Terran's Magic
No Niravar is born with active magic, but all Niravar have the potential to wield it. A Niravar’s magic must first be awakened by visiting an active Aether Pool and offering tribute to one of the four major gods of Terran. Their awakened magic can take a variety of forms, regardless of which god accepts the tribute. Though the ritual to gain magic must be devoted to the god of time, space, matter, and energy, Terran is also full of lesser spirits born from the Pools. These often incorporeal spirits embody one aspect of Terran (e.g. spirit of fire, spirit of nature, spirit of the dawn, etc.) and often help young magi hone their powers. Magic is frequently used in daily life, be it in construction, cooking, entertainment, transportation, etc.
The powers of the ancient Niravar were enough to nearly destroy Terran in a catastrophe known as the Cataclysm. Modern Niravar magic will never reach these levels of potency; however, it can still be quite potent and versatile. It is often the type of magic and how it is implemented that matters more than sheer strength. Each Niravar is better suited to use one type of magic, and their abilities tend to be further specialized within the type of magic they are blessed with. While they can try to change this specialization, it may prove to be troublesome. |
Terran's Gods
Divine presence on Terran is very much tangible, and due to this, the vast majority of the planet's residents dedicate themselves to the worship of the four gods. These are the God of Matter, God of Energy, God of Space, and God of Time. The Gods are closely linked to their respective part of the Magic Quadrivium (more details below), and praying to them or making offerings to them at an Aether Pool may bestow a small fraction of their powers upon the worshipper.
The Gods do not appear physically within Terran, but make their presence known via the planet's Aether Pools. They will not interfere in mortal affairs and are often fickle and difficult to please. Terran's Gods should not be mistaken with Terran's Ancients - four Niravar from pre-Cataclysm times who carry the largest fractions of the gods' powers. |
"...And in their loneliness, the gods wept. Their tears fell upon the planet of Terran and these tears, filled with the longing of the gods, became pools of swirling magical energy - aether - that bridged their universe to many others. The gods were delighted. Terran became a nexus of many universes, each connected to a pool where the rules of both universes met and were in conflict. From these pools, the gods drew strange power from these foreign universes, finally creating life. These were the first Niravar." |
Magic Quadrivium
Matter
Niravar gifted with the power to influence Matter are skilled at manipulating what is. Solid objects, materials, terrain, Matter can bend existing things to the mage's will with ease. Matter allows the wielder to grab and hold items, objects, materials that others' magic would have otherwise slipped away from. Matter wielders can even grasp individual atoms and influence them, if they are patient enough.
Matter is perfect for lifting heavy objects, levitating items, bending and twisting them or, if the wielder is powerful enough, altering their form. But Matter's application does not only lie in pushing boulders around. Necromancers favor this part of the Quadrivium, as Matter lets them knit wounds back together, animate a dead creature in a strange mimicry of what was once living. The Garden of the Moon Thread covets mages gifted with Matter.
Energy
Energy is a powerful gift to wield. Closest to what many visitors from different worlds may recognize as 'Usual' magic, Energy allows the mage to raise and lower the energy of existing things, or, later on, create energy of their own. To some, Energy manifests as light, and in their minds, they can increase or decrease the brightness of things around them. To others, Energy shows itself as a tide, pushing them this way and that, but clearing a path for them whenever needed.
A Niravar controlling Energy can absorb light to give their body an ethereal glow, set things ablaze, call forth lightning, influence the weather, or trap the escaping essence of a dying creature to forcefully return it to the body. There are many more applications, limited only by the mage's imagination.
Time
Time is a concept understood by many living on Terran, but only Niravar gifted with this magic have a true grasp on it. A Niravar wielding the magic of Time can influence the healing speed of wounds, avoid attacks at the very last second, or achieve speeds unreachable by those without this gift.
A Niravar controlling Time can suspend things in time around their body, ranging from objects to something as small as photons. They are especially valuable healers, but if used with malicious intent, Time magic can inflict just as much damage as it can repair. A Niravar may, for example, make another individual bleed out significantly faster than they would have under normal circumstances, just as they could slow down the bleeding and help get them to a healer. Especially powerful Time mages can reach into the 'memory' of an object, and 'replay' the movements it had made up to an hour prior.
