Magic

"What is magic? Simply put, anything that happens in the Physical Realm with its roots in either the Spirit or Dream realms is magic. And now you know about as much as you did before." - Arvandus, speaking to a young King Aldric, during a lesson about the Structure of the Universe

Magic is a part of life in the Great Ring and it can manifest in a variety of large and small ways. There are many types of magic that one might encounter, but they can be roughly grouped into a few categories: True Magic, Folk Magic, and Miracles.

True Magic

This is the magic of the Spirit Realm, and is the most powerful and versatile form of magic in the world. A True Mage can directly manipulate the energy in their Pneuma to create magical effects. With enough skill and practice, a True Mage can do almost anything they can imagine, as long as they can pull enough power together to make it happen.

However, most people are not capable of True Magic. The gift to directly manipulate spiritual energies is very rare, appearing in only one in a million people. Also, the gift seems to interfere with the fertility of those who have it; True Mages very rarely have children of their own, and even when magic is used to enable it, their children are never True Mages themselves. One of the few limitations of True Magic is this - you cannot make someone who was not born with the gift into a True Mage.

Several of the most powerful and influential people in the history of the Great Ring had the gift of True Magic. It was a universal trait of the strange Clarati sorcerers before they all vanished or died after the destruction of Sange. Other famous True Mages include the Malika of Saba, Arvandus, Court Wizard of Creoda, and the Tuniit folk hero Aippaq.

In many parts of the Great Ring, True Mages are treated with suspicion and fear. This is most especially the case in the Ynys Archipelago, where the Clarati ruled and experimented on the population for a thousand years. Because of this, many True Mages hide their abilities from their neighbors. Others will choose to live in isolated places, or will go to one of the few locations where they are welcomed (such as the city of Tarshish). Only a few make themselves public figures, and those are usually able to defend themselves from all who might threaten them.

Folk Magic

While True Magic pulls its power directly from the Spirit Realm, Folk Magic depends on the Dream and the Egregoric Force. These can create localized magical environments, where specific actions, objects, and words can have metaphysical consequences. The power that drives this comes from the beliefs of the community, and only works in the locations where those beliefs hold sway. As such, the specifics of Folk Magic can vary wildly from one place to another, and a practitioner from one island may find that their spells and rituals cease to function when they travel elsewhere. You can read more about Folk Magic here.

Miracles

The third category of magic commonly found in the Great Ring is miracles. This is the power granted to certain people by the gods and spirits they are connected to. Granting miracles to a person is a drain upon the power of a god, and thus they only provide this power to a select few who act as their special agents in the world. These agents of the divine are known by many names throughout the Great Ring, but the most general term used is Avatar. You can read more about Avatars here.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane

Metaphysical Arts

While most people cannot access the energy of the Spirit Realm directly, there are methods to gain access to that power without the gift of True Magic. By the use of certain magically active materials such as Orichalcum and Leechleaf Juice, people without the gift can collect and manipulate the spiritual energy in the world and in themselves. There are two prominent metaphysical arts practiced in the Great Ring: Alchemy, and Mahōbori (magical tattooing). You can read about them here.

Is That Your Real Name?

Among True Mages, a True Name is a powerful thing, and not to be shared with anyone who might be able to use it against you. Part of a person's True Name is the name they were first given and that the person thinks as their own. Because it is so powerful, many True Mages will conceal their personal name and adopt an alias or moniker instead. You can read more about True Names here.

Natural Magic

Magic is not the domain of sapient species alone. There are many creatures who have learned to manipulate spiritual energies in the natural world, usually to produce a limited effect. One example is the Hval Catfish, which uses magic to keep the water it swims in perpetually warm. Another is the Leechleaf Bush, which can siphon the spiritual energy directly from creatures that accidentally touch it. Creatures like this can appear anywhere in the Great Ring, and are frequently exploited by the local populations for their powers.