Magic

Magic is a means of making sense of the incomprehensible, of explaining things that science is unable to explain but that yet exist as facts. Magic is the manifestation of imagination; it gives people the ability to envision an endless number of possibilities and to choose which ones to pull. Magic could vary wildly to each person, for their understanding, perspective and beliefs will shape how magic will take form. Those who don't harness their magical potential will eventually become magically dull and lose access to harnessing the arcane arts. However, those with higher sensitivity or True Sight will never lose their potential. Less than 2% of the population within the Familiar Lands is capable of magic. The source of magic is highly contested, however one possible source is called Wonderland.

All sentient life that is capable of imagination can potentially become magically sensitive, but some races are simply more attuned to the arcane than others. A mage who focuses on ice would be an individual who has grown with an understanding and connection to the cold, as their magic takes shape from the collected memories and consciousness of their whole existence. A dedicated cleric to a fundamental may have their magic shaped into that attuned to their patron, simply because of their belief that alters their innate perceptions. Their imagination leans towards those divine figures and their magic shall make it so. Magic is inherently related to creation and can affect even the mages themselves, with healers sometimes having natural residues of healing magic channeling throughout them, resulting in them maintaining a better shape for significantly longer. Regardless, it could also be the opposite for mages specialized in different types of magic.

Beasts of magical origins have the ability to use magic inherently within their knowledge, just like any other instinct. While not needing to use Manabloom, be it simply not needing to, or having their own avenue to get a similar result of maintaining themselves within their current realm.

Mages, regardless of magic sensitivity, are a rare occasion to behold, with most unable to do even a lick of magic, while panicking when seeing any that can. The rarest race to be magically inclined are the Beastfolk lest for the snakefolk, which is rumored to be due to Greed's favor. With Heavenspawn and Elves naturally attuned to magic, resulting in most of them being able to use it. While most would consider being magically sensitive a blessing, in reality, it's often very difficult to be born with magic and not be the child of an established mage. Most magically gifted children don't have good endings, often losing their minds or dying from magical overload before reaching proper adulthood. This is the main reason for the existence of Temperance witch-hunters cults.

Magical Sensitivity

Not everyone is blessed, or potentially cursed with magical capabilities, with some individuals being born different and more capable of perceiving the world around them. Some are peacefully ignorant to the world and live in gentle mediocrity. There are tiers to magical sensitivity.

Low Sensitivity

These people are just barely able to use magic; their potential is somewhat capped. They do not suffer the adverse effects of sorcery as much, but at the same time, are limited by it. Mages of low sensitivity usually become spellswords, researchers, or alchemists. Those with low sensitivity often don't need to go to a magic school to survive with the burdens of magic.

Medium Sensitivity

These folks are the traditional mages and wizards. With some effort and the understanding of it, they primarily focus on sorcery alone. This is the bare minimum sensitivity to attend a magical academy, but they are not powerful enough to be court wizards or archmages unless they extensively train. They often are the wizards within towers or spellswords.

High Sensitivity

Usually the result of selective magical breeding and intermarriage between established mages, people of high sensitivity are destined for great things, though they would require more manabloom to function. They make for excellent mages, as they learn things quickly and attain mastery much faster.

True Sight

Truesighters, as they are more commonly called, are able to see the world for how it truly is. These types only appear randomly, without much reason on how or why. They are able to see where realities intersect, and what the nature of some people and monsters are, they are able to see the threads of reality, and perhaps in time, pull on those threads to push their own, being even capable of rivaling Chosen Knights given time. However, very few born as truesighters make it to adulthood, as they require a constant supply of Manabloom to actually function, needing to consume it at least twice a week on the low end. They treat this more like a curse than a blessing.

Witness

Those forcefully opened to the Unfamiliar are known as Witnesses. Occasionally conflated with truesight and referred to as pseudo-truesight, although unrelated in reality. Becoming a Witness requires repeated, prolonged or particularly significant contact with the Unfamiliar. However, simply battling or having encounters with a Hellspawn or Unfamiliar entity will not give this effect. Only extreme contact will cause one to become a Witness, from living within an environment twisted by an Unfamiliar force, to long-term cohabitation with a true hellspawn, or pacts made with Unfamiliar gods or late-stage infections from an Unfamiliar source. True hellspawn have the abilities of a Witness since birth.

