular to the body's height and jets off occasional prominences. The direction of rotation with the front pole as the reference point is counterclockwise (or withershins) for those who have faith in the One True Way, and clockwise (or deasil) for those who have chosen to stray from the path. This orientation is known as the mage's chirality. The magnitude or brightness of the aura is affected by one's willpower to realise a particular goal and their level of concentration, and is rumoured to flare extremely brightly during moments of epiphany. The aura also pulses at a certain frequency, likened to a heartbeat, which increases while a mage is casting a spell that is strenuous to him or is currently empowered (or bound, in mage's parlance). The colouration of the aura can be affected by their emotional and psychological state, but remains primarily the colour of their elemental affinity. However, the colouration can be drastically changed while casting magic, and even more so when boosting.
True telepaths and augurs do not exist on Maion. Instead there are aura-seers who can make general assessments and interpretations when examining a person's aura, with a fair degree of accuracy if they have much experience doing so. And the aura permits a vague foresight in the form of a sixth sense as it can pick up on even the most minute perturbations in the elemental composition of its immediate environment, known as one's elemental field. Likewise, a mage cannot outright possess another person to do his bidding, but he can peruse their aura for opportunities to exploit them. For example, one can intentionally provoke another's wrath by influencing the Fire Aspect of their aura.
Due to the existence of auras, mages have a strong tendency to develop a widespread repulsion to each other due to an exaggerated sense of territoriality known as Aura Dread. Many are tentative to trespass into the radius of another's aura unless they are intimate or belligerent with each other. The Magist faith teaches its followers that the auras represent a bond of trust and openness, in an attempt to rid the Magehood of this insecure territoriality, but its success has been marginal save for only the most devout of Magi.
The aura during its cycle occasionally undergoes a phenomenon known as an aura wink, in which it almost completely blinks out for the slightest moment. All magic currently being cast during the aura wink is negated, rendering the caster temporarily susceptible. The aura wink is believed to be the mind's last defence against overloading itself from a continuous cascade of spells. They occur more often when a mage's aural frequency has escalated dramatically. The occurrence of an aura wink has also been found to be connected with the Mage's Insomnia. Once a mage ascends to a certain level of potency, his subconscious can become dangerous, and his dreams run the risk of unwittingly taking form through magic. With a repulsion to sleep that may very well persist for the rest of their lives, aura winks prove to be the only means by which the mind can refresh itself.
The aura is comprised of its quintessential core, which is located in the upper abdomen, and the outer shell, which contains the Elemental Aspects. The Elemental Aspects serve as channels through which an elemental source can translate into magic. As it is a shield which can absorb elemental energy, it serves as a buffer to diminish the power of spells before they reach the body and the core of the aura. Channelling magic at a distance requires the aspect to stretch itself to the target of the spell, thereby spreading itself too thin and opening up a vulnerability to a spell of the same element that is being conjured, as the absorbent property of the aspect has diluted. Many mages do not realise this and assume automatically that one's opponent is always more absorbent of a particular element during the moment when they are casting with it. This susceptibility can be avoided by projecting magic from the aspect's natural location with respect to the body, and then cutting it off into stray spells once they have ventured farther; although this, in turn, opens up yet another weakness, which is the fact that a stray spell is more easily countercast, absorbed, or reflected. It is worthy to note that the Water element is the most easily controlled at a distance as its aspect is pliant while simultaneously being quite secure.
Hence, spells cast at a distance can be executed in three ways:
1.) Leading: to lead a spell is to project one's elemental aspect forward and allow the spell to travel along the prominence. This allows the mage to have more control over the spell, but opens up vulnerability to attack.
2.) Abstracting: to abstract a spell is to send it forth beyond one's elemental aspect. This allows the mage to defend himself more easily, but the spell runs the risk of gadding.
3.) Carrying: to carry a spell is to time the motion of the spell and the elemental aspect so that they follow the same trajectory in synchrony. This is a compromise between leading and abstracting.
