Magical Energy, the Power System of Seven Seals

The Power System of Seven Seals

Created & Written by Khali A. Crawford

Magical Energy is a form of natural energy that originates in the 5th Dimension. The practice of Magic is separated into two schools of thought; Incantations and Sorcery; Faith vs Understanding. 
Incantations are the method approach to Magic that sees a Mage gain power and skill via their Faith; a measure of obedience and belief to a Deity or Celestial being. Their Faith empowers a Deity which in turn empowers them. This form of Magic allows Mages to "feel" their way through a Miracle (spell) without actually knowing the details of it themselves. Additionally, Mages with strong Faith can amplify their Magic past their normal threshold. Incantation Mages sire children who possess, on average, a stronger magical ability than without. Incantations are recorded as hymns, poems, songs, or even stories and are contained within a Prayerbook.
Sorcery is the application of Magic through equations and systems of runes and sigils to alter reality, negating the need for Faith and instead relying on Understanding; a Mage's ability to truly comprehend any given subject. The base of Sorcery is the Onk, an alphabet of Runes and Sigils that each tie back to a general basic core idea like time or fire. These Onk can then be arranged in circular arrays. Connected with smaller equations and explanations, called Magnus Ulta, which act as the instructions for the Spells, detailing exactly what needs to be done.
To demonstrate, assume you have an array with the fire Onk in it. Casting it normally may cause you or the object to erupt in flames, quite useless. But with proper Magnus Ulta implemented, you can make a fireball or serval fireballs that trigger under certain circumstances. Onk Runes are what the spell does (fire) and Magnus Ulta is how it is done (shape=ball, condition=x).
Because of the complexity involved in Sorcery, many Spells can be detailed down to the t to work under specified circumstances or do very specific and elaborate things, a perk Incantations lack in full. However, because of this level of complexity, Sorcery cannot easily be cast in a fight, and your enemy will rarely allow you the time to write out your equations and Runes. And this is where Sorcery primarily differs from Incantations; the former demands a Mage prepare beforehand whilst the ladder allows Mages to cast on the fly.

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Effect

Magic, through a system of spoken craft, sigils, and spells, can be used to manipulate the way in which you, or others, interact with reality.

Side/Secondary Effects

To use Magic is to tap into the power of Philloray, the 5th Dimension. The personification of Magic is the God of Magic, a madman constrained to his kingdom for the sake of the cosmos. Think of Philloray as making soup, you add in the spices and meat and vegetables and herbs, but have you ever tried to unmake soup? Separate the spices from the broth from the meat from the vegetables? Let Philloray overwhelm your mind and you shall be yoked into it forever, never to return.
Every Mage is born with an internal limit to how much Magical Energy they can safely operate with at any given point in time. To make use of this limit, one needs to inch deeper and deeper into Philloray, risking madness and insanity. To prevent this, any Mage worth their salt practice RESOLVE. Resolve is the skill of fortifying your mind, body, and spirit against Madness.
Incantations demand Faith, but some Mages may come to learn that the more they give in to their Faith, the more Faith, and influence from their Deity can sink in. Some begin to forget who they are. Or once were, in favor of what their Deity needs them to be.
Sorcery has no such weakness but because the craft demands Understanding, some come to Understand the Madness of Magic and slip into it without even knowing. In this regard, Incantations are superior as the power of their Deity seems to add an extra layer of protection whereas Sorcery does not.

Manifestation

~ The Eight Arts Of Magic~

All Magic can be categorized into one of the following 8 Arts. These categories are meant to generally capture how Magica can be released from the body.

1. Art of Divination -- Magic flows through all things and all people in some capacity, by manipulating one's own energy one can obtain information that was not previously known.
2. Art of Necromancy -- The manipulation of life energy through Magic as Magic can only flow through the Living. With such an art one could raise the dead or reanimate fallen corpses.
3. Art of Alchemy -- more of a science than magic, this art seeks to turn something of a specified volume and content into something else of the same or similar qualities with the aid of Magical Energy.
4. Art of Golemancy -- Involves the act of creating constructs made of, infused with, or powered by one's own Magical Energy that can be given very detailed instructions and orders.
5. Art of Conjuration -- This art is the ability to move people, items, creatures, or even places from one location in space-time to another in space-time. You could teleport yourself across a ship or conjure monstrous creatures, but you cannot conjure anything you have not already prepared beforehand.
6. Art of Enchantment -- This is relatively simple as it is imprinting your magical energy onto a person, place, creature, or item to do a sure thing. This action demands a sufficient amount of energy to do but once cast, will not need to be re-cast.
7. Art of Illusion -- using Magical Energy to manipulate what others see, feel, taste, smell, and hear to achieve the desired effect.
8. Art of Evocation -- The most simple and basic use of Magical Energy but also very powerful. It basically allows you to 'release' your Magical Energy as something other than Energy, breaking a law of the known universe. One could release its magical energy as lighting or in the form of pure energy to attack an enemy.

