Learning Magic
The Basics:
● Magic comes in two flavors, Formal and Spontaneous:
○ Formal Magic is magic that happens as a direct result of the will of the caster
- It’s the result of using a specific spell in a specific way (casting a spell, making a potion, enchanting items)
- It almost always requires at least one reagent to fuel the spell (with a few low-level exceptions)
- It draws upon the personal magical energy of the caster
- It always produces a certain predetermined effect
- It cannot be cast accidentally (except in cases of natural affinities for spells)
- Ex: The Ukranian Haunting Spell
○ Spontaneous Magic is magic that happens without the direction of a caster
- It’s the result of a powerful wish or vow on the part of the caster
- It never requires reagents
- It draws upon the magical energy of the surrounding area
- It can mimic a specific spell, but it can also produce a totally random effect
- It is almost always cast accidentally
- Ex: Emily’s vow to wait for her true love to come set her free
● Formal magic is generally learned via spellbooks, written by senior casters to catalogue the information currently known. They’re generally updated every few years as new spells are discovered and new information gathered. A new caster can either find an appropriate spellbook and learn on his or her own, or find a mentor who will provide him or her with a spellbook and extra information. Senior casters who introduce people to the world of magic often take on those fortunate people as apprentices. There are no formal schools to learn magic, but some casters have set up home-grown operations for those in their general area.
● Spontaneous magic cannot be learned – it can only be experienced. In certain magic-rich areas, if a person wishes hard enough for something to happen or makes a vow/promise that is extremely important to them, the sheer will involved may wrangle the energy inherent to the locale into doing something about said wish or vow. The resultant magical effect may mimic that of a formal spell, or it can do something completely random (so long as it doesn’t break the three “cannots”). Some casters have learned to invoke the effect – making an “unbreakable promise” at magic-laden locations is not unknown – but typically such castings are accidental, and the details about what has happened are only discovered later.
Spellcasting:
● Casting a spell almost always requires some physical component – a reagent – to fuel the spell. This reagent is symbolically related to the effect of the spell. There are a few exceptions in the very low-level spells, but even then the caster is generally required to perform a certain action to keep the spell going. A few spells require two reagents, but very few require three or more. Once the reagent is procured, the caster concentrates on the spell and typically destroys the reagent (or lets his or her magic destroy it) to cast.
○ Ex: The Ukranian Haunting spell requires a raven’s egg to work. Elder Gutknecht sends those wishing to go above to the Land of the Living by breaking the egg in half and concentrating on piercing the veil between the upper and lower worlds. This triggers the magical “fog” that takes people across.
● All spells can be identified by a specific color that appears either when they’re cast or in a person’s magical signature as a natural affinity. Spring’s Breath, for example, shows as grass-green when it is cast. These colors are mainly used to help identify spells in potion form (see the potion-making section). Almost every spell also has a magical glyph tied to it, which works as a way of writing it in shorthand. These glyphs are typically used in enchanting items (see the enchanting items section). Warding spells are an exception – they have a sigil which is chosen by the caster as a personal signature identifying them. (This does not mean that two people cannot have the same sigil, although it’s advised that any group of casters all pick different identifying symbols to avoid confusion.)
● People are limited in the number of spells they can learn by the amount of magical energy they have. One can think of it as coming equipped with a certain number of spell slots. Once a spell is successfully cast, it fills one of these slots and becomes a part of the caster’s permanent repertoire. After filling all the slots, the person cannot learn any more spells – no matter how hard they try, any new spells will simply not work.
● The amount of magical energy also limits how far “up the list” one can go when casting spells. Spells consume varying amounts of magical energy, and a caster who doesn’t have the required amount will not be able to make the spell work. Spells are generally listed in spellbooks from lowest amounts of energy required to highest. Most people can only cast about four or five low-level spells. (This is also why there is a magical masquerade, incidentally – people tend to get pissed when they discover how limited most of them are magically.)
● Some people are born with natural affinities for certain spells. Natural affinities straddle the line between formal and spontaneous magic – while they apply to specifically-invoked spells, they also remove the need for reagents and make it so the spell can be cast accidentally. In fact, an accidental casting of a natural affinity spell is how most people learn about magic in the first place. Most people only have one natural affinity – some mid-level casters can have two, but only those with massive amounts of magical energy could have three or more.
○ Animals often have natural affinities – for example, ravens are able to cross between the living and dead worlds with ease, and maggots and other insects and arachnids in the Underworld are able to converse with the Dead.
○ Natural affinities do fill up one of a person’s predetermined spell slots – you never get a spell for free. On the plus side, that spell is pretty much always available to you.
