The Operative Laws of Arcane Magic

The Operative Laws of Arcane Magic
Dissertation
Victrienne Falconheart

(OOC Note: this essay is more speculative or inventive than anything else I’ve written. It’s intended as such, since Blizzard hasn’t really provided anything in this vein. That said, if there’s something that I’ve missed, please do let me know! Credit to Everen for the ideas behind the Law of Forms, and to Sir James Frazer for Sympathy.)

This work concerns itself with the functional rules for the manipulation of arcane magic, which I will term the operative laws. These must be distinguished from the four laws of arcane magic as traditionally defined (that magic is powerful, corruptive, addicting, and draws the Twisting Nether). These laws I will term ‘cautionary,’ for they serve largely to advise practitioners of the arcane against overreach. I will put the cautionary laws aside and focus my attention on describing the laws according to which arcane magic operates.

The Law of Sympathy
Magic is sympathetic in the sense that it is imitative and representational, responding to symbolism to produce effects. The Law of Sympathy operates in two distinct ways, or, put differently, there are two ways in which symbolism is embedded in the operation of magic. These are Contagion and Association.

Contagion
All beings have a unique arcane aura or resonance. When they come into contact with places and objects, traces of that aura linger on the thing with which they have made contact. Brief contact, or contact indistinct from that of many others, results in a weak and un-useable trace. Where the object, place, or similar thing is strongly and uniquely associated with one being, the trace left will be very strong. Indeed, it will be strong enough to be of magical use.

Such an object (one with a strong and unique residual aura) will be subject to the law of contagion: that a thing which has once been in contact with another thing (or living being) continues to act on that other even after the physical contact has been severed. Perhaps the most common use of this principle is in scrying magic. To scry on an individual, an object of significance to that individual is required, or an actual part of the individual. As a hound requires something to scent before he can pursue, so too does the arcane require a connection which it can follow to the source. The other prime example is that of demonology, wherein the demon’s true name (a thing imbued with a portion of the creature’s aura) is used to call it from the Twisting Nether. And so too with many other incantations. In general, any spell which is deeply personal in nature – targeted at a specific being over great distance – will adhere to the law of contagion.

Association
Contagion should be viewed as the most direct form of sympathetic magic. The arcane is fine-tuned to a being’s aura through the use of an intermediary. The Law of Association (sometimes called Similarity or Resonance) must be seen, consequently, as the broader form of Sympathy, as it operates on much less direct links than Contagion.

The principle is that: imitation of an effect will produce that effect. That is, magic itself recognizes the symbolism of the imitative action, gesture, reagent, or incantation. In recognizing that symbolism, it produces the effect. An effect will resemble its cause, in short.

The uses to which this law may be put are legion. Many rituals require specific material components which are used to represent the effect which is sought to be produced, for example: bonemeal and blood for necromancy, precious gems for powerful spells, and so forth. Further, reagents can be used to bolster those spells which are routinely cast – feathers to represent a gentle descent, dice or coins for luck, elemental motes and cores for elementalist spells. The broad use of the Law of Similarity is more common
amongst ancient or primitive magical traditions – troll witchcraft, for instance, employs sacrifices and representational talismans of the Loa as key practices.

The Law of Equivalence
This law underlies the operation of all arcane magic. It states that, in order to produce a magical effect, the arcanist must give up something of equal value. In other words, the Law posits only that magical power always entails a price which must be paid. When using routine spellweaving techniques, a mage may not even be aware of the operation of this law, since he is subconsciously exchanging his own mana in return for the effect. However, mana is not the necessary cost. Nor, indeed, will it always be even a sufficient cost.

At the extreme edges of the arcane arts, the Law operates most potently. Mages who draw too heavily on the arcane, well past the limits of their natural mana, are exposed to grave physical consequences. They have nothing but their mana and their life essence to offer up. Having taken one, the arcane will then take the other in exchange. In lieu of mana, an arcanist may prepare a sacrifice or offering in order to invoke a powerful spell effect. Life essence is the prime offering. Legends speak of mages restoring life to the dead at the cost of another and of sorcerous tyrants sacrificing their subjects to empower their spells. However, some mages offer up a powerful artifact, make a solemn geas or vow, or even sacrifice a piece of their own mind in order to produce a powerful effect.

Needless to say, at its periphery, the Law of Equivalence borders on fel magic and necromancy. The binding principle that power given must be repaid is not one to be invoked lightly or by the unready.

It also raises a question of frightful proportion. When a mage makes an offering to the arcane, something must accept or refuse that offer. Perhaps it is merely a mechanistic process. But perhaps there is a will underlying the arcane itself.

The Law of Attraction
The Law of Attraction states that: magic attracts magic, or, in other words, that magic concentrates itself. This Law applies to all spellcasting on some level. But, as expected, a more potent magical effect will itself attract more magic, hence making the law more applicable.

When casting simple incantations – a shield, for instance – the arcanist draws upon his own well of mana to create a magical ‘spark.’ This spark is the impetus for the coalescence of mana motes into the form that the mage desires. In this way, the mage’s innate mana becomes a siphon that draws loose mana particles to itself to form the spell. In this way, the Law that magic attracts magic applies at the level of an individual spell, albeit in a rudimentary way.

The law’s prevalence is far more obvious at the large scale. Where copious amounts of mana is unleashed, the result is a cascade whereby more and more mana is drawn and absorbed. The tower of Karazhan is the best example. The connection of the ley lines there has rendered the very air around the tower ripe with the arcane. Inside, unstable rifts form, spectres rise, and demons stalk the halls. In Netherstorm, too, mana constantly leeches from the Twisting Nether into the very soil. In both locations, the diffusion of mana draws in more (and more unstable) mana. Indeed, the Law serves as a warning that spells beyond one’s power may have unintended and unforeseen consequences for the world around the caster.

The Law of Forms
The Law of Forms recognizes what virtually all sects of magi have long known: that there are shapes, designs, and patterns that hold intrinsic magical power which recur across time and space. These forms are discerned by looking to the earth itself – to the network of ley lines that form their runic script across Azeroth – or to the constellations visible in the firmament. Precisely why these particular designs hold magical powers is unknown. They may be the visible expression of Titanic creation, or manifestations of the deep truths of the universe. It suffices for the purpose of the Law that each sign holds magical potency and is made manifest repeatedly. The triangle with a central point appears, for instance, as a constellation, as a common element in Titanic architecture, in summoning circles, and in the crest of Lordaeron.

The Law of Eternity
The most fundamental of the Laws, the Law of Eternity is also perhaps the least clear. It states that magic cannot be made or unmade; it merely moves and changes. Magic cannot be destroyed permanently, but only dispersed or nullified. It simply exists, and will always do so. It is like a circle: it can be turned over and over, yet still remain constant. The Law is at the core of the mage’s art, the fundamental limitation on what a mage can and cannot do. It is also a reminder against hubris. We hold in our hands powers of seeming creation and destruction. It is useful to remember that, on the cosmic scale, we change nothing.