Magic

**Magic** is the general term used for the drawing of raw **Magical Energy** from the world and utilizing it to alter reality to an extent within the world with spells and rituals. A human who are capable of utilizing magic is referred to as a **Mage**, among other titles such as *Wizards, Shamans, Shugenja, Mystics, Fāngshì*, *Babaylan*, or *Sorcerers,* depending on the region of the world. For millennia, reality on Earth was greatly influenced and manipulated by humanity being surrounded by the mysteries and unknowns of the ancient world. This allowed for the mystical and magical to dominate humanity's consensus on how reality worked, but as soon as mankind as a whole advanced across the ages and science and technology replaced myths and superstition, the Earth itself began correcting the instances of reality being warped by magic whenever in the presence of the non-magi, entities manifesting as "anti-bodies" of the planet itself attacking the magi who dared perform magic in the eyes of the common-folk and "correcting" this illogical phenomenon in the most violent of ways. With the planet itself punishing magi exposed to the eyes of the non-magi, many banded together into groups and separated themselves from society as a way to preserve magic.

## Origin and History

Humanity discovered Magic prior to the Agricultural Revolution of 10,000 BC by observing how the ancient species and entities, now known as fantastical creatures found in legends and myths, harnessed magical energy from the planet and perform feats such as breathing fire or supernatural speed and strength. Within the next millennia, humans would gradually learn of the nature of magic through trial and error. Ancient species and the most powerful of ancient magi were revered as deities as a result.

### Mythic Era

From the dawn of humanity until 1000 CE, commonly referred to as the **Mythic Era**, Magic was greatly amplified thanks to the collective belief of mortals in the supernatural, increasing the potency of magic. The Laws of Reality in Earth was shaped by the belief of humanity across many civilizations, And it was during this age where natural phenomenon such as lighting or earthquakes were explained as supernatural occurrence caused by gods, creatures, or magic. It was during the Mythic Era where the creatures of legends roamed the Earth freely, while ancient magi were capable of performing sorcery that would be impossible in the modern era, such as the large-scale control of weather, or extreme-distance teleportation. The Magical Energy in the world was also denser and more easily drawn by magi, making the casting of magic extremely potent and doable with less strain. This was also an era where magic was a scarcely studied topic. Magi of the early Mythic Era kept their secrets to themselves and few codified their findings for the sake of sharing them with other magi they do not trust. Eventually, magi became more organized, institutions slowly rose up, and the codification and study of magic became more accessible to magi. Some organizations date their foundations to this ancient time in magic's history, a status symbol of power and prestige.

### **The Decay and the Post-Collapse Era**

This Golden Age of Magic did not last forever. The World followed an absolute flow, a fundamental law that the world and magic itself followed. The the more of humanity progresses in science and technology, and the more they unravel the mysteries of phenomena with logical and scientific methods, the more difficult it is to perform magic in the world, and magic as a whole has been greatly weakened by what was known **The Law of Magical Decay**. To make things worse, the will of the planet itself began manifesting as entities known as **"Horrors"** to magi, these Horrors appear whenever magic is exposed to a large amount of non-magi that see the "illogical" feats of magic, causing the Horrors to manifest and "correct" the mage's disobedience to the new laws of reality within the world, with death at best and unthinkable eternity of torture at worst. The **Decay** drove a rift between magi and non-magi, who were now referred to as *Sleepers*, *Civilians*, and even *Impure* or *The Blighted* by many magi as derogatory terms. The more Decay in the world, the weaker the human connection to magic grows, and if left unchecked, might spill the end of humanity's access to magical energy in the planet as a whole. Many believed that this Decay is the inevitable path civilizations follow as technology and science progressed and unraveled the phenomena once explained as magic.

