Magic

Magic is one of the few remaining vestiges of the fantastical world which preceded modern Liyue. Today it manifests in four forms: the Mage Gene, which allows a humanoid to cast; Devils, which are innately able to cast; Magic Weapons, which are subject to some enchantment evoking offensive or defensive capabilities; and Magic Items, which are items blessed with some supernatural phenomenon.

## History

Due to the difficulty of challenging the Outlands, few artifacts and tomes have been retrieved which lend insight into the history of magic. What evidence has been gathered by the Sister Cities suggests that prior to the Cataclysm, magic and magicians were commonplace. After the disaster populations were reduced such that what was once a prevalent trait became exceedingly rare. Furthermore, the collapse of ancient landmasses in conjunction with the fall of civilization led to the loss of most enchanted items, weapons, and infrastructure. Over the past hundreds of years, humanity has been able to retrieve only a relative handful of such items, which now remain closely guarded by the government and EPD. Surveys and reclaimer teams sent into the Outlands rarely return with functional finds, though even broken pieces of ancient artifacts often prove valuable.

Following the Cataclysm, humanity had effectively lost all knowledge of magic both in terms of casting and scientific mechanics. The onslaught of the Devils, who have displayed a pattern of prioritizing hunting down magic users, has historically created an even larger challenge in humanity's battle to understand and wield magic. Only after the establishment of the Sister Cities were humans able to find the necessary time and safety required to begin studying magic. Thus, only recently has our understanding of magic begun to blossom. Even so, humanity has made magnificent strides in both studying and wielding magic--especially after the establishment of the Akademiya, which has brought together Elyrium's best minds. Progress is also regularly assisted by what few artifacts, tomes, and records can be retrieved from the Outlands.

Today, magic unfortunately remains a scarce resource. Few people are born with the Mage Gene, which has led to the implementation of the conscription system for those identified as casters. Even fewer magical weapons exist. This has made magic weapons a very high-demand resource and one that is heavily regulated and controlled by the Elyrium government. Magic items are more common and one may even find a weak item in the proper shop; stronger items, however, are also regulated by the government.

## Magical Mechanics

Elyrium academics have achieved a good understanding of magical mechanics, though there is much left to discover and to understand. The basics of magic operate off of the manipulation of invisible threads which permeate the entirety of existence, and which bind the Material Plane (where we exist) to other magical planes. At present, little is known of these planes and their status following the Cataclysm--with the exception of the Hells, which seem to have escaped the catastrophe entirely unscathed. These invisible magical threads vary in strength, intensity, palpability, elemental energy, but are entirely immaterial and harmless in regular densities.

Individuals who possess the Mage Gene and Devils are--unlike regular humans--able to feel, touch, and faintly see the magical threads which surround them. The process of casting involves weaving these threads into sigils, patterns which invoke a specific reaction from the threads and cause a material effect. The more complex the woven sigil, the more powerful the spell; thus, well-trained magicians will be able to produce intricate webs of thread which create powerful and often destructive or manipulative effects. Weaving is more of a mental or emotive process than a physical one: casters do not use their fingers to weave threads, but their thoughts and emotions. In fact, a well-practiced spell will not even require the caster to think about the pattern.

    Spell sigils are generally visible to even regular humans, though there are a large number of exceptions. Some spell sigils require accompanying material sacrifices or chants to be completed as well.\* The exact requirements of a spell vary widely and remain a subject of careful study at the Akademiya.

### Schools of Magic

There are various schools--or, categories--of magic which have been classified by the Akademiya. As a rule, casters are inclined toward one and will be unable to or be poor at casting from other schools. There are some individuals who can channel multiple schools, though they are few and far between.

