Hello everybody! This is a story I've been planning for a while, and my organization system is complete and utter shit so I'm going to try to hammer out some details using this handy dandy website, with its handy dandy tagging system! You can call me Aster.
Hello im late so very late sorry for run ons its late
My story takes place in a world much like our own, except not really, because there are wizards. And unlike many stories featuring magic in the modern world that I’ve come across, it’s been almost completely integrated into the lives of all citizens, even those who have no magical ability. Magic also changes with time; new applications are discovered, different ways of combining it with regular technology are invented, etc. I’m going to be focusing mainly on the places my main characters live: Europe and the United States (I’m just calling it this for now, but colonization went much differently in my story, so the Americas would be more like the Aztec and Incan Empires, the Iroquois League, and other, smaller nations scattered throughout), mostly, although they travel all over the place, and these places may get occasional mentions. The events I’ve got planned out span roughly three hundred years, so a lot changes and evolves and I’m probably going to be all over the place.
Powerful magical families throughout the world decided that instead of hiding their magic, they would just take over governing powers. Mages of druid ancestry have been ruling England for millennia, with similar events occurring in Japan and Central America. The French monarchy has been fighting a civil war with an illegitimate wizard heir for one hundred years, and are projected to run out of funds long before he dies. Witch hunts sprang up in northern Europe and in small European settlements in the Americas out of fear that wizarding families/the Iroquois League/random magical person will attempt to enslave their non-magical neighbors. Of course, there are still many places run by non-magical or “magically-sensitive” folk (ex. Southern Europe, Western Africa) (these people are known as magi- they have limited magical ability), and the level of influence wizards have will vary depending on the era and location. In the story, a lot of the focus will be placed on the rigid class system of mages, as well as interactions between magical and non-magical people. And magical crime. Lots and lots of magical crime. I realized that almost all my main characters are wizards, so I think I’m going to try creating some more non-wizards when I’ve solidified the world a bit more.
I was not sure where exactly to begin the story. For now I think I’m just going to start near the beginning, which is roughly 1718 (although that’s probably going to change at some point). The Clockwork Magician (dun dun dun! title drop) is the newest member of the British thieve's guild known as The Silver Hands, and no one has no idea where this sulky son of a bitch came from or what he’s doing. And let’s be honest, he doesn’t know nearly as much as he thinks he does, and will be made aware of that fact early and repeatedly until it finally gets knocked into that stubborn skull of his. Along the way he’ll explore a lot of themes, including but not limited to: morality, gender, classism, and the meaning of friendship. Really. And kick a lot of ass and steal some things he really probably shouldn’t even if it totally screws himself over. Yes I like to tear my characters apart, although I’ve toned it down considerably for this story because there was just too much goddamn angst.
I think one of the difficulties with this will be that I’ve never been to Europe, so what I do know is from either my history classes or the almighty google. I can take some liberties because MAGIC and ALTERNATE HISTORY, but I don’t want to spend my whole time researching because if I do that, I will never get this done, period. I tend to use researching as a form of procrastination.
This has been a story that I’ve been thinking about for years, and is almost unrecognizable from when I first started it. I’m not sure how this is going to go, honestly, because I stink at keeping up with things, but we’ll see. Probably going to tag this #The Clockwork Magician, the name of the hellish folders and iPhone notes I call my storyboard/notes/character sheets/random phrases/whateverelsethatdoesntcometomindatthemomentbutitprobablyis. Some stuff is probably going to be skirted around for spoiler reasons, in case I ever post this thing online. And then there will be points where I go on very long in-depth discussions on various funeral services, because that took like an hour to write and I was way too tired to be editing that into something coherent at one in the morning last week. Why funeral services? I have no idea.
ANYWAY, that is the end of day 1, and I hope the next days are a bit more orderly and I am not a tired trainwreck. If you read through this whole thing, thanks, I appreciate it!
Hello again I think this’ll be the only one I post tonight.
Gender in my world (my world that sounds weird but i dont quite know what to call it because its more like an alternate universe earth with WIZARDS) ANYWAY gender is treated very similarly to the way it was here a few centuries ago, with a few differences. Because magic is dependent on whether or not the person who gave birth to you has magic, it is more acceptable for a female wizard to marry a non-wizard than a male wizard to marry a non-wizard. However, marriages with non-wizards in general are discouraged (besides prejudice, there is also the issue of non-wizards not living as long as their more magical counterparts, so you’ll often have one partner outliving the other by nearly a century). Producing magical heirs is deemed the most important role of women in many places, and arranged marriages in the upper echelons of society are very common. Women have a little more freedom in the lower classes, but they are still told that their main goal in life is to make wizard babies. Obviously, many women aren’t very happy with that and try to prove that they are capable of more than just raising children. Female wizards are banned from dueling in most European kingdoms (which poses a problem for both them and afab people who wish to participate in them), but they do have some power in middle-class businesses. Non-heterosexual relationships are considered even worse than marrying non-wizards because, once again, wizard children are important, and the chance of having children, let alone wizard children, goes down to zero (and all the other reasons people give against it). Not only is this view pretty cissexist, but it poses considerable problems for my main character, who happens to be a hella gay trans man.
Besides Clockwork, there are several other trans characters. Ragdoll, one of the main members of the Silver Hands, is agender, Grim is a trans woman, and Myrddin is genderfluid. The latter two are members of the Beyond (for more info on them look at my races post for day 3). Much of the Beyond are not part of the gender binary. Becoming part of the Beyond will often change a person’s perception of gender, as well as just about everything else, so a lot of them stop identifying with many of the social constructions we place on gender. They may identify as all genders, no gender, third gender, etc. (There is one Beyond that prefers to use ‘they’ pronouns, not only because they no longer believe he or she applies to them, but also because they no longer see themselves in the singular. They are part of the magical matrix, and therefore part of everything) Some people, like Grim and Myrddin, very strongly identified with their gender before they became part of the Beyond, and continue to identify with their chosen gender, but this isn’t always the case. Some may continue to use the pronouns they used before their conversion (even if they don’t really identify as that gender anymore) out of convenience, or they may choose a different set.
