Magic System
For the past 500 years, magic has been viewed as evil. It is the manipulation of dead souls. To use Soulweaving means that you hold dead souls within you, usually through killing another. 200 years ago for the Soleri and 50 years ago for Iron, the leaders have realized Soulweavers usefulness and started training using these magicians. However, they are still, generally, viewed negatively.
Vaskeer is innately magical. Souls are tangible and rise into the sky to join in The Burn or are absorbed by a killer. The magic system in this world is Soulweaving, which revolves around this rule that souls are held within the body. Souls themselves are dangerous. They are the pure life essence of a human that has passed on, and inside their soul are all their memories, passions, decisions, skills, strengths, and weaknesses. When you kill someone, their soul leaves their body and is absorbed into your own. It enters through the skin and seems to settle on your very bones. The body naturally rejects this. For 90% of the population, holding a soul inside your body other than your own is enough to drive them mad. They are overwhelmed by the others thoughts and begin to lose understanding of who they are. These people become The Lost, as detailed above. However, the other 10% of the population have developed a mental fortitude and are able to resist the majority of downsides that occur from holding a soul. When someone holds a soul inside their own body, it slowly taints their skin depending on how many souls they hold. Starting from their heart, the skin grows cold and dark green, arcing in tendrils across the body if prolonged. The upsides to holding souls within your body, if you can handle the mental duress, is you gain some physical attributes from the pure power of the souls within your body. You can escalating levels of strength, speed, balance, agility, etc. depending on the amount of souls within you. However, the more souls you hold, the more it damages your mental. Killing anything that holds more than their own soul, also transfers all other souls within them to the killer.
People that are able to hold many souls within themselves and benefit from the physical changes are called Titans. A Titan is someone who has experienced some kind of mind-altering event that has left their mind fragmented and sections the souls off somewhere deep within themselves. They do not have the same limits others do. They can absorb as many souls as they want and don’t have to consciously hold them. It is related to their mind-snapping in a specific way before they absorb souls, a rare sequence of events that lets them divide up their mind for protection innately. There have only been a small handful Titans throughout Vaskeer’s history. Most took over countries and created empires. They also are not affected by the soul tainting their skin and can pass as regular people. A Titan is naturally stronger, faster, more durable, and more agile than anyone. But they can draw upon the true power of the souls within them in short bursts as well. They can go deep into their mind and find the cold depths of the place that holds all the souls and unleash them. An aura around them bursts forth and they grow in power. The aura is both scalding hot and freezing cold, and the aura is a dark green with wisps of black smoke that leaks out of the plate armor. A mixture of red vapor that is their blood too. When a Titan is dormant, their aura is black and green like the souls inside them. When they draw upon the souls to grow in power and strength, the aura grows red with the vapor of blood leaking out of their body from the exertion.
Soulweaving itself is the simple act of being able to pull a soul out of your body. Soulomancers are able to remove souls from themselves, which is a very rare skill that less than 1% of the population have, at random. However, over Vaskeer’s history, these people have found that they can alter how the soul materializes through components and focuses when removing them. This process produces a ‘spell’. Due to how dangerous it is to hold another’s soul inside your body, it is very dangerous to try and collect souls for future spells, as Soulomancers do. The more powerful a spell is, the more souls it requires to cast. When a Soulomancer expels a soul in its natural state, it appears like Zombie Strange in MoM, a black and green humanoid form made of charred flesh and twisting green smoke that ends at the torso. Some spell components make souls linger, creating lasting spell effects, others are short bursts than burn the soul up as it is used. When a soul is transmuted by an elemental spell and burned up, no one knows what happens to the soul.
The interesting aspect of this magic system is that the more souls you hold within you, the more increased physical attributes you have at the time. It is nowhere near as much as a Titan, but it is significantly noticeable in a physical fight. As you use spells you get slightly slower, weaker, and more frail.
Because there are so many different ways to alter a soul, Iron has taken to teaching the students at a school, with expansive spellbooks filled with spells that track components, techniques, focuses, and descriptions. It is an expansive process to graduate from this school, and once that it is done, Soulomancers often find themselves tools to be used by the wealthy within the Empire. There are approximately 100 trained Soulomancers in all of Iron, including the Soulweaving apprentices, which has a population of 1 million. A Soulomancer’s Spellbook is a unique compilation of spells, with its own decorative flourishes and margin notes. It might be plain, functional leather volume received as a gift from a master, a finely bound gilt-edged tome found in an ancient library, or even a loose collection of notes scrounged together after losing a previous spellbook in a mishap. A Soulomancer is urged to put notes on each spell that help them specifically remember and cast the spells.