Spells cast in close proximity to the target (namely, within the radius of the opponent's aura) are considerably more effective not only because they have less distance to cover, but because they have bypassed most of the buffering effect of the opponent's Elemental Aspects. Tangent or touch spells, in which the mage has physical contact with the opponent, bypass the Elemental Aspects completely and do the maximal damage to the body and aura core. However, in many situations casting at a distance can also be quite effective because it forces the opponent to take measures to defend himself, which exhausts his mana. Tangent spells are attempted more often if the goal is to achieve victory through manoeuvre, whereas ranged spells are the main strategy if one seeks victory through attrition. Of course, most battles are generally a mixture of the two.
The Elements
There are four Elemental Aspects, which correspond with the four elements that, pursuant to Magist doctrine, comprise all of nature. The elements are Water, Fire, Air, and Earth, and they come in two antagonistic pairs: Water opposes Fire, and Air opposes Earth. The secular plane is an admixture of these elemental particulars, which can be filtered into the pure forms only through the Elemental Aspects of the aura. A mage's relationship with the elements, or the mage's covenant, profoundly cultivates his prowess with magic.
1.) Water is related to a mage's control, or Clarity. This is how clearly a mage can see a situation and act accordingly, and how smoothly and accurately he performs his spells.
2.) Fire is related to a mage's strength, or Puissance. This is how well a mage can channel his passion effectively, and thus how powerful his spells can be.
3.) Air is related to a mage's quickness, or Alacrity. This is how quickly a mage can react, and how fast he can cast his spells.
4.) Earth is related to a mage's ballast, or Fortitude. This is how much a mage can endure and how steady he can be in his concentration.
Elements that are antagonistic to each other are inversely proportional in their respective attributes. For example, a mage who casts only fire-magic will become progressively more powerful, but his finesse will suffer accordingly. Thus to maintain a balance, or elemental equilibrium, a mage is encouraged to diversify his spells. If a mage ignores this principle and casts magic frivolously, he can suffer many disastrous repercussions, some of which may prove fatal. Indeed, elemental equilibrium is one of the vital mainstays of the covenant as preached by the Magist Ecclesia.
This inverse proportionality between anatgonistic elements is easily observed when a mage boosts a particular element. Elemental boosting is a key technique in Shiridan, but must be used with extreme caution. To boost, a mage purposely displaces his elemental aspect so it merges with his body and the profundities of his aura, his aura core. He thus partially transforms into the element boosted. For example, if a mage fire-boosts, it appears that his body has explosively combusted. As a result, Fire's strengths and weaknesses, to an extent, become his own. Fire-boosting in a frigid environment, for instance, can be lethal. In a fire-boosted state his Puissance is magnified, but his Clarity likewise diminishes.
The effect a boost has is dependent only on the degree of the boost. Stronger boosts exhaust considerably more mana. But there is another hazard. Each mage has an elemental limit, which is the maximum he can boost before the effects become harmful and lasting. The elemental limit can be determined by the mage's base elemental affinity, and his prowess. If this threshold is surpassed, they risk tainting their aura, which can severely disturb their temperament and render them psychologically unstable. This is a condition known as acrasy. If the elemental limit is surpassed even further, the mage may die through self-dissolution. The body and aura dissipate into the element.
Indeed, after a heavy use of magic, it is not uncommon for mages to undergo a period of reconcilement, an introspective trance in which the mage makes careful adjustments to their aura to return it to its original configuration. Thus a life of practising magic brings with it a prolonged struggle to maintain the integrity of one's aura. The aura is delicate and can be warped or tainted by the slightest error in judgement.
Just as a mage has attributes affected by the elements, so do the individual spells he casts.
1.) Water affects a spell's Fidelity, which is how easily it can be controlled, and thus how difficult it is to be reflected or stolen by the opponent (surrebounded, in mage's parlance).
2.) Fire affects a spell's Power, which is how effective it will be if it lands successfully.
3.) Air affects a spell's Speed, which is how fast it will be executed.
4.) Earth affects a spell's Constitution, which is its resistance to being destroyed (countercast, in mage's parlance).