When a wizard interacts with the Beyond, the first thing they ask for is pronouns. You do not, under any circumstances, intentionally misgender the Beyond. Some of them do not take kindly to transphobia, and they are far more powerful than anyone else a wizard will ever encounter. As a matter of fact, part of the reason Grim chose to be part of the Beyond is because it allowed her to freely express her gender without fear of repercussions. Even though her village was not very happy with it (wow is that an understatement), they had to accept it. The Beyond, in their true form, are concentrations of magic that are so high that they are both visible and sentient, and they can choose to look however they want. They are normally misty clouds, but can change into solid magic (they look a lot like colored charcoal people in this state) or take on an entirely human shape.
I could go on and on about how the Beyond perceive gender, but I don’t want to bog down this post. It’ll definitely be present in the story, but if anyone wants to ask I can go into more detail in a separate post. They’ll probably get another post anyway because I forgot to give some details about the Beyond and wizards.
Unfortunately, people do not take as kindly to regular humans who do not identify with their assigned gender. As it is, most only put up with the Beyond because they have to. The criminal guild Clockwork joins is more accepting than society as a whole, but several members still refuse to see him as a man, and give Ragdoll a lot of flak because “they isn’t a proper pronoun.” People who identify as transgender are often told to stop acting like they’re part of the Beyond, that the only reason the Beyond don’t use he or she as often is because they aren’t human. It certainly doesn’t help that this takes place in the 1700s, so a lot of people don’t even know what transgender means. That isn’t to say that the world is completely unaccepting, because there are people like Clockwork’s eventual boyfriend, who was very accepting once it was explained to him.
Oh, almost forgot. Transmutation can actually be used as a substitute to hormone treatments and some gender confirmation surgeries, although non-magical surgeries may be needed, too. This is what I meant in the flora and fauna post about how some types of human transmutation aren’t officially banned but would never be approved. In Clockwork’s time, if you wanted it you had to do it illegally, which is extremely dangerous, and many doctors weren’t exactly kind to transgender patients. Therefore, if people were interested in these surgeries, most would eventually find their way to Grim, who is considered the best magical physician in Europe. As medical knowledge and attitudes changed, this type of transmutation became easier to get and the transmutations themselves became more functional and safer. Of course, not everyone wants or can do this, but it is a viable option that a few of my characters choose.
Wow, okay, so I recently started working at Bed Bath and Beyond, so now whenever I think of the Beyond I immediately think of my job and the fucking online Beyond store. The Beyond has everything you’re looking for, from impossible magical feats to blenders. Booyah.
On a more serious note, I am most certainly not an expert on gender (god knows my own gender identity is a complete and utter mess and is unlikely to clear up any time soon), so if anyone has any suggestions or comments, I am totally open to hearing them!
World Building June Days 9 and 10: Flora, Fauna, and a Helluva lot on Transmutation
hello again here’s some more things i hope my computer doesnt die. Im going to combine these because theyre kind of short
The wildlife of my world is almost identical to that of our own, with the exception of chimaeras. Plants and animals that are magically modified may occasionally be found in the wild, but they cannot breed, or they can breed and just produce one of their component parts instead of the chimaera itself. Chimaeras can be found in the wild if they escape or are abandoned, but most are either experiments or domesticated animals.
Transmuted plants are normally modified to emphasize certain attributes. A combination of this and selective breeding are used to increase crop yield, nutrition, and pest resistance. They’re used in gardens and medicines. It may also be used to make poisons harder to cure and identify.
Transmuted animals are not used as often as food sources. They may be pets, guard animals, or help people with disabilities. Animal transmutation is much trickier than its plant counterpart due to the greater complexity of animal anatomy. Runes are more often used in animal and human transmutation in an attempt to counteract this. This is also why regrowing lost limbs is nearly impossible. Animals may reject the flesh of another animal, or organs are incompatible. At one point in the story, the main characters come across a scientist who attempted to create a dragon. The “dragon” survived the procedure, but it eventually died because its heart was too weak to pump blood throughout the body.
Although transmuting living things in general is regulated, animal transmutation is heavily regulated, and many types of human transmutation require the approval of the Ethical Transmutation Board (previously known as the Medicinal Magics Guild). This, of course, means that a lot of human transmutation is done illegally to bypass the board, because 1) you might not have the money to do it legally, 2) you don’t have the time to wait, 3) you want a type of transmutation done that is VERY illegal and you probably plan on doing some not so legal things with it, or 4) it’s not outright banned, but you are positive the Board will deny your request. The Board may be bypassed in emergency situations, but these are rare, require lots of paperwork after the fact, and often have negative consequences. One of my main characters is a back alley doctor, so you should expect this to come up quite a bit.
It should be noted that flesh cannot be created; in other words, you can’t make living things out of non-living things. You can only transmute flesh into other types of flesh. This is why regrowing limbs is very difficult; the only type of tissue guaranteed to not be rejected is the patient’s own flesh, but you can’t remove flesh from one place and put it in another. Using the flesh of another human is the second best option, but where are you going to get willingly given living tissue? Stealing people’s organs for transmutation is, obviously, VERY ILLEGAL AND SUPER POPULAR ON THE BLACKMARKET. There is still a risk of rejection, especially since people didn’t know how to match donors to reduce the risk. Stealing people’s organs becomes a lot more popular later on when matching blood types and such is discovered. Using animal flesh is even worse, same with plants. Human transmutation may be used to make fake hybrids; human flesh will be modified to be more animal-like (gills, claws, eye modifications). It has a much lower chance of rejection than using animal flesh, but they often aren’t as functional as transplanting animal or plant flesh directly onto a body. The same can be said of using a person’s own flesh to replace certain organs. Infections and transmitting diseases are common, especially in the 1700s, when the story begins.
