Magic in Sergonia is handled with much care. We do this for two reasons: the lore of the Sergonia universe dictates that magic is a heavily monitored practice, and because we’d like those who play magicians to do so with care and the utmost understanding of its workings.
I know this is a long read, but hopefully it’ll shed some light on magic and its relationship with society.
I. The Lucky Few
Not everyone is born with the ability to use magic. The ability, like many natural talents, is genetic. The genes that unlock this ability are recessive, which means that people who are able to do magic are few and far between. I’ll spare you from all of the Punnett squares, because only I’m crazy enough to enjoy that level of detail, but take away from this that the ability to do magic is very rare.
Because of their rarity, trained magicians are somewhat of a commodity. Most noble houses employ at least one on their council, if not more. They often act as advisers and diplomats to the wealthy and powerful. If politics does not appeal to a magician, they may choose to join the armed forces, and don the title of Armored Magus. Even still, if neither politics nor war is of interest to the magician, she may become a member of the Vigilant, a group which acts as the kingdom’s means of finding and eradicating rogue magicians.
II. Tracings
All creatures are born with neuropaths, in this world, we call them tracings. Why? Because they are the paths that the magic must flow through in order to be activated. The tracings of magic-capable creatures are vastly different and much more complex than those of nonmagic-capable creatures. This doesn’t translate to magic-capable individuals being smarter, but it does mean that they are able to utilize and manipulate magical source in ways that their nonmagic-capable counterparts are, thus the product of spells of all kinds.
Tracings vary from person to person, so not everyone is capable of casting every type of spell, as the paths that would be needed to cast certain spells simply aren’t available to some.
i.e. Someone may not have the paths to cast warding spells at all, or may only have the paths to cast less complex spells of pyromancy.
This inherent difference leads to group casting, which increases the likeliness that all paths available for a certain spells are available. Most powerful spells are cast in groups, because the paths needed to cast them are usually too complex to exist within one person’s neuropath.
III. Source and Source Orbs
Tracings are useless, even for those magic-capable people, without source. Source is a finite natural resource that can be found around the world. Its natural state is liquid that is more translucent than opaque, and is bioluminescent. In order for it to be used in spells, it must first be absorbed by a magician; this can be done via absorption through the skin, or by imbibing the liquid. A magician is capable of consuming an infinite amount of source, however, should her supply of source run dry from use, she will die. Once source is absorbed, it is no longer a blue liquid, but is reduced to a useless sand-like substance.
Source is a heavily controlled substance in nearly all civilized societies across Sergonia. In Ulrich, it is illegal to have source without having obtained it through the Academy. The use of magic without having received proper education for it is a crime that is potentially punishable by death.
There are three ways to obtain source, two of which are illegal: through training at the Academy, through the black market, and through finding a natural well of it in the wilderness. Most will obtain their source through the Academy, and they are given a phylactery to wear around their necks containing the sand left behind during their absorption ceremony. This acts as immediate proof that they are a legal magician. They’re also given legal documents for official purposes that serve as proof as well. Of course, these things are subject to forgery, and can fool most. Should someone conduct a thorough investigation into the magician with forged documents and fake phylactery however, they would find that he does not exist in the Academy’s meticulously kept records, so forgeries are rare among higher held positions in the kingdom.
Once source is absorbed, a ball of light appears within the tracings of the person who absorbed it. This ball of light is commonly referred to as a “source orb” and is like a footprint for that caster; every caster’s orb varies in color. Casters from the same family can have extremely similarly colored source orbs. The color of these orbs is important, because with every cast spell, a bit of source is used, leaving behind a bit of that specific colored glow on whatever the spell was cast on. The Vigilant use this footprint to track rogue magicians and magicians who use their powers to commit crime.
IV. Casting and Schools of Magic
We’re not going to limit your magic by fitting magic into specific schools. Spells of any kind are fair game, we only ask that you keep in mind the scale, the amount of energy and source involved, and the intricacy of the path you’d need to follow to cast.
However, for the sake of roleplay, we’ll name a few of the most common types of magic:
We’ve given a lot of information on casting in previous sections of this, so we’re going to briefly outline the process and fill in the details of what we haven’t covered already.
In order to cast spells a person must 1) be magic-capable and 2) have obtained source through some means. They must then slip into a state similar to unconsciousness in which they can see their tracings and source trapped within. This is a learned skill, and is quite hard to do. Well-trained magicians will be able to do this and remain semi-aware of their surroundings. Armored Magus’ are particularly adept at this. The magician must then be able to recognize which paths to follow in their tracings to produce the spell they want to cast. This is where education is extremely important, casting is nearly all memorization. The most intricate, and dangerous, part of spell weaving is in forcing the source to follow the spell-specific path. Should the magician allow their source to choose its own path, or force the source down an incorrect path, the results could be devastating to them and/or those around them. Those who allow the source to choose its own path are known as feral magicians.
Feral magicians are both loved and hated. Without them, some of the most powerful spells would go undiscovered. Their contribution to the field are unmatched and undeniable, however, they often leave destruction in their wake, and so are often treated as pariah.
V. Roleplay
There is no post minimum or maximum for spell-casting, as certain spells take more or less time. Please use your common sense and knowledge of Sergonian magic while casting, though, a lot goes into casting spells, and we’d like that to be a theme in our magician’s roleplay. If you’re a magician, you’re awesome because you can do something extremely hard. Don’t make it look easy, it doesn’t benefit you, it erodes your usefulness in the eyes of society. Keep that in mind.
A few points to keep in mind:
I know this is a long read, but hopefully it’ll shed some light on magic and its relationship with society.
I. The Lucky Few
Not everyone is born with the ability to use magic. The ability, like many natural talents, is genetic. The genes that unlock this ability are recessive, which means that people who are able to do magic are few and far between. I’ll spare you from all of the Punnett squares, because only I’m crazy enough to enjoy that level of detail, but take away from this that the ability to do magic is very rare.