Space
Space is most commonly linked to teleportation, but that is not this magic's only use. Niravar gifted in Space can control the empty air around them, condense it, and shape it not unlike a Matter mage would do with solid stone. Some Niravar have been observed using their Space magic to form blades consisting of nothing but raw force - only visible through the small blur and twist of air around them, and no less deadly than a regular weapon.
Teleportation, however, is achieved primarily through Space magic. Be it phasing through objects or teleporting over short ranges, a Niravar skilled with this type of magic is a threat in any fight. In battle, they can also use their magic to heal, by commanding the space within a wound to close and mend together. Space mages are likewise able to levitate objects for brief periods of time, by making the space around the target expand or shrink.
Magic Limitations
Magic Manipulation
> Lifting a boulder
|
> Making a weapon
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Magic Applications
Magic Enchantments
Enchanted items are frequently sold at specialized shops all over Terran, though their availability depends on the country. The most common provider of enchanted items is a guild known as the Cerulean Concord, which both creates and sells the items in question. The more complex the enchantment, the more expensive the item gets. Cities will often commission skilled enchanters to create items to be used by their citizens.
Magic Inventions
In colder climates, such as in Drakhan, it is not uncommon to see thin metal rods on the edges of the streets of city centres, which are enchanted to both emit heat and light. Crystals and gemstones are likewise enchanted to emit warmth, and are a common sight in the country's longhouses.
The one limitation of any enchantment, however, is that it can never make the item sentient. No matter how advanced the magic applied to the object is, it will never think and decide for itself. The sole exception to this rule are the peculiar automatons discovered underneath Anghor Thom, which appear to not only possess sentience, but a degree of intelligence as well. Nevertheless, Niravar have not been able to learn or utilize the techniques through which this enchantment is achieved - and many believe it to be a unique ability exclusive to the automatons' creator.
Magic in Everyday Use
Terran is filled to the brim with magic, and it would not be an overstatement to say one can find magic being used to make everyday life easier anywhere they go. Magic also makes up a substantial part of the education available throughout Terran, and there are many different approaches to it. Every mage sees the world in a slightly different way, and therefore finds it easier to use their magic through different means. Some examples are:
- The scholars of Hanor's Aharten, who visualise all of existence in terms of brightness. Objects and creatures alike have a certain level of brightness or light, and to alter them, the mage visualises lessening or increasing the glow each object emits.
- Hanor's Standards of Brimstone scholars, who use a system of glyphs and sigils inscribed either on paper or, sometimes, on the very object they are trying to affect, to focus their magic and attention. Certain ingredients can be mixed into inks to retain the mage's attention better.
- The magi of Inor, who believe certain Aether Pools produce more powerful mages than others. This claim has been disputed by scholars, but the magi's hold on the region is firm and their beliefs unshakeable.
Aether Pools
To the Niravar the Aether Pools are a place of birth and magical awakening, and many times throughout a Niravar's life they will make a pilgrimage to an Aether Pool to entreat the Pools for offspring or to awaken their innate magic.
Some Aether Pools act as portals bridging different worlds to Terran. Those who have come to Terran through these portals report a shimmering in the air, then a swirling portal opening before them. Stepping through this portal will deliver the being to one of Terran's many Aether Pools. The portals may appear in many different universes and are usually transient.
Rarely and through unknown cause, an Aether Pool may become corrupted. Its normally clear and colorful aether turns an opaque black, and from within the Pool ravenous beasts begin to spawn. The beasts, known as Void Reapers, are driven by an insatiable hunger for the innate magic Niravar possess. The corrupted Pools - called Void Pools - are remnants of the great Cataclysm many years ago.
When an Aether Pool becomes a Void Pool, it becomes important for the Wardens to isolate the Pool so that they may perform a ritual to cleanse it. The details surrounding the ritual itself is a tightly kept secret, known only to the highest ranked among the Wardens. Despite the Wardens' efforts, however, there are still many undiscovered corrupted pools in the wild, from which void reapers spawn to begin their journey to the closest Niravar they can find.
