Magic

**Magic** is the catch-all term for reality bending effects. Every single living being, every rock, every droplet of water has some amount of energy within it. To cast a spell is simply to take this energy, and turn it into something else.

## Power

Every being and every object has some amount of energy in them. This is referred to as various terms across the continents: pneuma, magic, energy, power, to name a few. In general, living beings such as animals and plants will have more power in them, while objects such as rock, metal, and wood will have less.

In the same way that living beings gain energy to move and heat themselves, they also regain their magical power by resting and giving themselves sustenance, up to a certain degree.. Each living being has a magical pool that has a certain capacity; for non-intelligent creatures such as plants, livestock, or wild animals, this is generally low. Humanoids on the other hand can have a wide range of power levels, with the most powerful having the ability to cast powerful magical spells on a daily basis should they wish, while the least powerful might need several days to recover from a basic heat or light spell.

## Magical Casters

While every living being possesses magical power within them, the vast majority will never be able to access and manipulate it. For those lucky few, access to one's magical power is generally only possible following puberty. While this can occur naturally, most mages will require the aid of another mage to guide them through the process of unlocking their power to be able to cast spells and use their power. As a result of this, independent mages are generally rare, and most regions have some form of institution that facilitates and regulates the unlocking of power.

It seems that most humanoids have a similar number of mages, with roughly one in ten thousand individuals having magical potential. The actual number of mages in reality is much lower however. As most potential mages require assistance to unlock their powers, only those candidates that get tested for their power are able to become a full fledged mage. In most societies this is a privilege, with only a certain social strata being screened for potential, usually the nobility, wealthy, or certain dynasties.

## Spells & Subtypes

Magic is a knowledge-based skill. A mage with an immense pool of power is worthless if they don't know how to use it. It is theorized that with the right knowledge, magic could be used to truly bend reality and even ascend to godhood, but this has not been achieved in known history through magical powers alone.

### Energy Conversion

The most common type of magic is turning magic into another form of energy. Generally, this involves turning it into either light or heat. Mages will commonly be seen with a globe of light floating around themselves, and mages often heat their homes with their willpower alone to get through the winters. In combat, this same skill is used to send bolts of energy towards their enemies, with the most skilled mages sending pure energy, wasting none of their power on light or heat. Reversely, this can also be used to turn water into ice for example.

### Shielding

Every living being has a form of magical barrier on their skin, that prevents magic from entering. This barrier can generally be broken in two ways: making a cut in the skin, or by having direct contact with the skin. In combat, mages can extend this barrier and infuse it with magical power to form a personal shield. A group of skilled mages can combine their shields to form a wall or larger globe.

### Levitating

Levitation magic is generally seen as a luxury rather than a useful skill. While it allows a user to temporarily fly and ascend cliffs and buildings rapidly, it is very energy intensive meaning most mages are either not powerful enough, or do not see it as worth using their pool of power for.

### Healing

Healing magic allows a user to expend magical power to heal diseases, fatigue, and other ailments. This can be done both on the mage itself or on other individuals. Healing magic requires extensive knowledge of biology and magic itself, making it one of the hardest magical skills to learn for any mage. Healing magic as a school is in it's infancy. While most mages know how to get rid of their own exhaustion temporarily or make a bruise heal quicker, diseases, internal damage, and infections are things most mages are unable to tackle.

### Transmutation

Transmutation is the act of changing some form of non-living material into another, or changing its aspects. Oftentimes, this involves inserting magic into an object to strengthen it, such as by enchanting weaponry, or by reinforcing architectural structures beyond their normal strength.

### High Magic

High magic has many names across the continents, but the most common are black magic, high magic, and necromancy. High magic is the act of taking energy from living beings and adding it to your own pool of power. In this way, a mage can exceed their own pool of power capacity artificially.. In some cultures, this is a very common occurrence, with communities donating their power on a weekly basis to their local mage. In others, slaver mages gather hordes of subjects to feed from daily to exponentially increase their power. In other parts of the world, high magic is a banned or unknown practice, mages having deemed it too dangerous to practice.