On Magic:There are three means by which a mortal might utilize the supernatural to their benefit.
Arcane Magic: Arcane Magic is achieved by communing with the Raw Arcane, a mysterious force, object, place, or being. The Raw Arcane is truly immense, believed to be the source of all matter, energy, and ideas; The vast majority of whatever the Raw Arcane is lies beyond the realm of mortal comprehension, but even the relatively small portion that a mortal might understand and utilize in a dependable fashion without going completely insane offers near limitless potential.
Mortal comprehension of the Raw Arcane separates it into
Aspects,
Communions, and
Schools.
An
Aspect is a portion of the Raw Arcane that is solely responsible and responsible solely for a facet of existence that the mortal brain can comprehend.
A mortal being has three means by which they might
commune with the Raw Arcane: through their mind, body, or soul. Using different parts of one's self to commune with an aspect of the Raw Arcane yields different sets of magical rules and powers. It is known that some beings have additional methods of communion. Truly long-lived beings, for example, may use their past to commune, and some beings involved prophecy claim to commune through their destiny.
A
school is a tradition and methodology of teaching and learning arcane magic. As arcane magic is fundamentally difficult, most schools focus on teaching a single form of communion with a single aspect of the Raw Arcane, a process which takes 20 to 40 years in most cases. Some schools take shortcuts through artifice or divine magic to teach multiple related communion/aspect combinations at once, or a single combination quickly and easily.
Divine Magic: Gods and spirits are wise enough to understand more of the raw arcane than mortals, and their concept of self includes means of communion beyond the mind, body, and soul that we understand. To some of these beings, casting magic is such a trivial affair they are willing to commune soul to soul or mind to mind with a mortal to lend spells, usually in exchange for worship or other favors and services.
Divine Magic is easier than Arcane Magic, and can theoretically produce any of the same spells (and then some), but most higher beings who lend spells do so through a framework that allows them to send mortals specific powers in response to specific thoughts and actions. As a result, most divine casters are more rigid and inflexible in the scope of their abilities than a similar arcane caster would be.
To cast divine magic without such a framework one must directly negotiate with the higher being in question for each spell, a process that typically involves a prolonged ritual and may require an understanding of Arcane Magic or Artifice. Some species and cultures consider these rituals as a separate fourth category of magic, but both the Imperials and the Mahallo place them under the umbrella of the divine.
Many people who want to learn Arcane Magic, start by dabbling in the divine. Communing with a higher being is great practice for using the mind or soul to commune with the raw arcane. Also, depending on the nature of the being, the aspect it is communing with, and the means of communion employed, it is very possible to translate a gifted divine spell into an understood arcane spell.
Artifice: As the raw arcane is the origin of everything, anything could potentially carry arcane energy. Artifice is the practice of discovering what animals, vegetables, and minerals carry magical properties that can be exploited in predictable ways.
Hardly anybody calls themselves an Artificer, or studies artifice as a whole; Artifice is usually broken down into cultural and artisanal
traditions. Some people brew potions. Some engrave magic scrolls or runes. Some add magic to otherwise mundane crafts such as metalwork, masonry, or carpentry. Others incorporate material components to enhance or modify their arcane or divine spellcasting.
The idea that all these cases could be governed by a single set of laws relating to the use of magical materials was first explored by wise and long-lived beings such as dragons and liches. It was the Court of Agusta that first popularized these ideas among mortals; Her Philosopher's Stone induced 684 year reign capped by ascension rather than death was the golden age of artifice. During those days, humans produced truly amazing artifacts by combining the techniques and materials of multiple artifice traditions, and utilized material components in such a fashion that their mages and clerics were equal to even the oldest and wisest of elves in terms of spellcasting. After the Empress became God-Empress, however, the church in her name decided that easy access to the universal laws of artifice would eventually enable others to commit the most serious sin of replicating Agusta's accomplishments, and steps were taken to bring the golden age to an end.
Archives relating to the true and unified laws of artifice still exist in some of the larger and more important Imperial Temples, but only the most important clergy members may access them. Imperial Priests consider it a sacred duty to hunt down, collect, or destroy any writing on the matter. Artisans are still allowed to work magic items within their narrow tradition, but any experimentation or deviation from such a tradition is usually a capital offense. The archive Apollo manages at The Nameless City is the closest place to Imperial territory where one might freely study the topic in its true form today.