There also exists a method of boosting passed down by the nymphs. According to this tradition, each wight can be separated into four distinct elemental avatars: their ondine (or Water avatar), their salamandre (or Fire avatar), their sylph (or Air avatar) and their gobolt (or Earth avatar). While these nymphal boosts alter one's elemental affinity dramatically, they are not as strong as a regular boost at its maximum. They are, however, much less demanding on mana, stabler, and their effect on the aural configuration is negligible. The drawback is that their application will not serve to improve one's Covenant with the elements in any way, as they require a subdued state of consciousness to evoke the nymphal state, which is empowered through a perduring spell of Queen Basalii Rode and the Sigil Ceremonies. The individual mage thus gains no further knowledge of the element boosted, and thus does not better himself as a mage.
The Rodean Code permits a mage to enhance his spells with other elements through the sequential use of chain spells. Hence, one can hasten a fire spell by carrying it with an air spell. This rich assortment of strategies helps to circumvent the inherent weaknesses of the elements by allowing them to complement each other.
Perhaps the most famous standardised way in which this is performed is through the magical operation of the soaji weapon. The soaji has many variations in design, but is essentially a wheel-shaped blade with multiple points. The mage uses air-magic to rapidly spin the blade and occasionally carry it around on currents of wind, but uses earth-magic to stabilise it near his hand. As it is detrimental to conjure two antagonistic elements simultaneously, as well as strictly forbidden by the Code, the soaji must be spun first and then stabilised. It must then be routinely respun to maintain its devastating rotational speed, but only during moments when it cannot be stabilised. Often a mage will lunge the soaji forward on an air current towards the opponent and take that opportunity to respin it. As can be expected, wielding a soaji properly is notorious for requiring a lot of practice.
Only adept mages can conjure magic of antagonistic elements in sequence so smoothly and effortlessly without warping their auras. Many novice mages must rely on employing buffer spells to ease the transition from one element to its antagonist. Extremely callow mages may use them to no effect other than for this purpose, which can be wasteful of precious mana. Buffer spells are of another element altogether. For example, a mage may cast air-magic to ease the transition from a fire-spell to a water-spell.
It is not uncommon for mages to practise detailed choreagraphed patterns of elements in their training so that such sequences can immediately be recalled and executed in the heat of battle. Such structured elemental sequences are known as cadences. While they enhance the ease of such spells and thereby cheapen their mana expenditure with respect to freestyling spells, relying on cadences opens up the weakness of predictability. By far the most basic and popular cadence is Fire > Air > Water > Earth, as Fire serves as the optimal initiator whilst Earth is excellent for settling an attack with minimal residual magic.
It is important to stress that the Rodean Code permits the use of chain spells, because it outright forbids the use of spells in which multiple elemental forms are integrated and combined. This is in defiance to the mete in which the elemental forms must be kept pure. Hence one and only one element must be in mind at any given moment. If the mind is occupied by two or more simultaneously, the aura may become tainted and the Elemental Aspects may begin to merge with each other and become attenuated. So if a mage is in mid-flight through air-magic and wishes to cast a fire-spell, he must for at least that moment stop casting the spell that is keeping him flying.
This disadvantage stands as the reason why healing is eschewed amongst Magi. As the body is an admixture of elements, to heal an injury requires the elements to mix with each other at fundamental levels. However, the risks involved with mixing elements, albeit real, have been grossly exaggerated by the Magist Ecclesia. In many instances where damage has been incurred, the benefits of healing oneself outweigh the drawbacks. But all of the chastising indoctrination intimidated Magi into bearing their injuries, even fatal ones, unnecessarily. With that said, even for those who are willing to heal themselves or others, the complexities of the process make for an inordinate expenditure of mana. An effective battle strategy is to force an opponent into healing himself or another. What is also noteworthy is the fact that, as more injuries are healed through magic, the more the body will consist of magical ephemera and less of substantial hyle. Were it not for the restorative effects of the Waning,, countless battleworn mages would lose the corporeality of their hyle and their auras would simply waft away and peter out. (It is important to note here that magic can by no means produce hyle, only ephemera, whereas the forces of the Waning can produce hyle and does so on a regular basis. Thaumatologists termed this the Hyle Cycle.)
As magical admixtures of antagonistic elements are in direct violation of the laws of Shiridan, they produce a considerable amount of Chaotic energy, thus contributing to the Chaotic Background even more so than the faithful practice of Shiridan.
