Magic

There is not yet an actual name for this force (there may never be, to be honest) but this is going to be the primary, if not only, source of supernaturality present in The Funhouse.  The rules are not fully fleshed out yet, but they are slowly building and developing together. The most notable characteristics of this magic so far its unique ones, that I developed to distinguish it from more standard systems.  Magic can be accessed by any sentient being on the world.  Its not like Harry Potter, or Mistborn, or any of those other things where you are born with magic, or not.  Instead, it is more a matter of potential and study, not pure genetics.  Any human is capable of doing a single pull-up.  However, it takes someone with both high physical potential and a solid training regimen to do 20 or 30.  The use of this magic operates in a similar fashion. **Magic functions by adding power, in one format or another, to an action.  It is harnessed, or called, to reinforce said activity by the activity's relative alignment with either a higher truth or beauty.  As a simple example: the inscription of a mathematical formula (2 + 2 = 4) could be used to impart a small amount of heat into the object on which it was inscribed.  Maybe the simplest and least complicated possible expression of truth.  This would have the benefit of providing stable, consistent results, and the downfall of providing commensurately small amount.  Small risk, small reward.  On the other side of things, the expression of beauty, whether it be in visual arts, crafting, calligraphy, or even the skilled delivery of a well-written speech, also has the potential to harness power in one form or another.  This is an impossibly versatile way of expressing power, however it also has the downside of making many tasks which are viewed as "standard" on more stable planes of existence fraught with peril.  To someone who does not at least have passing training in the myriad effects possible, an act as simple as painting graffiti, carving a toy, writing a letter, or a humming a song could have strange, and possibly dangerous effects.  To people who live in this world, these effects are so variable that some do not even bother studying them, and simply attempt to avoid tasks that have "burned" them in the past.  Others do things by rote, not knowing exactly why building a ship the way their grandfather taught them makes the end result stronger than the tree the wood was cut from, but knowing that so long as they put the extra carvings on the front in just the right way, they will still be the best.  There are an infinite number of other ramifications to this system that I am still working out.  The biggest one culturally however is going to be the fact that learning to write without the proper guidance and tools can actually be a very dangerous proposition, and as such illiteracy is even more common than would be expected given the technological level of the society.  Also, those who can write are even less common than those who can read, and much prized as a result.** The biggest bottleneck in being a trained, legitimate user is education.  Magic is a fundamental force of nature in The Funhouse, however, it is one that is several levels more complicated and dangerous than our world's physics, chemistry, and the like.  It interacts with the natural world on all levels, and in order to understand how it does so in a systematic way, those other sciences must in most cases be studied first.  The amount of learning required to be an actual mage, as opposed to a magically skilled orator, or a carpenter who can invest a modicum of power into his works is not to be underestimated.  This has given rise to the I. M.' C. and their grueling and involved educational practices, which are discussed in more detail elsewhere.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane