Magic

What is Magic

Magic is a force of extremely volatile energy found throughout Terra and from a variety of sources. Many groups have innate use of magic from birth, while others must through great study and training obtain the ability later in life. Magic exists latently in the world, believed to have originated from a Basal Magic, and through corruption, influence in local factors, and deliberate intervention, manifests in different forms.

History

In prehistory, magic is believed to have existed in the world naturally in great amounts, though had not been able to of been used for the vast majority of time. Dragons are widely believed to be the first to have utilized magic, though not deliberately, instead as a response to evolutionary pressure and developed forms of immortality across the majority of species. This immortality resulted in all living dragon clades to be unable to die of age as other dragon species went extinct. Sapient dragons further developed their prowess in magic, developing many of the schools and basing their cultures around them. When for unknown reasons dragons went into mass hibernation and experienced a mas extinction event, many forms of magic were lost.
The use of magic during the human era is largely speculative as few verifiable records of it exist, clouded by history, myth, and legends. It is most widely believed that Humans had some of the highest Magic Resistance known, as many of their closest descendants do today, making magic use incredibly difficult for their kind, as well as even detecting it. Vampires and Lycans during the human era, with notably lower magic resistance, may have in fact been the sources of many claims of magic use.

Schools

The schools of magic, the categories that individual spells are grouped into, are an organizational system in order to group like spells together. This system is based on similar characteristics, effects, and manifestations or sources of power, however, does not take into account the actual function of how these spells are originally formed. Spells in the same school while they made produce the same effect (say, fire), do not necessarily have the same origins and may have arising completely independently of one another. Due to the manufactured nature of most magic used in the world, spells can change schools depending on their development over time, and how they are used.

Basal

Basal magic is a hypothetical school of magic- It is not proven to exist and no known spells fall into it. Basal magic is believed to be the original and purest form of magic with the most potential due to not being shaped into anything else, thus not losing any of its power. While basal forms of magic are theorized to have existed at some point, none has ever been replicated.

Life and Death

These two schools are considered to be the different sides of the same coin, with a variety of effects all relating to sustaining or ending one's life. Pure life and pure death spells are incredibly rare, and the vast majority of them are often arbitrarily assigned to a school depending on their most common effect though when overcharged or mishandled, can produce the opposite desired effect.

Elemental Schools

The elemental schools are groupings of magic pertaining to the basic elements- Fire, water, earth, air, and lightning. Mana as a whole is classified as an elemental school, though not all elemental magic is mana.

Fire

The fire school is a fairly straight forward to understand, as spells within this school almost always produce vast amounts of heat, usually manifesting as flames. Very rarely, overcharged spells of this school may produce lightning. Lightning mana was once considered to be part of the fire school.

Water

The water school contains all spells having to do with water and ice. Some ice spells may produce similar effects to some air spells.

Earth

Earth school spells typically deal with stone, soil, and metal. In some circumstances, many forms of spells may seem similar to fire spells, due to their nature of dealing with magma and lava. Placement of such spells if often considered on the primary magic residue produced.

Air

Unlike other elemental schools, the air school is the most straight forward with very little overlap with the others, pertaining to effects on air, air pressure, and temperature. Rarely overcharged spells can produce lightning, though this is generally from altering atmospheric conditions.

Lightning

While some fire or air spells may produce lightning under specific circumstances, there are a great many that do not fall under this situation, and are considered 'pure' lightning spells.

Artificial or Developed Schools

These schools of magic and spells are considered to be artificial, as they do not appear in nature normally, or were deliberately developed from other forms of magic.

Lunar

Lunar magic, as developed by the Lunar Dragonflight, is a derived form of shadow magic and potentially some spacial and water spells. Most lunar spells deal with shadows, the mind, and perception. Illusions are a very famous example of lunar spells.

Solar

Solar magic is highly developed by the Solar Dragonflight, mainly pertaining to sight and the sun itself. Although like many light school spells they can derive some power from other light sources, most solar spells are much more powerful when used in sunlight. It is widely believed that solar magic is a derived form of light magic.

Spacial

Spacial school spells alter the space around the caster or target, such as size, mass, and speed. The Theory of Same Magic Origins of Spatial, Dimensional, Illusion, and Time Magic outlines that it and temporal magic may be one in the same.

Temporal

A very new school of magic, temporal spells deal with time via speeding or slowing an action. The Theory of Same Magic Origins of Spatial, Dimensional, Illusion, and Time Magic outlines that it and spacial magic may be one in the same.

Light

Shadow

Blood

Blood is a controversial school of magic, as the spells themselves are troublesome to classify. There exists much debate on whether it is a true grouping at all based on the characteristics of the magic itself or whether such spells are grouped due to their practical usage and observed effects. Many forms of magic within the school were once classified as water, life, or death school spells.

Undefined

Undefined spells are those that cannot strictly be placed into a specific school. Spells of these types are incredibly rare, the vast majority of them coming from the gods themselves, hence making their placement much more difficult. Of those created by mortals, most are only placed into this category temporarily before being assigned to another school.

Spell Types

Mana- Mana type spells are a category of elemental magics fueled by their connection to The Major Gods. They are highly variable in their power, fluctuating depending on the influence, power, and even holidays and festivals of the elemental gods.
Curses- Curses are any spell that its effects can persist regardless of input from the original caster. Most often, curses function by fueling themselves without the aid of their caster, such as by absorbing heat, other spells, spell residue, etc. Curses are not inherently harmful, however, due to acting without direct input, can become an issue or pose danger if the circumstances they were used in originally are no longer being upheld.
Boons- Boon spells are similar to curses in that they can be active without input from their caster once created, however, they differ in that boons are exclusively used by the pantheon. Gods oftentimes use boons as way to aid their priests and followers, though some are negative and used as punishments.
Runes- Runes are a spell type that like curses, can act independently of their caster, however are placed as their own type of spell due to that runes must be activated in order to function. Most often, activation occurs through an influx of the same type of magic used to create them, or a specific magic type chosen by the caster.
Incantations- All spells of this type require spoken word of the caster in order to be used. Most often, incantations are a way for the caster to direct their focus onto putting the correct energy into the correct part of the spell at the precise time it is needed, as incantations often require steps to be done in a precise order.
Residue- Not a true spell, but rather, a byproduct of their usage. Spells often do not make use of all the magic energy put into them and can transform some of their energy on use, which is left behind as residue. Magic residue from spell usage can still have effects on the environment, people, and wildlife around it, oftentimes producing effects similar to but not as strong as the original spell when in high quantities.

Cast Type

Sustained Casting- A spell that is sustained must be actively be channeled in order to function. Once no longer powered or if the caster is interrupted, sustained spells will cease to function.
Instant cast- Instant cast spells work the moment they are cast, and are generally single use, needing to be recast repeatedly to be used again and again.

Spell Directory

Life

Curse of the Mouse
Immortality
Shape of the Soul
Rejuvenate
Restore
Revive (Life)

Death

Cleanse and Decay
Extinction
Revive (Death)

Fire

Fire Mana
Flame Rail
Magmatic Armor
Volcanic Wellspring

Water

Water Mana
Wellspring

Earth

Earth Mana

Air

Singing Blades
Wind Mana
Wind Scythe

Lightning

Lightning Mana

Lunar

Blackout
Blind (Lunar)
Familiar Binding
Invisibility
Lunar Mind Control
Mouth of Mora
Stress Bomb

Solar

Blind (Solar)
Sol Novus
Sun's Grasp

Spacial

Hidden Rivers Runic
Serpent Cloth Binding
Runic Barrier

Temporal

Light

Light Palm

Shadow

Blind(Shadow)

Blood