Magic

Magic is a supernatural force in the world. It occurs naturally and can be located in certain places, species, and bloodlines. Magic also can be actively shaped and controlled.

## Regions

Certain areas have stronger background magic than others. Atlantis had one of the strongest natural concentrations of magic in the world, an almost palpable force. The wild landscape of the Amazon possesses "deep and strange magic," and it is compared to the Westlands, which is itself described as a "physical embodiment of magic." Many parts of the world contain local magical species, as well as regional variants of magic workers, such as the magicians in South America.

In areas where magic is not naturally immanent, an alternative source of magical energy, or "deconsecrated power," is found at sites of past trauma. These potent sites can be imported using translocation spells.

## Disruptions

Certain places confuse or hinder magic, particularly places infused with wild magic. The Convocation's prisoner cells and the Anchorite's court also interfere with it.

Magic can be completely disrupted by shielded rooms and lead walls, null spaces and null lines, warded manacles, and particularly strong magical boundaries. Bracelets that dampen magical power prevent people from accessing sigils and performing cantrips, although the bracelets cannot block deep bloodline magic, such as the Arcana Majeure. Coal, coral, and obsidian hinder magical creatures, and is especially used as protection against the dead and other dangers.

## Willpower

A person's willpower is their magical essence. Willpower, when combined with words, gestures, or objects, creates a spell.

## Types of Magic

Magic in TTS is divided into several categories by method and theme. The different methods include sigil magic, wards, cantrips, ritual magic, and (rarely) spells cast without sigils. The last requires years of dedicated study that also leaves the spell caster less skilled in sigil magic and specializes in a single energy type or discipline. Themes generally describe a whole class of magic organized around a type of energy or effect, such as life magic or death magic. Other types of magic are less defined. Bloodline magic, for example, includes Aspects that generally have roots in a single discipline and get passed down through a family line. Oaths, on the other hand, aren't based in a discipline or theme but can produce some of the most powerful long-term effects.

* **Sigil Magic**
	+ Sigil magic is the most common type of magic employed by Atlanteans. It involves storing spells inside artifacts and releasing them when needed. A spell caster can carry any number of sigils at one time, effectively turning them into a one-person magical army or demigod. Once the spell in the sigil is cast the user can recharge it with the same or a different spell by meditating in their personal sanctum or, with great difficulty, in places outside their sanctum.
* **Ritual Magic**
	+ Some magic requires a combination of words, gestures, writing, or paraphernalia to enact a spell-caster's will. These include, for example, summoning, the creation of portals, and the creation of companion bonds.
* **Wards**
	+ Wards are somewhat like sigils magic in some of its versatility, but has limitations. Wards can be set in an object, like a clay disk containing a domestic ward such as one that keeps the air smelling fresh. They can also be placed on clothing, such as Lord Tower's clothes. However, they can also protect buildings and large areas, such as those around the Moral Certainties' compound in the Westlands. Note, it is unclear whether such wards are placed directly on the building or emanate from an object imbued with the ward. It also is unclear whether wards protecting a building would require a sigil to cast. It *is* clear that a scion can use a sigil to cast a ward, like Rune did with his mass sigil. Wards generally have protective or utilitarian purposes and might be thought of as a field effect, rather than a targeted attack or utility spell such as a fireball or telekinesis. Besides that, a ward can mimic many of the types of magics cast using sigils or ritual magic. Examples of wards are as follows:
		- Barrier wards
			* The fence around Finn's pen/stones that create a physical barrier
		- Defensive wards
			* Wards on clothing (Rune's jacket with cheap wards applied by Queenie; Lord Tower's pajamas; Lord Judgment's clothing)
			* The ward Quinn put on his model castle for the science fair.
		- Domestic wards
			* A ward to remove allergins
			* Freshness ward
* **Cantrips**
	+ Cantrips are spells that create low-powered or limited-use effects and almost everyone of Atlantean blood can cast at least a few. They don't include spells of raw elemental energy, which are higher-order magics, and they can have a cost, as seen when Rune used a cantrip to harden the skin on his and Brand's feet and subsequently lost the top layer of skin. However, in their way cantrips can be extremely effective and, according to Lady Lovers, in the hands of a master spell caster a cantrip can work wonders. For example, Lord Tower states that he has seen Rune overcome armed opponents using just his saber and a light spell. Examples of cantrips:
		- Reinforcing the soles of Rune's feet
		- Spike of adrenaline to help Rune run faster
		- Sound effect that turns a finger snap into a clap of thunder
		- Create globes of light
		- Air lens
		- Strengthen leg muscles to run faster
		- Punching out the window glass at Farstryke
		- Adding extra friction to the hand to catch a ball
* **Disciplines or Magical Affinities**
	+ These are thematic categories that classify either a magical specialty studied by a spell caster (Lady Death's frost magic) or a natural affinity (Ciaran's wild magic). Some houses have a specialty magic most of the members of the house take, such as heart magic for the Heart Throne. Others of these categories are forbidden, such as time and weather magic. Note that these thematic categories can be tied to bloodlines and thus a scion's Aspect might resemble or be an expression of a discipline. Rune's magic, for example, is rooted in fire magic, which was both a specialty of the Sun Throne and shaped his Aspect.
		- Air Magic
		- Death Magic
		- Earth Magic
		- Fire Magic
		- Frost Magic
		- Heart Magic
		- Hearth Magic
		- Holy Magic
		- Life Magic
		- Nature Magic
		- Necromancy
		- Prophecy
		- Time Magic
		- Water Magic
		- Weather Magic
		- Wild Magic
* **Bloodline Magic**
	+ The most well known type of bloodline magic are Aspects, the mystical embodiment of the magic from a throne. The actual appearance of an Aspect may vary and does not always have an obvious connection to the house the scion comes from, but some Aspects are clearly rooted in the power of an arcana house. An Aspect is a mark of power, particularly ones that can affect the world around the scion and not just project an illusion. Such Aspects are the marker of an arcana and are exceedingly rare. Almost all Atlanteans with an Aspect come from an arcana bloodline and most are recognized as scions, the nobility of Atlantis. Some are from families or houses that have fallen on hard times, like the Dawncreeks. But such Atlanteans can trace their lineage back to a member of the ruling family of their house.
* **Oaths**

## References

1. ↑ *The Last Sun*, Chapter 12, Rurick
2. ↑ *The Last Sun*, Chapter 12, Rurick
3. ↑ *The Last Sun*, Chapter 6, New Saints
4. ↑ *The Hanged Man*, Chapter 13, The Arcanum
5. ↑ *The Last Sun*, Chapter 7, Cubic Dreams
6. ↑ *The Last Sun*, Chapter 4,
7. ↑ *The Last Sun*, Chapter 9,