Magic

As I sit here on this auspicious occasion, tasked with writing the knowledge of the Nethen's understanding of magic, so future generations may behold the wealth of knowledge needed to progress, I remember the beginnings of my apprenticeship. It seems like only yesterday since I learned what I am about to teach, but I have learned much in the last two millennia.
As we make final preperations to leave this part of the world, I am instructed to leave to you our knowledge on behalf of the Grand Council of Science. May you find this information both instructional and enlightening, and I ask that you preserve this written account to be passed down.

Sethin Walcott, Grandmaster Wizard of the Grand Council of Science

From the introduction of A Primer on Nethen Magical Theory.

Below lies the knowledge from that book.

Magic resides in all places within the plane of Karenth. It also lies between and within the celestial objects found in the skies of our amazing world. In some places it is stronger, and its veil is thinner in others. Magic will pool in some areas creating areas with greater effects when accessed.
A few of the old peoples of the world learned how to harness magical energies into various sources, such as the Karenthian Batteries built by us, the Nethen many millenia ago. We are the eldest of the races still living in this part of the world, but not the oldest. And we will be leaving a younger part of our race in our wake when we leave. Perhaps they will be able to help you with your understanding of magics.
The exact inner workings of magic are a mystery to most who now lives in this part of the world, and soon we will be moving on. Here we will try and unravel many of those mysteries and explain what magic is, where it comes from, and how it works.

What Is Magic?

To begin with, we need to figure out, "What is magic?" This is a complex question with many answers.
First off, it is believed by a few wizards and scientists that magic is simply the energy of the gods. They absorb it as needed for their own complex needs. But why is it just floating around, where did it come from? How does it replenish?
Opponents say this is rubbish. "Why is the magic just flowing around if the gods brought it for their own use?" It would not make sense to be the energy of the gods if it just flows around. Gods would keep it within, or inside of an object from which to harness their energies. I willl explain more about this further on in this document. It is universally agreed that the gods and many others use magic, but it is not the sole energy of the gods, nor restricted to their use only. Maybe they use it like a tool and do not control it directly. If they do not control it, where is it coming from?
What happens if a god is cut off in an area without magic? Does it cease to exist? It is doubtful a god would be killed without sufficient magic for a period of time. Perhaps we will never know to what extent this answer is accurate. We do know however that long ago the gods fought the dragons the cosmos, expending large amounts of magics during the war, and they never died being so far from major sources of magic.
Next, we know magic is a universal energy source. We made batteries to trap this energy. In turn we can use that contained energy or pass it off to receptacles of power, or charge magic items low on magic.
But the magics of this world are strong and apparent. Perhaps the magic is an after effect of the building of the world, or residual energy of the making of the amazing land. Again doubtful as we know the gods used magic in the creation of Karenth.
I could contemplate and theorize the philosophy of magic for a long while, but there is to much to do so I will leave you with the answer.
So, what is magic? Magic is an energy source. The gods use it as a tool, and it replenishes from a source yet to be discovered. Again, it is possible they created the source or empowered it as a battery or their creations. But overall, magic is energy with strange behaviors and effects.

Where Does Magic Originate?

As I stated above, magic is a universal source of energy. It flows through everything, in high quantities in some locations, and in small amounts in places where it has nothing to bind with, such as the space between Karenth and the Porcupine Moon. Some material attract magic and hold it better than others. Gems, jewels, and crystals are the best holders of magic, but regenerate slowly. Metals hold magic well, but is smaller quantities than jewels. However metal does not lose magic quickly when used as tools and replenishes rapidly. Thus magic weapons can be used constantly without losing their charges.
It is known that the gods put the magic here. It is a given of our science. Why is still partially in question.
It has been offered that Karenth was a sandbox of the gods, and they released a large quantity of magic here in order to access it as necessary, making Karenth a massive low powered battery of its own. This provided a ready source of creation energies as they made the world, so they would not have to return to their own plane to recharge.
It is possible to move magic from Karenth to other worlds which have none, or insufficient quantities. In our past, the Nethen charged another world with magical energies from the magics in Karenth. It was successful, and continues to this day. Perhaps I will leave this alone for now as the Council does not want to much of this knowledge going out to the world.
From tests that we have conducted over the years in different parts of the plane, it appears that magic also recharges so as to not be drained or slowly refilled in an area. Perhaps there are portals from different worlds recharging our own, or something deep in the crust constantly pushes magic to the surface as needed, or maybe it just appears.
To answer the ultimate question of this section, magic originates from an unknown source and was brought to this plane by the gods. It replenishes with time, and resides in variable quantities depending on location.