With this in mind, a mage's telekinetic abilities should be addressed. The demands to wield a soaji effectively illustrate how a feat of telekinesis must be translated into the languages of the elements in order to work, which necessarily complicates the action. Thus levitating a book, which may be regarded as a simple telekinetic action, can be difficult in Shiridan. As the book is composed primarily of Earth-hyle, earth-magic would be the most directly effective means of manipulating it. However, levitation is an instance of defying gravity, whereas earth-magic produces gravity but cannot outright defy it. Therefore, if the book is resting on a desk and you move it through earth-magic, it would simply slide across the desk, fall to the floor, and slide across the floor towards you. More adept mages, however, can have the book fly towards them by using the attractive properties of earth-magic and specifying it to the book. Such spells are known as point-tolls. But this still does not address the conundrum of having the book levitate in mid-air. To do so, a mage would have to produce a point-toll above the book to perfectly counteract the planet's gravity, which is a very delicate process. Conversely, it is considerably less exhaustive to waft the book with air-magic. By that line of reasoning, although it is possible for a mage to "fly" through a careful use of multiple point-tolls at a distance specific upon him, it is far easier and more frugal to employ air-magic.
But one must then take into consideration that Air, like Fire, is an Ascending Element, and thus by nature is more difficult to control with absolute precision (hence the reason why mages in flight may wobble enough to experience vertigo even when they are stationary). Water and Earth, by contrast, are the Descending Elements, which means they are more easily controlled to precision, but they are more subject to gravity.
Therefore, a mage who uses Shiridan may quite easily level a building with one stroke, but a simple telekinetic feat of levitating a book is a true test in magical precision.
The Classes of Magic
When mages ascend to a certain level, they are able to shift the seat of their consciousness to the aural rather than the corporeal, thus enabling them to support their bodies with their auras. Any injury suffered by the body can be magically reconstructed almost automatically, including severe damage to their heads. The mages are borderline indestructible by any physical means; however, their auras remains susceptible to magic, and of course if they over-exert themselves they can still become victims of the condition of surfeit. Mages of this level are known as bordrages, likened to an entire raiding force more than a single man.
With the mention of bordrages and their invulnerabilities, a particular distinction must then be made between the magical and physical. Saying that the latter consists of hyle whereas the former does not is perhaps too generalistic as it somewhat precludes magic that is solely manipulative, i.e. magic that does not convert hyle into elemental forms, but instead maintains its composition and controls it. A simple example would be using earth-magic to move a stone across the ground. The stone has not been reduced to the elemental form of Earth, and has instead merely been moved. If hyle is conserved in magic, it is said to be conservative magic.
However, one would be hard-pressed to conquer a bordrage through the use of conservative magic alone, as it has little effect on the opponent's aura. Reductive magic, on the other hand, can have an enormous effect on the aura, and it is in reductive magic that the true destructive nature of magic is revealed. Reductive magic is magic that converts hyle into the elemental forms. For an example of the distinction, consider a stone bridge over a river. The river is manipulated through conservative magic to billow and crash against the bridge. This may not do considerable damage to the structure of the bridge if it is particularly sturdy in its design. However, if reductive magic is employed, the river is purefied into the Water element, and now wherever it comes into contact with the bridge, the bridge will be converted into Water as well. So, by that token, a mage may not consider being sprayed with water much of a threat, but being liquefied by Water is another story altogether. This is elemental dissolution.
So magic therefore can come in three varieties:
1.) Conservative magic, in which hyle is conserved. Although perhaps not all that effective against bordrages, it remains useful in many applications. It is also the most inexhaustive magic to cast.
2.) Reductive magic, in which hyle is converted to elemental forms.
3.) Productive magic, in which elemental forms are integrated to construct something complex and usually redolent of an ordinary object of hyle. However, the outcome must perforce consist of ephemera, not of hyle. Examples of productive magic would be healing one's body, constructing or repairing a weapon, etc.