The schools are as follows:

* **School of Abjuration**: Spells focused on protection, subversion, and the negation of harm.
* **School of Conjuration:** Spells focused on creating, summoning, or transporting matter.
* **School of Divination:** Spells focused on divining knowledge or information.
* **School of Enchantment:** Spells focused on manipulation of the mind, influence, and control.
* **School of Evocation:** Spells focused on manipulating energy, typically negative destructive energy or positive mending energy.
* **School of Illusion:** Spells focused on deceit, trickery, and illusion.
* **School of Necromancy:** Spells focused on manipulating the energies of life and death. This is considered a very dangerous school.
* **School of Transmutation:** Spells focused on changing the properties of space and matter. This includes alchemy.

The schools are very broad concepts, and each can cover a wide variety of effects that fall under their respective conceptual umbrellas. While no school of magic is technically outlawed (unless used to harm another human), dark magics (such as negative necromancies) are frowned upon and highly regulated and monitored by the government.

These schools were classified based on the nature of the threads involved in casting them. For instance, spells which fall under the School of Divination require at least a majority of threads which originate from what was once the Celestial plane.

### Elements

Spells also often have an elemental nature. The four base elements are fire, earth, water, and air--though more complex elemental hybrids can be created by combining threads of these base elements. Elemental threads originate from what was once the Elemental plane.

\*Mechanically, this relates to the VSM components of spells. If a spell does not have a visible effect, it will generally not produce a visible sigil.

## The Mage Gene

Some humans are born with a special gene commonly referred to as the Mage Gene. Being in possession of this gene allows an individual to interact with and manipulate magical threads and thus to cast; those who lack the gene are unable to cast magic, but may still use magic weapons and items.

The Mage Gene is exceedingly rare and accordingly highly coveted, as Devils can only be killed with magic. The lack of casters and of magic weapons has led the Elyrium government to implement a conscription system for those identified as carriers of the Mage Gene: anyone in possession of it is required to serve in the Elyrium PD upon reaching adulthood. Most of the time, these casters are placed in a Devil Hunting Division (DHD). Those identified at a young age are heavily encouraged to join a long-term training program which fosters physical fitness and the development of sharp combat skills over time. Statistics show that those who participate in this program have a significantly higher survival rate than those who do not.

Those with the Mage Gene who do not wish to join a DHD have the option to instead pursue a degree at the Akademiya. Upon graduation, they will then have the option to continue their career in magic academics, to join a support role at the EPD, or to join another government-sanctioned role designed for the advancement and protection of society.

## Devils & Magic

Unlike humans, all Devils are able to cast without any genetic prerequisite and all are magical by nature. Some excel at casting while others prefer to stick with more physical offensive and defensive tactics; even so, there is no school or elemental restriction placed on the casting capabilities of Devils. It follows that Devils are an extremely formidable and dangerous enemy. There is no limitation or pattern to their respective talents or preferences; in fact, their casting tendencies seem entirely individualistic.

Devils enjoy two more magic-related perks as well: non-magic resistance, and specialized Devil powers. With regard to the former, Devils are resistant to all non-magical forms of damage and cannot be killed without the use of magic. This characteristic is what necessitates the existence of the DHDs: standard human weapons cannot kill devils, and thus the organization of dedicated hunting teams is required. Not only can non-magical weapons not kill Devils, but they are far less effective in damaging Devils. At best, non-magical weapons can slow a Devil down.

The second characteristic--Devil powers--is a concept which is entirely unique to Devils. Human casters are limited to a collection of identified spells. Even as more come to be discovered and crafted, there is a finite number of spells that each individual can learn, prepare, and cast. As aforementioned, humans also tend to be restricted to one or a few schools of magic. Devils feel no such restriction, and further each enjoy an entirely unique and individualized "Devil power" which is not replicated anywhere else in the magic realm. These powers are predictable insofar that they are always related to the theme of the Devil, but otherwise are a mystery. As an example, the Maggot Devil is able to infect humans with colonies of maggots, which nest within and eat the host from the inside out. The husk of the body is then left to the control of the maggots, which obey the Maggot Devil in a hivemind fashion. In contrast, the Shark Devil is able to enter and swim through any matter as if it were water. No other Devil or human can channel such a power; it is entirely unique to the one Devil.