Your Magical Knowledge:The Grand School of Illusions: Illusion is a catch all term for any mortal use of the Arcane Aspect of Perception. As mortal beings understand their world almost exclusively through their senses, communing with the aspect of Perception is by far the easiest act of Arcane Magic for a mortal to accomplish. Most reasonably intelligent humans can become proficient in masks, glamors, and flourishes in about 10 years. You accomplished it in 7.
Although less so than hexes, in Imperial lands Illusions are associated with Vampires and their allies, or other criminal elements.
Communing with the aspect of perception through one's body creates a
flourish, or a short lived sensory effect that is guided by one's movement. Common examples include turning one's applause into thunderclaps, using the vibrations in one's behind to mask the sound of gas being passed, and creating beams of colored light by extending one's hand or fingers. Flourishes cannot last much longer than the action that guides them; Your best time is two seconds following the cessation of movement. Matriarch Mire, with centuries of experience behind her, can muster six seconds. Flourishes are perhaps the most commonly taught act of magic, as the concept can be picked up quickly and combined with other schools, or even divine magic, to create spells that are easily aimed.
Communing with the aspect of perception through one's mind creates a
glamor. Glamors are large and long lasting sensory effects maintained by concentration. Your Glamors can last about a minute, two if you are willing to strain yourself to the point of exhaustion, and demand your complete and undivided attention to maintain. As Glamors are created based off of your understanding of the senses, they will appear odd, uncanny, incomplete, or even non-existent to creatures who see in colors or hear in frequencies that humans do not.
Communing with the aspect of perception through one's soul allows one to create a
mask. A mask is an alternate sensory identity that covers a person, animal, or object. Masks are difficult to create, but easy to use. Designing a mask takes months of near constant meditation and extreme sleep depravation, but once one is made it is a powerful, versatile, and easy to use tool. A mask can be made for anything or anyone, including yourself, that you care about or otherwise feel attached to, and can be turned on or off with a thought so long as you can see the subject or are reasonably confident of its location. When you switch a mask on, you may choose to either perceive the mask, or exempt yourself from it and view reality as it actually is. If you make a mask for someone who understands how masks work, they may switch it on and off as if it were their own; To this end, you have not yet actually put in the time and effort to make your own mask, but several of Matriarch Mire's advanced students have made masks for you. A mask cannot change reality, but it can fool perception so thoroughly that it may as well; Mask a stick as a sword, and victims and bystanders will perceive pain and gashes, perhaps to the point of passing out. Mask a sword as a stick, and victims and bystanders will fail to notice a mortal wound until it is too late. Mask yourself with members or orifices you don't actually possess, and a romantic partner will experience non-existent penetration. A mask will only fail if an observer's logic or positioning trumps the false sensory input; The truth will be revealed if someone leans on empty space covered by part of a mask and falls through, or endures the pain of a fake wound long enough to conclude that they should have died of blood loss ages ago.
The School of Hexes: A hex is created by communing with the Arcane Aspect of Enchantment using one's body. Enchantment is usually one of the most difficult Arcane Aspects that a mortal could reasonably understand, but for hexes there is a shortcut. Prolonged exposure to hexes, or any of the more complicated magics created by combining hexes with artifice or other schools, acclimates ones body to them and allows a person to come to an understanding quickly. You spent two years receiving relatively harmless hexes on a daily basis before Matrairch Mire began instructing you in the field, and as a result picked up a proficient level of skill in only four years of work.
Hexes are a key ingredient in the creation of many beings that were once mortal: in particular vampires. Because vampires were made with hexes, they are super attuned to them and often master the skill themselves. The association between vampires and hexes is so ubiquitous, that it is often reasonable to assume that any mortal who practices this school of magic is in league with the bloodsuckers.
A hex is a malicious spell woven into flesh through physical contact. A hex can never be cast with truly benevolent or altruistic intent, although helpful hexes can be woven as part of the terms of a deal so long as the caster believes they are truly taking advantage of the subject or causing it great misery. A hex is rarely directly fatal, but some, such as a hex of brittle bones or disease susceptibility, can easily become death sentences. A being may only hex things similar to themselves; You can hex most organic creatures, as well as mammalian and humanoid corpses. Vampires who were once human can do the same, but also hex any manner of undead. Some species of elves can hex plants, and undead derived from such elves possess the unique ability to hex paper.
