MAGIC

Magic comes into our physical universe from the magical universe. In that universe, known to us as Caromentis, most theories suggest that it is impossible to decipher how magic works, for it is not a universe that our Cosmos-born minds have evolved to understand.

However, it is when magic enters our world that their principals, while still complex, begin to conform to our own.

How exactly does a mage become powerful?

In Caromentis, it is unknown what might make one being more powerful than the other.

In our universe, the Cosmos, we have a much better idea.

For centuries, aptitude in magic has been attributed to artistic imagination, combined with willpower. While there is truth to this, in recent years we have come to reason that, in order to exist in our universe for any length of time, magic must give some obedience to physics. Therefore, knowledge in magic will come, in no small part, from an understanding of our universe, and the reactions of our collision with Caromentis. As such, it would take a certain dynamic of genius to supremely govern those incoming energies of Caromentis, and it is to be hoped that such a person would use that kind of power in service to the world.

Specialties

As it is with talent in all walks of life, there are several different kinds of magic in which a person can excel. Every mage finds a different avenue into streamlined spellcasting (such as making things move, or summoning raw energy), but only some mages are able to grasp specialty skills, such as telepathy, and the incredibly rare biomagic.

It is not known why this is, though some scholars have suggested the various talents come from a subconscious psychological desire to excel in a certain field or fields. Naturally, that desire can come from any number of untraceable influences from nature to nurture.

Some twenty percent of known mages find themselves with a specialty talent, though it should be noted that some specialties are much rarer than others.

Telemages: Mages who can communicate telepathically, sometimes across hundreds of miles. These mages are often useful to various military outfits for relaying orders, especially without fear of such orders (likely) being intercepted.

Animages: telepathic mages who can relay basic concepts to and from animals, effectively talking to them, such as their intellect (and willingness to comply) allows.

Biomages: The rarest magical specialty by far; biomages can directly manipulate anatomy at the cellular level, potentially causing the cells themselves to permanently change. The possibilities of this practice are as immense as they are terrifying, which is why biomagic has been banned from Voulhire, from high church to high state, since its discovery.

What is the difference between healing-magic and biomagic?

Simply put, healing magic is an influence upon the body, like surgery or medicine. Biomagic is the commandeering of living cells, forcing them to move to the will of the mage. Powerful biomages are said to be able to purge cancer cells, but the stance of leading church scholars is that this is a lie. The church has also warned the public of biomagic’s theoretical ability to reanimate the dead.

IMBUSION

Simply put, imbusion is a practice of magic, but one so particular, and so peculiar, that it is regarded as a separate discipline entirely.

Imbusion concerns the application of magic into an object. This object can be anything, but is often a weapon or a piece of armor. Of the known items to have been imbued, the magical effects are subtle. As an example, when holding an imbued sword, one may become physically stronger, thereby striking the blade with fractionally-increased force.

The talent for imbusion is astronomically rare, and then often undiscovered. If it is discovered, it is difficult to master. And even then, imbuers rarely practice, given the painstaking effort it demands, and its immense taxation upon the mind. That is to say, imbued items are valuable. Even if the imbusion is of little practical use, private collectors may sell their mansions to possess it.

Due to its rarity, the art of imbusion has been lost and found many times throughout the history of our kingdom. There are swaths of centuries in our history where no known imbuer, or imbusion itself, is ever mentioned.

During the Age of the Wizard-Kings, imbued items were deemed dangerous by Eiodi Indarmo, who succeeded in petitioning King Neverart to have such items considered contraband. Through the subsequent centuries, this law has been enforced only in and around the holy city of Yamon Soul. Unto today, the Eiodi himself is considered the sole lawful proprietor of all imbued items that exist inside the shoreline of the kingdom. It is said that the Diadem’s vault has items that could create an invincible army.

Is it really as simple as holding or wearing an imbued item to enjoy its effects?

In a word, no, but it does depend upon the nature of the imbusion.

For example: suppose a physician employs a surgical knife imbued with the power to cauterize a wound upon rendering it. Now, suppose a hapless assassin steals this knife and uses it to attack his mark. The killer will find himself confused to discover the knife is all but incapable of making a person bleed.

But now let us go back to that example of the sword that makes its wielder stronger. This is a case of magic power being transferred from one entity to another (the object to its holder). For this, the wielder would have to use his own sense of magic to use the item. But aptitude in magic is hardly required to make use out of an imbued item, he only needs to be aware of the power in the item. In other words: if it is within him to acknowledge it, it is within him to use it.

What if an imbued item is damaged?

If an imbued sword is broken in half, the magic will separate for an infinitesimal fragment of a second, and then recollect, like a magnet, to one half or the other. According to the Destinic Church, this phenomenon has the effect of making an imbued item approximately 1% more difficult to fracture, crush, and bend. It also gives the item a similar increase in melting point. The level of power in the imbusion has NO bearing on this effect. However, certain imbusions are said to bring its respective item back together and rebind them at the atomic level when they are fractured or shattered.

What if an imbued item is melted down, supplemented with unimbued metal, and then reforged?

This has never been known to be done. It is theorized that the potency of the imbusion will diminish per the foreign metal added, but some scholars argue the effect will remain unchanged.

COSMOLOGY

Commonly referred to as a counterpart to magic, many scholars argue this to be an oversimplification and injustice to what cosmology actually is. As such, the colloquial term “secular magic” is discouraged by respectable educators across the nation, as any grammatical error is discouraged. At least, this is the way it was when cosmology was a thing more commonly talked about. Nowadays, it is not.

Magic itself can never be explained through science— only its behavior within and effects upon our scientific universe. But cosmology, however supernatural it may seem, is rooted entirely in science. Of course, there is much for us to learn about cosmology, and cosmites have often presented the world with something new, but our understanding of cosmology is based on the realization that its power comes from no world but our own.

There are certain ways in which magic is unable to manipulate the physical world, one example being the direct manipulation of spacetime. Only a feat of cosmology can beget instantaneous teleportation, slowing time, or commandeering gravity.

In a technical word: Magic is an invasion of our Cosmos; cosmology is the use of it.

Ironically, cosmology is a rarer practice than magic in modern Voulhire. Some say the reason for this is that mages are imaginative, and seek another world, nourishing their power on that ambition, whereas a cosmite is comfortable in this world, and does not scour for ways of improving their place in it. It reasons that this would result in the discovery of fewer cosmites, as well as fewer teachers and authors of the lessons required to master cosmology. Ambitious curiosity tends to drive the secular mind toward science, which is of the same universe as cosmology, but not the same thing.