The Decay became an inevitable fact of the magi world, and by the 13th century, many magi across the world retreated from society as a whole. such as the Grand Order of Magi by 1222 CE. Also known as the *Arcane Society* or the *Arcane Order*, they are a confederation of magi from different traditions and cultures united by their common interest of preserving magic and shielding it from the Decay by making sure the non-magi are ignorant of magic's true nature. The time after 1000 CE was now referred to as the **Post Collapse Age** as a result. Hordes of Magical Creatures that existed prior to the collapse were also affected by the Decay, and that there very existence being known by non-magi weakened their presence in the Earth greatly, not to mention Horrors manifesting and attacking them as well. This resulted in a gradual Exodus from the physical part of the Earth or the "Mortal Realm", the realm in which living beings in the planet, and into the Border Realm. Travel to and from the other realms are extremely difficult, not to mention dangerous, as the Magical Creatures that now inhabit and dominate their new homes are not too receptive towards most humans that visit, who they view as the cause for the Decay. What are now called fantastic creatures from myths, heroes from legends, and gods by the modern non-magi were once entities that thrived in the Mythic Era were the collective belief of humanity anchored their existence to the world.

The Collapse was felt on a global scale in varying degrees, with Magic decaying faster in more technologically advanced civilizations and societies. During the dawn of the Exploration Age, the Decay accelerated drastically, and eventually forced every other organization of magi around the globe to disappear from the eyes of the "Impure" non-magi.

Conflict was ripe between organizations from the 15th to the 20th century, although the shift in the global political climate has resulted in most organizations signing Neutrality Pacts, some even allying themselves with one another. There are even some organizations who struck deals with the elites of countries, and mage organizations were even secretly sanctioned and funded by governments such as the United States. Some Mage Groups even become mercenary and private contract groups, taking strict measures in order to not reveal the nature of magic to non-magi, typically disguising their magic as "technology" through artifacts made to look like high-tech equipment. However, isolated incidents still occur regularly, as clashes between organizations occur in the shadows. All-out war is out of the question, but conflicts in the shadows are ever prevalent. And if inter-organizational conflicts aren't the problem, infighting and political intrigue within the organizations themselves prevent an organization from fully one-upping their rivals properly.

While the Decay has been drastically kept at bay thanks to the attempts of preservation by the magi around the world, it is still slowly degrading the quality of magic that could be performed, and many calculated full degradation within the next millennia, assuming nothing drastic happens. Therefor, multiple organizations and mage lineages continue to try and find a way to permanently stop the Decay from progressing, while others have ambitions of fully reversing its effects and creating a new Mythic Era.

## The Decay, and Those who Enforce it

The **Decay** was eventually discovered by magi during the collapse of the Mythic Era, and gradually studied and understood by those who hid from society and saw how the advancement of human civilization's technology affected the way magic worked within the planet. With the rise of the scientific method and logical reasoning, the mysteries that magic influenced started to slowly disappear, causing the will of planet Earth itself dictating that magic defies the law of "Reality" in the planet, and must be corrected whenever exposed to the non-magi, the sleepers of the world. This caused thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of manifestation of entities from the planet's will spawning to "correct" the twisting of Earth's reality, often by violently attacking and killing magi who expose magic to non-magi. The ultimate way to combat the Decay, the magi of the world formed secret organizations and society to preserve magic and prevent it from being exposed.

### Horrors

Known by many names, from *Watchers*, to *Abominations*, Horrors manifest from the will of the planet, specifically its will to enforce what it deems to be the proper reality in its domain. They get their name from the myriad of appearances the Horrors spawn as, typically as a terrifying being that fits to the fears of the mage who exposed magic. The Earth is aware of everything happening in its celestial body, every fear, every desire of the beings that reside it. Therefor, its will manifests as the worst fear a magus or entity would have whenever it reveals magic to non-magi. Some manifest as dark, nearly formless clouds of abyss, others manifest as your classic demonic entity, some see an otherwise average-looking man in a suit. Regardless of the forms they choose, Horrors possess raw physical and magical power beyond that of being that lived in the world. Fighting one is similar to fighting a planet-level entity. Rare are those who survive encounters, rarer still are those who banish these Horrors from the material world. These manifestations of the planet's will cannot be killed, only temporarily expelled from the mortal realm by the most powerful of magi. Their powers vary with the forms they take, but they all share the ability to relentlessly track down the mage who exposed magic and summoned them to the Earth's physical plane in the first place.