When weaving a hex, you may add outs and trigger conditions. Most hexes last a few weeks to a few months depending on the potency of the spell and the level of skill expressed in weaving it. A hex can be stabilized and its duration extended, often to well beyond a human subject's natural lifespan, by weaving in a reasonable out, or condition the subject may fulfill to break the spell. A hex can also be made to lie dormant until a triggering condition is met. Truly devastating and lethal hexes require reasonably avoidable triggering conditions to last for more than a few heartbeats.
The terms and effects of a hex are always visibly etched into the subjects skin, almost always in the caster's native language. Skilled hex weavers can take their time and make the hex less legible by arranging the sentences into complex geometric shapes, using ugly penmanship, or even employing a cypher. Truly skilled (read not mortal) hex masters can even write out their hexes in the inscrutable rune-language of the Raw Arcane.
The time it takes to weave a hex varies greatly. It would take you well over an hour to weave a hex you just invented off the top of your head that includes both an out and a trigger condition. But with a few weeks practice you can usually weave a specific simple hex with no clauses onto a grappled and struggling target in thirty seconds or less.
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Hey look! I added magic to the character sheet!
Petty King Arawn Volcanique of New Mahallo:Age: 17
Health: Good (Suffering unknown greater hex, believed to be a taboo against harming Bleachedkin Vampires)
Physical Skills:
You are in good health and physical condition, granting a granting a small bonus to most non combat physical skill rolls.
Your training is in hunting beasts rather than fighting men, causing a small malus in single combat against trained fighters.
Athletics - <*****-> (Specialties include riding, swimming, and climbing)
Acrobatics - <****-->
Melee Combat - <****--> (Specializes in mounted polearm attacks and grappling to place a hex)
Mid Ranged Combat - <*****-> (Specializes in slings, lassos, and javelins)
Long Ranged Combat - <***--->
Education Skills:
Your educational background is solid. Assume an education skill of <**----> for any skill not mentioned, or <***---> if you have time and access to a library.
Survival - <*****-> (Specializes in desert environments)
Economics - <****--> (Specializes in logistics and the animal husbandry industry)
Military Strategy - <***---> (Specializes in logistics and desert tactics)
History - <****--> (Specializes in the Imperial Saints, The Volcanique dynasty, and post-evacuation Mahallo History)
Magic Theory - <****--> (Specializes in hexes and illusions)
Animal Husbandry - <*****-> (Specializes in rodents)
Social Skills:
You are a King. You gain a small bonus towards interacting with your subjects.
Your experience at Texulchimum's court and Matriarch Mire's feasts grants you a small bonus when in a formal setting.
You are an awkward and inexperienced teenager with a very pragmatic and political understand of sex and marriage. You suffer a small malus to flirting.
Military Command - <**---->
Animal Handling - <******> (Specializes in rodents and desert critters)
Business Etiquette - <****-->
Mahallo Etiquette - <****--> (Specializes in dealing with the merchant caste)
Imperial Etiquette - <***---> (Specializes in dealing with royalty)
Wizardly Etiquette - <*****-> (Specializes in dealing with necromancers and the sentient undead)
Interspecies Etiquette - <****--> (Specializes in dealing with the Vermant)
Magical Skills:
Flourishes - Quick and simple illusions tied to the movement of the body. Will use athletics or acrobatics on the rare situation where a roll is required.
Glamors - Large illusions maintained by concentration. Requires no roll, but the concentration and possible exhaustion will put maluses onto rolls you make for other tasks.
Masks - Realistic and convincing illusions tied to a person or object. Several months hard labor and a magical theory roll are required to create a mask. No roll required to toggle masks on or off.
Hexes - Malicious magic woven into flesh through physicals contact. Melee Combat roll may be required to restrain subject. Magical theory roll is required for a hex that is complex or just invented on the fly.
Available Masks
Ruk: A mask for yourself in the guise of a muscular, middle aged, battle scarred orc wearing thick armor. Great for scaring off individual or small groups of humans.
Ol' Ginger: A mask for yourself in the guise of an elderly impoverished Imperial Cleric in rags. Ol' Ginger is taught to all mortal allies of the Bleachedkin, assume the mask in any Imperial urban area to attract their attention.
Saff: A mask for yourself in the guise of a rail-thin Mahallo teenager of ambiguous gender. Great for moving around Bride Price when you don't want to be bothered or noticed by your subjects.
Author
Topic: (SG) Petty Kingdom of New Mahallo: Reign of King Arawn (Read 20137 times)