Solomancy

Solomancy, also known as the light, the way, or the will, is the most common and main type of magic on Boreal. Used commonly by those who live on the surface, it is elemental based, turning the different shades of spectral light into elemental energy.

A solomancer uses their sight to take in the energy from the different types of reflected light (color) and channel it into elemental properties. Someone's ability in solomancy is often referred to as their 'intuition' and is almost always done with the use of a Focus, a reflective object, such as a gem or metal sphere.

## The Shards of Light

Even small fragment of a gemstone can allow low intuition users to cast the most basic spells, connecting their value to wealth and power through most of history. Eventually, solomancy and the use of solshards would become such a necessary skill to progress in life, that those who were unable or had no solshards were looked down upon as 'shardless'.

Exceptionally rare are the solstones, the magically imbued complete gemstones that break after use to make up the solshards. Their ability to contain both magical spells and lifeforms make them especially useful (and valuable).

Because of this, the power of solomancy for a large part of its history was connected more to the focus items, than the light that powered it. This oversight would punish the surface races multiple times during the long periods of darkness experienced by the surface world.

## Intuition and Starsigns

Though any creature that spends enough time on the surface under the light of the three sols will be able to use solomancy with enough training and guidance, certain shades of magic come much easier to some than others, their "natural talent" is often known as their intuition and is the result of a number of factors.

A outer sphere of spectral light surrounds the world of Boreal, depending on your location around the globe the color of the stars and the sky would change, increasing the power of the corresponding types of solomancy. Because of this natural geographically-based system, the cultures and environment of these areas would evolve and grow to reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the six shades of magic.

## The Six Shades of Magic

The strength of solomancy is very much seasonal thanks to the color and light based cycles surrounding the world of Boreal. This strength comes from a series of celestial and planetary cycles that strengthen and mix the six spectral colors of light: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The strength of each color at a certain location or during a certain period of time depends on a combination of the three red, blue, and yellow stars that provide light, heat, and energy to the surface of Boreal, as well as the eight celestial cycles, one of which causing a period of complete darkness.

* **Red:** Often associated to rubies and fire, red light mostly serves as energy; As a shard it provides warmth to those who hold it and eventually is used for industrial energy, most-famously the steam-engines of the 3rd Sol Age.

Any solomancer can use ruby solshards to conjure up *The Flame*, a flickering ball of red light that forms floating in your palm that leaves a smoldering path in the air behind it as it moves. The amount of heat and first-catching ability can vary.

* **Orange:** Often associated to stone and the orange-tinted diamonds commonly found in the mountains of Boreal; Orange light represents force. Used early as an easier excavation told, it would mold the first great structures, creating the first wonders and temples.

Any solomancer can us a diamond solshard to conjure up *The Hammer,* creating a wire framed shield of connected balls of light, that form around the caster. This protective frame can be used to break, grind, or mold material as well as act as a shield or defense.

* **Yellow:** Often associated to topaz and bird feathers; Yellow light provides agility and speed. As a solshard it allows its user to move at twice their movement speed and if used by those powerful enough, fly for short distances, as such it is heavily relied upon for travel and delivery.

A solomancer can use a topaz solshard to make *The Branch,* creating as a dot of yellow-white light about a foot away from the wielder, who can then pull that light towards them creating a variety of tools or simple weapons depending on the users ability. From a basic sling of light or stick to a long blade of yellow-white light, sharp to the touch.

* **Green:** Often associated to the emerald, food, and healing; Green is the light of nourishment and is a pivotal source of energy and food. Unique in their ability to contain simple organic life even as just a shard, they can be buried in the ground in the morning and will grow a days worth of food by noon depending on conditions.

A solomancer can use an emerald solshard to create *The Bind*, creating tiny seeds of light which can be thrown and attached to friend or foe to create a constellation-like lined connection between you and them, allowing you to protect or restrain the target.

