The Fundamentals of Magic

Based on Mage Jinks lecture of 16th Nov 1102 and 26th May 1103 by ArchMage Terwin (College of Light)

Original Document

Fundamentals of Magic (to be uploaded)

 

Introduction
Brief Overview
The Great Egg
Elemental Dragons
The Barrier
Ritual Circles
Construction of Circles
Transport Circles
Ritual Circle Networks
Linking Ritual Circles
Flow of Magic
The Tomes
Home of the Eternal Patterns
The Balance
Travelling in the Void
Void Walking
Void Ships
The Casting of Spells
True Magic
Magic and the Different Races
Acknowledgments

Introduction

This is a thesis based on a number of lectures given by Mage Jinks at the Mages Conclave 1102. It also contains notes I have from a number of other sources. Acknowledgements are included at the end for use in further reading. I hope the reader enjoys this look into the complexity that is magic with in Erdreja.

Brief Overview

How does magic work and why do we need the Mages Guild are questions often being asked. The answer in brief goes something like this. The World is a giant egg, inside the Void. Between the Void and us a barrier has formed. This Barrier prevents the Void crashing in and destroying us all, but it does allow small amount in that allows us to use magic. The Mages Guild insures that the weak points in this Barrier are maintained to prevent the uncontrolled flood of magic into an area (Ritual Circles). Of course that is a very simplistic view of the nature of the universe and I shall now elaborate further.

The Great Egg

The World upon which we stand is in fact an egg. The Egg of two cosmic Dragons laid thousands of years ago. To see a representation of this examine the model of balance (Fig 1). Many of the Worlds that travel though the Void are eggs laid by these great creatures. Others are just elements that have formed together. Due to the strong connection to the Plane of Life, these eggs are normally populated by a number of intelligent races. Worlds made up of the elements tend to be more barren, containing few creatures, which are closely tied in with the elements.
These Eggs also have a strong tie with the element of Time. It is this connection that in part forms the Barrier between it and the Void.
Through out it’s history the baby has shifted a couple of time. The last was in about 1100; this caused the flows of magic to shift. Mage Jinks did observe that he believed that it was about time for the Egg to hatch but a moment in its life could be a hundred years in ours.

Elemental Dragons

Create at the same time as the great egg it is possible that these giant creatures were created as caretakers of it. It is believed that there were 16 of these creatures representing the different Element. The exact number that are left is unknown, as some have fled the world, other to have died in various ways. The rest are sleeping and hopefully will remain that way. One dragon to have been awoken was the Water dragon. This was during one of the final battle of the Elder wars. The humans were fighting a combined army of Dwarfs and Elves. The Dwarfs tactic was to choose a spot and defend it. The Elves would provide magical protect and skirmishers. A force of human Calvary were able to outflank the Elves and force them to flea. This left the Warlock companies of the humans free to perform rites and rituals to attack the stationary dwarfs. Eventually the dwarfs had enough and left. As they fled the dragon awoke, some believe that the dwarfs had a horn with which they awoken him. The dragon killed legion on legion of warlocks but they were able to wound it causing it to flee into the Void.

The Barrier

Formed between the element of Void and the element of Time (which are opposites), it prevents the energies of the void crashing uncontrollable into our world. Luckily this Barrier is not completely solid and is riddled with tiny holes, which allow small amounts of void into our world. It is this that we use when we cast are everyday spells. Ritual circle are bigger holes within this barrier that have been plugged to prevent a huge rush of magic though.
The balance is very important, Alexamdra of Palermo wrote, “Should too much magic flow then the world’s balance will swing towards a state almost like intoxication, magical discoveries will rush onwards at the expense of more mundane solution. The magic will eventually lead the world into a spiral of doom towards its own end, in another cataclysm. Likewise if the opposite is the case and to little flows then it would be as if the source of life was itself cut from us and the world would ebb fail and die in plague and famine all life would be destroyed” It is worth noting that although ritual circles can potentially allow a large amount of void energy in, causing wide scale destruction, the total void leakage is small compared to the amount that flows though the tiny holes that permeate the barrier. It is this tiny leakage that allows mages to cast their spells even when there is no circle for miles.
The Mages Guild in it's quest to maintain the balance of magic created a tool to help it monitor the barrier. Ritually created at the Gathering of Nations 1102, it maps the physical layout of the world and then superimposes a representation of the barrier.

