Magic

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Magic in the world of Aurora comes in a multitude of forms. Mages command elemental magic and can manipulate the six elements.

## Mechanics

Elemental magic is the process of exerting control over elemental matter using the relevant elemental energy. This is a momentary reawakening of a small fragment of the original primordial. Runes naturally command elemental energy, possibly because runes are the original language of the primordials. People with soul channels, commonly known as mages, are able to draw in energy and then exert their will over it. If magic is used on a different element the energy dissipates with no effect.

In it's most basic form, magic is used to manipulate and move an element. For the material elements (stone, water, and wind) the manipulation is obvious, magic moves and shapes the element how it wants. For energy elements (fire, lightning, and life) magic appears to create the element, however this is not the case. When energy elements aren't actively burning zapping or growing they sink into the material elements. So when **magic** summons a fireball it isn't creating the fire out of nowhere, it's drawing fire out of the surrounding air and stone. For a while basic manipulation was the only thing magic could do, but after the discovery of the primordial's truenames magic based on the elements higher properties became available.

When elements are fused together, magic can manipulate the fused substance to an extent as long as the magic is one of the types that the fused substance is made of. For example, fire magic is able to change the temperature of magma, a fusion of fire and stone, whereas stone magic is able to shape it, but you would need both types of magic in order to cleanly manipulate it.

Soul energy is intensely resistant to elemental energy which means that things that contain souls can not be directly manipulated by magic. For example even though blood is mostly water, water magic cannot manipulate the blood inside a living thing. The exception to this is life magic, which can bypass soul lattices as the body recognizes healing and growing as a necessity. However this leaves people vulnerable to mutations.

## Mages

Some people are born with soul channels connecting them to specific element(s). Through these channels they can draw elemental energy into themselves, exert their will on the energy, and then use the energy to do magic. While mages are born with their link, abilities usually don't develop until somewhere between 4 and 7 years old. Mages can also be born with control over more than one element, with the amount of mages that can control two or more being exponentially rarer by the amount of elements they can control. If someone is born with a link to all six they are known as an elemental magus, due to the statistical improbability elemental magi are often born centuries apart and two have never been alive at the same time.

The element(s) that a person will be able to control isn't entirely random, but the factors that dictate it aren't entirely understood. Two of the known factors are your lineage and elemental influence. Elemental influence means you are most likely to have a link to the influencing element, followed by the two elements that absorb/are absorbed by the influencing element, least likely to have a link to the opposite of the influencing element, and the remaining two elements being more likely than the opposite but less than anything else.

A mages ability to successfully perform magic is dependent on two factors, power and precision. Power is based on how wide the soul channel is, the wider it is the more energy you can channel at once. Precision is based on practice although it comes naturally to some lower-power mages. Mages often can't do both well, A mage that could hold back a storm likely couldn’t precisely carry a small object on gusts of wind, and vice versa.

Mages are extra vulnerable to elemental corruption due to their soul channels which allow elemental energy to flow through their soul. Usually it only effects amateur mages who haven't learned how to properly channel, but it can also appear in fully trained mages that channel too much energy at a time or channel energy for too long.

## Runes

Raw willpower is not the only way to command elemental energy. Runes can also direct and limit energy. Runic inscriptions are commonly used as safety precautions when invoking complex effects. While typically unnecessary for simple, physical manipulation, runic commands are considered a necessity when invoking the more complex higher properties of an element.

The Auroran runic alphabet is used to write almost every language on the planet, but the words that it is used to write are different in every language and as a result have no magical effect. Only when the runes are used to write the First Language can they command the primordial elements. Mages aren’t generally taught how to speak the First Language (although some can), and are instead taught individual words or command phrases that are then chained together, akin to a coding language for magic.

Aside from the basic runic command language, each element has a unique “Great Rune” that is used not to command the energy, but to draw and focus it directly. When activated by the force of a mortal will (and it must be willfully activated and deactivated in order to function) this rune does nothing more than call upon the ambient energy of its elemental type and focus it into whatever object it has been inscribed on. These runes are frequently used for charging lacrimas. However, these runes must be used carefully; they are the only known way to draw on the elements without requiring a conscious, active effort of willpower. If a Great Rune is inscribed on an inanimate object, it must be willfully deactivated after each use (to prevent excess energy buildup in the area) and carefully surrounded by sealing command runes to prevent any unused energy from escaping.

Runic tattoos are often used by mages to smoothen or adjust their magical ability. Many mages get tattooed with the Great Rune of their element, which expedites and eases the process by which the mage draws the energy into themselves. Other runic tattoos include sealing runes, which greatly decrease the possibility of elemental corruption; however, unlike a Great Rune tattoo, the mage must then physically activate and deactivate the runes via touch to allow themselves to cast a spell. If the mage were in a situation that did not allow them to touch the tattoo, they would be stuck without their magic. It is for this reason that many mages dismiss sealing rune tattoos. A more temporary version of the sealing rune tattoo is called a "lifelock," a magic item used primarily to keep healing energy inside the body for longer than the soul would typically allow. This lets longer-term healings take place for more severe injuries, such as broken bones. Occasionally, lifelocks are used on crimminal mages to lock their magic outside of their body, similar to the sealing rune tattoo. These lifelocks must be used carefully, however, because sealing uncontrolled life energy inside a soul will provoke uncontrolled mutation over and over again.

