Magic

Magic is the mysterious force that pervades all of creation, and can be manipulated at will if you know how.
Without magic Dragons, Gods, or even the Spirit Realm would not exist. Living creatures are able to manipulate magic in order to change things about the world, or evoke magical effects. Magic can create some incredible effects, but it also can be very dangerous.
To those who don't understand magic, its possibilities can seem limitless. However, Magic is vaguely systematic and although versatile, not unlimited.
== The Theoretical Science of Magic ==
=== Gateways and Realms ===
All magic in the realm of Coryphiel draws upon the primordial energies stored within the Realms. These realms are not entirely physical, allowing a kind of gateway to be opened up within a creature's very soul. This allows them to manipulate the energies of that realm, but mentally drains them. A magic user can only use a certain amount of magic before they are automatically prevented from drawing on more, due to the nature of the Conduits (which we'll get to later). More practiced mages can open larger gates, and use more magic. The innate energy of the body and mind that is used when casting magic is referred to as "Mana".
=== Patterns ===
This is only part of using magic however. The other part is the use of specific patterns, be they physical, or mental. These patterns are seen all throughout the use of magic. The simplest are the runes and letters of arcane script, but for the sake of expediency most mages use the patterns of noise created by speaking magic words. The prevailing theory is that these symbols are pieces of a complex larger pattern, which represents the structure of the realms themselves. The use of these patterns creates a link between the mortal realm and whichever realm a mage seeks to receive power from. Further details within the pattern determines precisely how a magic user wishes to use that power. This usually requires in-depth knowledge of the force being manipulated.
=== Why Magical Education is Important ===
When somebody uneducated in magic draws a magical symbol, it is rare that anything happens. Likewise, accidental patterns formed rarely have any effect. This is because magic must have intent behind it. The first and foremost part of any magical pattern is the realmic link, the part which tells it to create a gateway, and a gateway cannot be formed in a soul if the creator doesn't understand what they are doing. It is the mental certainty that creates the gateway, and the pattern that manipulates the power.
Confidence, familiarity, and knowledge are all important in the creation of this gateway. A beginner mage can only create a weak, inefficient gate. As they become more practiced with the process, more familiar with their type of magic, and more confident in using magic, the gate becomes more "pure".
=== The Astral Dragon and the Conduits ===
The story goes that the Astral Dragon gifted humanity the power to use magic. This is not entirely true. Humans have always been able to use magic using the process described above. However, early mages risked their own lives every time they used magic, as they had the potential to channel too much power from the other realms, and rip their souls apart. The Astral Dragon gifted humanity with new runes and patterns, specifically designed to channel through its own body first. This way, he would receive the brunt of any damage caused by reckless use of magic, and allows them to cast it harmlessly, using their mana. This also meant that magic users gained a "cap" on how much magical energy they could use at once. The patterns innately prevent a magic user from harming themselves, with the Astral dragon acting as a barrier to magic that would harm their body. This is why when a mage is out of mana, they are unable to use magic.
The Astral Dragon, being a deific immortal entity with an unimaginably powerful soul, was unable to be harmed by the reckless energies that would tear apart a human soul. However, after his death, he was no longer there to be a barrier, making magic dangerous once again. When the Dragonlords were born from the remnants of the Astral Dragon, they became the new Conduits of magic.
=== Sorcerers ===
Sorcerers are a unique case where an individual's soul contains a permanently open gateway to the other realms. This happens because something about their birth involved the necessary magical patterns to open a gate, and the excess magic of the world was drawn to it. Sometimes they are descendants of the ancient sorcerer-kings, whose blood itself was altered to form magical patterns. Sometimes they were born at a moment where the stars and planets were aligned in a particular pattern. These sorcerers are able to access the powerful yet dangerous magic of the realms at will, without the use of words or runes, like a mage would have to. They do, however, often have to create patterns with their bodies, and move in instinctual ways that allow them to manipulate the power they have access to.