Potion-Making:
● Making a potion involves, in essence, trapping a spell in liquid so it can be used later. Water is the most common base, but any liquid will do (indeed, in the case of Elemental Will, plain water cannot be used as a base as water may be one of the reagents that must be added to the potion). The caster procures the reagent for the particular spell they want to make into a potion, then drops it into the base (typically after starting the processes that would normally destroy it in normal spell-casting). The caster must then hold the container with reagent and base tightly and concentrate on the spell they want. If all goes well, the spell is cast and captured in the liquid base, transforming it into a potion.
● To use a potion, one simply drinks it. The spell activates the moment the last of the liquid is swallowed. Anyone, even the rare people who cannot use magic of their own, can drink a potion and get its effects.
● The color of a potion matches the signature color of the spell trapped within it. (Since a number of colors tend to be close, it’s still best to label them.) Potions also tend to glow slightly, making them a bit hard to transport stealthily.
● Potions have an eternal shelf life – a potion made a year ago is as good as a potion made yesterday. The magic wards off any rot or going sour.
● Potions can be made incorrectly, generally through not exerting enough willpower during the casting stage. Incorrectly-made potions can have a variety of unpleasant effects, ranging from mildly irritating to potentially fatal. An incorrectly-made potion tends to have a sort of black sheen to it, as if it’s covered by a thin layer of oil.
● Certain spells can be translated into more than one potion type, either through a slight change in reagents or by casting at a certain time. These generally follow a living/dead line – the dead don’t always have access to the same ingredients as the living, so adjustments must be made. These “one-off” potions have some sort of minor color difference to help tell them apart from the “main” type.
○ Ex: Potions made using Spring’s Breath normally require a drop or two of blood (typically the caster’s) and seeds from a flowering or fruiting plant, restore health, and turn out grass-green. A dead caster, not having a ready supply of fresh blood, can substitute dried blood and get a Non-Rot Potion, which wards off rot and is grass-green with a yellowish tinge.
Enchanting Items:
● Enchanting an item is similar to making a potion in that it involves trapping a spell in something so it can be used later. (Potions can in fact be thought of as enchanted liquids.) First, the caster marks the item to be enchanted with the glyph associated with the spell they wish to use. Next, the caster takes the necessary reagent(s) for the spell and sacrifices them either on or directly over the glyph, while concentrating on the spell. If all goes well, the spell is absorbed into the item, enchanting it until said item is used.
● To use an enchanted item, one simply speaks the name of the spell while touching the item in question. The spell is immediately released from the glyph and begins working as if it had just been cast. Anyone, even the rare people who cannot use magic of their own, can use an enchanted item.
● The glyphs on enchanted items glow slightly in the signature color of the spell. They flash brighter once the spell is released, then fade away, leaving the item open to be enchanted again.
● An enchanted item stays enchanted until it is used, whether that be two minutes later or twenty years later. Unlike potions, though, the magic cannot completely stop decay or spoilage – only slow it down. An enchanted item will last longer than usual, but it can rot away. If it does, the magic is released and returns to the caster without “firing.”
● It is possible to permanently enchant an item, but doing so requires that the caster first be capable of casting the spell Draw Upon The Earth's Currents, and second be able to locate a place with large amounts of magical energy. Casting that spell allows the caster to tap into the magical energies of the location they’re in – in an intensely magical location, it gives all spells an extra “oomph.” Enchanting an item after casting that spell gives it about a 75% chance of becoming permanently enchanted with the chosen spell, going up with the caster’s personal supply of magical talent. Even if it doesn’t become permanently enchanted, the caster is liable to get at least one or two “free charges” (meaning the spell can be cast more than once from the same glyph). A permanently-enchanted item’s glyph glows constantly, and has its own mini-pool of magical energy to draw from that refills between each casting.
● Items can also be enchanted with more than one charge of the same spell, if the caster is able to fit more than one of the same glyph on there. Items typically cannot be charged with more than one spell, with two main exceptions:
○ Items permanently enchanted with one spell can be charged with another temporarily. The caster can only add one extra spell, however, and it cannot also be turned into a permanent enchantment.
○ Wands – designated officially as a thin stick of wood about five to ten inches long and no more than an inch and a half in diameter at the thickest point – can hold multiple spells, due to the belief that they can. Most wands can hold about three to five charges, though a careful carver/painter could probably get his/hers to hold more. Wands are seen as useful emergency tools – most casters have one that they’ve made their own and keep regularly charged with certain useful spells. Casting spells with a wand involve pointing the far end at the target (or, under optimum conditions, touching them) and speaking the name of the spell. This allows spells that normally only affect the caster to be cast on other people/objects.
● There are a few exceptions to the normal rules of enchantment:
○ Glowing Orb’s orbs can simply be pushed into lamps and rocks after casting. The normal glyph method also works, but people find just casting and then popping the orb into the object is easier.
○ All the warding spells work as a sort of day-long enchantment against harm, and use the caster’s personal sigil as opposed to a permanent identifying glyph.