VISUALIZATION AND INTENT ARE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT IN TRANSMUTING LIVING THINGS. The more knowledge you have of the anatomical structure you want, and the better you can visualize it, the more functional it will be. As medical knowledge increases over the centuries, successful transmutations increase in functionality.
Zombies may be rarely found in the wild, but they are almost always connected to a master, so this is unlikely unless the master purposely put them there. Due to the highly profitable field of designer zombies, there’s a lot of different kinds. Some, but not all, are infectious, some may not rot over time. They vary from relatively tame and following the orders of everyone, to extremely vicious and almost uncontrollable.
Wow that’s a lot of magic lore and I’m probably leaving something out so this may be edited at a later date. I won’t go super into detail on government sanctions and how transmutation affects the criminal underworld. As my story is about people in a thieves’ guild, there is going to be a lot of this.
This, like the magic section, will probably have multiple sections, as I’m kinda busy and don’t have my notes in order for this.
Non-magical technology is roughly on par with that of our own world. However, magitech has advanced some fields beyond our current time.
Wizards in central Africa figured out how to enchant objects to fly. There are smaller objects like sticks that can carry one or two people, and there are flying carpets, which are more family-oriented. Runes are used to enchant objects, and they run off ambient magic, rather than the European version that was powered by a wizard’s magic. The African flying broomstick only requires intent, and could therefore be used by anyone, regardless of power. Airplanes were still invented, but they did not develop very quickly because portals and flying vehicles do the same job much more cheaply.
Other objects, like prosthetics, are also enchanted in various ways to be more convenient and easy to use. I won’t go into the details, but my story shows the evolution of a lot of different devices over time.
Enchanted mirrors eventually become an integral part of wizarding culture, and can only be used by magi and wizards. Originally, they acted like a storage device for data. You could make lists or write things on it, and you could pull these up at later dates. At the beginning of the story, wealthy families had very large household mirrors that could take snapshots of what they saw, acting like primitive cameras. They often had several of varying sizes. Building plans and maps could also be stored in them. People with less money may have a small handheld one that could be carried around, (but were often left at home because they were expensive). Information could not be transferred between mirrors.
Eventually, wizards discovered that by matching the background of mirrors, two mirrors could connect with each other and combine the information stored on them. People standing in front of both mirrors at the same time could talk. As many mirrors could be added as needed, as long as the background was the same. However, you could not limit what information was exchanged, and this could only be done with stationary mirrors. Eventually wizards learned to make mirrors more like computers in the mid-1800s. You could pick and choose what information you sent, and who you could send it to. These mirrors were still stationary, but did not require the entire background to be the same for every mirror. Instead, it was inserted into the runes, which act a lot like code (you can thank Ada Lovelace for that).
The abilities of mirrors gradually expanded, and the computer was never invented because of them. Televisions are also pretty primitive, although radio and telephones did eventually develop. Mirrors runes are integrated into most modern technology by the twenty-first century. Besides runes, wizards eventually developed several coding languages that could be used on mirrors, and other machines. Combining classical runes and mirror coding language is known as coding hybridization, and is used in a lot of different objects in the twentieth century (most prominently in AIs, mirror simulations, and virtual reality programs within mirrors). People eventually found a way to allow non-magical people to use some types of mirror tech. Mirrors, like computers, gain security protocols and firewalls and such, and there are hackers.
I remember what I forgot, and I’m explaining elemental magic.
Additional Thoughts:
Reading- You can use magic to “read” people, in a sense, although it takes a lot of training. Most wizards can naturally differentiate wizards and non-wizards, although magi tend to be a grey area, even to trained professionals. Experienced readers can also know power level, anomalies in magical currents (both in people and the environment. Although even non-magical people can sense if something is VERY wrong), element, general health (which often weeds out immortal/undead people because their life readings are abnormal), etc. You can also have a basic idea of a person’s personality based on repeated readings because it will affect magical currents. A person’s mood can also be gleaned after a baseline is taken, although an experienced reader can differentiate extreme emotions in someone they just met. Walter, a magi, is very experienced in reading emotions, and doesn’t need much of a baseline at all to read them. Don’t confuse reading with seeing. You can be completely blind and read just fine.
People who are in very close relationships for extended periods of time may have their magic sync. Even though they affect currents differently, the magic of two or more individuals may harmonize, and the wizards are capable of doing more together than they ever would have individually. Syncing is often compared to music. This can be read, although it is most obvious when people unsync (in most circumstances, due to death). Experienced readers describe it as a feeling like something is missing, and some may even describe someone unsyncing as being painful to witness, and it’ll last several months before a person’s magical currents settle down. However, it may never go back to normal; it really depends on the person.
Glamours- like illusions, but are attached to an object rather than a person’s mind. They allow people to change their appearance, although they must remain the same height and have roughly the same body type. The best glamours are undetectable; they are either subtle enough to not be noticed, or give off very little magic. People who often work with glamours may be able to see through glamours, even if they are very well made. Readers can tell if a glamour is being used some of the time, but probably can’t see through them. Touching someone wearing a glamour can often cause distortions, or you can feel it, or you can tell that what you’re touching and what you’re seeing are not compatible.
Shielding- Besides shielding attacks and physical objects, shielding can be used to block reading or mind magic. There are a few different ways to do this. The most common is to create magical static, although given a sufficient observation time and experience, a reader will be able to work through it. A wizard may also use a glamour to create a fake signature. If done poorly, a person will exude two different magical signatures. The best way to make this shield is to create a duplicate of your own signature and modify it slightly. A sufficiently powerful wizard can outright block a wizard, but this isn’t very stealthy, and will be obvious to most wizards. This option is for people who do not care that people know they are hiding their signature. Similar versions of these shields can be used to block mind magics. The first two options normally use an enchanted object, while the third is generated by the wizards themselves.
