In Terra Rynn, magic is intertwined in the development of new tools and systems. Technology encompases not just the mechanical and physical devices, but also the mystical and arcane, and how their applications improve civilization. While magic is not ubiquitous as was in the fabled cities of Maedrabara, Zaholi, Ladtanta, or even in the golden age of ancient Turath, it is prevalent enough that most people have interacted with either magical items, or practitioners at several points in their lives. For many citizens of more prosperous civilizations, such occurrences likely happen on a weekly or daily basis. Regardless of the average person’s experience, magic has likely improved many aspects of their lives, often without them knowing it.
The exact prevalence of magic users is unknown, but best estimates are that every 1 out of 5000 souls possesses some level of magical prowess. The density of mages is not equal though, and several civilizations have more than others; nations like the sciettish, muscovan, and the svanesse have an above average number of practitioners, whilst groups like the orgol and the xianlian have proportionally less than the average.
Magewrights & Mageknights
Most mages in a society are little more than novices; often known as magewrights, they usually specialise in a cantrip-class spells and perform services as highly trained artisans, merchants, and professionals. Depending on the size of a nation's territory, magewrights may wander and provide service to several villages over the course of a year, while others may establish themselves in a small town and maintain the local populace. Most users often apprentice under a more skilled master, much like a blacksmith or a tailor, though the investment for such training is often much higher.
Conversely, many apprentice magicians who serve in armies are known as mageknights. Often, these warriors are either trained from an early age or selected from the current caste of soldiers. They are instructed in the ways of magic to enhance their ability to command troops and defend against unusual attacks. These magical warriors often have a variety of different names depending on their role and origin, such as Svanesse Magus, Xianlian Bahaku, or Muscovan Cossicars.
In either case, only a rare number of individuals have either the resources, skill, or ambition to obtain the higher limits of magical power. Individuals may be injured or killed in such an attempt, or may be dissuaded from further investigation without the proper support from various entities. Those that do succeed, however, often hold important responsibilities, such as maintaining critical magical infrastructure (like teleportation circles), powerful advisor positions, or as elite special operatives. They often sit near the heart of power in many nations, and have great influence on the events of the world.
Magewright Professions Examples
Apothecary, Augur, Chambermage, Sentinel, Luminary, Tinker, Scrivner
Everyday Life
For most individuals, they may only see a magic employed when they take a trip to the city. Despite the support of tinkers repairing farming tools, priests able to tend to minor wounds, and the occasional druid able to bless the harvest, much of the labor in daily life goes on without the need of magic. Magic is not prevalent enough to be available to every citizen at the same time, so most have had to develop the means to do without. It’s considered a rare treat to get a magewrought tool, or a blessing to have a sickly loved one tended to by a sanctioned priest.
There is some superstition about some sorts of magic used versus others, these beliefs manifesting usually in more isolated communities. Its rare to find anyone who genuinely denies the power of mages, but more common to find someone who questions its use. As far as legal protections, the occasional use of magic usually isn’t grounds for hostility, but the use of magic for commerce is either regulated to protect the populace from charlatans, or else controlled by the forces in power, in order to curb threats to their monopoly.
Each society has certain technology and developments that they value over others; this section serves to review the primary large, extensive developments that have had a near universal impact.
Communication
Communication technology has remained primarily tied to developments in magical artificing and expansion. Outside of more mundane developments in ciphering and codebreaking, the ability to transmit information across distances quickly has remained outside the means of most people. Recently, though, several inventions have greatly increase the reach, and helped to connect critical hubs together.
Letters
Despite advancements in other magecraft, the standard letter remains the backbone of civilized communication. While most people have little need to communicate more than a village away, there is the occasional need for someone to get word to another several hundred miles away. Often the cheapest method, it is also often the slowest, and most letters move no faster than walking pace or the speed of a wagon.
For most civilians and commoners, letters are often delivered through a series of transactions between friends, strangers, and sometimes professional traders. In general, an individual will often offer payment or some favor to another to take the letter as far as they are travelling, at which point the courier hopes to pass the letter off in order recoup their investment, plus some profit depending on how far they travelled. This process will likely be repeated several times until it arrives at its destination.
In larger towns and cities, there are often several well-known hubs, usually part of various taverns or stores, that offer message receipt and delivery services, and serve as primary nodes to route a lot of correspondence to its destination, collecting a premium for the service.