### Magic Items

Runes are vitally important in the creation of magic items. Raw elemental energy can be contained in specialized crystals known as “lacrimas”, to be stored for later use by mages or to power magic items usable by anyone. Blank lacrimas are made from a form of crystal that is found naturally or created by tempering ordinary stone with magical fire until the stone becomes an even, translucent crystalline structure stripped of all impurities that serves as both a storage matrix and an insulator for elemental energy that enters it. A mage can then charge the lacrima with elemental energy (blank lacrimas will eventually absorb a mix of the ambient elemental energy).

To make magic items, a lacrima must be inscribed with runes delineating its use. Inscribing a lacrima before it is charged with energy is generally considered to be safer, but it is still possible to do so afterwards. Life lacrimas, for instance, are used commonly in the field of medical care, as it is often simpler and safer to command a lacrima to regrow lost tissue than it is to conscript a life mage to do so manually. A fire lacrima could be used to craft a simple light source [left]. or a mighty flaming sword (where the fire must be commanded to spring forth on activation, following the shape of the blade itself and spreading no further). However, runic commands are always second to the willpower of a mage: a fire mage could command the fire to expand past the blade of the flaming sword, for example.

## Types of Elemental Magic

### Spells and Cantrips

Elemental magic can generally be divided into three categories, depending on the scale and complexity of the action. Spells are the most complicated of the three, and can involve higher properties or simply extremely specific actions that need to be specifically directed. An example of a spell would be, for example, using fire to transmute lead into gold. Cantrips are simple, easy spells that have predictable results, such as a cantrip that would create a small, heatless flame for light. Basic elemental manipulation isn’t considered a spell or a cantrip, as it is more intuitive and has no need for runes or higher-level invocations.

Runic circles are used in order to safely command and direct energy in more complex spells and cantrips, and to protect the elemental energy from outside influence. In general, the more complex the spell, the more complex the runic circle will be and the longer it will take to craft. Each runic circle is specific to the spell or cantrip it directs.

## Other Magic

### Truenames and Name-Magic

Every living soul has a truename, which encodes the essential existence of the soul. Truenames are typically very long and every soul has one that is unique. Truenames are typically only relevant for necromancy, which usually involves invoking the truename of someone dead in order to form an echo of the soul out of ambient soul energy. While ghosts don't typically exist, a necromancer who knows a truename can invoke a memory or copy of someone dead. Unlike elemental magic, necromancy is a skill that anyone can foster - however, it is extremely difficult and complex.

Name-magic, however, also makes use of truenames. Name-magic can be used to bind living souls, as opposed to dead ones. This attack, if sufficiently powerful, can sunder the souls of gods if their incarnations and physical anchors were disrupted. Mortal souls are more attached to their bodies, and thus name-magic is less effective at fully removing them. However, name-magic can be used to tie items to certain people, or to bind sentinels to their master god. Name-magic and necromancy are essentially the same thing, but the difference is only in whether the souls being manipulated are alive or dead.

On a higher level, name-magic is also the principle behind elemental magic. In essence, elemental magic is calling on the truenames of the Primordials in order to awaken a small part of their souls to reinvoke properties they held while alive.

Finding someone’s truename is difficult. It is easiest to find your own truename, so many mages will meditate to find portions of their truename. Truenames can be long and fairly incoherent, but a significant portion of the soul can be recalled by just knowing small, important parts. It is also possible to find out someone’s truename after they have died using high-level wind magic, invoking its higher property of communication to listen for bits of the person’s truename.

## References

1. ↑ on the subject of bags of holding... (Tumblr.com)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Magic (comicaurora.com)
3. ↑ you've mentioned before that the elemental magics have higher applications... (tumblr.com)
4. ↑ *"Metal was part of primordial Stone...*" to "*A stone mage could move or shape it, a fire mage could make it hotter or colder.*": messages in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (Discord.com)
5. ↑ *"anyway mages normally develop their abilities..."*: message in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
6. ↑ I have kind of a peculiar question that I can only... (Tumblr.com)
7. ↑ Page 1.6.2
8. ↑ so you've probably covered this before back in... (Tumblr.com)
9. ↑ *"Lineage seems to influence it somewhat, but not entirely"*: message in #aurora-disscusion in the OSP discord server (Discord.com)
10. ↑ I know elementally-adapted mages can't control... (Tumblr.com)
11. ↑ Question: people are born with power over certain... (Tumblr.com)
12. ↑ Page 1.4.3
13. ↑ "Magic takes a toll - the mage must concentrate in order to channel safely...": message in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
14. ↑ How do the writing systems work in relation to language in Aurora? Is the modern runic alphabet universal... (tumblr.com)
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Erin's tats are, if not required to let him do magic, sure do help him channel the energy... (tumblr.com)
16. ↑ Lifelock enchantments? What do those consist of and how are they applied? (tumblr.com)
17. ↑ How are lacrimas made? (tumblr.com)
18. ↑ How are the terms "spell" and "cantrip" used in Aurora... (tumblr.com)
19. ↑ You mentioned a bit ago that Erin was using runic circles... (tumblr.com)
20. ↑ "*Souls, however, have the unique quality...*" to "*difficult and complex skill to learn.*": messages in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
21. ↑ "*The method by which The Collector extracts souls is presumably...*": message in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
22. ↑ Gods and Sentinels (comicaurora.com)
23. ↑ How did Asera forge Erin’s sigil? (tumblr.com)
24. ↑ What is name magic? Apologies if this has been asked before... (tumblr.com)
25. ↑ What happens if you invoke someone’s truename... (tumblr.com)