Book Excerpt: Necessary Definitions

Written by bananafire

If we're going to learn anything at all then we first need to set some basic definitions. Let's start with the one I've already mentioned, Auramancy.
The proper definition of Auramancy you might find in a dictionary is "the usage of one being's spiritual energy to move properties from one object to another". These properties are called "Aspects" in the common tongue by Auramancers. An Aspect can represent nearly any feature, from concrete ones such as mass, to more abstract concepts like feelings and life. If your language has an adjective for it, it probably has a related aspect. Researchers have found and cataloged nearly three thousand different aspects which can be controlled, and are finding more by the day. Of recent discovery is the Aspect currently named Aquaphiliativity, a unique property of water specifically that seems to make it stick to other bits of water. There is some debate as to whether it is it's own proper aspect or merely is the result of some other Aspect, and the name is simply dreadful, but it is fascinating nonetheless.
Moving on from dating this textbook, we need to discuss a very special Aspect, Life. Every living creature has a life aspect, and is cloaked in a shadow projected by the it known as the Soul. In the center of the Soul is an orb containing all the all the aspects related specifically to properties only a living creature has, like hunger or tiredness, known as the Life Core. Sapient creatures have a second orb inside them which holds aspects related to intelligence, personality, and memories, referred to as the Mental Core. Baser animals merely hold these aspects in the Life Core. Some theorize the presence of the Mental Core is what separates the intelligent races from such creatures.
Auramancy only exists because of out next subject to define, the Aether. The Aether is a collection of planes which exists alongside our normal one, usually visualized as being deeper into the a axis on the dimensional scale. Dimensional mechanics is a subject for another volume, but for now just know its a place which anyone can access parallel to the normal place we live in. Inside the aether exists a shadow connected to all objects which have form (and some that don't). These shadows look vaguely like the object they represent if you don't pay attention, but as one focuses on a particular shade they will find it made of countless infinitesimally small orbs. Each orb carries with it a tiny piece of what makes up the whole object, fragments of its properties. These orbs are the manifestations of the aspects we have been speaking of. The better one understands an aspect and the effects that aspect have on an object, the easier it is to locate said aspect among the veritable see of orbs. This is one of the major sources of the untold hours of research every advanced wizard does.
If the Aether is where the Aspects reside, the Soul is what permits living creatures to actually move them. With focus and training one can find themselves able to control their soul as easily as they might move an arm or a leg. Yet unlike an arm or a leg, the soul can interact with the other pane, plucking aspects from one object and physically shoving them into another. This manipulation of the aspects is Magic, or at least the kind we mortals can do. From this point forward learning how to see into the Aether and move the aspects one wants to use should be your goal, and the next few chapters will detail just how to do it.

Note: Since this book's release, several other different kinds of Aspects have been discovered. Of particular note is a mysterious aspect being called Connection magic. The only known instance of this Connection magic seems to come from a species called the Draelish.