Messengers
When speed, cost, and discretion are all important, messengers become the ideal means of communication. Commonly young men, either expert runners or mounted riders, messengers are often hired to deliver messages within a local region quickly and quietly. Some are independent, and depending on the buyer, may handle normal or ciphered messages, others may be sworn to serve important persons, and have several safeguards to protect their packages.
There are also messengers that employ creatures to aide them in message delivery. The most common is the use of homing pigeons. Often set up by intrepid rural individuals, they often allow an otherwise remote village to stay connected to more civilized society. Other animals that have been used are dogs, and some varieties of fish - often these uses are dependent on local geography
Bridge Tomes
The more recent invention that has come about in the last generation has been the development of the Bridge Tome. Previously, only well-trained arcanists were able to channel energy to communicate sound or text across hundreds of miles, and it would require their full attention. Often, such an effort was worthless to an individual able to achieve that level of ability. However, with the advancement of artificing, and the apprenticeships for Magewrights, this ability was gradually distributed to more and more civil centers.
The result was the creation of magically enchanted paper, usually bound into Tomes. The basic system consists of two pages that once enchanted, can reflect allows one page to copy the text on a corresponding page instantly, regardless of the distance. A Bridge Tome usually contains two sets of pages, sending & receiving. Each Tome has an operator, and this allows the operator to communicate in real time via writing with another operator at the other end.
Because each Tome only corresponds with another Tome, a complex network needs to be developed to truly make use of this invention, and the civilizations that have managed it have grown far more prosperous. These advancements include dedicated buildings needed to house tens or hundreds of Tomes depending on their location, a system of note taking and record keeping in order to track messages as they come in and go out, and finally the training of magewright scrivs and ordinary scribes and messengers to manage and administer all of these facets.
Message Studs
Both Bridge Tomes and Message Studs initially grew out of military concerns. Where the Bridge Tome increase military strategic ability, the Message Stud allows for greater tactical control. Developed within the last 40 to 50 years, the message stud has been refined from more archaic sending stones that were discovered from Ancient artifacts.
Currently, message studs consist of small copper earrings set with an artificed gem. With a simple touch, a wearer can speak audibly and have their voice heard by all linked studs within approximately a few hundred feet. If a wearer is behind Magical silence. 1 foot o f stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet o f wood, transmission and reception of sound through the stud is blocked. Future advancements might allow these studs to replace even the Bridge Tomes - however these devices remain expensive to produce, and flexibility in use (message studs can only be created in groups, and cannot be recombined if one set is lost). Until then, their use is expected to remain limited to more martial and expert uses.
Remote Viewing
Despite the advancements of artificing and communication, several powerful magical talents still remain reserved for powerful mages, and uses almost exclusively for very high end intelligence and covert operations. The spells of Sending, Clairvoyance, Scry, Telepathic Bond, Project Image, and Telepathy, allow either a single mage or pair of wizards (often diviners) to establish a real-time connection with another location or individual.
The nature and use of these abilities is highly varied, and very much dependant on the ability of the users, and context in which they operate. For most commoners, some are aware of it, and few consider it something they would either need to use, nor how its use impacts their lives. For those that do utilize it, protecting your ability to utilize these spells, and leveraging your knowledge is of the utmost importance.
Arkoshian Merchant Ingots
While superstition is often used to explain the origin of the Merchant Ingot, its true creation was likely a collaborative effort from Maeron merchants and Arkoshian enchanters. One of the most famous inventions of the
Hadish Ealim, the Merchant Ingot is an enchanted piece of precious metal (silver, gold, or platinum) that guards itself against theft or illicit transfer. Bars or Long rods are nscribed with enchanted with Arkoshian runes that protect the money from theft. The enchantment not only allows the gold to be tracked but, if desired, allows the item to be destroyed by the original owner. Each Rod is created with a two-part cipher, the other part recorded on vellum, or other durable records. Burning or tearing the record causes the associated treasure to dissolve and evaporate.
Also called "Money Rods" or "Dragon Gold", Merchant Ingots are often traded among wealthy nobles and banks in lieu of transporting large sums of coinage. The enchantments lower costs of guarding the product as thieves must be able to disenchant the rods before being able to pawn them - they are otherwise hard to trade (given the uncertainty of being able to retain the valuables worth before being exchanged).
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