Physics

There exist **three spheres** of physics each with their own properties: **Reality, Magical, and Ethereal**. Rather than having foundational mass-energy interactions of our world, here there are **heft-actor interactions** as a general term that can refer to all three spheres of physics. The foundational heft-actor SI units are as follows:

* Reality: Mass in grams (g) and energy in Joules (J).
* Magical: Mana in mantæls (M) and magicka in Asræls (Ψ).
* Ethereal: Essence in astralex (a) and cognisance in Quintessence (Φ)

Each sphere has their own unique properties and interactions with the other spheres.

## Actor

### SI Unit

Joules (J)

Reality physics acts exactly as it does in our world, outside of its interaction with other actors and thus lack of conservation of heft-actor. Being the most tangible sphere of physics, it is generally considered the easiest sphere to study.

## Actor

### SI Unit

Asræls (Ψ)

All matter has a certain quantity of mana (the magical "mass", unit Ψm) and magicka (the magical "energy", unit Ψ). The conductivity of mana through an object is dependent on material, and the more the mana can move, the more magicka it will produce. For example, mana is somewhat conductive and stored quite readily in certain substances such as air, water, and most carbon-based compounds (mana semiconductors), but less so in most transition metals and most minerals (mana insulators), with several key exceptions, being the magical gemstones (mana conductors). Materials with higher mana conductivity are also more readily able to convert their magical energy to physical energy, as it is easier to convert high amounts of energy between the spheres. The more magicka a weapon can produce, the stronger the attack. However, more adept mages are able to attack using spellbooks, rather than weapons. By using the sound waves from their voice and the magical resonant frequency of a spellbook, mages are able to draw mana directly from the air to cast spells. These scale far more with a mage's skill, and thus are favored  over magical weapons due to their higher potential. Magical weapons can only be improved slightly by a mage's skill, as they instead directly utilize the user's mana, which is generally more limited than their environment.

Magicka, like reality energy, comes in various categories (and subcategories):

* Channeling: Similar to potential energy, describing the magicka potential of an object that is not being magically used. It is directly related to the mana of an object and inversely related to its conductivity.
* Natural: Magicka used to manipulate the phenomena of the physical world
	+ Elemental: Concerning the four magical elements of fire, earth, water, and air
	+ Light: Used for manipulation of photons
	+ Life: The magicka existing to fuel a connection between living beings and their consciousness
* Supernatural: Magicka concerning the intangible.
	+ Faith - Relating to the divine
		- Holy - Relating to divine beings created by people's faith
		- Demonic - Relating to the destruction of faith and divine beings
	+ Conjuration - A highly inefficient magicka, but powerful if mastered. This magicka is used to convert mana into essence, which can then be converted to any given mass.
* Enchanting: Magicka provided when mana is coursing through physical objects in runic patterns, resulting in improvements to gear.

## Actor

### SI Unit

Quintessence (Φ)

Ethereal actor is called cognisence (unit Φ), and ethereal heft is called essence (unit α). cognisence is what allows for the movement of consciousness through time. The consciousness itself is made up of its essence. Essence makes up both souls and spirits, which exist as very similar beings. Souls exist within a host, whether physical or ethereal, while spirits roam without a host. A spirit can become a soul by entering a host, and a soul can become a spirit by exiting a host. When a consciousness becomes stagnant, because cognisence is near zero, dreams will occur as a result of the remaining cognisence. This allows for sorcerers who practice ether to hijack the remaining cognisence, and alter their target's dreams. Ether is far more difficult to understand and control than magic, as it does not often directly connect to the physical world, but its manipulation allows for incredibly powerful abilities, such as the control of both souls and spirits. It can be harnessed by those who possess the ability to tap into it, but it must be used with caution, as it can also be dangerous to the user, especially those who are inexperienced or lack proper control.

Here are the categories of conscience:

* Pooling: Akin to mechanical potential energy, where cognisence is stored within an object.
* Postmortem: Related to beings made of essence
	+ Phantasmal: Energy related to controlling souls that remain after death
	+ Spiritual: Energy related to the spirits that roam the world
	+ Transfer: Energy related to removing and inserting spirits from and into physical objects
		- Necromantic: Insertion
		- Exorcistic: Removal
* Mental: Energy related to the manipulation of thought and consciousness
	+ Oneiric: Related to manipulation of an unconscious mind
	+ Awoken: Related to manipulation of the conscious mind

## Interactions

There is conservation of heft and actor throughout the three spheres, but heft and actor within a single sphere is not conserved, as they can be converted between the three spheres. The heft-actor conversion efficiency is shown in figure 1. In the diagram, there are the reality (pictured on top), magical (pictured in the bottom left), and ethereal (pictured in the bottom right) spheres. A green line represents a common and efficient conversion, yellow represents possible but inefficient, and red represents almost impossible outside of specific circumstances. The inner lines represent mass conversion, and the outer lines represent energy conversion.