These Devil powers present a significant challenge when hunting new Devils or reincarnations of Devils. Those whose power is unknown are particularly challenging, as the assigned DHD is effectively going into a fight blind. Reincarnated Devils are a bit of a wild card, as the new incarnation will have a power similar to a previous incarnation, though it may differ in small but meaningful ways.

In combination, these characteristics make Devils exceedingly difficult and dangerous to fight. They pose a major threat to humanity, and humanity has few tools with which to combat them. It is thus heavily encouraged for any hidden casters to report to the Elyrium government and do what only they can do: protect their fellow humans.

## Magic Weapons

Magic weapons are one of two classes of material artifacts which bear magic energy, the other being magic items. Weapons are distinguished from more generic items because of their unique acceptance/rejection behavior, which seems to be unique to offensive/defensive pieces.

Currently, magic weapons are the most poorly understood domain of magical studies. The acceptance/rejection decision seems to have no predictive pattern, nor has sentience yet been broadly detected in magic weapons (that is, sentience has been found only in one or two special edge cases). That said, it does appear that magic weapons have a tendency to "choose" whether to accept or reject a user. In the event of acceptance, a weapon will bond with its user and serve it reliably; in the event of rejection, the weapon will fail to procure any magical effects and may even backfire on the user. Note that even if a weapon accepts a user, that does not make it a 1:1 bond: a weapon may accept multiple concurrent users, may change its decision (though this is rare), and may become unbound if separated from a user for too long.

Magic weapon matching is a careful art and one which is far from perfect. The practice has been best refined by the Acherly family, whose current head is Elijah Acherly. The Acherly family holds a long-term and carefully managed contract with the Elyrium government; this cooperation is so long-lived that the Acherlys are effectively considered a branch of the government, albeit a small one. Those recruited into the Acherly family have an inexplicable special talent for identifying, interacting with, repairing, and matching magic weapons. It is suspected that this talent is a result of a special variant of the Mage Gene, though no research has yet been able to prove this. Regardless, the Acherlys are trusted with the maintenance, management, and matching of magic weapons. Every EPD precinct is staffed with at least one member of the Acherly family who serves these functions and is especially talented at matching weapons with users.

These weapons are extremely valuable and highly coveted: their protection takes higher priority than even a human life. Magic weapons are the only manner by which someone lacking the Mage Gene may effectively harm and kill a Devil. On top of this, they are very rare and new weapons are found infrequently. Besides innately dealing magical damage, magic weapons also have unique abilities. For instance, the famous spear named the Sparrow has the ability to teleport its user to whatever it is currently impaling. There are limitations and cooldowns on the abilities of magic weapons, but being in possession of one is still a major advantage.

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## Magic Items

The last class of magic is magic items, which is a catch-all class for entities which have a magical nature of some sort but which do not demonstrate the acceptance/rejection behavior of weapons. These items vary greatly in strength, purpose, and risk. Simpler, more menial items such as lucky coins have been traded at markets--but stronger, more dangerous artifacts are illegal to trade and must be turned into the Elyrium government or EPD.

Magic items, unlike magic weapons, can also be created and crafted by humans--though, depending on the item, this can be a difficult process. For instance, the EPD uses special runes to mark its books, which can later be magically tracked and retrieved later. Such runes imbue the book with magic (albeit weak magic) and thus the book is considered a magical item. On the other hand, trying to enchant a weapon is exceedingly difficult. No human has been able to craft a true magical weapon (ie, one with a special ability), but there have been a few successful attempts at strengthening weapons or imbuing temporary magical output.

The spectrum of magic items is extremely broad. If one is uncertain whether an item in their possession is magic or whether a magical item is dangerous, they should immediately bring it to the EPD for investigation.