Ritual Circles

The places were we perform the most powerful of magic’s, calling directly on the power of the void. The main function of a circle though is to act as a plug in the barrier. Figure 2 show a simple diagram of the circle and it’s connection to the barrier.

In some cases ritual circle are deliberately created, by weakening the barrier. This is done for a number of different reasons. Normally it is made because that point in the barrier is already weak and in danger of failing.

Construction of Circles

Once a suitable site has been selected for a circle. Normally away from build up areas, as some times the circles “flare” releasing the pressure that builds up around the seal. The barrier is further weakened and the power of the void channelled through a number of binding stones. This power is then channelled back towards the void to form the seal preventing the further release of void energies. The barrier is a fluid thing, which shifts around the physical world. When the binding stones are placed they also anchor that weak spot to one particular physical place. The physical appearance of the circle can change greatly from the traditional to ones where the void energies have twisted the area around it. It is also not uncommon for temples to various ancestors to be constructed around them. An example of this was the Ice Castle in the Northern Waste of Norsca.

Transport Circles

Most seals aren’t perfect, if they were there wouldn’t be any void energy to form them. The small (in comparision) amount of energy that does leak through creates a ripple effect on the flows of magic within the world. Flows of magic are covered later but for now think of them as a lake. By extending the pattern /ripples of the circle as
shown in below (fig 3) it is possible to include other places. These place are transport circles.

When you transport from a transport circle you travel these “ripples” until you reach the main circle. You then travel up into the barrier, this is possible even if the circle is sealed. From there you travel through the cracks (fig 2) until you reach another circle. It should be noted that due to the closeness of the Void, how you perceive time can change. It is also possible to “loop” yourself within these fissures staying within the barrier indefinitely. Also most animals won’t go into a ritual / transport circle due to their fear of the void. This means that goods need to be transport by hand, meaning that it unfeasible to transport large bulky good by circle, also it makes it difficult to shift large armies around due to a) Lack of skilled ritulists b) difficulty in supplying the troops. (For further information see Master Violet “Joshua McTay” thesis on the subject)

Ritual Circle Networks

Circles that have a lot of connection to other circles by ways of the crack within the barrier are called a network. Due to the lower number of paths between networks it’s normally a lot harder to travel between them. Needing more energy to push through some of the “thinner” cracks. These networks are normally geographically close together as well, with the Heartlands being a good example of a Network.

Linking Ritual Circles

In the past (during and probably before the time of the Empire) ritual circles were linked to allow for the castings of very powerful magic. This was not done lightly as the power involved was huge. An example of rituals using linked circle were the Empire’s ritual, which brought water to the deserts. This was disrupted after a number of weeks by the Conclave and lead to the cataclysm and the fall of the Empire. Another example was by Floris Brand when he placed the Immortal Patterns into the Tomes of Magic for this he linked the circles of the Heartlands.

Flow of Magic

As the forces of the Void push into our world they take on a flavour of the elements they find here. (Earth, Air, Fire and Water). This flow acts much like a river and surges through the countryside. It course dictated by the make up of the terrain it pass through. At certain points this flow swells up creating “pools” of magic. These areas need to be drained else the area becomes dangerous and unstable. To drain an area a sinkhole is created. Similar to a ritual circle it also has an add feature. This feature is a hole about fifty feet deep, constructed to conduct the surplus void energies down through it. As it passes down it flows through a number of lens, until it hit the bottom where it is directed into the void.

Knowledge of how terrain affects the different strands of the flow is useful in the construction of Magic Items.
Stone/Rock is slow to store the energy but once it’s in it tends to be low powered but very durable.

Wood tends to be quick to allow the flow in, but just as quick to allow it out again. Different threads of the flow are also connected to certain materials

Silver – Time
Gold – The Void
Brass - Fire

This is why silver does a good job of effecting creatures coming from the Void.

The Tomes

To understand the Tomes we need to look at the deep past, to the time of the Sundering. This was when Lloth had died, becoming an ancestor. The Elves were split in to two factions, eventual leading to war. During the war both sides pulled heavily on the threads that made up the flow of Magic. They would rip strands of fire from the weave and cast it upon enemy cities, pull earth strands to create earthquakes etc. Over time the threads were separated from each other and the world pattern. These strands thrashed and flailed about, causing great damage. Realising what they had done the elves set about to correct the damage. We don’t know if they couldn’t or won’t reform the weave. Instead they created the Tomes to lock the elements back into the main flow.