## Magical Energy

**Magical Energy** exists as the "breath of the planet", a force of nature that can be found in every natural occurrence within the planet, from plants, animals, minerals, to humans. It serves as the fuel source for magic, allowing this temporary altering of reality within the planet. Living beings possess the capacity to convert their own life force into magical energy through the metaphysical organ located in their head and connected their souls, referred as the "Mana Lobe", "The Anima Line" or "the Gate". Therefor the more "alive" an entity is, the more capacity they have for Magical Energy, although this is not always the case, as certain, materials, or plants have capacities for Magical Energy that surpasses magi and Magical Creatures. Magical Energy is referred to by many names depending on the region and culture.

Some examples include:

* European and Euro-influenced magi commonly refer to the energy as ***Aether*** or ***Quintessence***
* Magi from Yoruba culture in Nigeria refer to the energy as ***Aṣẹ***.
* Japanese magi refer to the energy as ***Ki***
* Melanesian, Polynesian and Filipino magi refer to the energy as ***Mana**.*
* Native American magi refer to the energy as ***Manitou***.
* Magi from cultures within and adjacent to the Indian Subcontinent refer to it as ***Prana**.*
* Chinese magi refer to the energy as ***Qi***.
* Magi of Native Central American origin refer to the energy as ***Teotl***.

### The Gate: The Core of Spellcasting

Called the Mana Lobe, the Gate, the Anima Lines, Magical Circuitry. Magi and entities with a capacity for magic posses a metaphysical organ located in their heads which allows for the use of mana and spellcasting. The planet's natural and raw magical energy is processed and stored by a mage's mana lobe, the capacity and quality for magical energy stored and converted into spells vary greatly from magus to magus. The process of gathering magical energy and converting it into mana in most cases happens naturally, as natural as the Respiratory System allowing someone to breath on auto-pilot, the Gate of an individual allows the conversation and storage of magical energy from the world as fuel for spell casting. The quality of mana can effect the spells casted such as amount needed per spell and strength. For magi, the mana lobe can be described as a processing gate and the first step necessary to accessing the Akashic Records, the Origin of Everything. The speed one can absorb and process magical energy are dependent on the quality of one's Gate. This quality of Gate is affected by multiple factors, from a mage's heritage and bloodline (as many traditional magi practice selective breeding to ensure the next generation grows more power), one's drive to improve and develop their Gate through study, meditation, experimentation, and sheer willpower, and sometimes just from random luck.

The act of performing Magic and casting spells follows the basic principle of channeling a user's own magical energy produced by their Gate or drawing magical energy from the planet's equivalent of a Gate called **Leylines**. Close proximity to leylines make it easier to draw magical energy, and many magi establish their bases, laboratories, and workshops on areas close to or exactly on leylines. Points where different leylines converge are therefor prized territories, and commonly fought over. Once they are able to draw upon the "fuel" for magic, a magus must possess the knowledge and willpower necessary to convert the raw energy into generating an effect or a "bending of reality" in the world. This requires a mage to know the foundational knowledge of the specific spell they aim to cast, while also having the mental capacity and ego to force the spell into occurring in a world in which reality is now dictated by science and logic. This meant that once powerful spells in the Mythic Era, such as large-scale weather manipulation, time travel, and long-range teleportation are next to impossible to reproduce, due to the current laws in the Earth's reality.

### Resistance, Denial of Other's Magic

One's **Magical Resistance** is the inherent ability of Magically-capable entities that allows them to reject the magical energy from spells being imposed upon them by others. By circulating their converted magical energy across their body, it is possible to prevent incoming spells from manifesting its full effect. A magus is capable of shrugging off the spells of weaker opponents thanks to superior Gates, tactical and skillful usage of Resistance, as well as having a strong willpower. Magical Resistance is not the ultimate defense for magi and magical creatures since The capacity of one's Anima Lines are finite, and therefor subject to being overwhelmed if subjected to absurd amounts of incoming magical energy, or a constant barrage of spells that slowly but surely overwhelms the magical energy one circulates in their bodies as a defense.