Witnesses are permanently scarred with a stain from the unfamiliar. This scar allows them to see those with a similar taint and the residue from exposure to the Unfamiliar, whether from battling the Unfamiliar forces or colluding with them. Passing exposure leaves a faint trace that will fade over the course of a few days. With long-term exposure being more pronounced and lasting around a week. Other Witnesses, true hellspawns, or those that have been cursed or made a pact with the Unfamiliar have a permanent strong taint and residue.

The ability to see however doesn't inherently mean the ability to understand. A Witness would need to go under extensive experience to identify the source or nature of the infliction. Those experienced as far as they are aware may potentially be able to figure out what god is responsible, or the source of the taint. Witnesses however due to the scarring on their soul become vulnerable to Unfamiliar forces, even more so for the corresponding Unfamiliar that inflicted them to begin with.

Types of Mages

Different types of people lead to divergent paths towards magehood. Some call themselves clerics, some call themselves wizards or witches, but these are some types as common society knows them to be.

Clerics

Men and Women of faith, these individuals who channel the fundamentals within their sorcery. They are powered by belief and the teachings of their patrons, and as such do not require as much manabloom as other mages due to their strong willpower.

Wizards

State sanctioned mages, they have formal magical education from one of the official magical academies in the lands. They are usually the scholarly type that pursues greater knowledge in unlocking the secrets of the world.

Witches/Apostate

Mages who have had their license revoked or were never officially sanctioned. They are considered heretics by Temperance and subject to punishment, often seen with skepticism within places like Great Europa. They are usually soothsayers or hags in remote locations. These rogue witches/wizards sometimes will take students to teach, and possibly grow their own manabloom.

Court Wizard

Advisors and high-ranking members within a land, they serve a member of nobility and provide magical solutions and information if needed.

Spellswords/Arcane Knights

Adventurers and knights who have a small talent in magics. Usually serve in a lord's retinue or become an independent knight. Mixing magic with the reliability of steel in order to gain an edge over others.

Magical Academies

There are 22 Magical Academies located all throughout the Familiar Lands. These institutions provide thorough education and professional magical training. They are also the only ones who can grant a magical license, which enables practitioners to look for work in nobility or magically related fields. Only the wealthy can afford tuition within these prestigious academies, however the Academy also provides a generous scholarship to those that show potential, or to a family member from a well-established mage's bloodline. Each Archmage would run their schools differently, with entirely different curriculum and cultures. Some are far suited for certain types of mages, while others would be far too dangerous for novices.

Within these Academies, there exist many ranks to categorize each mage.

Aspirant

Aspirants are individuals with magical potential, though untrained or undiscovered. Many aspirants discover their magical affinity through moments of great stress, or simply by accident. Magic manifests differently with every mage, some awaken during infancy while others awaken after they reach adulthood.

Apprentice

Apprentices are mages that are officially and formally enrolled within the 22 Crown-recognized magical academies. The magical curriculum requires them to undergo several classes such as defense, offense, utility, and theoretical. Apprentices are allowed internship and limited court presence within noble houses, usually accompanying their masters.

Apprentices can take up to 10 years or more to complete their magical education. Though they attend classes with many students at once, they also personally learn under a tutor: a more experienced mage and accompany them much akin to a squire or a page. At the time of their graduation, they are given a staff, a tome or a wand by their master. It is a sign of trust as well as a parting gift as they can now seek their own path within the Familiar lands.

Magister

Magisters are Apprentices that finished their education and became a recognized Mage by the eyes of the Mage Association. They are allowed to reside in a minor noble's house and provide advice or magical support as well as take in an apprentice under their wing. Magisters can take up to 3 apprentices at a time and can serve in a noble house, up to a Count.

Magisters are often experts who have studied at the school of magic with which they are most comfortable and attained a level of expertise that is easily recognized. While some may practice creating enchantments, others use elemental power to deal massive destruction. Magisters can undergo further training to become Spell Knights or Warmages; this requires a great amount of physical prowess and training as well as more advanced 'Quick Sign' training to be formally recognized as one.

Warmage

The military branch of a magical academy, they are Magisters who underwent further combat training and are equipped with highly enchanted armor and weapons. They keep the peace and security and undertake assignments for the Academy. Warmages can take apprentices of their own much like an ordinary Magister, they can also serve under a noble house up to a rank of Marquis.

Warmages are more focused on offensive sorcery while Spell Knights are more attuned to physical enhancements and martial skill. These individuals highly utilize scrolls and enchanted staves which do not exhaust their innate magical reserves and they are often trained to be able to operate independently.