The Waning
It has already been discussed that the difference between substantial hyle and magical ephemera lies in the fact that hyle can exist independently of magic, whereas ephemera rely on magic to exist. However, the implications of this have yet to be touched upon. Ephemera, as the name suggests, are bound to temporality, whereas hyle can exist indefinitely. In other words, spells are channelled with mana, or waxed, and then dissipate, or wane, over time once abandoned. While magic creates puckers in the universe's reality filter, these eccentricities are once again flattened out. This is the effect known as the Waning.
The Waning is, ironically, in and of itself a "magical" force, although it is antipodal to conventional magic in that it converts ephemera back into hyle. One may perceive it as a reactionary effect: magic has violated physical laws, and the Waning must in turn violate physical laws in an effort to return the state to normalcy. A mountain range conjured by magic will thus flatten over time, not by imperceptibly slow geologic processes, but with comparative haste due to the Waning. The stronger the spell's pertubration of the reality filter, the stronger the reactionary effect of the Waning. In fact, an entire civilisation on Maion is known to measure periods of time through the Waning (this system is, however, tenuous as the Waning's power is not static and constant, but rather dynamically fluctuates over space and time).
The only prominent circumvention of the Waning is the Scar Upon The World left by the philosopher-mage, Mallible Quiros, in the form of the enormous Gama Crater. The Chaotic Background was so high in this particular region that the devastation wreaked by Quiros had persisted for centuries hence, changing Gama's climate to a vast arid wasteland.
A spell's intrinsic transience necessitates that it be consistently channelled or waxed in order to persist. To do this with the level of constancy necessary for a smooth maintenance can be very strenuous particularly for callow mages. Mages are also infamous for stacking such perduring spells upon each other over the course of their lives, which creates an accumulative pressure on their mind and mana reserves known as a mage-fardel. If this pressure exceeds their Vital Principle, they run the risk of surfeit and potentially death. Aura winks, as mentioned, exist as a last recourse in an attempt to prevent this, yet they remain disadvantageous in many instances. Fortunately, over time the pressure of the Waning to "correct" the effect of a spell will relent, and hence the mana required for its maintenance will diminish until ultimately spell absolution has been achieved. Spell absolution is an exceptionally long process, so much so that it has only been accounted for in the case of very minor spells.
Mana, the Cost of Magic
I have discussed spells that are generally "exhaustive" or "inexhaustive", which play a key role in battles of attrition between mages. Magic comes with a cost that is paid both externally and internally. The external cost is hyle sufficiently saturated with the element of the spell. Thus, a water-spell may have more than enough water-hyle at its disposal at sea, but not enough in the middle of a torrid desert. But, much like how a gram of matter contains an incredible amount of energy if harnessed with high efficiency, a small amount of the requisite hyle contains a vast supply of elemental energy, provided that the mage is efficient at harvesting it. A mage's environment with respect to the proportional compositions of its elements is known as their elemental field. During a battle, even if the location remains constant, choices of spell sequences can highly influence a mage's elemental field, and a mage must learn to act accordingly.
The internal cost of magic is mana, also known as seither or quintessence. Mana is the energy inherent in conscious beings that allows them to imagine, create, and conceptualise. In xenodynamics, it is called it the zero-point resonance as it represents the lowest excitation level of the Chaotic Background in order for consciousness to be possible in the universe. Mana is seen as the demiurgical power inherent in all wights, but in typical quotidian activity it is seldom exhausted to any noticeable extent. Yet, in magehood the limitations of its supply become increasingly conspicuous.
Is mana actually finite? It has been discussed as finite but regenerative at a rate dependent on one's Vital Principle. However, it is questionable as to whether it regenerates endlessly or reaches a limit. This longevity may be dependent on the mage, but it is commonly presumed to be infinite. This may be because mages who have exhausted it usually die from surfeit before there is any chance of regeneration. It is therefore assumed that had they not suffered such a fate, their mana would have returned to them over time. Yet there have been a very select few incidents in which mages have expended their mana to its bare minimum, and without experiencing any regeneration. They were mages who became boics, ordinary people incapable of magic.
This is because mana expenditure may be restorative in the short-term, but has a long-term accumulative effect. This is similar to the hyle cycle, in which hyle regenerates itself through the Waning, and thus may be recyclable short-term, but in the long-term it has an accumulative effect: a gradual increase of the Chaotic Background. The long-term accumulative effect of mana expenditure, in turn, is quintessential dissonance.