In Soleri, they have a druidic approach, remembering what components make what kind of spells based on the herb itself. They commit it all to memory and knowledge of the land, using a special spell named ‘Mind Tree’, where they tap into the souls they possess to store memory inside them. The spells they memorize are more focused on taking evil souls and using them to heal or nurture he land, with some elemental spells of raw power to defend the tribe with. The Soulomancers of the Soleri tribes are known as Shamans, and they have one Shaman to each tribe, trained by the Soul Mother. There are dozens of Soleri tribes, and each has one Shaman, but several in-training.
There have been six primal elements found to be created with souls through different plants. These are:
A list of remembered magic for Soleri Shamans is kept in their Mind Tree. The first spell that any shaman is taught is the ‘Mind Tree’, for them to remember all their spells. Shamans keep the plants in ore natural ways, dried petals or freshly grown in their camps. They are taught to use the Bird of Paradise flower the most, because it is the most naturally healing component. Shamans are prohibited from using Dragon Arum, and strongly urged to stay away from the Fire Lily. There evocation spells are only used in defense, and spell list is more focused on healing the land and creating food and water for their tribe. To turn evil souls into good effects on the land. Shamans are limited to 10 per tribe of Soleri, the holy number. Bezoar Magic – Although this magic seems completely unrelated to Soulweaving, it is still connected. Despite the wide belief that Humans are the only ones with souls, which is why they have intelligence and passion, animals have a soul as well. However, it is less of one and not visible to them.
A Bezoar is a solid mass of indigestible material that accumulates in a creature’s digestive tract. They usually look and feel like a small stone. Any animal can expel a Bezoar, and certain diets make it more likely for a Bezoar to appear in their body. However, due to the nature of souls in Vaskeer, when an animal expels a Bezoar, the stone has sat in their body for long enough to absorb some of the creature’s soul. When a Human swallows the Bezoar of a creature, the creature’s souls’ attributes leak into the Human soul and change them, granting unique powers and attributes related to the animal the Bezoar came from. Each Bezoar contains a limited amount of the creature’s soul within it and cannot be refilled. As long as a Bezoar sits in the stomach of a human, the Bezoar’s power is being used, it cannot be turned on or off.
A Tribe of Soleri discovered the powers of the Bezoar many years ago and keep it very secret. When they first tried to spread their knowledge, the other tribes persecuted them, believing that they were under the influence of one of the Animal Trickster Gods, or possessed by the mythical Skinwalkers. Now, that same tribe breeds all kinds of unique animals on special diets to produce Bezoars, and uses their powers to further their goals, keeping the secret of their power close to their chest.
The effect of a soul leaking into various objects and binding to them can be observed in many parts of Vaskeer. Bezoars are the prime examples for animal souls, but humans can also link their souls to objects
Vaskeer is innately magical. Souls are tangible and rise into the sky to join in The Burn or are absorbed by a killer. The magic system in this world is Soulweaving, which revolves around this rule that souls are held within the body. Souls themselves are dangerous. They are the pure life essence of a human that has passed on, and inside their soul are all their memories, passions, decisions, skills, strengths, and weaknesses. When you kill someone, their soul leaves their body and is absorbed into your own. It enters through the skin and seems to settle on your very bones. The body naturally rejects this. For 90% of the population, holding a soul inside your body other than your own is enough to drive them mad. They are overwhelmed by the others thoughts and begin to lose understanding of who they are. These people become The Lost, as detailed above. However, the other 10% of the population have developed a mental fortitude and are able to resist the majority of downsides that occur from holding a soul. When someone holds a soul inside their own body, it slowly taints their skin depending on how many souls they hold. Starting from their heart, the skin grows cold and dark green, arcing in tendrils across the body if prolonged. The upsides to holding souls within your body, if you can handle the mental duress, is you gain some physical attributes from the pure power of the souls within your body. You can escalating levels of strength, speed, balance, agility, etc. depending on the amount of souls within you. However, the more souls you hold, the more it damages your mental. Killing anything that holds more than their own soul, also transfers all other souls within them to the killer.