=== Druidism ===
Before humanity learned the patterns that allowed them access to unlimited varieties of magic, they relied entirely on the patterns of nature itself. Instead of constructing patterns, these druids called upon the already existing patterns within nature. From the twist and curve of a river, to the petals of a flower, to the movements of tectonic plates, all of nature is a resource for druids. Druidic mages open a gateway in their soul to the Wandering Isle. Due to the life-preserving nature of the fey and the Wandering Isle, it will not permit a druid to harm themselves when casting magic, so it automatically prevents a druid from using more magic than is safe.
=== Divine Magic ===
Those who worship gods draw power from the Divine Realm, where the gods reside. However, they have no need to learn patterns, and must only open a gateway. Since the power comes from an intelligent entity, there is no need to direct it, as the god will understand what the user needs. However, their power is then dependent on how much their god approves of them. How the gods themselves use magic is unknown.
=== Forbidden Magic ===
There is no conduit for the four Forbidden varieties of magic, and this is a large part of why they are forbidden. To use these kinds of magic safely, a mage must remain disciplined. Many of the commonly taught runes and words for forbidden magic have safety measures within them, that prevent a user to harm themselves too much when using it. However, some Forbidden Magic users, particularly those that use Blood Magic, intentionally draw upon too much magic, harming themselves for more power.
=== The Cycle of Energy ===
The flashes of light and colour that are often created when magic is used is a result of waste magical energy. No mage can perform a perfectly efficient spell, so there will always be some amount of waste magical energy that dissipates into the mortal realm, usually proportional to the amount of energy channeled from the realms. The magical energy drawn into the mortal realms mostly finds its way back to the realm it came from, but sometimes it is drawn to patterns within the world. When this happens, the world effectively casts a "spell". This sort of process is how magical phenomena occur, such as magical crystals, which are formed when excess energy is drawn to patterns in the earth. It is also the cause of magical plants, and places where the land is saturated with magic, such as New Haven. Yet nothing is permanent, and eventually these things break down and their energy is returned the realm it came from.
== A History of Magic ==
Magic is the force that created the universe, and most of it is bound up in the space between dimensions. For proper magical control, a conduit needs to exist, something between the magical realms and the mortal realm.
=== The Beginning ===
A long time ago, when humans were first created, there was only the Astral Dragon and his servants, the Fey. The Astral Dragon gifted humans the powers of the stars, and the Fey allowed humans to control aspects of nature.
The Unspeakable Ones also existed, but their magic, due to their very nature, would eventually destroy the body and soul of anyone who utilised it.
Circa -200.0, 20,000 years ago, the gods appeared as conduits, and many began to utilise their power.
=== Death of the Astral Dragon ===
Around 17,000 years ago, c. -150.0, the Astral dragon died in combat with the Unspeakable Ones, but his devout followers were able to lock away the foul creatures in a sub-dimension.
When the Astral Dragon died, he shattered into many crystals, imbued with celestial power. His followers gathered these up and constructed several Dimensional Anchors, great spires of stone and crystal which would ensure dimensional stability, and keep the Unspeakable Ones locked away.
Many humans began to try to manipulate elemental and arcane magic, though without the conduit it was very difficult. The majority of these people were killed in the attempt, those who survived became incredibly powerful "sorcerer-kings". It is believed that until the Dragonlords were created in -30.0, these sorcerer-kings ruled over mankind.
=== The Ancient Coven ===
In -38.0 a group of five sorcerers came together and reached the agreement that they would all work for the betterment of mankind. These were; the brothers Skark Si and Kroak Si from Izir, Fahrak Al from the mountains, Witzk from the area that is now Tyrrus, and a last one who nothing is known about. They came together in the city of Izero, and became the immortal rulers of that city. They had the power to give their followers some of their power, and they taught the people how to make powerful magical items.
