does your world have magic? if so, what is it like?
Congratulations anon! You somehow managed to do the impossible: make me worldbuild WCTD's magic system
I need you to know that this one ask consumed me for a day and a half and ended up spawning a near 1k word page in my wip notion.
Genuinely glad you asked this. No I am not ok
Anyway, here's the highlights of that doc
While there are various theories and schools of thought about the subject depending on where you grew up and who you ask, there are a few universal characteristics about magic that everyone considers to be true (with exceptions).
All human beings are born with a mystical energy that gives them life***
Imbuing this energy into a target allows it to be controlled; this act is called THAUMATURGY (i.e. magic)
***The notable exception to this are deadbornes, which are humans that are born without this mystical energy (ichor). Though considering that almost all infants with these condition die during or shortly after delivery, it can be said that existence of deadbornes is the exception that proves the rule. As of yet, the etiology of this condition is unknown.
The earliest and oldest demonstrations of thaumaturgy centered around elemental magic: earth, wind, water, fire. The elements are considered to be the rawest form of energy manipulations. As these elements are present in abundance everywhere, they are the easiest to become ‘in-tuned’ to.
There is, however, no universally agreed upon origin of this energy or understanding of how it works. In the Raian continent alone, many scholars have spent lifetimes studying how this mystical energy works and experimenting its limits. A great amount of the current treatises on magic are based around the works of the long destroyed Il’Saharin House of Wisdom. The House of Wisdom referred to a guild of libraries and scholars during the second Saharin Dynasty in central Raia. These scholars amassed and translated a large collection of books and scrolls from all parts of the globe, with a particular focus on magic. This centralized hub of information is what contributed to the Saharin Kingdom’s golden age of arcanum, as the works its scholars produced would greatly influence Raia’s understanding of magic.
One of the most prevailing theories that caught on is that this mystical energy was divinely wrought. According to Trinitarian lore, the goddess of creation Meidther used her own blood (and in some versions, cuts out her own heart) when imbuing life into humans. Among cultures that prayed to this pantheon, this myth is what influenced the idea that this mystical energy is similar to, or flows parallel to, blood. And so they called this energy ICHOR.
Maybe right about now you're thinking "okay you've said all this, but you still haven't explained how magic actually works." This is because I still don't know. Not fully, anyway.
The basic concept of thaumaturgy is that a successful spellwork is done by enacting the right set of commands (spells) imbued with sufficient enough energy (ichor). Though these concepts are non-quantifiable, many teachers like to simplify this idea for new students with the equi ation W = C+E (or if you are in Aetier, W=S+I).
Beyond that, the use of thaumaturgy is further divided into three schools of learning: Exoturgy, Somaturgy, and Lexiturgy.
EXOTURGY is the command and manipulation of objects in the environment. It is the oldest of the three as well as what comes to mind when people think of the word magic. The largest field of study centers around elemental manipulation.
SOMATURGY is the manipulation of the cells, flesh, and energies of the human body. Much of somaturgy lies within the context of healing sickness and wounds, though there have been some recent interest in its application toward body augmentation (e.g, temporarily strengthening bones and muscles, and inhibiting pain receptors).
LEXITURGY is the use of physical script inscribed on an object to host a particular series of commands (i.e. enchantment). It is the youngest out of the three schools, having only existed within the past couple of centuries, and has revolutionized the way magic is thought. It is highly experimental but its potential applications promises to not only make magic more accessible to the untrained, but to expand the limits of how and what kind of magic can be performed.
And that's a wrap! (for now). Trust me when I say there was more but most of it is extraneous stuff that probably won't feature much in WCTD
Special thanks to Nicole for opening my eyes to the unfortunate thing that is magic academia. Please let me out of this hell