* **Blue:** Often associated to sapphires, knowledge, and information; Blue light is most commonly use to provide water, even the smallest sapphire shards can contain a couple gallons of water, these shards work like a sponge needing light and water to absorb until at capacity and need to be kept wet or else they'll release their contents.

Eventually they would become popular as a way to spread information, if a sapphire shard was submerged in water and then that water was frozen it will record any noise within 20-feet during the two-hours it takes to freeze, this eventually would be used to pass along messages or to spread music, stories, or news.

A solomancer can use a sapphire spellstone to form *The Brush*, causing blue light to drip from your hand like water, a wave of force follows the movements of your hand causing colored light to splash away from the target.

* **Purple:** Often associated to amethyst, time, and decay; Because of the lack of a strong concentration of purple like this magic is far less common that the others. Additionally, most amethyst were destroyed in the early ages of the Sol Cycle and were mostly exclusive to the Lazuli race. Any solshard or spellstone that can use purple light is prized and cherished. Though these shards are far too weak to have an effect on time, they still retain their space manipulation and can be used as a pocket dimension or bag of holding. Amethyst solstones, by-far the rarest of any solstone, can have effects over spacetime.

A solomancer can use a amethyst solstone to follow *The Way,* the space between worlds and timelines. Needing the soul of another living creature, a ghostly mist envelopes both you and the target as the target glows into a blinding beacon of light, anyone can then walk into the light and travel through the timeline of the target's life and their ancestors, eventually appearing at a random spot in their ancestral lifeline. In the original timeline the light fades and the target ages slightly but is mostly unharmed. If a solomancer attempts this without a soul to guide their path they will open a gate to another version of their world with entirely random elements, most these worlds are voids of nothingness or lifeless uninhabitable planets due to the complexity and luck needed for life. This, as you would guess, is mostly a setup for some timey-wimey fun.

## Solomancy Through the Ages

* Considering it his gift to the cosmos, Deneb the Painter, is the progenitor of solomancy and the art of spellcraft. It is heavily believe that his ability to manifest light into energy created both the Primals and ignited the spark of cognition in the Sol races. However through much of the Sol Cycle scholars believed solomancy to be the gift and realm of Cygnus, viewing her as "The Light of All", a misconception further spread by the rise of Cleromancy.
* The Primals were the first to use these solstones, using the light of the gods they modified the world for their own purposes and as they ignored races they considered lesser then themselves, they unknowingly taught them how to control the light themselves.
* Following the downfall of the Primals, and facing a new destructive threat in the chertu, the primordial races of the giants and the dragons of Stoneclaw, became the first of the "lesser" races to use solomancy. In a war that would go on for thousands of years solomancy would battle cleromancy as both magics grew in followers and power. It was only when the secrets of cleromancy escaped from the chertu that the Stoneclaw embraced both forms of magic and destroyed their enemy and themselves in the Blackstone explosion.
* Solomancy and solstones wouldn't be rediscovered again for nearly ten thousand years, at first the Sol races considered the gems to be simply jewels, a luxury and nothing more, it wasn't until the first intact diamond solstone was mined by the dwarves in -3,150 AB that Solomancy again began to shape the civilizations of the world. An explosion of progress and innovation would follow, however the Primals still ruled most of the surface world and were hard at work hoarding the solstones from the lesser races, leading to overdue war.
* Following a catastrophic event the sol races begin to rebuild their civilization, this time fully embracing the abilities of solomancy into their reconstruction and spirituality. Soon empires of Sol races take over the landscape as conflict continues to escalate with the Primals, now losing their ground.
* The Cinder, the worldwide collapse of all surface solstones and shards turn into ash, the result of a desperate last stand by Haetho defending the powerful amethyst world seed. A young world built upon the foundation of solshards now suddenly had to survive without them as the first balancing of the Sol Cycle takes them by surprise. The ashes of the solstones sweep across the continent and gather to give birth to the first humans.
* Solomancy would become a part of every-day magic throughout the ages following the birth of humans, used for great harm by the former, it would begin to work itself into the technology of the industrial, information, and cyber ages.

Without a doubt some of this were false