Over the next 500 years, the empire expanded. The sites of the cities of Alatheen and Azathica were created. Until civil war broke out among the mages, each of which wanted to be the supreme ruler of the empire. Their conflict destroyed their cities, and when they saw that they’d reduced everything to rubble, they left. With the exception of Witzk, who stayed, to help rebuild.
300 years later, the empire had been rebuilt, but something had drastically shifted the nature of magic; the arrival of the dragons. The five individuals begrudgingly met up again to discuss what they were to do about this, and all other than Witzk agreed that the dragons needed to be killed. In a desperate attempt to gain enough power, they reached out to the gods, who were the only beings considered more powerful than the dragons. Skark Si, Kroak Si and Fakrak Al become Dark ascended beings. The unnamed one became something far worse, in his pursuit of power he sabotaged one of the world anchors and created a gap, through which the ancient Unspeakable Ones could speak. He became the first voice of the Unspeakable Ones.
Zythia and Salvakoryn arrived at Izir, and admired the vast empire that had been created. They demanded that the people of this empire swear fealty to the dragons, but were suddenly assaulted by these four very powerful mortals. The battle lasted for days, and by the end of it the empire was destroyed once again, except for Izero which Witzk kept safe. At the end of the battle, all participents were exhausted and Witzk was very annoyed. She beat the four, taking advantage of their weakened state. All except the unnamed one managed to escape, and she locked the unnamed one in a vault underneath Azathica.
=== The Purge of the Sorcerer Kings ===
After this, the dragons resolved to destroy all of the Sorcerer Kings, their main rivals for power. By -27.0 they had almost all been killed, the only ones who remained were Witzk and an Ishkari shaman called Jezertina, both of whom hid by not acting powerful.
=== The Splintering ===
The Dark and Light gods, and their followers, originally lived in harmony and had gotten along with one another. This is something referenced in many ancient mythologies, and it's based on the truth. At this time, even Velkyn and Livia liked each other. In Ishkari this harmony was most prevelant. However, this meant that there was the potential for the power of Shadowlight to be weilded by humans.
The Shapeless One, Shadowlight god of change, didn't want this. So they tasked Jezertina, one of the most powerful sorcerers of the time, with creating a divide between light and dark, and gave Jezertina powerful Shadowlight powers to accomplish this.
in -20.0, Jezertina performed the Splintering of the Ishkari, turning them into animalistic monsters. The important part of this is that in each settlement, light followers had been turned into one kind of animal, and dark followers into a different kind. They couldn't understand the other group anymore, and began to see them as monsters, banding together with the people like them. The gods, who are by their nature affected by the thoughts of mortals, were sundered by this unbridled hatred of "the other", and forever became split.
In the process of Velkyn and Livia trying to take down Jezertina, she managed to manipulate the situation, causing them to hate each other, and blame each other after she escaped.
Jezertina may have escaped, but the shifting and thrashing magic of the Shapeless One, combined with her own power, was tearing her apart, warping her body and mind to such extremes that she could no longer be called human in any sense of the word. At some point during -19.0 she warped so far that she popped out of the Mortal Realm, and now travels the outer dimensions as a jumbled mess of impossible geometries.
=== Sylvatl, Keldai, and Vaasdai ===
The Hirokiri Civilisation was guided into creation by a woman, highly connected to the Fey, named Sylvatl. She had seven spirit companions, and wielded natural magic with incredible skill. Around -10.0, Sylvatl had founded several cities and taught them magical methods of defending themselves. Her influence is partially why the Hirokiri ignored the gods and turned to the fey.
A champion of one of the cities sought more power, and found the dark gods. They gave him ferocious bloodlust, which grew the more he killed. At first this was fine, as he skilfully slayed many of the threats that came to his city. Eventually that wasn't enough, and he turned around and killed everyone in his city. The more he killed, the more powerful he became. He grew in size, vicious claws sprouted from his hands. Eventually his bloodlust and fury was so great that he could barely think about anything but killing. He became known as Keldai, Demon of Blood.