Another thing for shields: very experienced shield users can use shields as stepping stones or things to jump off of.
Transmutation- forgot to mentioned that transmutation is used to combine plants, animals, and other materials together. This is heavily regulated because it’s easy to abuse. Hybrids made through transmutation are called chimaeras. They can be very unstable.
Oh, and wizards can use telekinesis to increase physical attacks/help lift things/jump higher/float for small increments of time. Telekinesis is based on objects in relation to you, which is why you can’t make yourself move with it. You can give yourself more power in a jump, but it’s a short burst. You can’t fly. Moving other people is difficult due to their own magic and willpower. You /can/ move them, it would just be really hard, or you’d need their consent to make it easier. Also, if you are moving a object with telekinesis, and you are suddenly thrown ten feet to the right, and you somehow manage to maintain your focus on the object, the object will also be suddenly jerked ten feet to the right. Because telekinesis is all about an object in relation to you. This is why children are first taught to use it while standing still, and are then taught it while moving.
EDIT: I should probably explain exactly what enchanting does. It’s normally used to increase the magic of an object, make the object react to the will of wizards, or defy the laws of science (make things lighter, unable to rust, etc), usually done through rune magic
And now, ELEMENTAL MAGIC
Passive abilities: (increase with age, do not start forming until after a wizard has settled into an element, which makes young wizards using various element a danger to themselves)
Fire- immune to flames and resistant to temperature extremes, with a lot more emphasis on extreme heat.
Water- can breathe water, resistant to temperature extremes with an emphasis on cold temperatures, don’t have issues breathing in high humidity
Air- larger lung capacity, can fly without a device, more stamina than the average wizard
Earth- stronger and more durable than the average wizard
Lightning- immune to electricity, faster than the average wizard
I’ve got a little chart that ranks each element from one to five (five being the worst), so each one evens out to an average of roughly three. It should be noted, however, that just because one may have a slightly worse average, this does not mean it is actually worse than the other elements. These are average stats for the element in general; there will be a lot of variation due to wizard power levels, physical attributes, and how they use their powers. Also, this is a ranking system, not a scale, so if one element has a two and another has a one, there may be little difference between them, or a very big difference. For example, the speed for fire and air (2 and 3, respectively) are nearly equal, with fire being only slightly faster. Same goes for power for lightning and earth. Conversely, lightning and fire’s endurance are very different because lightning usually requires a lot more magic. ACK tumblr ruined my chart formatting dammit. ok im changing it up, elements not mentioned in either category are in between
STATS ADVANTAGE DISADVANTAGE
Endurance AIR, EARTH LIGHTNING, FIRE
Range EARTH, AIR LIGHTNING
Precision LIGHTNING EARTH, FIRE
Maneuverability WATER LIGHTNING, EARTH
Power/Damage LIGHTNING, EARTH, FIRE AIR
Speed LIGHTNING, AIR, WATER EARTH, FIRE
Durability EARTH, WATER AIR, LIGHTNING
Fire is a mid-range element when used alone, but can be combined with properly enchanted melee weaponry. Fire mages use fireballs/jets, and can melt things. It is easiest to use pre-existing fire, but they can create it on their own. They will often set some small fires during a fight, and use the flames when needed. They can also remove heat from sources. If they use enchanted weapons, they will either be very hot or on fire.
Lightning is a very all-or-nothing type of element. It is best used in short distances, either through direct contact or by using a wire or weapon as a conductor. Wires also allow a lightning mage to fight from a distance. Lightning mages can produce bolts that move almost as fast as natural bolts, making them nearly impossible to dodge if you can’t hide behind something that will protect you unless it was already there. They take up a large amounts of energy and are thus used sparingly. It is very difficult to keep them going on the desired path without being grounded or influenced by conductive objects. Lightning is the only element that cannot be redirected at all once fired.
Earth is the opposite of lightning in all cases but power and maneuverability. Earth types are long and mid-range fighters. Their ability to pick up rock and dirt works independently of their telekinesis, so they can pick up very large amounts of rock. Metals can also be used to a limited extent. Earth types have a lot of trouble with short-range fighting. Earth has a limited ability to redirect attacks after they are fired, but only if they are still in contact with the object.
Air types are probably the least combat-oriented because it works indirectly. Air mages are the most reliant on weapons and the environment to cause damage. Air types are also long/mid range fighters who will either try to snipe you from a distance or flit in and out of the fight and attack you when you aren’t paying attention. Unlike the other elements, air types are not at a serious disadvantage in short-range dueling, even though it isn’t their best distance. They also have the unique ability to use sounds, especially music, to channel magic or cause damage to objects/people. Air types can use any gaseous elements. Air types can stop fireballs or lightning bolts by removing air from the environment.
Water types have the best stats overall, with no clear disadvantages, but it doesn’t do a lot of damage unless there is a lot of water, or if you’re very close up (and of course, many of the things you’d do close up, like freezing body parts, are a big no no), or if you’re very precise (if you’re dealing with a lot of water you can’t be very precise). Water mages are mid to short range, and may use magic on enchanted weapons to make them very cold. Their element is the easiest to redirect, giving them the best maneuverability. Water types, like air and earth types, are limited to using what’s on hand at the time. If no water is available to them, they can pull it from the air, objects, or people (air types can also affect the air in people, and the results are not pretty-though both require skin to skin contact for this to work). They can also affect the temperature of objects, so their element is not completely useless even if there is no water. Water types can use steam, liquid water, or ice.