People that are able to hold many souls within themselves and benefit from the physical changes are called Titans. A Titan is someone who has experienced some kind of mind-altering event that has left their mind fragmented and sections the souls off somewhere deep within themselves. They do not have the same limits others do. They can absorb as many souls as they want and don’t have to consciously hold them. It is related to their mind-snapping in a specific way before they absorb souls, a rare sequence of events that lets them divide up their mind for protection innately. There have only been a small handful Titans throughout Vaskeer’s history. Most took over countries and created empires. They also are not affected by the soul tainting their skin and can pass as regular people. A Titan is naturally stronger, faster, more durable, and more agile than anyone. But they can draw upon the true power of the souls within them in short bursts as well. They can go deep into their mind and find the cold depths of the place that holds all the souls and unleash them. An aura around them bursts forth and they grow in power. The aura is both scalding hot and freezing cold, and the aura is a dark green with wisps of black smoke that leaks out of the plate armor. A mixture of red vapor that is their blood too. When a Titan is dormant, their aura is black and green like the souls inside them. When they draw upon the souls to grow in power and strength, the aura grows red with the vapor of blood leaking out of their body from the exertion.
Soulweaving
Within the Iron Empire, wielders of this magic are mostly referred to as Wizards. But those that know of it use Soulomancer, which itself is a simplified version of the technical term determined by their scholars, which is Ars Morcanum (The Art of Manipulting the Dead). In Soleri, they are referrred to as Shamans (within), and those of Iron are Warlocks. In the past, the Highlanders called them Gothi (Priests) of one of their Gods.Soulweaving itself is the simple act of being able to pull a soul out of your body. Soulomancers are able to remove souls from themselves, which is a very rare skill that less than 1% of the population have, at random. However, over Vaskeer’s history, these people have found that they can alter how the soul materializes through components and focuses when removing them. This process produces a ‘spell’. Due to how dangerous it is to hold another’s soul inside your body, it is very dangerous to try and collect souls for future spells, as Soulomancers do. The more powerful a spell is, the more souls it requires to cast. When a Soulomancer expels a soul in its natural state, it appears like Zombie Strange in MoM, a black and green humanoid form made of charred flesh and twisting green smoke that ends at the torso. Some spell components make souls linger, creating lasting spell effects, others are short bursts than burn the soul up as it is used. When a soul is transmuted by an elemental spell and burned up, no one knows what happens to the soul.
The interesting aspect of this magic system is that the more souls you hold within you, the more increased physical attributes you have at the time. It is nowhere near as much as a Titan, but it is significantly noticeable in a physical fight. As you use spells you get slightly slower, weaker, and more frail.
Because there are so many different ways to alter a soul, Iron has taken to teaching the students at a school, with expansive spellbooks filled with spells that track components, techniques, focuses, and descriptions. It is an expansive process to graduate from this school, and once that it is done, Soulomancers often find themselves tools to be used by the wealthy within the Empire. There are approximately 100 trained Soulomancers in all of Iron, including the Soulweaving apprentices, which has a population of 1 million. A Soulomancer’s Spellbook is a unique compilation of spells, with its own decorative flourishes and margin notes. It might be plain, functional leather volume received as a gift from a master, a finely bound gilt-edged tome found in an ancient library, or even a loose collection of notes scrounged together after losing a previous spellbook in a mishap. A Soulomancer is urged to put notes on each spell that help them specifically remember and cast the spells.
In Soleri, they have a druidic approach, remembering what components make what kind of spells based on the herb itself. They commit it all to memory and knowledge of the land, using a special spell named ‘Mind Tree’, where they tap into the souls they possess to store memory inside them. The spells they memorize are more focused on taking evil souls and using them to heal or nurture he land, with some elemental spells of raw power to defend the tribe with. The Soulomancers of the Soleri tribes are known as Shamans, and they have one Shaman to each tribe, trained by the Soul Mother. There are dozens of Soleri tribes, and each has one Shaman, but several in-training.
There have been six primal elements found to be created with souls through different plants. These are:
- Bird of Paradise – Light component. Grown in the more humid, southern areas of Soleri where it gets enough water to grow. The plant is colorful, flamboyant and exotic-looking, and the shape resembles that of a bird.
- Fire Lily – Fire component. Also known as glory lilies and tiger claws. A flowering plant that resembles a rising flame. Small green stems and a yellow and red flower, very beautiful. Grows in dry areas of Soleri and in Har’Akir.