The quintessence is empowered by a union (often entirely unwitting and subconscious) of many wights across the Manifold of alternate realities, a sort of secret mage's pact. When a mage expends a sizable amount of mana, others in the union, known as their mana-patrons, will unconsciously surrender theirs to compensate for the loss. This unfortunately results in a net loss of mana throughout the union or "nexus" which would ultimately result in mana stagnation. All mages are dependent on their respective nexi for mana, unless their universe has been liberated through Chaos, in which case mana becomes unnecessary to conjure magic as there is no longer any pressure from the cosmic plenum acting upon it. In such a state, magic essentially becomes "free".
Quintessential dissonance, however, can occur long before mana stagnation throughout the nexus. although it remains a very gradual process. A mage who is quintessentially dissonant begins to slowly lose his individual standing as his persona becomes assimilated into the mana-patronage, as would happen naturally upon his death. However, this tends to only occur after a period of time that far exceeds a lifespan, so mages who magically protract their longevities can become increasingly susceptible to this condition. Yet there are occasional instances in which a wight may feel the presence of his mana-patronage very early in his natural life, as in the case of Ishmol the Apostate and his supposed multiple personality disorder as a child. And even rarer are instances in which the nexus becomes more centralised and focuses on the upkeep of one individual, as in the case of the immortal half-nymph, Suratek Kait.
Having spoken of mana and its exhaustibility, it is understandable that its expenditure can have an enormous effect on the outcome of a mage's battle. Indeed, when two opposing mages are approximately on par with each other, the two tenets of achieving victory are parsimony and purchase. Parsimony is a prudent use of one's mana by enacting strategies that allow for cheap yet effective spells, such as using one's elemental field to their advantage. Purchase is gaining an edge over the enemy by bringing circumstances into one's favour, such as choking the enemy's elemental sources. Although mages may choose to focus on either strategy in particular, commonly they keep both in mind throughout the battle. Also, by upholding such tactical tenets it is possible, although rare, that a mage can achieve victory without doing any harm directly upon the enemy.
One could assume that a mage's vital principle, if particularly strong, could recharge their mana so quickly that they need not be parsimonious in their magic. This may even be true at the outset, but it does not necessarily hold true over the course of a battle. This is because, as a mage wears himself out, all of his attributes, including his vital principle, diminish. Therefore the rate of mana regeneration, while maximal at the outset, will diminish to almost nill if the mage is approaching surfeit. Following that, as mana is slowly restored, the vital principle is likewise restored at an ever-increasing pace until it once again returns to its maximum rate.
This attrition effect holds true for the elemental attributes as well. A weary mage will be weaker, slower, less precise, and less hardy, as their Fire, Air, Water, and Earth attributes diminish, respectively. These are restored at a pace proportionate to the restoration of mana.
Assurdan
Magic has hitherto been portrayed as a manipulation of external elemental forces, as is the case in Shiridan. However, the body itself is a mixture of elements as well and is not discrete from nature, which allows it to be enhanced as well, and even altered -- although many examples of the latter, such as healing and shapeshifting, are forbidden by the Rodean Code. The former, however, gives rise to the art of Assurdan or "magic interne", or its perjorative name, "brute magic". Saurians in particular have an innate penchant for Assurdan, as their brood is more physical and sensual by nature, whereas its practice amongst avians is much rarer,
Although Assurdan is essentially magic in its own right, the term "magic" is often used as interchangeable with Shiridan only. Following this, in contrast to magic, any forbidden arts are known as "goety" or "kamcraft".
Due to its elemental roots, Assurdan remains very closely tied with Shiridan. For example, a mage who balances Shiridan and Assurdan and has a strong fire affinity will be powerful with his magic and his body, but as his water affinity suffers he will not show much finesse magically or physically. All the elements have attributes that apply in both magical and physical contexts. Elemental boosting, therefore, raises both the magical and physical attribute that has a relationship with the element boosted.
