Somatic Magic

Somatic magic is the discipline of gaining mastery over one's own physical being. Some people have stumbled across this ability while attempting to resist a wound or disease, especially those with naturally strong wills. Others have genetic predispositions towards this ability and perform them naturally, but usually in a limited way. This accounts for many of the skinchanger legends. Most somatics have been trained by mentors within a certain tradition. Many of these traditions also involve communion with telluric spirits.

Somatic magic was the first consciously practiced magic of any sapient being, developed by the abyssals two million years ago, an age before the ancestors of surface peoples had even mastered the use of fire. In the harsh conditions of the abyssal plains, a mutation provided a knack for somatic manipulation, the ability to adjust their own physiology that provided survival benefits that were strongly evolutionarily selected for in their extreme environment. As the abyssal ulan developed culture, the techniques began to be more quickly refined and spread. These refined abilities were carried forward into surface world by the coastal ulan and spread to the surface races. Some groups of surface peoples also developed certain abilities on their own.

Practitioners of somatic magic have fine control over their own forms and physiology. They can survive harsh conditions, go without air, food or drink for periods of time, heal rapidly, or become immune to toxins and disease. Some can modify their bodies more overtly, becoming stronger and faster, changing size, growing appendages, natural armor and weapons or gaining the ability to produce venom, acid or generate electricity. The most talented somatics are great students of nature and study the life around them to learn and improve their skills.