Magic Circles

One of the oldest forms of Magic, a Magic circle is a spell or object with the power to open temporary portals from place to place. Magic has to be moving in order to function properly, so having a circular path to continually follow is perfect for a spell like this. The Magic making up the circle is allowed to flow freely while still being contained within a certain space. Magic Circles' main function is to act as a portal. That being said, there's hundreds of thousands of ways to utilize them. Anything from Demon Summoning to home security to mail delivery. Their functionality all ties down to the perimeters set for the circle itself. A Magic Circle has two parts making it up. The circle itself, and the runes on it. Each of which have their own importance in the circle's functionality.

As stated by the name, a Magic Circle is a circular pattern, oftentimes one that repeats symmetrically. The pattern making up the body of the circle determines the coordinates the other end of the portal will open up to. The more complex and intricate one makes their circle, the more powerful and precise it becomes. Bear minimum a circle must have an inner and outer ring. Something like that would have very little Magic and no precise coordinates, so it would most likely teleport its user to a random nearby location. More intricate circles generally have more Magic. Adding more Magic makes them more powerful, and consequently more precise.

While it is called a Magic Circle, the pattern within the circle doesn't have to be round or circular. Stars, triangles, and octagons are extremely common designs. Straight lines are pretty standard when it comes to more commercialized circles. Over the years people have tried all variety of symbols and patterns for Magic Circles, but not every pattern considers an existing location within Mirror Domain.

The second part of a Magic Circle is it's runes. Runes on a Magic Circle is the text which dictates the perimeters of the circle. Generally speaking any language can be used when writing these runes, although more specialized circles, such as Summoning Circles, must have highly specific runes in order to work. In the case of Summoning Circles, only Demonic can be used to set the circles rules.

As stated, perimeters for a Magic Circle can be anything. It can be set to only work for a certain species, like a door that only allows Humans to enter. It can be used to dictate what items can go through it, like a postal system only allowing letters in some circles but packages in others. Sometimes circles can be set to only work in certain locations, like not being able to travel to Havenlyn if the user is in Aelvale.

While perimeters can be anything, being too vague or too specific can lead to some issues. There's also limited space when it comes to runes, seeing as they're most commonly added within the inner and outer ring, so word choice has to be planned beforehand. A circle's parameters can also only dictate what can or can't enter, not both at once. What runes someone uses need to be very thought out, or else unwanted objects or creatures will be able to enter and exit freely.

In general the type of Magic used when creating a Magic Circle is arbitrary, but every now and then the circle's colour really comes into play. Summoning Circles can only be constructed with Dark or Red Magic. In fact, any Magic Circle that hopes to open a portal between different planes of existence has to use something more powerful than Green Magic. Green Magic on it's own just isn't powerful enough to tear a hole through dimensions. The only exception to this rule are Relics, seeing as the power of a God is far greater than anything a Mortal could ever hope to achieve.