Assurdan is very common, more so than Shiridan, as the former is widely practised even amongst non-Magi. Indeed, many soldiers throughout the bourns of Moldgarth and Niflern have knowledge in Assurdan but none in Shiridan. Assurdan is simpler to execute and comparatively very mana-inexhaustive, although it can wear a mage out physically. However, much like conservative magic, Assurdan does little to no damage to a mage's aura, and thus a strict reliance on it would make defeating, say, a bordrage-level mage extremely difficult. Indeed, the only conceivable way to achieve that would be to wear the bordrage out entirely, which would require a knowledge of Assurdan that far exceeds the enemy's knowledge of magic.
Thus using Assurdan in combination with Shiridan so they can complement each other is a far more effective strategy. Many mage battles play out with Assurdan being used primarily at the beginning in an attempt to wear the opponent out, with the belligerent mages becoming increasingly reliant on Shiridan as the battle progresses, tapping deeper into their mana reserves. Others may blur the line between the two by practising them in intimate combination.
The Stigmas of Magic
Magic is so commonplace in the Queendom that it is inseparable from it, yet there exist many stigmas about it across other cultures. The power and possibilities of magic are alluring. Magist doctrine goes so far as to consider it the greatest temptation. Greed, lust, and gluttony are minuscule urges compared to the thirst for magic, or "drouth". It is the constant resisting of this temptation through devotion, sophrosyne, and adherence to the Code that defines the Mage's Ordeal. With this in mind, it is not a stretch that some cultures may consider magic sinful or inherently evil. For Magi, the life of a mage is painted as not one of luxury, but of a perpetual struggle to remain on the righteous path and not suffer the Echoes.
There is also the stigma of its difficulty, which is well-grounded. To learn magic is an extremely onerous task that demands an incredible amount of mental discipline, which the average wight, if raised in a manner that is not conducive to it, is incapable of. Therefore, to pass through the "veil" between boichood and magehood is considered a tremendous feat. As a mage undergoes his edification, magic becomes more intuitive to him, but the initial transition is so taxing that many boics simply give up. Thiat being said, there remain instances in which boics may exhibit magical powers, sporadically and uncontrollably. Such anomalies are known as "unwised mages" as they have not been properly disciplined and therefore pose a threat to themselves and others.
There is a stigma of racism as well. Magic is primarily associated with avian culture as the avians were the ones to codify it into a faith upon which they zealously base their lives. Saurians and therians, therefore, out of racial pride may choose to avoid it and seek alternatives. The therians, for instance, tend to have a proclivity for science, engineering, and industry, and were the first to attempt to explain magic scientifically in the study of thaumatology (which is ardently denounced by the Magist Ecclesia, who believes the essence of magic lies in its mystery).
There is the stigma of its substantiality, and the question of whether or not it is "real". As magic is not hyle, it is ephemeral and subject to the forces of the Waning. A mage could not construct a bridge through magic and simply leave it be, as the Waning would erode it away. Hence there evolved the stigma that anything produced by magic is unreliable and merely a trick.
And perhaps the most influential stigma is that of magic as a weapon. As has been discussed previously on the subject of reductive and productive magic, it is far easier to destroy things with it than to create. Of course, destruction wreaked by magic is ephemeral, but there is one thing the Waning cannot offer any reparation for: an aura that has faded after death. One who has been killed by magic cannot be brought back by the Waning, or any feat of magic, once their aura has diffused. Therefore the stigma arose that the only thing magic is truly useful for is to kill. It is often seen as the "most terrible weapon of all, with which and over which all the great wars have been fought."
Adept mages are dreaded as one-man armies. As their prowess grows, nature becomes their playing field. Mountains and seas may move at their command. It would appear that the only possible means of keeping their power in check is the counteractive forces of the Waning. But Magism teaches of a dangerous upper limit, the Margent, that if crossed, incurs a severe penalty, the Echoes..
The Echoes
There is no afterlife according to Magist doctrine, but the Echoes could be likened to a personal hell for a living mage, in which his magic begins to eat away at his psyche. The mage is said to have lost his grasp of what is real and what is not, and is haunted by terrible visions and nightmares, some of which may be given substance. The suffering mage is rendered helpless and is executed by the Council of Higher Order to end his misery. The doctrines state that a life where one falls off the righteous path and disobeys the Code may also incur the Echoes, but it comes inevitably for those who, wittingly or unwittingly, cross the Margent.