Elemental Shielding:
Fire types conjure a ring of fire that will incinerate some objects, must be careful of oxygen levels within the shield
Lightning types don’t have a shield but can place a current on their body that may shock someone trying to touch them
Water mages can make an ice wall to keep out some attacks, a water wall to redirect objects, or a steam wall to keep out most people (except fire mages who hold their breath- heat resistant. It will even keep out water mages because breathing it could burn their lungs). Water mages must make sure they don’t burn themselves with steam shields.
Earth types use rock, metal, sandstorms, or glass walls to shield (glass is very hard to control, it normally just breaks, so you’d only really see a glass shield if they’re working in tandem with a fire wizard)
gosh i m tired i think that got a bit muddled at the end
Before I go any further, I think it would be best to discuss the magic system in at least some detail. This is probably going to have multiple parts that I’ll post every once in a while.
Magic is, at its core, a form of energy with limited sentience. Some believe that magic is at least partially composed of dead souls as some sort of afterlife. Wow, that is much more morbid sounding than when I picture it in my head. ITS NOT THAT DEPRESSING I SWEAR! Magic causes wizards to be more durable and faster healers than other people. The ability to absorb magic will vary from person to person, and trying to mess with the amount of magic you have (increasing it, more often than not) tends to do some nasty things to the body. It messes with the body’s ability to maintain homeostasis, with symptoms including but not limited to: exhaustion, loss of appetite, low blood pressure, cancer/irregular cellular growth, burns, nerve damage, blindness, AND DEATH (the first three being cases of magic loss, the next three magical gains, and the final for both). Magic is focused through intent and visualization. It can be channeled in several different ways, each with its own pros and cons.
Small tasks which require little magic, as well as passive elemental abilities, can be used without a medium. Examples include a water mage’s ability to breathe underwater, which will occur even if said wizard is magically exhausted or unconscious, and using telekinesis to move small objects. Attempting to use large amounts of magic without a medium can and will quite literally blow up in your face. Doing so is saved for life or death situations. The medium helps channel magic, so even an extremely precise wizard can only do so much without one. Passive abilities that occur inside the user, such as the one listed above, can only be stopped in the case of death or if all the magic is drawn out of the person (either through the experiments mentioned in the races post or if they have spent an extended period of time in an area with no magic and are running out).
Runes may also be used to channel magic, and writing them does not require a medium (although some do need either the material written on or the material creating the runes to be infused with extra magic or some special material). Runes apply permanent spells to objects or people. If the rune can be removed, then the effect wears off as the rune does. They can do just as much as a medium can and more, but they require ample time and research to prepare and use, and are therefore impractical in duels unless they were applied ahead of time. An unusual aspect of runes is that all cultures have identical symbols and alchemical circles. Different places may add their own flourishes or have different ways of applying runes. This is believed to be the Beyond’s doing (for info on them, see day three). As magic is heavily reliant on intent, experts believe the Beyond taught the basics of the rune system, which was then solidified through the belief of wizards and repetition over hundreds of generations. New runes can be created, but it takes time and perseverance for them to become as powerful as older runes. Runes can be used to enchant objects (magic carpets, mirrors MIRRORS ARE VERY IMPORTANT THEY WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THE TECHNOLOGY SECTION, prosthetics, weapons, etc). They can also be placed on people (wizard’s version of marriage involved runes, mind manipulation, power modifiers, to perform surgeries, etc)
Mediums are objects that have extremely high concentrations of magic. It settles the flow of magic in a wizard and allows for far more precision. Wizards normally carry only one or two, as multiple mediums can interfere with casting. Creating mediums can be dangerous due to the amount of magic involved, and they are often passed down through a family. Mediums are unbreakable and cannot change shape, so they tend to be made of materials that don’t bend easily. Turning cloth into a medium causes it freeze in its last position, and turning a grenade into a medium renders it unable to explode. The Clockwork Magician uses a pocket watch, and this watch cannot tell time because the springs cannot be sprung. So he has to carry two around, one to use as a medium and one to tell the time. Most people don’t realize that that’s the reason he carries two. They just think he’s really into his clockwork theme. Mediums are most often made in the form of jewelry (rings, necklaces, watches), weapons (swords, hammers), or other accessories (fans, staffs, wands). Depending on the wealth of a wizard, they may have several, some being for combat, some for everyday wear, and some for formal occasions. Poorer families may share a few mediums between them. A child receiving a medium is a very big deal, and there’s a big party. It’s normally a bit before elemental abilities are expected to manifest, so eight or nine. Magi may or may not need mediums, depending on their power level and what exactly they can do (ex. readers or runes workers won’t need them, those using telekinesis/shielding/more flashy forms of magic should probably use them). Some places ban magi from having mediums, although that’s considered pretty extreme.
Different wizards have different tricks to help with using magic, but many like to think of them as currents flowing throughout the body. You’re not just shoving it out of you, or grabbing it from thin air. In most cases, magic comes from you. The farther you are away from something you want to affect, the harder it is to perform it.
Due to magic having patterns and currents, it can be “programmed.” Making magic move in a specific pattern allows for it to work unsupervised. For example, doing the dishes with telekinesis. Of course, the pattern can be modified by anyone else (unless you know what you’re doing, most people can’t do much more than disrupt it) unless you put some sort of shielding around it (but even shielding has its own pattern, it’s just much harder to modify, especially if it zaps you on contact or something). I like to think of the patterns as webs, and modifying the webs changes what the magic does, and breaking the web stops the magic. Programming requires focus and intent, and it is a very important skill for a wizard. Programs can be placed on an area or object (ex. the kitchen sink) using a rune. Then you don’t have to reprogram the magic each time.
Now, I’m calling it programming, but then there’s actual rune coding, which is basically coding using runes instead of a computer. It allows for far more complex actions and magic than regular programming.