High Mage

Recognized masters of their chosen field, they have reached the peak of their chosen field. A High Mage that have mastered the art of defensive wards could cast a spell that can cover a town against a barrage of catapults. High Mages are highly wise and experienced mages, usually achieved after some decades of being a Magister. They are entrusted to teach large classes in the Magical Academy as well as opening magical businesses, whatever that may be.

They head research and exploration teams to discover magical artifacts, hoping to rediscover the ancient magics from the 'Age of Myth'. High mages can take 5 apprentices and serve a noble house up to the rank of Duke. They can also have a Warmage as a personal guard.

Archmage

The pinnacle of magical might, a bastion of knowledge, these legendary figures are very few and far between within the Familiar Lands. There can only be 22 Archmages at a time, each granted a title based on the Major Arcana. It is expected that Mages who studied in their academy to take their title as their own. The Archmage controls the rules and conduct of their respective school, some Archmages conduct lethal incantations permitted magical tournaments within their academies, and some perform strange and questionable experiments.

Archmages play a more political and administrative role rather than that of a researcher, they must maintain the Academy's interest and logistics. That is to say, to earn such a position in the first place requires unmatched magical might. Archmages can serve a King's court and become a trusted advisor. Their magical academies usually work in tandem within the kingdom they reside in.

Types of castings

There are several ways to cast magic other than simple spells.

Ritual Casting

Pre-prepared magic that often requires a slow ritualistic performance to produce. They are often stronger than most magic. On the other hand, failure to do so would in turn waste much time and effort. Taxing on the mage if the spell is powerful enough.

Rune Magic

Similar to that of Ritual Casting, however allowing the engraving of a spell into a material. This process is slow and requires extreme attention to detail to do correctly; a slight mistake could render a rune unusable. Each rune must be created with a specific intent in mind and a task for it to perform. Runes can be modified and last longer as a preparation for a spell, but runes still require high ingredient quality to be correctly formed, including a mage's own magical blood with specific intent for the purpose of the spell engraved as well as a high magical initial cost. Once created a rune will last for a while, but will need periodic maintenance and recharge for them to not fade. Due to runes being a persistent spell, they could be created in groups, causing effects to intertwine for specific purposes.

Consequences

Since magic is tapping into the infinite possibilities, the countless multiverses, it means that if a mage taps too deep into the source, they will undoubtedly be swept away by the infinite. A mage who is woefully unprepared, and tries to cast something far beyond their capabilities would lose their minds or simply cease to exist. Manabloom is required to anchor the mage into their reality, lest they forget themselves.

Casting spells does not just mean tapping into different realities; it also means concentrated effort to bring that desired reality within the current one, and as such casting magic is almost a physical exercise in itself. Calories and nutrition are sapped at every cast, and as such even the strongest mind needs to pay attention to their bodies lest they starve or dehydrate while casting. Slower, calculated casting prevents this exhaustion. Both quick and calculated casting require the mage to consume more manabloom than while they're simply living.

Magic even with all it can do has its limits. A healer's magic is that of hastening natural healing of the body, making it so that even the most skilled healers can only reattach limbs and heal organs; they are unable to regrow new ones. Healing magic as well is the most costly type of magic consuming a large amount of mana and nutrients depending on the severity of the wounds. If they were to overuse their healing, they or their target could reach a point of a healing limit. That is where the magic diminishes, and could even do more harm than good to try to heal them with magic beyond that point.

Overuse of magic will often lead to Magic overload, with the first symptoms being nosebleeds, bleeding out of the eyes, or one starting to cry out. Secondary symptoms are when the infinite universes begin to converge onto the mage's locattion, and if it's too much it'll tear them apart. The third is when Outsiders begin to seep out of the mage as if they were a portal, emerging from them physically or taking over their body. Rarely from true sighters, they'll instead have several Outsiders emerge from their chest.

Magic can be learned from texts and tomes; they are books and formulas that let one envision things better during casting and provide different results. However learning too many schools of thought and sorcery would spread one's mind too thin; too many possibilities would simply make one insane. Those that learn multiple types of magic, if they endure it, will need much more manabloom due to the increased taxation magic is inflicting upon them. Improper or overuse of magic can lead to mutations and curses upon oneself, and miscasts could happen as one loses their grip on the present.