Sylvatl's sister was a great huntress, and the fey woman sent her to kill Keldai. The huntress tracked him for weeks, but soon grew to admire his power. She discovered that his power was a gift from the dark gods. The huntress had always been jealous of Sylvatl's power, and wanted power like that. The dark gods told her that if she could kill her sister, they would gift her with power. With this in mind, she created a weapon under the guidance of the dark gods, a weapon now known as Godsever. After slaying Sylvatl with it, she became Vaasdai, Demon of the Hunt.
Sylvatl's power remained though, and her body is preserved within the Temple of the Ancestors in Zul'Garab. It is theorised that the "Spirit of Hir", a strange fey presence that empowers the Hirokiri, may be Sylvatl's soul.
== Disciplines of Magic ==
Magic is categorised into several distinct "disciplines", each of which is separated into additional subsets.
=== Elemental Magic ===
Elemental magic is entirely about shaping the elements which make up the world. Throwing fire, moving water etc. Elemental mages can shape the world around them and wield great power.
One of the most common categories, practitioners of elemental magic are found all across the world, mostly due to the fact that these dragons are the most widespread, and the fact that no matter where you are, some mage will want to know how to change the weather, or move earth, etc. Elemental magic is one of the most useful for a hedge mage to know, and one of the simplest to wield, if a little uncontrollable at times.
Elemental magic comes in four categories: Fire, Earth, Water, Air. These four magics combine to make up the material of our world. Each of these is associated with a Dragonlord, which are in order: Salvakoryn, Kaldunira, Assuria, Akrazur. Elemental magic flows through our realm with energy and abundance, it is a simple matter for a practiced mage to alter the flow, and cause fire or lightning.
However, for an untrained mage all that is needed is a simple slip, and what was once a small spark has erupted into an uncontrollable fire. Proper control is necessary when moving the building blocks of the world.
It is difficult for a mage to practice more than one subset of elemental magic. The elements flow in different ways, and the more specialised one is the more they are used to their specific flow.
Outside of the mortal realm, Elemental Magic is concentrated in areas called the Elemental Realms.
"Elementals" are concentrations of elemental magic given sentience, and they usually live on the Elemental Realms.
=== Arcane Magic ===
Arcane magic goes deeper into the magic which makes up the structure of the realm itself. This what magic is before it becomes elemental, or divine, etc.
Arcane magic comes in two varieties; Pure and Weird.
Pure Magic focuses on manipulating the arcane magic present within the material realm, and creates manifestations of arcane energy. This can be used to lauch bolts of energy, create magical shields, enhance a mage's physical capabilities, etc. The Dragonlord of Pure Magic is Zythia.
Weird magic manipulates the structure of the realms and of magic itself. This can be used to teleport, control or negate other magical effects, or even manipulate time.
Arcane mages are slightly rarer than other kinds, mostly because it requires some in-depth knowledge of magic to be able to use. Additionally, it has slightly less utility use, and is not important for building a civilisation.
Arcane mages can practice multiple facets of Arcane magic seamlessly.
Arcane magic is found in abundance in the Weird, the space between dimensions. Additionally the Otherworld is a creation of arcane magic, and the Denizens of that place are arcane creatures.
There are a myriad of arcane creatures that populate the Weird and act much like elementals, occasionally breaking into the mortal realm or being summoned.
=== Divine Magic ===
The Gods are worshiped across the world as divine deities that deliver guidance and gift the devout with power. Gods are known to be psychic entities that inhabit the Divine Realm, and are often the manifestations of a concept. They are often seen as incredibly powerful, though they actually have very little impact on the material realm. Their power comes from those who follow them, to whom they can gift great power.
A user of divine magic is devout or otherwise connected to one or more of the gods, and has taken to heart the ideal or concept represented by their god. A cleric of Aldin always seeks justice, whereas one of Zekin seeks slaughter and bloodshed. The gods are neither good nor evil, they simply hand out their power to those who act in ways they like. Perceived justice does not always align with morality, and bloodshed can often be the only to survive.