Types of Magic:
Elemental Magic- earth, air, fire, water, and lightning. Lightning is the the least common, although not by much. The rest are spread fairly evenly. Adult wizards can only use one, they cannot choose it. Their element and how they use it tends to reflect their personality and general behaviors. Each element gives different passive effects to users. Elemental magic has its own post
Energy Blasts/Raw Magic- Can be channeled through a medium (although it doesn’t necessarily come directly out of the medium wow i use although a lot), freehanded, or channeled through an enchanted non-medium weapon, like a gun. okay recently did lots of edits with this it is no longer related to elemental magic. As the name suggests, these are pure magic. The colors of the magic and the amount of each is unique to each individual. Clockwork, for instance, has magic that is dark blue and forest green, with bursts of bright orange (whenever i think of it i imagine a koi pond). The Beyond are entirely made up of raw magic, so most of their forms have their magic visible. Grim is mostly dark purple with patches of dark green and small flashes of gold. Raw magic may emerge when someone is showing off their power or using a lot of magic (in the case of the latter, it tend to be around the hands, eyes, and/or medium). It can be perfectly harmless and used for show (Clockwork enjoys making little animals and having them run around), or it can be used in fights. stunning, burning, exploding, temporarily disrupting an opponent’s magic, etc
Healing- Magic can be used to promote cell regeneration to heal wounds. It cannot be used to grow back limbs or eyes, and although it can bolster the immune system this should be done sparingly. It tends to put a lot of strain on the body of the person it is performed on, is more likely to scar than a wizard’s natural healing ability, and it will do nothing against many diseases (and actually makes cancer worse). Visualization is VERY IMPORTANT when used for healing. Surgeries often use a combination of this, raw magic for cutting (it’s sharp, can be very precise, and sterile), and transmutation.
-transmutation can be used on humans, although only a person’s living tissue can be used on their own transmutation. This is heavily regulated by the government and is rarely used in medical procedures- it’s mostly used for illegal body mods and permanent disguises until the early 1900s.
Transmutation- unlike human transmutation, nonliving things can be changed into any other nonliving thing of equal weight. Visualization is also important here. You can make an engine with transmutation, but it will take time, and you need a very clear picture of its inner workings.
Telekinesis- wizards can lift several times what they can physically lift. Works independently of elemental magic.
Shields- Object-Oriented Shielding: the shield is created using an object, and it will last as long as desired, or until the object is disturbed. If the object is not disturbed, it can only be removed by the person who created it and by experienced ward breakers. It is easier to remove a shield if you are underneath it. The longer an object has gone without touching a living person, the stronger the shield. Touching it brings its power down to zero. They are normally moved telekinetically or by wearing thick gloves. An object that hasn’t been touched for fifty years can create a shield that will keep out a wizard of roughly fifty years (this varies depending on their own power), a non-magical person of seventy, and most non-magical attacks. Shield size is also dependent on age. Size can be sacrificed for strength, and vice versa, so year system used above will vary a lot. Wizards tend to hoard things for these shields. Clockwork eventually has an entire storage locker, and also a closet for the stuff he brings from house to house. Cremated wizards are sometimes used, too (in one of my earlier posts I mentioned druids using burial grounds for protection. This is what they were doing. They were basically burying dead people on the perimeters of sacred ground or villages to make a shield. Removing one body would weaken the shield slightly, but it would still be there). This is also where wizards’ strict policy of “no touching things in someone’s home without permission” comes from. Touching a shield item with your bare hands ranges from, at best, a sign of great disrespect, and at its worst, a threat against your family.
-Wizard-Oriented Shielding: wizards can create shields, but they aren’t as powerful and require their own magic to create. The longer it is up, the less powerful it is. They tend to be used in short bursts. A well timed shield can stop a bullet.
Shields can do a lot of different things, from keeping out the elements, people, things, attacks, radio communications, etc. Shields are transparent unless specifically created to be opaque. Opaque ones not only prevent you from seeing inside them, but also tend to cause magic and electronics to malfunction due to the amount of energy needed to maintain them.
-Elemental Shielding: all elements can use these except lightning types. Will be explained in element post. They’re called shields, but they manifest as elemental magic rather than your standard shield.
Illusions/Mind Magic- usually implanted in someone using physical contact, or indirect contact (or put the illusion on an object, a person touches the object, and the illusion transmits itself to them. The object itself is normally not part of the illusion, although it can be). Mind magic can be used to cause vivid hallucinations using all senses (VISUALIZATION IS KEY), mind control, mind manipulation, and personality/memory altering. Most mind magics are taboo, as they can cause permanent damage to the psyche, and often negate consent. Mind magics also have an entire medical field devoted to them. It is a lot more difficult to convince someone to do something they wouldn’t normally do than make them do something they could possibly do on their own. One of the reasons why the Beyond are so terrifying is because they defy this rule. If they want you to do something, you will do it.
Let’s look at an example of mind magic, because I was thinking about it the other day so why not. Say you have a wizard who has decided that they’re going to try to seduce a bunch of people, much like a siren. The effectiveness will depend upon many factors. 1) power disparities. The stronger the wizard is in comparison to their victim, the more effective it is. 2) willpower/charisma/temperament/etc. If they’re stubborn and really not that into the caster, or if they’re in a relationship, that could affect the spell. A lot of different things could affect this, it’s all about your state of mind (both the caster’s and whoever is being affected) 3) what you’re focusing on. If you aren’t using an object, your radius of effectiveness will be much smaller, and the spell itself will be weaker. Also, if you’re only focusing on men, other people may still feel it and be affected by it, but to a lesser extent. 4) romantic and sexual orientations. If you’re trying to get an ace person to be sexually attracted to you, that’s probably not going to work very well. Same goes with incompatible orientations.