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Elemental Release and Arcane Tomes

Transmutation is a subset of Magical Art Eight, Evocation, where raw magical energy, or any other substance, can be turned from one thing into another. This is one of the more complicated forms of Magic as a high degree of science and physics is needed to turn one metal into another, supplementing missing factors with one's own Magical Energy. The other application of Transmutation is a skill called Elemental Release, which allows a Mage to take raw magical energy and release it as an element. While it does still require an intimate understanding and knowledge of the desired element, it is easier to cast in a pinch.

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Primal Tomes are elemental 'primes' that exist within any given people. They function like an Inherited Majikal Technique in the sense that they are passed down through bloodlines. For example, the Tajima clan of Earth held the Lighting Arcane Tome for many eons. These Tomes prevent the Mage from releasing their Magic as anything other than that given element but grant them the patron deity of that element to call on.

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Magic Spells and Arrays

Sorceries and Incantations use the First Runes, sigils, and language that make up the aspects of a spell, albeit in different ways. A spell is made up of three things, the Principal Runes, the First Script, and its formation. There are limited Principal Runes used to represent things like Time and Fire that make up "what the spell is", i.e a Chronomancy or a Pyromancy. The First Script is the universal tongue throughout the stars and it is used to tell the Runes what to do, i.e what shape the Pyromancy should take or how long the Chronomancy should stop time.

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Finally is its formation which relates to its complexity to cast and use. Formations go from 1 to 10 and dictate how many Principal Runes can be employed in a said spell. A Trigram Pyromancy will only have space for three fire Runes. Other practices go past 10 for their formations but this is unadvised as it goes against the teachings of The Holy Order. This system shows how many Runes go into a spell but spells can be compounded together. This allows for things like the 7 Decagram Barrier of Sealing, which contains 7 separate Spells, each Spell holding 10 Sigils which are all arranged and manipulated to work in tandem with each other, a very elementary spell.

• Monogram - Spells that allow for (1) Sigil
• Digram - Spells that allow for (2) Sigils
• Trigram - Spells that allow for (3) Sigils
• Quadgram - Spells that allow for (4) Sigils
• Pentagram - Spells that allow for (5) Sigils
• Hexagram - Spells that allow for (6) Sigils
• Septagram - Spells that allow for (7) Sigils
• Octagram - Spells that allow for (8) Sigils
• Nongram - Spells that allow for (9) Sigils
• Decagram - Spells that allow for (10) Sigils

The manifestation of spells differs from Sorceries and Incantations. Sorceries demand more details and precision, or you risk a spell going out of control. But as a result, they are more complicated, harder to undo, and can be heavily modified to do a certain thing. Incantations on the other hand are guided by Faith and let Mages feel their way through the Magic if their Faith is strong enough, which is more forgiving on the details.

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Sorceries are contained in a Grimoire which reads like a textbook detailing the various complex spells and formations. One spell can span entire chapters as the information needed to understand it is vast. Incantations are contained in Prayerbooks that read like scripture from a religion. They are prayers that invoke the name and glory of their deity and are far shorter than Sorceries.

The Seven Gates

Within all living beings who possess a SOUL there lies a network of paths that connect the Mind to the Body to the SOUL itself. These networks are connected by seven Gates which act as a nexus for directing Magical Energy. Learning how to open and master the 7 Gates is the very first thing a Novice will need to do, as improper Magical Energy flow will result in weaker and impotent spells. Any mage worth their weight in Hosar can open all 7 Gates to make full use of their Magical Energy.

Source

Magical Energy is the primordial goop leftover from when all of existence was cast from The Crucible. This energy is an abstraction of the Crucible, manipulating the Crucible directly is impossible. There is virtually no hard limit on how much Magical Energy you can pull in, the only real limit being how far you can reach into the Crucible without it reaching into you.

The Holy Order's Views on Magic

Despite what many will say, the Holy Order does not forbid Sorceries, and neither did Hasadiah, The First Name of God. While Incantations rewarded blind faith, Her Grace had need of advanced and complex Majiks that could surpass Incantations. This is what sets the Holy Order apart, as it employed both schools of thought to maintain control over the other pantheons.

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Most other Panthones and Religions in and outside of Yggdrasil do not employ Sorceries, viewed as an insult to their Gods. It should be noted that one of the Holy Order, and most other Religions, greatest enemies are The Order of the Dragons Head, Mage-Knights who exclusively make use of Sorcery. This fundamental change in ideology is what puts them at odds with many powerful foes.

Material Components

Ink Azur

A special type of blue ink can be applied directly to the skin of a person much in the same manner spells are written onto Grimoires / Prayerbooks for ease of casting at a later time. This Ink Azur on the body is primarily used for things like Enchantments or Wards / Seals, as once cast, they will retain their magical attributes for long periods of time. Meanwhile, things like offensive spells can only be used once before they will need to be "recharged".