How Does Magic Work

Magic provides a source of energy with strange effects. By twisting, manipulating, focusing, harnessing, and controlling the flow of magic and magical radiation, a naturally uncontrolled release of magical particals, we can create a wide range of effects. This is the inherent property of magic, the ability to create and destroy from the energies harnessed and used. It can be the simple creation of food or water, the binding and healing of the magics in a wound, the destruction of the magics in a poison or toxin, the high powered release of magic in a destructive spell, or even the controlling of magics between worlds to create portals. The powers of magic are vast, and can be controlled well through training.
The flow of magical energy, mana, provides the power to cast spells. Spells are simply the procedure for manipulating mana to create an effect. Items can also be imbued with the procedures to accomplish tasks.
The casting and creation of spells is a vast topic, and well beyond the scope of this work. Our apprentices train for decades to become skilled magic wielders, and years more of specializing to create new effects.

Creating Magic Items

When making items, some materials are better at manipulating the magic to create a type of effect. For instance a staff works better for directed attacks or manipulating nature. The type of wood used in these cases would be different as holly would be better for natural effects and poisonwood or ironwood would be better for a war wizards staff. In turn metal is much better for armor and weapons. The best mineral we have found for armor, weapons, and the storage of mana is Valinse. This mineral is rare, but occurs in small rich veins. These veins usually have enough for 4 suits of armor, 6 shields, or around 20 swords. It took multiple veins to create a single Karenthian Battery.
The specific methods of creating items is also beyond the scope of this writing. Craftsmen work tirelessly for years to learn a specialty of crafting, and research can take years to build a new object.
Imbuing of gems with spells allow not magic users to use spells. For example a sapphire with a cryoball added to it would alllow anyone to hurl the cryoball at a target. Gem shooters would increase the range. Also, imbued gems are stable until activated by hard impact, thus making them effective ammunition for soldiers and travellers alike.

Additional Notes:

If you are able to read this through normal or magical means, you must find the glass and cipher to read any of our other works on this topic as they have been written in our encoded language of Nethen Ciclimancy.
Sadly this writing was but the beginning of the larger volume that was to explain magic to the new populations of this world, but I was just notified that our travel time has been changed to an earlier time and I will not have time to make this an exhaustive dissertation. You will need to go on these notes I have provided which are not complete.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane

Items of Note

Karenthian Batteries
Valinsin armors and weapons - These armors and weapons are of exquisite design so as to hold the enchantments to increase their protection and effects. We have found valinse capable of holding even the strongest enchantments given craftsmanship is of the highest quality. The addition of gems to these items make them even stronger and can grant additional powers, so some of the weapons and armor are wrought with sockets for adding a small number of valuable jewels.
The Device of Acquiescence - (The remainder of this line looks like it was burned away from the page and is entirely unreadable.)
Forge of Rithburron - A forge made and used by the master artisan and wizard Rithburron bich Hesman. It is said he could imbue valinse items with this forge and not need additional spells. He only made a few items with this forge before his untimely death while designing the first Karenthian Battery. Battery he was making also no longer exists as that bastard went up in flames when the battery exploded. Good ridance I say. Thief. (An additional section of burned text follows.)
Gem shooters - These mechanical devices launch imbued gems at ranges of up to 100 meters. This allows destructive or disruptive magics to be used by anyone, assuming the gems being shot have been given the necessary spells.
Transport gates - These devices create doorways to commonly traveled locations allowing for bidirectional travel within the world. Supplies and communications can be rapidly sent long distance in a timely manner. Normally these gates are opened only as needed and closed quickly as they expend a large amount of energy with each use. They do recharge within a few hours allowing for multiple trips per day. The receiving gate does not have to expend energy, only the initiating gate.
Glasses of ciclimancy - These along with a cipher code allow readers of encrypted text to read books written in Nethen Ciclimancy.
Arrisols Beads - A common necklace worn by wealthy members of our people. They create an illusion changing the appearance of the wearer at will to the clothes they choose. This is only and illusion. They can also be used to change ornamentation or hair styles in any combination of the three desired.