The Gods come in three main cetagories: Light, Dark and Shadowlight.
Light Gods are representations of an ideal or aspiration. They promote virtues within their followers, but are often unforgiving of failure. The Light Gods seem to like ostentatiousness in their followers, humility is not common among light priests. Light worship is the most common type, and usually its greatest followers are powerful leaders and heroes, with high ambitions. Light magic tends to revolve around illumination and restoration, as well as the smiting of foes.
The Dark Gods are the opposite, they usually represent fears and failings. Dark followers can be found among the beaten-down, and the lower sides of society. These followers tend to stick to the shadows and use trickery to their advantage. The Dark Gods understand and forgive humanity's failings, and empower those who need it. However, they often don't like people leaving the dark places of their lives. Dark worship is outlawed in most places, because it is seen as evil. Dark magic tends to revolve around being stealthy or decietful, and inflicting weakness upon enemies.
The Shadowlight Gods are a strange and fairly recent addition to the worship structures in the world. They are exceedingly humble, representing both the great ambitions and the darkest failings of the world. They accept people for who they are, but would like to see them become the best they can be. It uses darkness to hide, and light to guide the way. Those who hunger for power would not turn to Shadowlight. Shadowlight magic tends to revolve around illusion and trickery, with varied supportive capabilities.
The most devout and powerful of a god's followers become Ascended, making them into immortal warriors who wander the world spreading their god's ideals.
It takes great strength of will to accept the ascendance, however, and many lesser followers who try to become ascended are ruined in the process, becoming Hallowed or Demons. These creatures are still immortal and relatively powerful, but lack any real mind of their own, acting as obedient servants to their gods.
=== Draconic Magic ===
Worship of the Dragonlords offers powers similar to those gifted by the gods, but more elemental in nature. Unlike the gods, the dragons are actually powerful in the material realm, though they cannot be everywhere at once, and so act through empowered agents.
Users of Draconic Magic are usually much less superstitious or zealous than those who worship gods. Rather than being picked for devotion, they are picked for loyalty and usefulness.
Draconic priests have access to magic from the element of their dragon, and magic similar to that which the dragons themselves use, such as breathing fire or frost, and gaining powerful protective scales.
Draconic worshipers who prove themselves above the rest become Greater Dragonkin, gaining dragon-like traits such as wings, a tail, or scales covering their bodies.
=== Fey Magic ===
One of the oldest available sources of magic in all of creation, Fey magic runs through all of nature, and has long been present to guide humanity.
The Fey themselves are powerful beings who inhabit the wandering isle, and tend not to interfere in human affairs. Their agents are the Aelves, creatures who inhabit the untamed wilderness of the world. Though Aelves look similar to humans, they are much more wild and feral, and lack the inventiveness and ingenuity of humanity. Aelves can turn into animals, and they occasionally bond with a human as a spirit companion.
Users of fey magic are usually druids and hermits, who live far from civilisation. This is where the fey are most present. They do not like large cities and urbanisation. Fey magic is the least studied, due to the fact that those who wield it are usually not inclined to study it, or to be subjugated to questioning and research.
Fey magic is wild and free. To even be able to use it requires an intimate connection with nature in its many forms.
Fey magic can be used to manipulate plants and animals, to empower one's form with bestial traits and to restore life. There are some deeper abilities connected to Fey magic too, connected to the structure of nature as a whole.
The fey, and their magic, are very animalistic in nature. They gladly kill for food and survival, and to guard their territory, but they can be fierce guardians to friends and family. They have no patience for pointless pursuits, and can be ruthless and kind in equal measure. These traits are often necessary for users of fey magic.
Many fey creature populate the deep wilderness of the world, such as Griffins and Phoenixes. Some druids form bonds with these creatures.
=== Forbidden Magic ===
Forbidden magic has been around for as long as humanity. It is the only form of magic that needs no conduit deities, for humanity itself is the conduit.