Bloodline - Tome
Loresti Elves - Earth
Sylvan Elves - Air
Aqualari Elves - Water
Vermillion Elves - Fire

With the destruction of a Tome as with the case in 1100 with the loss of the Tome of Fire, the thread becomes lose. Strange magical effects including floating swords were witness[ed]. When the Tome of Air (1102) was unlocked the effect was a lot less severe but still quite dangerous.

Home of the Eternal Patterns

In 1097 Floris Brand declared that he could no longer maintain the balance with the Eternal patterns wandering around. To this end he performed a great ritual, which placed the Four Eternal Patterns of Good, Evil, Law and Chaos into the Tomes. Satuun didn’t go willing and Mordred had to be freed from Satuun’s control. Mordred was placed within the Tome of Air. Shadel was placed within the Tome of Water. Pendragon within the Tome of Earth and Satuun within the Tome of Fire. Although seemingly free from the Tomes now (possibly starting with Satuun escaping from the Tome of Fire during it’s destruction) the eternal patterns no longer seem to have bodies of their own and seem to be travelling in others bodies.

The Balance

Found in the winter castle discovered at the Gathering of Nations 1101. It seems to represent the balance of the world. It contains 4 main struts and on each of these is a scale containing four item. On one strut is balanced what we believe to be the four physical elements, which are, represent by the tomes of Magic. On another strut are helmets, which are believed, to represent good, evil, law and chaos. On the third are orbs representing Faith, Magic, Time and Knowledge. Faith balances knowledge. Magic/Void balances with Time. The fourth contains rune stones there are currently a number of ideas to their exact meaning. Fate/Fortune, Illusion/Reality seem to be the favourite ones.
All the elements represented directly on the scales seem to have a representation in the real world. So we have helm, orbs and tomes. Runes have not been seen but are possibly huge markers buried somewhere. The balance is surrounded by four figures. Two of which seem to represent life and death and are chained to the main balance.

Travelling in the Void

I should start by saying that travelling in the void is extremely dangerous; the void is not a friendly place to anyone with any connection to time. The normal method of travelling through the void is by performing a ritual, which extends the weave of our world to the selected destination. Unfortunately this only creates a very thin corridor, which isn’t totally stable and is often the focus of void entities. It is therefore often necessary to travel to closer point, pick up supplies and move on from there.

Also due to being surrounded by Void energies the time or perceived time to travel is not constant.

Void Walking

For those creatures of the Void it is possible to walking through the void directly. How it appears is dependent on the observer.

Void Ships

This creation are like mini worlds that contain their own barrier that protects them from the worst of the void. The are also huge creatures with in the Void that people use as ships.

The Casting of Spells

Most living things are made up mainly of the four physical elements. The mind is made up off Air and Fire, the body from Water and Earth. When a spell is cast you attempt to manipulate different elements. For instance in a sleep spell you attempt to affect the stands of Air (which is normally passive) within the mind. This then over comes the fire part of the mind and sends you to sleep. In a fear spell you affect the fire element. With strike down you affect the water part of the body.

Most living things are made up mainly of the four physical elements. The mind is made up off Air and Fire, the body from Water and Earth. When a spell is cast you attempt to manipulate different elements. For instance in a sleep spell you attempt to affect the stands of Air (which is normally passive) within the mind. This then over comes the fire part of the mind and sends you to sleep. In a fear spell you affect the fire element. With strike down you affect the water part of the body.

True Magic

Involves manipulating the thread directly. It can be used to mimic all the other channelling arts. For instance instead of calling on the plane of life and using it on a body, you directly manipulate the threads that make up the body until they are whole again.
To compare it to a shatter spell, instead of forcing strands of air into an object, True Magic would manipulate “pattern” of an object to be broken. The same affect but different methods of achieving it. The true magic version wouldn’t just be limited to an object the size of a large shield but could “shatter” whole houses.

Magic and the Different Races

In the beginning the different races cast spells differently. Elves were creatures of magic, where the energies flowed though them. They could then create effects by changing their pattern as the magic flowed through. Dwarfs were similar but due to their increase connection with the earth they found that casting using the threads of the other elements much harder. Humans on the other hand have to bring the power into themselves using their will and cast it out. Over time most elves are no longer so tightly connected to the magic and now cast magic in a similar way to humans.

Acknowledgments

Mage Jinks
Master Light (Information on Void Travel)
Alexamdra of Palermo (For his work on the Barrier)
Captain Dogran
Master Violet “Joshua McTay”