The Residue of Magical Energies

On the Origins of Divine Magic and Arcane Magic

All magic, whether divine or arcane, taps directly into the very veins that run through the soulstream, supporting and energizing it. Truly, the only difference is how the magic is extracted and harnessed from the stream. In the case of divine magic the source is the divine plane, more specifically, typically, the gods themselves. Either by communing with the gods directly or due to a blessing of a god, even a blessing the recipient isn't aware of, the divine push magic back towards the mortal plane and by tapping to the soulstream the intended recipient is able to draw upon these magical forces. However, this magic needs to be regularly replenished and the nature of it needs be defined and acquired beforehand. Arcane magic on the other hand revolves around a more brute-force approach to the magics of the stream, where capable and gifted individuals reach out to the soulstream at will and pull from it the energy needed to operate the magical energies that circulate every part of mortal planes. Unlike divine magic, the magical energy used by the arcane magic needn't be defined beforehand, rather the energy comes from the stream in a more pure, universal form. This means the individual extracting the energy has somewhat more freedom to utilize the energy drawn, but not having the helping hand or the guidance and wealth of knowledge afforded by a deity, the repertoire of arcane casters often falls shorter than the bag of tricks the divine casters have access to. In addition, like divine casters, arcane casters need to replenish these energies daily as well, as most mortal bodies are not capable of producing their own.

Manifestation

Whilst mortal bodies are ill-equipped to hold on to magical energies, and accumulating the ability to hold on to increasingly larger amounts of energy simultaneously often takes years of practice, it's equally as poor at expending all of it. After magical energy is expelled from the body it leaves behind normally undetectable magical residue, however certain minerals, the most typically used one of which is called anigrum, are able to pick up on these residues. When saturated by the blood of a living being these minerals indicate the presence of the residue around the particular being by emitting a distinctive albeit not bright red glow. As a result, anigrum has been widely used in the crafting of Portlyons , the pendants used by virtually all travelers, especially in the largely human inhabited regions.

Localization

The residue of the magical energy lingers around a person who has recently cast a magical spell or otherwise channeled magic, and it will keep trickling out in a manner similar to perspiration. The time it takes for the residue to fall below detectable levels differs and depends on several factors; such as the time one has spent using magic (usually measured in years), their overall experience handling magical energies and their capability to harness its powers, all the way down to their race and the factors therein, as well as the material used to detect the residue. For most fledgling casters the time it takes for anigrum to no longer be able to detect the residue is typically a day or two; for seasoned casters the time can increase to a week or two; for veteran casters the body may be saturated to the point where the residue never falls below detectable levels.  

Type

Metaphysical, Supernatural