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The primary use of Ink Azur, like any Grimoire or Prayerbook, is to simply streamline the spell casting process. Spells can be cast quickly from these, and even faster from the body directly. And like other written and "charged" spells, making use of these markings does not deplete your own Magical Energy supply. However, these Spells will 'corrode' over any given period of time, forcing the Mage in question to bath in a Cirlian Spring to have them removed and reapplying them later. Ink Azur is a reasonably common item to be found on most civilized worlds and Realms.

WAND

WANDs are tools or items that can be used to conduct or better control one's Magical Energy. They are seen as a crutch as it can be removed or damaged and a Mage who relies too much on a WAND is a dead Mage. You must be able to perform your Magic at any time and any location, regardless of current equipment, or their lack of it.

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In this same vein is the classification of materials in the cosmos into three types, based on how well they can conduct Magical Energy;

• Nynur stifle or block Magical Energy, best to avoid them;
• Minur has no measurable effect on energy flow, quite common;
• Uru boosts or enhances Magical Energy flow, most WANDs are made from an Uru Material;

If encased in a Nynur ore, even the most renowned of Mages will quickly find themselves in between a rock and a hard place.

Flask of Iðunnian Cider

Iðunnian Cider is made from the apples that grow on Mynwood, trees that were abundant in the Garden of Eden. The cider made from a properly maintained Mynwood tree can be used to heal even fatal wounds and stave off death. Although a great number of apples are needed to extract this substance, so most Mages only carry a single small flask on their person for emergencies when Healing Magic won't get the job done or Energy is scarce.

Applied Restriction

Study of the Arcane Arts

Magic is a massive and complex topic to learn, not considering the 8 Arts that make it up and the various applications to cast Magic. It may take one Mage a few months to master it while others need serval years to reach the same level. But one is not considered a "Mage" until they can at least adequately perform in at least 3-4 of the 8 Arts. The title of "Eight Arts Mage" is given to those who have mastery in all 8 Magical Arts while the title of "Great Mage Equal to Heaven" is reserved for Mages who surpass the 8 Arts.

Magical Energy Limits

The only requirement for Magic is to be in possession of a SOUL, there is no biological cap on how much Magical Energy you can possess or channel through your body. The implied limit is how far a Mage can reach into The Crucible without losing hold of themselves, i.e the trait called RESOLVE. This skill must be learned and maintained, Mages with poor discipline or an immature understanding of their limits will quickly find them when it is too late.

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The first warning of Limit-Breaking is a massive jump in the amount of Magical Energy you can conjure as a result of reaching deeper into the Crucible. And it deeper into you. The next milestone is mental instability, irritability, irrational line of thought, and mass paranoia, the MADNESS begins to seep from the infected, traveling through the Magical Energy of those around them to infect them as well. The final stage is noting. Some Mages go completely mad, some become crazed fanatics who worship The Crucible. And some simply cease.

Familiars

Magic is an abstraction from The Crucible, Mages are beings with SOULs who can employ their power to alter the way in which they engage with reality, and vice versa. All beings emerge from The Crucible, but a certain subset who emerge contain a higher concentration of pure Crucible energy than others. These beings reside in another Dimension, the 5th Dimension, Philloray.

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Familiars are beings with a SOUL but, as a result of their high concentration of Crucible Energy, cannot exist within the lower Dimensions for extended periods of time. Most are content in Philloray, but some have a fancy for the affairs in lower Dimensions and seek to involve themselves. In order to do this, they form a Binding Vow with a Mage. The details of these Vows can change but in general, the Mage can summon the Familiar in exchange for some other service or because they simply like them. Vows last until the conditions are met, Mages can have as many Vows as they wish, granted none conflict with each other, and the breaking of a Vow will punish the party responsible according to their Vow. There exist three types of Familiars;

1. Minion: Usually refers to a small horde or group of weak beings who all agree to a Binding Vow, likely to be malevolent to some degree. (Very Common)
2. Lesser Summoning: Smaller numbers but massively more powerful, these beings are more likely to be benevolent (Common)
3. Greater Summoning: Ancient and old beings that dwarf other summoning, Mages with such Vows are few and far between.

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Outside of Summoning, Familiars can help focus a Mage's Magic and hone their skills. Many Mages will make Vows with Familairs simply to learn the Magical Arts from Magical Beings, who better to teach? Those who have studied under great Familiars develop a deeper level of Understanding. Others employ Familiars to provide structure to their Magic. As Magic is very abstract at times it can be difficult to visualize what it is that needs to happen, and thus structure will remedy this. If one's Familiar happens to be a frog, they may cast Pyromancies that resemble their patron.

Requiem

The manifestation of a Bivvi (soul) in the physical plane of existence is known as a Requiem. In order to manifest their Bivvi one needs to have reached Nirvana, a state of being and awareness where one experiences neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, allowing them to comprehend infinity and wield their Bivvi in their Requiem form.