● Magic comes in two flavors, Formal and Spontaneous:
○ Formal Magic is magic that happens as a direct result of the will of the caster
- It’s the result of using a specific spell in a specific way (casting a spell, making a potion, enchanting items)
- It almost always requires at least one reagent to fuel the spell (with a few low-level exceptions)
- It draws upon the personal magical energy of the caster
- It always produces a certain predetermined effect
- It cannot be cast accidentally (except in cases of natural affinities for spells)
- Ex: The Ukranian Haunting Spell
○ Spontaneous Magic is magic that happens without the direction of a caster
- It’s the result of a powerful wish or vow on the part of the caster
- It never requires reagents
- It draws upon the magical energy of the surrounding area
- It can mimic a specific spell, but it can also produce a totally random effect
- It is almost always cast accidentally
- Ex: Emily’s vow to wait for her true love to come set her free
● Formal magic is generally learned via spellbooks, written by senior casters to catalogue the information currently known. They’re generally updated every few years as new spells are discovered and new information gathered. A new caster can either find an appropriate spellbook and learn on his or her own, or find a mentor who will provide him or her with a spellbook and extra information. Senior casters who introduce people to the world of magic often take on those fortunate people as apprentices. There are no formal schools to learn magic, but some casters have set up home-grown operations for those in their general area.
● Spontaneous magic cannot be learned – it can only be experienced. In certain magic-rich areas, if a person wishes hard enough for something to happen or makes a vow/promise that is extremely important to them, the sheer will involved may wrangle the energy inherent to the locale into doing something about said wish or vow. The resultant magical effect may mimic that of a formal spell, or it can do something completely random (so long as it doesn’t break the three “cannots”). Some casters have learned to invoke the effect – making an “unbreakable promise” at magic-laden locations is not unknown – but typically such castings are accidental, and the details about what has happened are only discovered later.
Spellcasting:
● Casting a spell almost always requires some physical component – a reagent – to fuel the spell. This reagent is symbolically related to the effect of the spell. There are a few exceptions in the very low-level spells, but even then the caster is generally required to perform a certain action to keep the spell going. A few spells require two reagents, but very few require three or more. Once the reagent is procured, the caster concentrates on the spell and typically destroys the reagent (or lets his or her magic destroy it) to cast.
○ Ex: The Ukranian Haunting spell requires a raven’s egg to work. Elder Gutknecht sends those wishing to go above to the Land of the Living by breaking the egg in half and concentrating on piercing the veil between the upper and lower worlds. This triggers the magical “fog” that takes people across.
● All spells can be identified by a specific color that appears either when they’re cast or in a person’s magical signature as a natural affinity. Spring’s Breath, for example, shows as grass-green when it is cast. These colors are mainly used to help identify spells in potion form (see the potion-making section). Almost every spell also has a magical glyph tied to it, which works as a way of writing it in shorthand. These glyphs are typically used in enchanting items (see the enchanting items section). Warding spells are an exception – they have a sigil which is chosen by the caster as a personal signature identifying them. (This does not mean that two people cannot have the same sigil, although it’s advised that any group of casters all pick different identifying symbols to avoid confusion.)
● People are limited in the number of spells they can learn by the amount of magical energy they have. One can think of it as coming equipped with a certain number of spell slots. Once a spell is successfully cast, it fills one of these slots and becomes a part of the caster’s permanent repertoire. After filling all the slots, the person cannot learn any more spells – no matter how hard they try, any new spells will simply not work.
● The amount of magical energy also limits how far “up the list” one can go when casting spells. Spells consume varying amounts of magical energy, and a caster who doesn’t have the required amount will not be able to make the spell work. Spells are generally listed in spellbooks from lowest amounts of energy required to highest. Most people can only cast about four or five low-level spells. (This is also why there is a magical masquerade, incidentally – people tend to get pissed when they discover how limited most of them are magically.)
● Some people are born with natural affinities for certain spells. Natural affinities straddle the line between formal and spontaneous magic – while they apply to specifically-invoked spells, they also remove the need for reagents and make it so the spell can be cast accidentally. In fact, an accidental casting of a natural affinity spell is how most people learn about magic in the first place. Most people only have one natural affinity – some mid-level casters can have two, but only those with massive amounts of magical energy could have three or more.
○ Animals often have natural affinities – for example, ravens are able to cross between the living and dead worlds with ease, and maggots and other insects and arachnids in the Underworld are able to converse with the Dead.
○ Natural affinities do fill up one of a person’s predetermined spell slots – you never get a spell for free. On the plus side, that spell is pretty much always available to you.
