Salem’s Theory on Magic
Think of magic like individual strings, while similar in concept all are made with different and unique threads that defines them as X rather than Y and so on. There are even ropes of magic which are the larger categories, for example “Elementalist” would be the title given to a rope, while the the more individual strings that make up the rope are things such as “Water Magic” or “Fire Magic” etc...
The same can be done for any large definition of magic in which individuals tend to classify themselves as. A general rule of magic is if individuals try to harness and master the rope, which could be made out of ten or thousands of strings, they will find it to be far more difficult than trying to master a string.A rope is far too much to truly master within a normal life span, which is why smart individuals pick out the strings, learning them and mastering them one at a time but staying within the category of that over arking rope.
As individuals begin to learn the strings and the threads that make them, they will discover the similarity in other strings of that rope and slowly pick their way through it and become far more skilled than those who try to take on the rope as it is. While a slower process one will discover that those who have far more patience are those who are better at their individual craft.
Each string and rope is woven into one another and even those of other ropes, this tapestry of magical brilliances is what we call the world, Tyria, the very air you breath is all a intricately woven piece of art with the threads of magic, some more thickly than others. Ley Lines being the most pure form of tapestry while a flower might be the most simple form, it all varies in depth and detail but there is always a few strings tied to everything that exists.
Because these strings make up the very world, those that have mastered their string of magic can tug on those that exist in the world, harvest them and utilize them, becoming their own ‘Weavers’ of the magical strings that make up the world. I am under the impression that if enough magic users banned together in specified fields, they could alter the very fabric of our world.
One of the reasons that I call the world a tapestry is not only to show just how intricate it is, but how important every thread is. Those weavers can pull a string from there and put it over here to do X for them. the important aspect in this is that the thread is finding its way back into the tapestry rather than being wasted or destroyed, corrupted.
Destroyed magics is when someone takes a string and rather than use it for it’s defined intended purposes which is directly correlated with its defining title and instead try to use it for another purpose the magic is deformed through the will of the weaver and rendered useless unless someone has dedicated their purpose to untangling and righting the flow of magic.
Corrupted magic is essentially what the dragons have and are. They feed off of the magic of this world brutally, taking chunks out of the tapestry and re-working the threads, the strings and the ropes into something else completely, something that does not fit to the tapestry, rather it is taking over to try and make a new tapestry, something else entirely and no one knows why or what will be the result.
There is a form of magic which the Asuran have discovered is similar to dragon magic but, as it stands is still a natural magic in this world it is referred to as Chaos magic but with everything happening as it is I have not had time to delve in on that particular subject but if it is, in fact, a natural form of this world's magic than it is simply another rope to be added among the many and is no real cause of alarm in consideration of the multiple other risks that are currently hanging over our heads.