Magic

Magic is a general name for the mystical energy which permeates and flows through the world of Ailhaotnůṙ. It can be aligned with any one of the 12 Aspects (or rarely in more exotic alignments), and it can be varying degrees of active or passive. The flow of magic interacts with and guides, and is guided by, the physical world around it. Neither magic nor matter is original, they exist in an inseparable duopoly.

See also /Systems /Restrictions.

High-level Description

Magic in Ailhaotnůṙ takes the form of a constantly-moving field of energy, which originates in sources and flows into sinks. Sources are locations which are metaphysically close to higher realms, or to the Aspects themselves, while sinks are linked to lower realms, or to the raw emptiness of the Expanse. Each source is aligned with one or more aspects, while sinks are indiscriminate. However, different aspects of magic have different properties, which can cause certain aspects to be influenced more strongly by some sinks than others.

At great altitudes, the physical realm blends into other realms, so sources and sinks are not clearly defined. The Laoa are defined in the sky by concentrations of a certain alignment of magic, though all aspects have some level of influence in each Lao.

Every physical thing is defined by, and defines, a particular structure of the magical field within and around it.

Classifications

Magic can be classed mostly by Aspect or by character. Aspect is an objective and absolute classification; Blue magic behaves differently from Red magic in a fundamental sense. Character is less precise, and some of the classes overlap. The main character-based system is a basic division into active and passive forms. Different Aspects of magic do to some extent have their own character as well, for instance Green magic is never quite passive and Iron magic is never quite active.

Aspects

See also Aspects

• Iron magic is the most static of all the Aspects. It gives physical things their physical forms, and almost doesn't move at all except with the matter it is bound to. It can be delicately shaped to catch other aspects of magic in place, but is largely inert.
• Glass magic is highly orderly, and rather than flowing lazily like most Aspects, acts in exceedingly complex ways, governed by internal laws too complex for any mortal mind to understand completely. It is often used to create Automata.
• Silver magic is the manifestation of the Real, separating it from the Abstract. It permeates all things which have weight, pulling them ever downward with its flow. Like it pulls upon Iron magic, Iron magic pulls upon it—it is momentum, as well as gravity.
• Gold magic flows not through space, but through time. Its main source is the creation of the world, and its main sink is the end of the same. When this natural flow is altered, time blends together, and attuned mortals may receive visions of past and future alike.
• Red magic is the magic of fire and of life; of hunger and growth; and of death as well. It pulls other magic through itself, changing it as it passes. Passive Red magic is not inert by any means, rather it is sleeping, waiting for a spark to cause it to flare to life. This dormant form is found mostly in plants, which collect massive amounts of it over their long lifetimes.
• Blue magic is characterized by smooth and steady flow, its demure appearance hiding incredible power. As it moves, it carries other things along with it, and it is almost impossible to halt its flow, although it can be redirected. For these reasons, it is the Aspect of choice for ritual magic.
• Green magic is ever unpredictable, and is never quite passive, ready always to flare up without warning. It is the very manifestation of spontaneity.
• Grey magic is lazy and slow-moving, but it is even more stubborn than Blue magic. The slower it moves, the harder it is to influence. It mostly exists underground, lending its properties to stone and earth. Its active form is very different from its passive form, resembling in some ways Red magic. This form is found exclusively in the Sůṙjafia, and they are the sole beings able to meaningfully direct the passive form.
• Purple magic is the most directed of all. It is the embodiment of raw power and strength, and can be harnessed to create powerful effects by those who are Gifted by the Purple Aspect. Along with Spirit and Black magic, it is one of the main constituents of souls.
• Black magic is the stuff of knowledge, of secrets and of wisdom and of language. Along with Spirit and Purple magic, it is one of the main constituents of souls, and is mostly associated with sentience, although every animal's soul has some Black magic in it. It is rare in its passive form, except in the products of mortal craft, like books, and its main purpose in sorcery is in the creation of automata that can learn.
• White magic is the magic of the beyond, of things which have been forgotten and exist no longer. It is mostly formed in the souls of things which have died. Over the course of a cycle, beginning on the first day of Nalao after death, the soul of a dead mortal (as well as any other magic which has mingled with it) is converted from the usual mix of other Aspects into White magic, which flows upward in a wispy stream like smoke to the roof of the world. This process affects the local environment to some extent, which is why it is important to collect dead bodies in graveyards or other similar locations. This effect is inviolable, and gives all necromantic constructs a maximum lifetime as any magic which is used to bind them is converted into White magic along with the soul of the departed. Once this process is complete, the dead body is now completely dead, and no different, magically speaking, from any other organic material.
• Spirit magic is the material from which souls are crafted. It doesn't do very much in itself, but it can link together and stabilize other more volatile forms of magic, such as Purple and Green. Outside of souls, it is almost exclusively encountered during Islao, and unlike most forms of magic, every being with a soul is at least partially sensitive to it. This is why Islao gives every living being a sense of unease, and why mortals consider the entire month unlucky and enact festivals to put themselves at ease during Dusk.

Note that the following material is the stuff of legends in Ailhaotnůṙ, though it is true.

