The Essence and Magic in Ga'leah

== The History ==
The world of Ga’leah is comprised of an energy called the
Essence. It is from Essence that all things come from. All the gods came from
this energy or power source of the entire world both infinite and finite. This
essence cannot be destroyed nor can it be created. It is the life force of the
world and it is from this that all things even the Source comes from. Every
living thing partakes in the essence. Some in more active ways than others. It is
because of this that everyone is tied to nature or the world as a whole. There
is a unity of every living thing in this way. However, there is a hierarchy of
the world. Not every living being has the same capacity to touch or interact
with the essence. This creates a hierarchy in the world: Essence, Source, First
Gods, lesser gods, demi-gods, fae, half-fae or creatures of magical qualities,
humans, animals, and plants. As one moves down this hierarchy the less capable
the being is able to interact with the essence itself. The essence still exists
in some way inside of the being, but whether that being can interact with it
depends on where they are placed on this hierarchy.
The Source is the first goddess to be created. She sprung
from the essence and thus has the closest connection to that energy source. The
Source, or Olwyn, is the mother of magic. Magic is the manipulation of the
essence which is why the stronger ones connection to the essence the stronger
and more capable the magic is. The Source is able to use the raw form of the
essence and manipulate it into what she pleases. It is from this that the
Pantheon or first Gods sprang. However, the Forebearer is the only god who
Olwyn created on her own. All the other gods and goddesses of the Pantheon were
created by the two of them together. This makes the gods of the Pantheon third
removed from the essence making their magic and ability to interact with the
essence less than that of Time and the Source. A handful of the lesser gods
were first created by the gods and goddesses of the Pantheon with the blessing
of the Source of course. All other lesser gods were birthed from relations
between gods and goddesses. This makes the lesser gods fourth removed from the
essence. 
Then the fae were created. The fae are fifth removed from
the essence despite some having been made by Olwyn herself. It is because the
fae exist in the world of the finite and not the realm of the gods or the world
of the infinite that they are even further removed than the gods. The Original
fae were the ones created only by Pantheon members in the first wave of
creation at the same time that Ga’leah was formed as well. They include the
Seasonal Fae, the Seven, and the Elementals (Fire, Water, Earth, Air). All
other fae were either born of relations between these fifteen, by lesser gods, or
by other members of the Pantheon after the creation of the world. These
original fae are stronger than the other fae by a slim margin. The differences
in power between fae over the centuries though has come from lineage and
potentiality of a person. 
After the war of the fae, Olwyn thought it best to keep the
creating of new entities to herself. The war of the fae had proven that her
children or other gods could be too bold or liberal with their gifts. No one
unless directly guided by her was to create a living being. After a short time
Olwyn created humans. She formed them out of both essence and earth. It was because
of this that humans found their lives significantly shorter than those of the
fae and there connection to the essence significantly weaker. Some of the humans
who were clever enough and tried hard enough found they could do small amounts
of natural magics. These humans became known as witches. They found the ancient
scratched runes of the druids (descendents of children of fae and Olwyn) and
learned on their own to make potions and cast spells. As the centuries went on
though and humans procreated such potential to figure out a way to connect with
the natural magics faded. Humans of the current age are unable to connect to
the essence even though it resides inside of them as it does in all living
things. Although there are those that still try and it is from this desire that
the Sortilege was created as well as a need by the Order of Affolahn to have a
way to teach and keep tabs on the half-fae that had begun to spring up all over
Ga’leah.
== Basic Rules of Magic ==
Like all things in the world there is a balance that must be
maintained. If there was no balance the world would fall into chaos and cease
to exist or have order. Order must be maintained in order for the world to
subsist. Magic, therefore is a constant give and take. Just like all actions
have consequences so does all magic. Even the magic of the gods has some kind
of consequence. The repercussions of magic depend on the scale of the spell
being used. The most common is a depletion of energy. The larger the spell the
more energy that is expended. This consequence is most common with offensive
magic where the source of the blast is from the person themselves. Things get
more complicated though when you pull from outside of yourself. For example if
you pull essence or energy from the natural elements around you that can cause
the plant or animal to wither and die. This can in fact happen with a human or
being of higher reasoning. People can share their energies, but both must be in
agreement with the spell they are casting. When using the energy of another
person you have to gain access to their mind and they must consciously agree to
grant access to their energy. This is why it is easier to pull energy from
plants and animals as plants do not have minds and animals are solely
instinctual creatures; thus they are more easily manipulated.
