(open for improvement, and I may have forgotten a thing or two in my three-hour mad rush) (i.e. feedback, please)
A Short Treatise on Prayer Magic
1: The Gods
There are a great number of gods in every universe, and each universe has its own. A “creator god”, known to some as Eru, others as Iluvatar, and to others simply as "God", created the gods themselves. Thus, with the same origin, they speak the same language.
The gods are capable of passing from one universe to another, but only with the assistance of mortals, through use of technology such as portal devices. The gods are fond of expanding their territory, and peaceful gods often become violent in this attempt. This violence can rile the mortals in their realms into warfare. Thus, the incursion of one species into another dimension or universe generally results in war of some kind.
Gods are bound to certain laws just like people, and hold these laws as unbreakable. These laws were generated by themselves, agreed to by all, largely to ensure that none of the other gods step out of line.
2: The Diavallen
The Diavallen, literally, "The Divine Language", is the language the gods use to converse with one another. It shares some similarities to the languages they give their subjects; however, it is far more complex and difficult to comprehend. When used by mortals, it is primarily used in spellcasting. The gods require the use of Diavallen for a number of reasons: first, it is their first language, and that which they are most comfortable with. Secondly, it is a sign of respect to use Diavallen. Thirdly, it prevents non-magically-inclined mortals from accidentally discovering spells they aren't supposed to possess.
The Diavallen is notoriously difficult to pronounce, let alone master. Unlike Dwarven, Human, or Elf, it is a combination of phonetic sounds, length variations, and tonal flux. Its Romanized form is significantly easier to understand, but it is impossible to learn a spell by simply reading it in its Romanized form. It is generally taught to a person by someone else, or, in extreme cases, by the gods themselves. This latter is an occurrence so rare that it is sometimes qualified as scandalous, yet it prevents the Diavallen and magic in general from completely falling out of use.
The written form of Diavallen is considered sacred. The gods consider its misuse a fatal offense. Tomes exist primarily when demons conceal them from the gods, and the demons themselves provide the power for the spells being cast. As demons themselves are not gods, and follow no similar laws, they tend to provide much more power than any god would be permitted to do. However, they also leave their mark on the caster, in the form of a brand or tattoo.
3: Levels of Spellcasting
There are various "levels" of spells. Spells fall into "genres",
Base-level spells: passive defense, generation of light, manipulation of sound, minor attacks (capable of causing minor wounds), to name a few
Level 2: movement, moderate attacks (capable of maiming), manipulation of matter, charming small animals, manipulation of light, generation of sound, to name a few
Level 3: destruction of matter, major attacks (capable of killing a target), charming large animals,
Level 4: generation of matter, mass attacks (capable of killing a group of targets or maiming more), charming sentient creatures, to name a few
These are not all the levels, but they are the ones I can think of at the moment. I am, of course, merely mortal myself.
4: The Particulars of Learning a Spell
To learn a spell, a person must prove to their god that they are worthy, generally through persistent effort. Due to the laws of the gods, no god will (or can) instantly grant a spell to a follower. In addition, the person must learn the correct words of the Diavallen.
Directional spells require the use of the hands. The generic position, known as "hands-in-front" or "prayer palms", is the simplest, and used by beginners. This projects the spell directly in front of the target. Through practice, the person can learn to aim the spell wherever they wish without breaking it, but this takes longer than just the time to master the spell, by approximately half.
Certain directional spells require more complex positions, and must be learned separately and be accurate to the slightest degree.
5: Time to learn and perfect spells
The experience and skill of the teacher takes an effect on the time needed to learn a spell, but the effect cannot be quantified through traditional means, so I will ignore it. These are the "best case" values.
A Base-level spell should typically take about 12 total hours of work to learn for the average person, where "learning" qualifies as "actually becoming effective", where "effective" is defined as an abstract, relative value. Someone who learns quickly can cut this down by (at most) 25%, and a god's favor can take this down (at most) an added 50% (at most). The formula is T=24h/((L/4)+(F/2)), where T = Total Time, L = learning adeptness, and F = your god's favor. Thus, the maximum this can be cut down to is a total of 3 hours. This goes for all spells. This is only the minimum time for base-level spells, however.
The time taken to perfect a base-level spell is a square of the time taken to actually learn it. Thus, someone who learned to effectively cast a spell in five hours would take 25 total hours to perfect it. The experience gained is incremental.
A level 2 spell takes five times the time of a base-level spell. A level 3 spell takes 10x the first, and a level 4 is (base-level * 15), etc. A person who could learn a base-level spell in 5 hours would take 625 hours of intense learning to learn a level 4 spell, and over a full year to master.