• Magic aligned directly with the Expanse is exceedingly rare in Ailhaotnůṙ, because the Fundamental Spell aggressively converts it to the more refined Aspected forms listed above. This magic is formless and has no interesting properties of its own—it simply exists. However, because it is unshaped, it can be given unique aspects unknown and even antithetical to the very existence of physical beings. Amassing Expanse-aspected magic, or any derivatives, is likely to attract the direct attention of the Aspects themselves, for it is their essential purpose to maintain the world. Some who have tried to create particularly dangerous forms of magic have had their Gifts burned from their very souls—a usually fatal process—before they even complete their rituals.
• One such alien aspect is that of Destruction. Only once has a mage ever created such volatile and dangerous magic, and they did not survive it—nor, in fact, did any of their notes. The unstable magic almost instantly detonated, and now all that remains of their laboratory is a crater, long since overgrown and unrecognizable.
• Another alien aspect is Pestilence, which has never been created, though not for lack of trying. At least two sorcerers of ages past have very nearly created it in order to use it upon their enemies, however both times Rakofaṙ itself, the Aspect of Life, intervened, immolating them and everything within a mile of them in magical fires, which utterly destroyed their bodies, souls, and all of their work, before burning out. Today, both sites remain as barren fields of glass shards, utterly infertile and scarcely worn away by rain or wind, testaments to hubris.
• Once, a mage attempted to create magic aspected with Unreality, which they planned to use to transcend the mortal world and become divine. They set about channeling their ritual during Lalao, using the ambient Purple magic to fuel their work. However, as they were attempting to alter the Fundamental Spell itself, Ralataṙ revoked its Gift, shattering their soul in the process, and causing the mage to fall dead where they stood minutes into the casting of the final spell. The spellwork they had built was rapidly unraveled by the sudden explosion of Purple magic, which itself killed two of the mage's five apprentices. Seeing what had become of their master, the remaining apprentices agreed among themselves to destroy their master's journals and never tell anyone the details of the secret ritual, vowing to take the knowledge to their graves.
• Stasis magic is the only alien aspect which has ever been allowed to exist for any length of time. It has sometimes been used by very powerful sorcerers to preserve things, or themselves, against the flow of time for many years. However, it doesn't wear off all at once, and when this has not been accounted for, mages have died or been disfigured as their bodies gradually come out of stasis piece-by-piece. Despite being dangerous to its users, Stasis magic does not threaten the natural order and thus does not draw the attention of the Aspects.

Characters

Passive Magic

Most magic is passive. It flows lazily through physical matter, reinforcing the properties already inherent to that matter. The flow of this magic is controlled by the Fundamental Spell of Reality, and without it the world would not exist in any meaningful sense.

Passive magic flows as a sort of fluid, forming rivers and pools as it flows from sources to sinks. Different Aspects of magic interact differently in their passive forms. Because it is the "natural" state of magic, most of the details of it can be found in the above sections.

Active Magic

Active magic is the minority, but it causes the most dramatic effects.

Significant Rituals, Spells, and Constructs

The Fundamental Spell of Reality

The Fundamental Spell of Reality is name given to the sorcerous working created by Ailistif to shape a tiny microcosm of the Expanse into Ailhaotnůṙ. According to the greatest scholars of the Priesthood, the Fundamental Spell operates fundamentally similar to magic attainable by mortals, but executed on a vast scale and with such perfection that no work of mortals could ever match it.

The basic working of the Fundamental Spell is to siphon and focus a tremendous amount of magical energy into a directed beam, which strikes a mountainous diamond lens called the World Seed, or Haotnesis. The lens refracts the magic just so so as to impart on it the shape of a jungle, created out of gems of pure crystallized magic. The jungle, also called Nesis, is only the first plan for the world, however. Ailistif looked upon its creation, and though it was splendid and beautiful, Ailistif realized that it was not enough.

Leaving the World Seed as it was, growing ever so slowly, Ailistif tapped a small amount of magic from the beam and directed it into a ring. With this power, Ailistif powered a new Spell, the Aspects Spell. The siphoning ring was divided into twelve regions, each imprinted with the pattern of an Aspect, and the energy siphoned off was poured out into the sky, where, free of the influence of matter, it formed into arteries, at the confluences of which formed stars. This magical network in the sky allowed the Aspects to extend their powers over vast distances, the stars' radiance casting the shaped magic down to the ground. This system gave the Aspects slightly less control than the World Seed over the effects of their magical workings, but far greater range and dynamic control.

Souls

Souls are natural phenomena that are anchored to the bodies of living things, animating them. Most animals have two anchors in their bodies to which their souls are attached; their hearts and their brains; while insects and other lower beasts have just one. The destruction of any anchor, or their severance from each other, is always fatal, and causes the soul to detach from the body in short order. Unlike humanoids, the Sůṙjafia have only a single anchor, in their Lůffokofso. The Firen word for "soul" is "lůffo".

Mechanically, souls are mostly a lattice of Spirit-aspected magic, with inclusions of Red, Purple, Black, and Green magic, among other smaller components. Not all souls are equal, for instance, humans have very vibrant and complex souls, while beasts have simpler souls, and insects simpler souls still. Plants do not have souls, but are still alive, while the Sůṙjafia have souls but are not.