With the Echoes anathema, the Magist Ecclesia had an effective means of keeping mages in check as they could not ascend beyond a certain point in their prowess. It is believed that the only one who was capable of crossing the Margent without incurring the Echoes was the Sacred Mother, Queen Basalii Rode, and through this she achieved the blessed state of mage's nirvana, the Adaiku Rana. All Magi believe that by enduring the Mage's Ordeal, they may also achieve this state. They must cleanse themselves fully of the poison of hubris and balance their minds with sophrosyne. Only then could they follow in the Mother's footsteps. However, few have willingly dared to cross the Margent with the belief that they were fully righteous, and no such attempts were met with success.
Ishmol the Apostate was correct in his belief that the curse of the Echoes was not an absolute verity, but rather a mental spell, unwittingly self-inflicted through blind faith. It had only been actualised through the Mana Immanent - believing in it made it real. With this in mind, and under the protection of a renegade Councillor, he was able to fight the Echoes and cross the Margent. In doing so, he surpassed the Canon of Archimages and became more powerful than any other mage, presumably second only to the Sacred Mother herself.
Magical Prowess
In determining the efficiency of a mage, one must consider two factors: the strength of their covenant with the elements, and their adroitness and tactical thinking. A mage may have a strong Covenant and thereby be able to harness the elements and their respective powers to great levels, but if they cast frivolously and profligately, or do not exploit the benefits of boosting or their elemental fields properly, they can lose to a mage of a weaker Covenant. A mage's overall prowess is thus a combination of their Covenant and their Craft.
The therian-avian hybrid, Zid Acramant, is a prominent example of a mage whose expertise far surpasses his Covenant, therefore allowing him to stand ground with marked success against mages presumably greater than him. This is in large part due to his intense training as a soldier, and his regular drug-induced hallucinations in which he visualises all manner of combat scenarios and strategises accordingly.
Ishmol the Apostate postulated a third factor in addition to Covenant and Craft. He believed that magic was a measure of will. The more ambitious a mage was, the more set he was on achieving a goal, then the greater the magic he would cast. He believed that magic determined what was the right course of action as it was the way one's subconsciousness or "true" self could communicate with the superficies. He developed the custom of purposely casting gadding spells whilst deliberating on a course of action -- since the gadding spells were not controlled directly, he believed the true self would subtly influence them and reveal itself through them. Thus a gadding spell was a sort of compass which would keep a mage on the "right" direction (although it should be noted that Ishmol's interpretation of "right" was synonymous with "being true to oneself"). He subsequently divided this third factor, willpower, into four levels of ideals:
1. Impetus, which is the most basic drive to cast a spell. This may be for the purpose of self-preservation, to exert one's dominance or superiority through ostentation, to sate one's greed, and a variety of other scenarios in which immediate gratification is preferable.
2. Afflatus, which is the drive to cast a spell for expression, such as religious or artistic or philosophical. Afflatus is also related with the simple drive of curiosity or marvel.
3. Entelechy, which is to cast magic with the hope of gaining a greater understanding of one's true self, finding the purpose to one's life in the scheme of the universe, and conducting oneself in accordance with this, even if it is conflict with one's self-preservation or interests. Ishmol believed this ideal to be one of "self-delusion" in an attempt to fill the void left by the fourth and final ideal.
4. Wist, which is an intense feeling of longing, or sehnsucht, for something that in many cases is undefinable. Ishmol believed this to be shared by all wights and represented their wish for a personal paradise or promised land and other vague notions of a "better life" which could presumably never be fulfilled. He interprets Wist as an inherent drive towards Chaos. Ishmol ardently believed every wight truly desired Chaos, and that those who ostensibly did not were merely deceiving themselves.
It was this strong belief that magic measured will which compelled Ishmol to challenge Pico the Skyler, in a fair one-on-one contest of magic. The victor, he believed, would be right, thus enabling him to cast away any vestige of doubt as to whether Chaos should be evoked.
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