6: Success of casting a spell
The formula for the successful casting of a spell is approximately ((-A)+(P/2)+(W/2))/2), where F is the negative percentage of how annoyed the god is with the person (ranging from -100% to 100%, with 100% being completely happy), P is the percentage of practice a person has put into a spell (with 0% being just "learned, and 100% being mastered), and W is the percentage of how much the person feels they "need" the spell (0 = bored, 100 = life-or-death desperate). Thus, masters can annoy their gods for a little while before getting splattered like a bug. If the combined value is greater than the threshold of 25, the spell will correctly cast. Thus, if the god is furious with you, you have no chance of casting. If the god is mildly annoyed (-25%), then if you combine great skill (75%) with great willpower (75%), you can reach 50, and successfully cast. If you attempt the same thing with the god angry at you (-75%), you'll fail to cast.
If you fail to cast, then one of two things will happen: if the god is angry at you, he'll likely fry you to a crisp (or whatever else he does). If the god is pleased, the spell will simply fail, with no adverse consequences.
7: Relative Power of a Cast Spell
Most spells work very much the same way. A base-level deflection spell provides almost no defense when it is first learned, and might be capable of pushing away lightweight objects tossed in its general direction. Learning to use it "effectively" implies that said spell is at a fraction of its full strength. Mastering the spell ensures that the spell is practically an impenetrable wall. This is possible, due to the god's influence. Therefore, the spell ranges from 0% (just learned) to 100%, mastered. 100% is always an absolute value. Practice, the god's favor, and willpower provide the power behind the spell.
8: Physical exertion of spellcasting
By default, the exertion of a spell is approximately that of what it would take the person to actually perform said task. A good rule-of-thumb is: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (for spells where this can't apply without being impossible to cast, this does not apply). Trying to use a spell to stop a moving vehicle would likely kill the caster. This exertion can be lessened with training, but not eliminated. At the least, the exertion can be half of the default: a master could stop a 100lb moving object with the physical exertion of stopping a 50lb object of the same velocity. Even casting passive spells such as light spells consumes energy, approximately the same amount as the light casts. Spells that consume more energy than the person possesses will kill said person outright.
There is also a metaphysical side-effect of casting spells, known as Mana. That is explained in a later portion of this text.
9: "Mana"
"Mana" is the Romanized term for the metaphysical exertion of spellcasting, though it is not technically the "mana" most people speak of when they use the term. It is, instead, a limit on what the person can take at once. A base-level spell can be held for about thirty seconds. Practice, and pushing the limits, very gradually extends this metaphysical limit. This can take years, not months or days.
When a person is drained of their metaphysical energy, or "mana", they invariably lose consciousness. Coming close to this metaphysical limit results in side effects such as medically-unexplainable dizziness, impaired judgment, and mental exhaustion. These effects gradually fade.
The time required to "regain" this metaphysical energy is approximately equal to the time required to drain it.
10: On Choosing a God
Gods favor certain individuals, and despise others. Each god has his or her own preferences. While a person may strategically choose a particular god due to their spellcasting preferences (e.g., calling on the god of ice for wintery spells, as this can potentially double the spell's effectiveness), the god's preference must also be taken into account.
Switching back and forth between gods is generally a bad idea, as they become jealous. Eventually, they will become inherently angry, and no amount of prayer can save you. The other gods would mistrust you as well. It's generally a dumb idea. This is the reason behind why priests only serve one god their entire lives.
11: On the Differences between God Effects
The visual counterpart of a spell is different for each god. The god of blood might have a shield spell that looks like translucent blood. The god of mystery's spells might look mystical. The god of ice's spells might look icy.
This goes for other spells as well. If an ice-related spell is cast with the god of blood, it will not be pure ice, but rather, it will appear as the ice is but frozen blood. With some, it will be frozen blood, depending on the god's sense of humor. This is a good reason not to ask a god of slime for a glass of water.
There are a few subtle nuances in the way the Diavallen is pronounced that can also alter the way the spell is displayed. Thus, a student taught by an intentionally showy master would cast extra-showy versions of the spells they learn, unless they try not to be. These subtle differences are generally learned habits of the caster, and are difficult to intentionally change, if not impossible. Simply willing the spell to be more "flashy" can result in it being so as well, and vice versa.
12: Limitations on Prayer Magic
Prayer Magic cannot be used to do anything that cannot occur with technology. Prayer magic also cannot take place across dimensions, and are limited to the proximity of the caster. Thus, Prayer Magic cannot be used to raise the dead, spontaneously grow new limbs, strike someone down by thinking about them, teleport the user across time and space, or anything of that sort. Prayer Magic cannot be used against a particular, unseen target, and is limited to the immediate, visible area.
I still feel iffy about it. But, people wanted magic, so... here's my best attempt. I actually won't be using magic much at all during the course of Vanya's story, honestly. lol At least, I don't have plans to do so as of yet.
this will be edited if/when proposed changes are made and agreed upon.
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