Teleportation-Rune Teleportation- two types- either you draw it on the floor, and it takes you there, or you have premade pieces of paper with the runes on them. The runes required are dependent on the location you want to go to, and you have to have been there before to make the rune circle (even if you don’t remember it). Both require a small amount of blood to be activated. Paper ones are one use only, and can take one person. The printing press and copy machines make it much easier. Otherwise, they last for about an hour, and can be used as many times as needed, and can be used to transport people, people and objects, or just objects. A person who has never been to a place before can still use a rune circle taking them there as long as the person who made it has been there.
-Permanent Portals- can only transport people to other portals. Very difficult to open, but they cannot be removed, only closed.
Tracking- can be used to track the location of a particular person. What you need: a map, blood/flesh/DNA. Uses runes laced with DNA on maps to find people. It will not follow the person, so it may have to be applied repeatedly if they are moving. Often several maps will be used (the first to pinpoint country, then going more detailed from there). DNA degrades, so unused flesh will often be put in stasis with runes. NOTE: you can’t put living things in stasis, only dead things, and sort of dead things like blood removed from a living body.
Necromancy, Resurrection, and Immortality- uses runes, swapping life energy through sacrifices, enchanting objects, soul jars, etc etc etc. All banned. There’s too many different ways to properly explain them. Creates zombies, undead beasts, liches, lots of things.
heres another one though i dont think ill catch up today
Basically everyone is or was some form of human. European wizards categorize people into three different groups based on magical ability, although in reality its more like a spectrum, and some people blur the line between the categories. There’s technically a “fourth” category, and it’s the only one that could be considered an entirely different race from most humans, but people like to pretend they don’t exist because they are, quite frankly, terrifying. They are known as the Beyond, and I’ll get to them in a moment. There are also various types of undead (zombies, vampires, etc). There were originally going to be demons as well, but I felt like that didn’t fit in well with the vibe the rest of my world was giving off, so I scrapped them. WHICH REMINDS ME: MODIFY WALTER’S CHARACTER IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE ANYMORE.
Anyway, if the ability to retain magic were considered to be a scale, and magic retention increases as you move across it, vampires would be on the far end. They are completely unable to absorb magic. They disrupt the natural flow of magical currents, which in turn interferes with people’s ability to use magic. They are essentially magical voids. Vampires are thought to be caused by improper burials, although an improper burial will not always result in vampirism. They are bloated in appearance and have discolored skin, and are obsessed with continuing their lives regardless of the fact that they are dead. Do not, under any circumstances, tell them they are dead, even if they are drinking blood right in front of you; they will probably go berserk. Vampirism cannot be transmitted through bites or blood. Don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise, they have no idea what they’re talking about and you don’t want another Winter of 1532 on your hands.
Through experiments, people have attempted to replicate the vampire’s void characteristics in living humans, but this invariably ends in death, as humans need at least a little magic to survive. It has, however, been replicated in inorganic tissue and some undead beings.
A little to the right of vampires are your non-magical humans. I’m having a bit of trouble coming up with a name for them, and for the moment I am settling on mimagikos, shortened to mimas (pronounced mee-maz. It’s Greek for non-magical, or at least google translate said so and I spent way too long trying to find a name. Still kinda tentative about this though). It’s somewhat derogatory, and may be combined with other insults. Those living in or near Ireland may also use “gandraiocht.” They make up eighty-five percent of the population. They are looked down upon by full wizards due to their lack of powers, and it can be difficult for them to get jobs in some fields due to the prevalence of magic in certain jobs. An example would be doctors and surgeons. Wizards can use magic to speed cell regeneration, which limits what non-magical folk can do. It should also be noted that different types of wizards are more suited to certain positions than others, such as fire types having the lowest infection rates because they could sterilize medical instruments through heat (although physical manifestations of magic may be used for cutting). They rarely have important government positions in Europe, although in other places there may be a slightly greater chance. Many non-wizards are resentful towards the wizarding population, and they try to find non-magical substitutes for the magic they are denied.
About two to three percent of the population are “magically sensitive”, and are known as magi. They absorb more magic than regular humans and may have a variety of powers, but they are not full-blown wizards. They may actually have powers that wizards do not, such as limited psychic abilties. In some cases, wizards may be more condescending towards them than non-magical people because they aren’t “proper wizards.” Magical abilities may be very obvious, such as telekinesis, or almost imperceptible, like an instinct guiding your decisions. These abilities will manifest around the age of three, although their power level will gradually increase until puberty. They live up to seventy years longer than your average human, depending on power level. Magi on the lower end of the power scale tend to have more subtle powers, and may never be identified as magi. This is because they have only slightly more magic than a regular human, thus blurring the line between the two. A magus on the upper end of the scale will either manifest weak forms of many types of magic or will be proficient or even reach expert levels in a few, and be unable to perform any others. An example would be Walter, who is skilled in empathic reading and teleportation, but cannot do anything else.
A person isn’t considered a wizard unless they show elemental magic. Compared to non-magical humans and magi, the range of power for wizards is very large, taking up over three-quarters of the scale. As a child, a wizard may perform some or all five types of elemental magic (earth, air, fire, water, and lightning). It is usually one of the last powers to manifest, around the age of ten. Wizards will settle on one around the age of thirteen. Magi may manifest any and all powers except for this. A wizard will also start to show signs of magic at around the age of three, and their power will gradually grow until around age thirty. Wizards live anywhere from one hundred fifty to two hundred years (depends on power level and all the other things that affect life span in typical humans). The ruling class is composed mostly of wizards, although there are, of course, exceptions, and their wealth and influence can vary greatly (to use a Harry Potter reference, you have your Malfoys and Fudges and Potters but also your Weasleys, Longbottoms, and most importantly, Grangers).
