Magic is the process by which
magical energy gets turned into a physical manifestation of the
caster's will, traditionally through spells spoken either verbally or non-verbally. There are different types of magic, the most widespread of which being Elven Magic, which has strict, defined rules in terms of the cost of using it. Magic as a whole permeates the entire world of
Zurith, as magical energy is interwoven with the very fabric of reality, and some form of magic can be found anywhere that is inhabited by people capable of harnessing that magical energy.
Casters of magic are typically referred to as sorcerers while the
Ayuipani profession of casting magic for those with weaker
magic affinity or no affinity at all is called
Magic User
There are four types of magic:
Elven,
Fae,
Dark, and
Miscelleanous.
Elven Magic
The most widespread of magic types. It originates from the elves, hence the name. The magical energy harnessed is energy generated by the spirits of the six ancient
Elemental Sources, which the
elves are believed to be descendants of.
Elven magic is one of the most defined types, and has strict rules detailing how one is meant to use it. Elven magic has a 'give and take' system. In order to use spells, one must harness magical energy from their source. But however much energy they harness, they have to then give back. The elves achieve this through special daily rituals (unless no magic was used that day), which takes less energy from them then it would've done if they had done it any other way due to the special bond between them and the sources.
However, the
humans instead have different ways of giving back energy, depending on the source they're connected to:
- Royals of the Kingdom of Juniper, connected to the Earth Source, give energy back through gardening and expending stamina tending to the earth, handling it with their hands.
- Royals of the Kingdom of Solaris, connected to the Fire Source, give back energy through physically lighting fires for warmth and light at night, as well as lighting candles, or burning incense.
- Royals of the Kingdom of Caelestis, connected to the Celestial sources--the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, give back energy every month when they carry out the three-day-long ritual to maintain and repair any damage to the Celestial Gate.
- Natives of the Kingdom of Ayuipan, connected to the Arcane Source, use magic in the closest method to how the faeries and the non-Elven-based sorcerers do--they give energy back in the moment that they cast the spell, exchanging their physical stamina for magical energy of an equal amount.
- Royals of the Kingdom of Nereitis, connected to the Ocean Source, give energy back through the weekly ocean baths they take in their kingdom's bay as part of their culture.
- Royals of the Kingdom of Kuya, connected to the Wind Source, give energy back through playing music using woodwind instruments during cultural festivals.
Fae Magic
It is not entirely known how fae magic works, or where the magical energy they use comes from, only that it's different from elven magic as it has no connection whatsoever with the elemental sources. It is also known that fae magic mostly consists of illusion and deception magic, although they have been proven to also be able to bestow upon otherwise powerless humans the ability to harness magical energy, which is called 'Magic Affinity'--something you would normally need to be a blood descendant of a being with magic to have--and even give them a form of magic affinity that allows them to chose which type of magic they wish to use, giving them the ability to use elven magic even though the magic affinity wasn't granted by an elf.
Dark Magic
Dark magic is a type of magic used by
Dark Sorcerers, and is considered a twisted perversion of elven magic. This is because dark magic, instead of taking magical energy from the sources and later on giving physical energy back in exchange through various means, instead takes magical energy and doesn't give any back at all.
While this makes dark sorcerers incredibly powerful as they can cast high-level spells without having to worry about how much energy it would later take from them, it is also catastrophically dangerous. Taking energy from the sources and not giving the energy back actually damages the sources, and the sources, which are somewhat sentient beings, respond back to the damage dealt in self-defensive ways, which often ends up being very destructive.
An example of this would be the Arcane Source tearing the
Island of Magic apart when the elves of the
Kingdom of Lyalume sheltered exiled dark sorcerers and allowed them to continue using their powers on sacred land.
Other Types of Magic
Felhedellan Magic
When the elves came to put a stop to the rampage of dark magic in
Kailes, most of the sorcerers of dark magic chose to give up the magic affinity that had been granted to them by the faeries so that they wouldn't be tempted to use it again. However, not all of them did - some hid the fact that they had magic affinity from the elves and therefore managed to keep theirs, only vowing to never use dark magic ever again.
To get away from the elven-friendly kingdoms, since the elves would sometimes visit, the previous dark sorcerers proposed building kingdoms in the
uninhabited area of land north of the Kingdoms of
Ailaeniel, Juniper,
Khelas, and Solaris. Although they all stopped using dark magic, some of them didn't want to stop using magic entirely, and developed new ways to use it, passing those ways onto their children. As their magic affinity was not elven in origin, they were not tied to the elven sources of magic, and were not subject to the same rules.
How they use magic is very similar to the way that the Ayuipani later used their own magic, however, rather than 'giving' their own physical stamina in exchange for the use of magical energy, their physical stamina is being taken from them. Users of elven magic can choose not to give energy back to the sources, even human users can, through either not carrying out the rituals that return energy or, in terms of the humans, casting spells on themselves that block the sources from physically accessing the energy in their bodies. However, doing so is what turns elven magic into dark magic, which is why it is a rule that elven magic must be 'give and take'.
Felhedellan magic, as it later became to be known, doesn't give the user that option, hence why their physical stamina is 'taken' rather than 'given'. In this sense, it is almost like the magical energy that Felhedellan magic uses is instead abiding by the rules of 'give and take' itself - if they 'take' physical energy from a sorcerer, they must 'give' the sorcerer access to an equal amount of magical energy in exchange.
However, not all of those who kept their magic affinity chose to develop their own types of magic and, when the first kingdoms of Felhedell were destroyed and the land reduced to a death zone, all those had developed magic were killed, and only those had hadn't were among the survivors saved by the elves. These humans took this as a sign not to involve magic in the building of their kingdoms, and didn't pass the knowledge that they even have magic down to their children.
After a few hundred years, however, magic began to pop up in the new Felhedellan kingdoms, the descendants of those first citizens with magic affinity. They developed their own disciplines of magic, and some even took on disciples. Not all have remained to this day, but magic is still a thriving part of the Felhedellan kingdoms; the
Kingdom of Vitrum have sorcerers who use their magic to strengthen the glass Vitrum makes, and the
Kingdom of Aes' most common discipline of magic is magic clockwork, which initially started as a very small discipline but grew exponentially after the
Nerinoch pandemic.
Crystal Mages
Although is it unknown how they came about, the
Kingdom of Sofía-Larimar has produced its own sorcerers that they call Crystal Mages. Crystal Mages are incredibly rare, there are, at most, 5-10 Crystal Mages in the entirety of the kingdom, and usually it's even less than that.
Crystal Mages use magical energy that can be naturally found in crystals and precious stones and use that to cast spells. This process takes no energy from them, but they need to be in constant contact with the crystal being used, and some rarities of crystal contain more energy than others.
Eastern Magic
The Eastern Continent has also developed their own disciplines of magic, although these discliplines are often very secretive and not much is known about them to outsiders. Similarly to the Crystal Mages, it is also unknown how they gained their magic affinity.
Comments