- Xirdoss/Red Chain – Water component. Grows underwater in the Walled Sea attached to the tropical sea floor. Underwater, the plant grows several hundred of feet long until it reaches the surface and gives off a red hue because it also lives off blue light. Makes entire chain forests when exploring underwater. When taken from water for a set amount of time, the plant becomes blue.
- Sage – Earth component. Found everywhere and a hardy plant that grows well in the sun. Also good for medicine and food. Green roots and leaves.
- Bergenia – Air component. Found in the mountaintops of Virnach. Flowering plant of clump-forming evergreen perennials with a spirally arranged rosette of leaves and pink flowers. Grows in extremely cold temperatures.
- Dragon Arum – Dark component. Also known as the Dragon Lily, Vampire Lily, or Dracunculus Vulgaris. Found throughout Iron sparsely. The plant stands out from its large purple spathe and spadix which smells of rotting meat to attract flies. Can also heat itself to 18 degrees Celsius.
A list of remembered magic for Soleri Shamans is kept in their Mind Tree. The first spell that any shaman is taught is the ‘Mind Tree’, for them to remember all their spells. Shamans keep the plants in ore natural ways, dried petals or freshly grown in their camps. They are taught to use the Bird of Paradise flower the most, because it is the most naturally healing component. Shamans are prohibited from using Dragon Arum, and strongly urged to stay away from the Fire Lily. There evocation spells are only used in defense, and spell list is more focused on healing the land and creating food and water for their tribe. To turn evil souls into good effects on the land. Shamans are limited to 10 per tribe of Soleri, the holy number. Bezoar Magic – Although this magic seems completely unrelated to Soulweaving, it is still connected. Despite the wide belief that Humans are the only ones with souls, which is why they have intelligence and passion, animals have a soul as well. However, it is less of one and not visible to them.
A Bezoar is a solid mass of indigestible material that accumulates in a creature’s digestive tract. They usually look and feel like a small stone. Any animal can expel a Bezoar, and certain diets make it more likely for a Bezoar to appear in their body. However, due to the nature of souls in Vaskeer, when an animal expels a Bezoar, the stone has sat in their body for long enough to absorb some of the creature’s soul. When a Human swallows the Bezoar of a creature, the creature’s souls’ attributes leak into the Human soul and change them, granting unique powers and attributes related to the animal the Bezoar came from. Each Bezoar contains a limited amount of the creature’s soul within it and cannot be refilled. As long as a Bezoar sits in the stomach of a human, the Bezoar’s power is being used, it cannot be turned on or off.
A Tribe of Soleri discovered the powers of the Bezoar many years ago and keep it very secret. When they first tried to spread their knowledge, the other tribes persecuted them, believing that they were under the influence of one of the Animal Trickster Gods, or possessed by the mythical Skinwalkers. Now, that same tribe breeds all kinds of unique animals on special diets to produce Bezoars, and uses their powers to further their goals, keeping the secret of their power close to their chest.
The effect of a soul leaking into various objects and binding to them can be observed in many parts of Vaskeer. Bezoars are the prime examples for animal souls, but humans can also link their souls to objects
The Seven Magical Artifacts
The Magic of the outside world. From the time of heroes who fought Banazoth, there are a set of magical weapons that can give their wielder immense power. The tales of the outside world tell of a group of seven powerful heroes who were said to have found the lifewell of the world itself and were bestowed boons of immense power to fight against evil with. This groups name was the Jade Heroes. This is because after defeating Banazoth, the heroes all gave up their lives and infused a particular item with their own soul, filling it with their mythical power they took from the world’s well of magic to fight Banazoth with. They knew they would not live forever, so this was done in an effort to pass down the magic in case Banazoth rose again. • The Windspear – Posseses the power to create and manipulate storms and the weather. • Blazewing – Fire • Water/Cold • Earth/Metals • Eclipse – Light and Dark • Soulshard – Souls • The Doomguard – Time, atium-like use The Seven have since then been shattered and split into small shards that still retain parts of their power to spread more freely. The Dragon Riders all hold a shard of one of the Seven that protects them from the zombie plague within the country. Or the outside world has all kinds of magic, and one includes the mythical Spellsmiths. Spellsmiths forge weapons for the Dragon Riders.Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
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