Magic is not genetic, but is predominantly matrilineal. There is also a tendency for magic to increase over generations in families that have recently produced wizards. The average magical power of a family will eventually level out, and is roughly the same for all wizard families. Individual power levels may vary widely, and there is a small chance of a magus or even a non-magical child being born instead of a wizard. The presence of magic in the population as a whole is also increasing, with the percentage of wizards in the twenty-first century being nearly 20% as compared to the 13-ish in the 1700s.
Non-magical people may spontaneously have a magus, perhaps several in a single family (they may also have a wizard, but this is very rare, and they will almost certainly be on the lower end of the spectrum). Depending on the combinations of magical and non-magical parentage, a family may bounce back and forth between different levels of magic retention for several generations before producing any wizards.
People from new wizarding families may not be given much respect by older families. Power, wealth, and family are incredibly important in European wizarding culture. There is an incredibly rigid code that the magical aristocracy follows, and it is also used to a lesser extent in the general population of wizards.
The fourth category of wizards are the Beyond, and they are on the opposite end of the spectrum from vampires. They are composed solely of magic. They are wizards who performed a now lost (cough cough banned and erased by most governments) form of magical enhancement. They give up their physical bodies and become one with magic and whatever lies beyond it (hence the name. They refuse to explain what exactly is beyond, simply that it is a part of magic. It is assumed to be some sort of afterlife, and many wizarding religions involve it to some extent. The Beyond communicate with magic and follow its will, although no one knows what that is, either). They are immortal, all-powerful, and nearly invincible. Most don’t interact much with humans, although a few do. Only one has ever been killed in recorded history, and it took nearly a decade, several other Beyond and a dozen armies to kill him. There is an entirely separate code of conduct for interacting with a Beyond. No one knows exactly how many there are, but there are no more than one hundred worldwide. Their form varies; they could be invisible, a cloud of visible magic, a shape made of solid magic, etc. Taking on the appearance of a normal human or other things requires various illusions. Merlin, a part of the Beyond, once got very bored (cough cough they fucked up really badly) and decided to see what it would be like to become a tree for a century or two.
There are also a few types of sentient undead people, although whether or not they are an actual race is left up to debate. Most of them are due to wizards trying to find the key to immortality, with varying success. There’s a lot of different ways to resurrect people, although all of them have a very high price to pay. Some also blur the line between dead and undead- different experts have different standards of deadness, so a person who is undead in one definition may be considered fully alive in another (this actually comes up in the story, and the character it refers to enjoys using it as a joke). Zombies are reanimated corpses, but are not sentient and therefore not considered their own race. There are a lot of different kinds of zombies, and rituals will be mixed and matched to get the desired abilities. If you know the right people, you can find wizards who make designer zombies.
WOW THIS WAS LONG AND IM TOTALLY FORGETTING SOMETHING
later than i intended but oh well i plan on posting a bunch of them today
As my story is basically the world but with magic, the geography itself is identical. The only differences would be the ambient magic in the air, and places that were artificially modified through the use of magic.
Magic flows through nearly everything (the exceptions being, once again, people or items that were modified to be completely devoid of magic). It may hang out in an area for a while, but it is constantly moving, and can only be stopped temporarily. Non-magical people, animals, and other living things have slightly higher concentrations of magic than the surrounding environment, but these concentrations vary both over time and from individual to individual. Wizards and the magically sensitive have much higher concentrations.
Extremely emotional events or places with large gatherings of people will change the way magic behaves in its environment. A sports stadium or subway, for example, will cause ambient magic to be much more energetic due to the large amounts of people constantly moving through them. Casters will find spells are faster and more powerful. Places where something traumatic occurred, on the other hand, may leave an imprint of emotional pain that people can feel, and the magic is more chaotic and difficult to control.
The magic in areas, or the physical landscape itself, may be modified by wizards. An example would be ancient druid settlements in the British Isles, which used a combination of ritual burials and the careful modification of natural magic currents to encourage the flow of magic, make religious ceremonies easier to perform, and protecting the village from invaders (I’ll probably go into more detail about this in the magic section). Even places like these that are abandoned or in disuse are considered sacred to most wizards, and one must be very careful when building or traveling through them.
Some of these places can be used to form portals, which, once created, are nearly impossible to destroy (but they can be closed for indefinite periods of time). All portals are connected to every other portal. By the ealry 1700s, there are roughly fifteen portals open, and most of the European ones are basically glorified toll booths. They were meant to promote peace and unification worldwide, with special emphasis on Europe and the newly recognized kingdoms of Africa (which formed the United Kingdoms of Africa, or UKA, in response to Europe’s attempts at colonization, which happened much earlier in this alternate history). A bit later the Iroquois League and the Aztec Empire were added (1750s ish, although there has been travel between the nations for approximately 500 years.)
Portals and magic in general made traveling a lot easier, so different kingdoms met much sooner than they normally would have, and interacted more often.
Another example of physical modification would be in China, where instead of creating the Great Wall, they used magic to create chasms and mountains that were nearly impossible to cross. It is instead known as, well, the Great Chasms. The presence of the Chasm greatly delayed the influence of Europe and Africa in much of Imperial China. Attempts at crossing the chasms by both continents in the 1500s were seen as an act of war which made trade almost impossible until the late 1600s, when Europe, the northern kingdoms of UKA, and China grudgingly made a peace treaty.
More details on history will be later. I’m open to suggestions; the alternate history portions of my world aren’t very fleshed out at the moment. It wasn’t until recently that I realized how much magic would change everything because my wizards weren’t in hiding in most of the world. I had already planned on the history of African-European relations to be very different, and American and Asian colonization hadn’t even occurred to me (but now that I think about it, it would either be a complete and utter shit show or Europe and Africa would be a lot more hesitant to try just plunging into new territory and saying “MINE!”)
So im just gonna put this here and kinda just update it whenever (and attempt to do WBJ although i dont know how often ill be able to do it). And it will also have some character backrounds and random drabbles and probably wizard posts. Ill try to keep everything tagged appropriately.
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