Forbidden Magic is the art of manipulating the body, mind, and soul. It is named such due to the fact that it is strictly outlawed in most places. Excessive usage of this magic will drive a weak-willed person mad, and it is terrifying to behold. Forbidden magic taps a deeper, primal source, one that can be very dangerous for everyone involved.
There are four main categories of Forbidden magic; Blood, Psychic, Death and Blight
Blood Magic is the manipulation of the body. A blood mage can ravage a person's body from the inside, and break bones with a word. Yet they can also heal, and empower a creature.
Psychic Magic is the manipulation of the mind. A psychic mage can control minds, read memories, and drive opponents mad with mind-shattering powers. They also may have access to some strange abilities such as seeing things happening far away, or in the future, and moving objects with their mind.
Death Magic is better known as Necromancy, and is the manipulation of the soul. A Necromancer can bring back the dead as walking corpses or spectres, and manipulate the power of the Spirit Realm to harm their enemies, or empower themselves. Powerful Necromancers can even escape death.
Blight Magic is the least understood magic, despite having been used by shamans and witches for millennia. It involves the manipulation of disease, poison, decay and all things associated with these. A Blight magic can inflict debilitating diseases upon a creature, or cause them to crumble to dust. Some can control swarms of rats and insects.
== Using Magic ==
=== Mages ===
Mages are students of magic, who have learned the processes and mind exercises involved in imposing one's will upon the world. They must study for years to master even the most basic of spells, but the most powerful mages are experts in commanding the forces of magic.
Anyone can become a mage, and a mage performs their magic through the use of words they have memorised.
=== Sorcerers ===
Sorcerers are born with innate magical capabilities, which they may find difficult to control. It takes great force of will for a sorcerer to utilise their magic effectively, and they often end up hurting themselves when first learning. Nevertheless, when a sorcerer attains full control over their powers they can be a terrifying force of magical power.
Sorcerers are largely discriminated against in civilised places, due to the destructive force they can have if they lose control even briefly. 
Most sorcerers are born that way, but a few become imbued with magic through strange rituals or encounters with excessively magical things.
=== Priests ===
Priests are worshipers of the gods, who have been deemed worthy of granting power to. Not every follower of a god is a given this power, only the most devout and active in spreading that god's power and influence.
Anyone can become a priest, if they're devoted enough. Most priests carry a holy symbol of their own making, or that they're very much connected to, which lets them use divine magic.
=== Druids ===
Druids have a connection to nature so intimate that they can manipulate it to their will. The Fey have deemed this individual to have the necessary will and ideology to be given a portion of their power.
Anyone can become a druid, but it is usually those who have grown up in nature, or who have spent a lot of time in the wilderness. Fey power is not given to those who rely on civilisation.
=== Warlocks ===
Warlocks have made a pact with a greater being, but not a god or a Dragon Sovereign. The nature of this pact is not necessarily one of loyalty or devotion, but an agreement that serves both sides. Creatures that pacts can be made with includes Greater Dragons, Fey, Ascended, Demonlords, Elemental Lords, etc.
Warlocks usually have less magical capabilities than mages, but are gifted with a powerful boon, such as an empowered body or an enchanted bound artifact.
Anyone can become a Warlock if the creature they're making a pact with deems them worthy. Some warlocks researched for years before discovering how to make the pact, others simply came upon the opportunity and accepted it.
== Archmage Ravian's Notes ==
Magic is pretty great, but it is also dangerous. Without it, we wouldn't have this glorious city of New Haven. But also without it we wouldn't have the terrifying creatures in Hirokir.
Learn from my mistakes. I wasn't responsible with my magic when I was younger, and I think I went mad. Not sure about that though. Pretty sure I got better.
If you're wondering, I am a Mage of Forbidden Magic, particularly of the psychic variety. Don't worry, I can't use it on you from all the way over here! Unless you're reading this while sat next to me. In which case, that's very antisocial. Talk to me, I don't bite! Ha!