Age of Magic

### Author

Michael Anderle, CM Raymond, Jace Mitchell, Justin Sloan, PT Hylton, Candy Crum, Amy Hopkins, C.M. Simpson

## Genre Information

Sword and Sorcery
Witches, Wizards

Science Fantasy
Pulp Fiction

## Overview

Before Bethany Anne left the Earth to fight the Kurtherians she seeded the Earth with Nanocytes in the hope of having all humans develop special abilities. Unfortunately a scientist named Arthur Drake found the nanocytes and experimented with them. In a spiteful, jealous attack on another scientist he unleashed what would become the Madness.  The nanocytes slowly spread across the world destroying much of the progress made since WWDE.

The scourge was finally cured by the end of the Birth of Magic series where Esme uses the BYPS to aerially spray the correcting nanocytes around the world. While the impact is not immediate, the cure slowly spreads across the Earth wiping out the Madness in about 6 months.

During Age of Madness and after, some humans learned to use the nanocytes in their blood to affect the world around them in various ways. At some point, both humanity and nature on *Irth* ended up saturated with nanocytes, enabling any human to potentially affect the world around them with willpower and training. Because the nanocytes are far beyond human understanding, even if most knowledge of technology had not been lost during the Madness; for most these abilities became known as magic.

Because life was very hard during the previous age, the nanocytes helped many humans rapidly adapt to their environment, separating humanity into visually very different subspecies. This process is quick enough that changes can be visible on a living individual over a few years. One group living in the cold foothills of a mountain range, while being hard pressed from Remnant, become short and stocky fighters, while some peoples with a strongly seabound lifestyle end up with webbed feet and improved lung capacity to swim better under water.

During the first few decades of the age, humanity was separated into small communities with little to no interaction. The weak tended to be preyed upon by the strong. The new powers were often feared and misunderstood, and many practitioners were killed, supressed or controlled by fearful leaders, or they became tyrants themselves. As the understanding that all humans have the ability spread, and a number of tyrants fell to more selfless individuals and groups, the isolated communities eventually started peaceful trade, building up a more civilized Irth.

## Magical abilities

All humans have the potential to learn all the skills that the etherically powered nanocytes can provide, but human minds have limited capabilities, and especially without a very good teacher most end up learning only a small subset of talents. This is also seen in more traditional skills, as individual humans do not have the capacity to become highly skilled in a large number of unrelated fields.

These subsets are frequently somewhat related to each other and the prominent challenges in the region the practitioner lives; a desert nomad is unlikely to ever need to affect seawater, and a forest dweller won't need to pull drinking water from deep underground. The more skilled a person is in one skillset, the harder it is to become proficient in an unrelated skill, as the patterns in the brain become established.

Many of the subsets "schools" of magic are similar in many parts of the world. This is partially due to the influence of Ezekiel, who traveled to many regions of the world and taught the peoples there how to improve their nanocytes to make their lives better. While someone uses power, their eyes change color according to which type of effect is being utilized Some of the more common schools of talents are:

#### Physical

This is one of the more obvious schools, covers elemental control like fireballs, ice, transmutation, magitech, teleportation, levitation, etc. This is the most common skillset in the city of Arcadia. Practitioners get all black eyes.

#### Mental

This school can be extremely subtle, and covers talents like telepathy, illusion, remote viewing, and mind reading. This is a well known school, as the Mystics from the Heights near Arcadia tend to travel far on pilgrimages. Darker mindsets tend to use these powers to compel and control others. Eyes turn white, but many use illusion to hide this.

#### Nature

Frequently called druids, nature mages can make plants grow and move, communicate with and control animals, heal themselves and others or to drain life from nature. Many nature mages end up with an animal familiar, a lifelong partner with symbiotic advantages for both sides. These familiars are often far bigger or smarter than natural specimens. Druids often have pointy ear tips and get green eyes when practicing.

#### Storm magic

This skillset is self-explanatory, typically giving the user the ability to control weather on a significant scale. Common in seafaring cultures. Eyes turn blue-green.

#### Vampiric

The traditional, blood-drinking vampires died out during the Age of Madness, but a few people have at least as wide a skillset as many of the older and more skilled vampires among Bethany Anne's closest associates or even BA herself. This requires training in a wide range of abilities from the beginning, in addition to not having a strong affinity to one area. Understanding that all powers are available due to the etheric nature of the nanocytes is likely highly beneficial. Among the very few on Irth with this skill set are Ezekiel and Hannah. These practitioners have glowing red eyes, like the vampires of old.

## Books

### Rise of Magic

1. Restriction - 40-50 years after the end of the Age of Madness
2. Reawakening
3. Rebellion
4. Revolution
5. Unlawful Passage
6. Darkness Rises
7. The Gods Beneath
8. Reborn
9. Solyrian Conspiracy

### Hand of Justice

1. The Dark Mage
2. Chasing Magic
3. Magic Rising
4. Magic Unchained

### The Hidden Magic Chronicles

1. Shades of Light
2. Shades of Dark
3. Shades of Glory
4. Shades of Justice

### Storms of Magic

1. Storm Raiders
2. Storm Callers
3. Storm Breakers
4. Storm Warrior

### Tales of the Feisty Druid

1. The Arcadian Druid
2. The Undying Illusionist
3. The Frozen Wasteland
4. The Deceiver
5. The Lost
6. The Damned
7. Into the Maelstrom
8. Legend of the Ancients

### A New Dawn

1. Dawn of Destiny
2. Dawn of Darkness
3. Dawn of Deliverance
4. Dawn of Days
5. Broken Skies
6. Broken Bones

### Tales of the Wellspring Knight

This series was originally part of the Age of Magic but have been removed from the universe, are no longer in Kindle and difficult to find.

### Magic Below Paris

1. Trading into Shadow
2. Trading into Darkness
3. Trading Close to Light
4. Trading by Firelight
5. Trading by Shroomlight
6. Trading into Daylight
7. Trading by Stormlight
8. Trading to the Deeps