Potion-Making:
● Making a potion involves, in essence, trapping a spell in liquid so it can be used later. Water is the most common base, but any liquid will do (indeed, in the case of Elemental Will, plain water cannot be used as a base as water may be one of the reagents that must be added to the potion). The caster procures the reagent for the particular spell they want to make into a potion, then drops it into the base (typically after starting the processes that would normally destroy it in normal spell-casting). The caster must then hold the container with reagent and base tightly and concentrate on the spell they want. If all goes well, the spell is cast and captured in the liquid base, transforming it into a potion.
● To use a potion, one simply drinks it. The spell activates the moment the last of the liquid is swallowed. Anyone, even the rare people who cannot use magic of their own, can drink a potion and get its effects.
● The color of a potion matches the signature color of the spell trapped within it. (Since a number of colors tend to be close, it’s still best to label them.) Potions also tend to glow slightly, making them a bit hard to transport stealthily.
● Potions have an eternal shelf life – a potion made a year ago is as good as a potion made yesterday. The magic wards off any rot or going sour.
● Potions can be made incorrectly, generally through not exerting enough willpower during the casting stage. Incorrectly-made potions can have a variety of unpleasant effects, ranging from mildly irritating to potentially fatal. An incorrectly-made potion tends to have a sort of black sheen to it, as if it’s covered by a thin layer of oil.
● Certain spells can be translated into more than one potion type, either through a slight change in reagents or by casting at a certain time. These generally follow a living/dead line – the dead don’t always have access to the same ingredients as the living, so adjustments must be made. These “one-off” potions have some sort of minor color difference to help tell them apart from the “main” type.
○ Ex: Potions made using Spring’s Breath normally require a drop or two of blood (typically the caster’s) and seeds from a flowering or fruiting plant, restore health, and turn out grass-green. A dead caster, not having a ready supply of fresh blood, can substitute dried blood and get a Non-Rot Potion, which wards off rot and is grass-green with a yellowish tinge.
Enchanting Items:
● Enchanting an item is similar to making a potion in that it involves trapping a spell in something so it can be used later. (Potions can in fact be thought of as enchanted liquids.) First, the caster marks the item to be enchanted with the glyph associated with the spell they wish to use. Next, the caster takes the necessary reagent(s) for the spell and sacrifices them either on or directly over the glyph, while concentrating on the spell. If all goes well, the spell is absorbed into the item, enchanting it until said item is used.
● To use an enchanted item, one simply speaks the name of the spell while touching the item in question. The spell is immediately released from the glyph and begins working as if it had just been cast. Anyone, even the rare people who cannot use magic of their own, can use an enchanted item.
● The glyphs on enchanted items glow slightly in the signature color of the spell. They flash brighter once the spell is released, then fade away, leaving the item open to be enchanted again.
● An enchanted item stays enchanted until it is used, whether that be two minutes later or twenty years later. Unlike potions, though, the magic cannot completely stop decay or spoilage – only slow it down. An enchanted item will last longer than usual, but it can rot away. If it does, the magic is released and returns to the caster without “firing.”
● It is possible to permanently enchant an item, but doing so requires that the caster first be capable of casting the spell Draw Upon The Earth's Currents, and second be able to locate a place with large amounts of magical energy. Casting that spell allows the caster to tap into the magical energies of the location they’re in – in an intensely magical location, it gives all spells an extra “oomph.” Enchanting an item after casting that spell gives it about a 75% chance of becoming permanently enchanted with the chosen spell, going up with the caster’s personal supply of magical talent. Even if it doesn’t become permanently enchanted, the caster is liable to get at least one or two “free charges” (meaning the spell can be cast more than once from the same glyph). A permanently-enchanted item’s glyph glows constantly, and has its own mini-pool of magical energy to draw from that refills between each casting.
● Items can also be enchanted with more than one charge of the same spell, if the caster is able to fit more than one of the same glyph on there. Items typically cannot be charged with more than one spell, with two main exceptions:
○ Items permanently enchanted with one spell can be charged with another temporarily. The caster can only add one extra spell, however, and it cannot also be turned into a permanent enchantment.
○ Wands – designated officially as a thin stick of wood about five to ten inches long and no more than an inch and a half in diameter at the thickest point – can hold multiple spells, due to the belief that they can. Most wands can hold about three to five charges, though a careful carver/painter could probably get his/hers to hold more. Wands are seen as useful emergency tools – most casters have one that they’ve made their own and keep regularly charged with certain useful spells. Casting spells with a wand involve pointing the far end at the target (or, under optimum conditions, touching them) and speaking the name of the spell. This allows spells that normally only affect the caster to be cast on other people/objects.
● There are a few exceptions to the normal rules of enchantment:
○ Glowing Orb’s orbs can simply be pushed into lamps and rocks after casting. The normal glyph method also works, but people find just casting and then popping the orb into the object is easier.
○ All the warding spells work as a sort of day-long enchantment against harm, and use the caster’s personal sigil as opposed to a permanent identifying glyph.