Because of their rarity, trained magicians are somewhat of a commodity. Most noble houses employ at least one on their council, if not more. They often act as advisers and diplomats to the wealthy and powerful. If politics does not appeal to a magician, they may choose to join the armed forces, and don the title of Armored Magus. Even still, if neither politics nor war is of interest to the magician, she may become a member of the Vigilant, a group which acts as the kingdom’s means of finding and eradicating rogue magicians.
II. Tracings
All creatures are born with neuropaths, in this world, we call them tracings. Why? Because they are the paths that the magic must flow through in order to be activated. The tracings of magic-capable creatures are vastly different and much more complex than those of nonmagic-capable creatures. This doesn’t translate to magic-capable individuals being smarter, but it does mean that they are able to utilize and manipulate magical source in ways that their nonmagic-capable counterparts are, thus the product of spells of all kinds.
Tracings vary from person to person, so not everyone is capable of casting every type of spell, as the paths that would be needed to cast certain spells simply aren’t available to some.
i.e. Someone may not have the paths to cast warding spells at all, or may only have the paths to cast less complex spells of pyromancy.
This inherent difference leads to group casting, which increases the likeliness that all paths available for a certain spells are available. Most powerful spells are cast in groups, because the paths needed to cast them are usually too complex to exist within one person’s neuropath.
III. Source and Source Orbs
Tracings are useless, even for those magic-capable people, without source. Source is a finite natural resource that can be found around the world. Its natural state is liquid that is more translucent than opaque, and is bioluminescent. In order for it to be used in spells, it must first be absorbed by a magician; this can be done via absorption through the skin, or by imbibing the liquid. A magician is capable of consuming an infinite amount of source, however, should her supply of source run dry from use, she will die. Once source is absorbed, it is no longer a blue liquid, but is reduced to a useless sand-like substance.
Source is a heavily controlled substance in nearly all civilized societies across Sergonia. In Ulrich, it is illegal to have source without having obtained it through the Academy. The use of magic without having received proper education for it is a crime that is potentially punishable by death.
There are three ways to obtain source, two of which are illegal: through training at the Academy, through the black market, and through finding a natural well of it in the wilderness. Most will obtain their source through the Academy, and they are given a phylactery to wear around their necks containing the sand left behind during their absorption ceremony. This acts as immediate proof that they are a legal magician. They’re also given legal documents for official purposes that serve as proof as well. Of course, these things are subject to forgery, and can fool most. Should someone conduct a thorough investigation into the magician with forged documents and fake phylactery however, they would find that he does not exist in the Academy’s meticulously kept records, so forgeries are rare among higher held positions in the kingdom.
Once source is absorbed, a ball of light appears within the tracings of the person who absorbed it. This ball of light is commonly referred to as a “source orb” and is like a footprint for that caster; every caster’s orb varies in color. Casters from the same family can have extremely similarly colored source orbs. The color of these orbs is important, because with every cast spell, a bit of source is used, leaving behind a bit of that specific colored glow on whatever the spell was cast on. The Vigilant use this footprint to track rogue magicians and magicians who use their powers to commit crime.
IV. Casting and Schools of Magic
We’re not going to limit your magic by fitting magic into specific schools. Spells of any kind are fair game, we only ask that you keep in mind the scale, the amount of energy and source involved, and the intricacy of the path you’d need to follow to cast.
However, for the sake of roleplay, we’ll name a few of the most common types of magic:
- Pyromancy
- Hydromancy
- Photomancy (flashes of light, creating light orbs, etc)
- Floramancy (creating plants, boosting plant growth)
- Aeromancy
- Warding (creating fields of protection, pain, silence, etc)
- Necromancy (Legal, but rare, because it’s very difficult and source-heavy)
We’ve given a lot of information on casting in previous sections of this, so we’re going to briefly outline the process and fill in the details of what we haven’t covered already.
In order to cast spells a person must 1) be magic-capable and 2) have obtained source through some means. They must then slip into a state similar to unconsciousness in which they can see their tracings and source trapped within. This is a learned skill, and is quite hard to do. Well-trained magicians will be able to do this and remain semi-aware of their surroundings. Armored Magus’ are particularly adept at this. The magician must then be able to recognize which paths to follow in their tracings to produce the spell they want to cast. This is where education is extremely important, casting is nearly all memorization. The most intricate, and dangerous, part of spell weaving is in forcing the source to follow the spell-specific path. Should the magician allow their source to choose its own path, or force the source down an incorrect path, the results could be devastating to them and/or those around them. Those who allow the source to choose its own path are known as feral magicians.
Feral magicians are both loved and hated. Without them, some of the most powerful spells would go undiscovered. Their contribution to the field are unmatched and undeniable, however, they often leave destruction in their wake, and so are often treated as pariah.
V. Roleplay
There is no post minimum or maximum for spell-casting, as certain spells take more or less time. Please use your common sense and knowledge of Sergonian magic while casting, though, a lot goes into casting spells, and we’d like that to be a theme in our magician’s roleplay. If you’re a magician, you’re awesome because you can do something extremely hard. Don’t make it look easy, it doesn’t benefit you, it erodes your usefulness in the eyes of society. Keep that in mind.
A few points to keep in mind:
- Only magic-capable people can cast spells.
- You have to have obtained source to cast spells.
- Not everyone can cast the same spells.
- If you’re casting in public with no apparent reason it is likely someone will flag down a Vigilant to question you.
- While casting you aren’t fully aware (or aware at all) of your surroundings; this makes you extremely vulnerable during that time.
- You need to memorize patterns in order to cast spells.
- Casting uses your source; the more you cast, the weaker you become.