Magic Phenomena
Magic ReboundMagic is a gift bestowed upon the Niravar by the gods, but can also be a curse if used unwisely. The gods may be divine beings, but the Niravar are mortal, and so their bodies simply cannot channel as much aether as the gods can.
Attempting magic that is too powerful or too complex for the Niravar to handle can have an effect known as "rebound". Rebound can occur in a few different ways: The sheer force of too much aether flowing through the Niravar can cause physical damage to the cells in the body, resulting in symptoms ranging from fatigue and illness to catastrophic organ failure. Alternatively, the focus required for the given spell may spiral out of control, leading to loss of memory or consciousness for short or longer time periods. If the Niravar has made an error in crafting their spell, then the spell may spiral out of control, leading to unintended consequences and strange deformities in the casting Niravar. Magic may be a gift, but it is not one to be accepted without understanding the consequences. |
Acquired Mutations
Some examples of objects which can cause acquired mutations are:
- Flight Seeds. The Great Tree in Tybernoa is known to produce these seeds, and prolonged exposure to them can cause a Niravar to sprout beautiful feathered wings. Niravar with these wings are especially valued in Urus for their agility, and the local messenger guild may try to hire any Niravar who possess wings such as these.
- Living Metal. Living Metal is a recently discovered substance created by Rotamund the Tinkerer, who resides deep beneath Anghor Thom with his collection of sentient automatons. Living metal is known to cause a mutation known as "Warforged" - a strange fusion of magic and metal that lets the individual resist even arcane cold and ice.
- Icy Fur. This strange type of fur found in Drakhan has recently been known to cause Niravar to sprout wings of a different kind to those caused by Flight Seeds - Niravar who find themselves exposed to the fur soon find themselves sporting strong, leathery dragon wings... not unlike the ancient Ice Drake the fur itself comes from. Niravar with this mutation are not a welcome sight outside of Drakhan, as accounts of dragon-winged Niravar flying over the now Drakhan-occupied Sorcas Archipelago have since spread throughout Terran. Draconic-winged Niravar are, therefore, usually suspected of being allied with Drakhan and its government.
Whatever the machine was, it appears to have been
torn apart...and a quick glance forward reveals the
cause fast enough. |
Magic IncandescenceIn some places, there exists magic so strong its mere presence changes the landscape around it. This effect is called 'magic incandescence' by Terran's scholars, and it has been the subject of many a research paper over the years.
Recently, an entire archipelago was discovered to the north of Isiar, filled to the brim with magic. These islands, seemingly containing remnants of pre-cataclysm magic, have shown incandescence so powerful it has twisted the fauna and flora of the region entirely. Flying fish, thriving coral reefs on dry land, multi-colored lava or buildings hovering upside down, the Galterel Archipelago seems to be full of surprises. Niravar who travel to the archipelago report a strange shivering in the air, as though the entire area radiated pure magic. As the archipelago was discovered fairly recently, however, no proper research into its potential effects on Niravar has been conducted yet. |
Magic Spirits
One example of spirits occupying the world of Terran is The Ocean of Maktara, revered by many of the nation's residents. The term refers less to the body of water and more to the countless spirits drifting along Maktara's shores. It is customary for the locals to vie for the protection of one of the spirits in a ritual known as The Ocean's Kiss, and the spirits are therefore inseparable from both Maktara as a whole and the region's residents. Zuras, the nation's capital, has its own guardian spirit going by the name 'Selmorthen'.
In Urus, spirits play a large part in the religion and superstition of the residents alike. Though the spirits present in the region are not as tangible as the ones in Maktara, the locals place their will and preferences above everything else, and will often scorn those who they believe might displease the spirits in any way, shape, or form.
Sarthia's capital, Hanor, features perhaps the most tangible spirit of all - a creature known as Thouxaqhosh likes to sit atop the city hall, observing the day-to-day lives of the city's residents. However, the spirit's presence has an edge of unease to it as well: it has been observed to produce a strange sound not unlike human crying prior to great disasters striking in the nation. But in spite of this ominous behavior, the spirit is beyond friendly and approachable. For reasons unknown to anyone beyond Thouxaqhosh itself, it loves fruit of any and all kinds, and can thus be bribed with a basket of fruits if anyone wishes to pet it.