Runemagic

Around his neck the old man had many different plates hanging on a thread, each of a different type of stone and all visibly inscribed with a mystical rune. Konne immediately recognized several of them, some were describing fire, others promised healing. One of them, he noticed with an uneasy feeling, hailed of death itself. Armed with these runes, the man before him was a dangerous person.

Runemagic is the ability to imbue various materials with lasting runes to trigger specific effects when used. Depending on the used material and the inscribed runes, the effects can vary from a simple flash of light to increased strength of a person, faster healing or searing fire.

The ability to imbue runes with magic is only given to Mannen that did not change into different creatures during Wotan's Call. While this is not true for every Mannen, along the Chauken almost everyone does hold this ability to some degree.

It is worth mentioning, however, that several artifacts definitely from before Wotan's Call, like the sword Jotunstreik are as well imbued with functional magical runes.

Usage

Using a rune is not restricted to anybody. Any person can pick up a rune and, while having it touching their bare skin, can intuitively focus on activating the rune if it should be of an active variant.

The effect usually will trigger immediately, depending on the imbued magic. Any delays or a focus on a specific target is possible but needs a more skilled focus, which can be trained.

Runes of a passive variant usually need no kind of activation - however, it might be necessary to fulfill certain conditions for the rune to take effect, like touching skin or being enclosed in something.

Imbuing

A Runebard can imbue most materials with specific Tövereen Runes engraved on the object, where the used runes define the desired spell. Runes can be combined to create more specific or complex spells.

The chosen material, however, restricts the complexity and possible runes that can be used. Where leather and wood can only hold simple spells, bone, stone, ceramic and metal can hold many complex runes.

Overall the size, complexity, and precision of the engraved rune determine how potent a spell can be. Creating more potent runes is mentally exhausting for the Runebard.

Manifestation

The child lay on the floor, gasping for air and deep red blood slowly trickled into the earth. Her father kneeled beside her, his rune inscribed helmet discarded at his side without any thought. He pulled out a small stone tablet, pressed it on the gaping wound on his daughter's chest and murmured a barely audible prayer to the gods. A blinding flash of light engulfed his daughter. The weeping stopped.

There are runes of active and passive variety. Passive runes, when inscribed on something, will have a lasting effect on the inscribed object. This effect will be active as long as the rune is intact or until the spell of the rune has lapsed. It cannot affect anything not being part of the inscribed object.

Active runes will only release their effect once a user holds it in their hand and consciously focuses on releasing the effect. After the spell has passed, which can affect the wearer, its surroundings or a specific target, the object holding the rune will be destroyed.

Accidental Release

If a rune of an active variant is destroyed, the spell might be released immediately and can affect anything randomly all around it. The effects will be concentrated on a short moment and are usually much more potent and can be accompanied by random side effects.

In the case of passive runes, their destruction usually just ends the effect it had on the object. If potent runes are being destroyed it will be accompanied by a visual effect, like a flash or sparks.

There can be side-effects when two or more rune bearing objects are somehow permanently melded together to form one object. Those side-effects may be completely unpredictable and should be avoided.

Faulty Runes

If the Runebard chooses a misfit combination of runes, the effect will be either be radically diminished or have a random effect. In most cases, it will only result in a flickering light or a high pitched fizzling noise. If a person without the magical skill engraves the proper runes, it will usually have no effect at all.

Unfortunately for a layman, it is not possible to distinguish working from fake runes, unless they try to activate them. This has already motivated several shady figures to deal with fake runes or engravings that have never been properly imbued.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane

Spread

Very Common (Chauken)
Common (Germanen)
Very Rare (Isanmannen)

Related Species

Mannen

Related Ethnicities

Chauken
Friesen
Langobarden
Ampsivaren

Further Reading

Creating Runes

Runes and Traditions