Spells and enchantments are trickier still as they usually
act as a kind of contract between caster and person or object. Every spell has
guidelines and can be broken in some way. Now because a spell or enchantment is
added to something or someone there is a change in the nature of that object or
person. This is why many spells and enchantments become weaker over time or
fade away. Of course there are those objects that maintain their magical qualities
despite the passage of time. Such spells are exhaustive and are done on objects
created specifically for the purpose of their enchantment. Examples of these would
be Excalibur, Joyeuse, the Ring of Dispel, etc. Such things retain their enchantments
because the intention behind their creation makes it a part of their essence.
Other spells or enchantments on people that do not fade over time usually have
a set of written rules or a way in which they can be broken so that order may
eventually be restored. An example of this would be the curse on Odette. If
spells or enchantments on people are not broken the person’s death will suffice
as payment as it ends the enchantment by natural means. 
The key is that a balance must always be maintained.
Payment must be made eventually on the spell whether that is in energy, death, or
other means. There are limitations on everything.
== Types of Magic ==
* Natural Magic- is the most basic forms of the arcane arts. It is the 
first type of magic that anyone learns to use. Natural magics are also 
the weakest in form, but take up the least amount of a person's energy. 
Natural magic exists in all elemental things. This form of magic is also
 the most tactile and is dependent upon the items being used in order to
 work. Basically this means you cannot create anything out of nothing. 
Fire is the only element that appears to just be created when in reality
 it is caused by the magic user heating up the air around their hand or 
an object until it combusts. Elemental magic is a type of Natural magic. As the name would have you 
believe elemental magic deals with, you guessed it, the elements. There 
are four natural elements: Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. Ice and metal 
are both different forms of the earth and water elements and thus exist 
as a part of that element. Vegetative magic deals with the controlling and manipulating of plant life.
* Healing Magic- magic is fairly self explanatory, however it is a bit more 
intensive in its study. Healing magic can be very simple, but it can 
also be very complicated. It's not as simple as waving your hand over a 
cut and saying a few magic words. You have to know exactly what you are 
doing or you could cause more injury. Just as a doctor needs to know how
 the body works so does a healer. Healing magic depending on how severe 
the injury can take a lot of energy. Healers are the most likely of spell casters to pool their energy together in order to complete a task. 
* Celestial Magic- also known as Light magic is the use of the light and energies from celestial bodies (the sun, stars, moon, and planets). There are three sub forms of this magic,solar, lunar, and cosmic. Solar celestial magic is the easier form of the magic to master as the Sun's light is often stronger. It does not take as long and as much effort to draw it out. Lunar celestial magic is harder to capture and master as its light is softer. Cosmic celestial magic is the hardest of the subforms of light magic to master due to the distance between the caster and the object in which they draw power.
* White Magic- is often mistaken as light magic. White magic is much different and can be closely linked with soul magic. White magic is sometimes referred to as pure magic. It is the strongest, but also the hardest to cast and obtain. White magic can only be used for unselfish reasons. The intentions of its user must be pure and it must be in service of the soul for the better. This is what makes it so hard to cast. It is rooted in the virtues and all that is Good and truly Good in the world. It is very rare.
* Black Magic- is you guessed it the opposite of White magic. Sometimes referred to as dark magic, is the most dangerous of the forms. It has the most costs to the caster. Black magic affects not only the person who the caster attacks but it also harms their very essence. Black magic corrupts and pollutes. Subcategories include: Necromancy, summoning, and blood magic. Necromancy calls for the caster to take a piece of their own soul and put it into the body in which they choose to resurrect. Summoning is the calls upon dark forces and monsters. Blood magic uses both the blood of the victim and the caster in order to harm, curse, link, etc. The wounds inflicted by blood magic cannot be healed by magical means. They must heal of their own accord. Wounds used in blood magic do not heal quickly and they do not heal cleanly. The caster will be left with a nasty scar for the rest of their life.
* Soul Magic-is the trickiest to master. It deals with the very essence of a person. Soul magic can only be achieved if there is an agreement between the caster and the person being enchanted. It requires the caster to enter into the person's soul and thus one must fully trust the other person. When using such magics you have to be careful as you can cause damage to a person's soul if you don't know what you are doing.