Most of the time, however, Magical Resistance does not fully nullify the effect of a spell, and it is for this reason that most magi utilize spells that immediately cause direct effects and damage to prevent their attacks from being diminished by Magical Resistance, unless of course there is a huge gap in power between two Magi in which one has an absurdly strong Mana Lobe and the other's is modest by comparison, the result being akin to a peashooter trying to harm bulletproof window. This means that magi who expect fighting against foes with superior magical strength utilize special techniques or items that deliberately lower an enemy's Magical Resistance, or rely on surprise attacks so their enemy does not have enough reaction time to properly circulate magical energy.

## The Hierarchy of Gates and Magic

The level of magic a magus or other magical entity on Earth is dependent on how developed their Mana Gates are, with 4 tiers of Gate and Magic codified by magi across their millennia of existence. While these tiers are known by many names, their English names based on Judeo-Christian Angel hierarchy are commonly known across the English-speaking world.

#### **Principles**

Principles are the rules that govern magic within the world. Like magic itself, Principles are enigmatic and only understood in their basic application by common mages. Long-standing mages after decades and even centuries of study may come to decipher and master their applications. Magical artifacts in the level of constructs by divine and fae creatures are imbued with Principles to recreate magical phenomena. There are even said to be some mages with the title of *Law* who can wield the Principles as their own magic rather than as an extension.

Principles are the natural laws that are applied by magi to create spells. One spell can have the same effect but be based on different or even multiple Principles. They are different yet interrelated elements of reality. The Principles represent the “unified field theory” of the Earth's metaphysics. In layman's terms, they measure what magi can do and cannot do with magic, based upon their understanding of theoretical knowledge and practical results.

Some Principles exist only on Earth, while space or other realities may have different principles completely foreign to Earth. Eldritch beings follow foreign Principles that don’t exist on Earth and thus contribute to their misunderstanding and unfathomability to beings of Earth.

#### **Dominions**

Dominions are the manifestation of an internal reality. It creates a barrier that imbues the world with a personal Principle. The appearance and power of a Dominion is personal to the caster with the exception of those Principles passed down genetically or by magical transmigration which generate the same type. A fully fledged mage who has achieved mastery and understanding of a Principle, a Dominion is possible. Though not impossible to achieve without mastery, natural Dominions acquired innately are rare.

#### **Authorities**

Authorities-level magic that has reached its zenith and transcended the Principles becomes categorized as an Authority; a feat of power on par with the Gods. Mages who achieve an authority are of a level beyond even those deemed to be geniuses or supreme. It is a sign of of potential transcendence and the prerequisite to achieving a Throne. If a Principle is a rule of the world, an Authority is a personal rule that disregards it. Authorities are absolute. Without the use of another Authority, blocking or evading one is next to impossible though it is perhaps feasible if the conditions or function of that Authority allow it. Authorities are so difficult to acquire that less than one in a million mages will ever catch a glimpse of one and even fewer will ever come close to just acquiring one. Authority Holders are typically solitary and become foreign to the world of mages as they acquire understanding and power that only another Authority Holder can grasp. Authorities battling one another is rare but on the few occasions that such conflicts have emerged, the battles have caused major devastation to the world. The wounds dealt go beyond simply physical, as even the spiritual state of the battleground can become disrupted leading to the development of disruptive phenomena.

#### **Thrones**

Thrones are the ultimate transcendence and the height of power an entity could achieve. It is achieved by combining the Dominion, the world of the caster, with the Authority, the rule of the caster, to create the caster’s personal reality. Magi who have achieved this rank are referred to as Crowns and are revered as sages who have left behind the material world. Thrones are personal realities beyond any Principle that is governed only by its Crown. It becomes the body, mind, and soul of its creator with any physical manifestation that appears in any reality being little more than an avatar of it. Crowns' old physical connections to the world cease to exist wholly, becoming beings on par with deities worshipped by mortals. Thrones exist to be accessed or act as micro Sources for mages, spirits, demons, fae, and more. Other Thrones form dimensions that store souls such as Ruziphash's "Furnace", preventing them from going directly to the Origin Point to be recycled.